Congrats to ADDTF for one solid year of reading comics naked.

Also, welcome back ADD and In Sequence.

Did I miss anyone?

 
The Secret of the Old Centerfold



I treated myself to a little quarter bin diving this weekend, and among the many treasures I brought back home was one particular comic I've been seeking out for years.

Back in the early 80s, Frank Miller did a series of centerfolds for the comic Ms. Tree. Each pin-up was devoted to a classic fictional detective. The four drawings he contributed were of Mike Hammer, Philip Marlowe, The Continental Op, and... Nancy Drew.

Can you imagine if, instead of basing his crime comic on Spillane's work, Miller had chosen Nancy Drew as his muse? I'd pick that up in a heartbeat.
posted by Steven at 4:13 PM

 
Free Cartoon Friday - Merrie Melodies

I just got back from spending my first all-nighter at the studio, at least half of which was taken up by dirty jokes, gossip and discussions on the language of comics. The other half of the night was spent working, and as I became progressively more slumber stoned I reflected on just how happy I was making little drawings come to life. Years from now people who watched my animation at a formative age will approach me with perfectly valid accusations of how I contributed to scarring them for life. Oh, bliss. I hope I never become jaded in this business.

Anyway, I need some sleep. While I'm snoozing peacefully, help yourself to some public domain Warner Bros. cartoons starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, as directed by Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng.

Woo hoo!
posted by Steven at 8:31 AM

 
Free Comic Thursday - Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou



I work the late shift, and practically every night one of the compositors presents the best in fansubbed anime. It's been quite the education. During lunch the other night we tried to intersect our interests in a little discussion on manga. He suggested a certain manga which I could sample online, and knowing that he has similar tastes to my own in regards to Japanese exports, I checked it out.

I'm not quite sure how to explain Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. The story seems to be set sometime in a post-apocalyptic future though according to my co-worker there has never been a definitive explanation for why the world has become the way it has. Not that it would matter anyway. Each chapter is a self-contained vignette devoted to Alpha, a perfectly humanoid robot, and her small circle of friends and neighbours. The setting is almost a benign post-apocalypse, the kind of scenerio which someone could almost hope for, where the world becomes much more still and close-knit, yet just off-kilter enough to provide small moments of the sublime.

This serial has been published monthly for over a decade now, with over 1600 pages translated and available on the site so far, so get cracking if you want to catch up. The complete table of contents can be found here.
posted by Steven at 3:36 AM

 
Phyllis Wallet ? - 2004



Phyllis Rumpus Blossom Wallet has passed away. Born on one side or another of the turn-of-the-century, Mrs. Wallet, then known as the widowed Mrs. Blossom, moved to Gasoline Alley in 1922. After a four year courtship, Phyllis Blossom and perpetual bachelor Walt Wallet were married. For over 80 years Phyllis maintained that she knew the origins of Skeevix, a child Walt had found on his doorstep and whom he loved as his own. It appears Phyllis has taken her secret with her to the afterlife.

More on her passing can be found here. Also, you can read about the days leading up to her demise as well as a recounting of her and Walt's early struggle to retain custody of Skeevix.

She is survived by her husband of nearly 78 years, Walt, her adopted "nephew", Skeezix, a son, Corky, a daughter, Judy, and numerous grand-children and great-grandchildren.
posted by Steven at 4:05 AM

 
Beep Beep

Cartoon Brew has relayed the news that a pair of murals drawn by Chuck Jones on a conference room wall will soon be torn down and lost if someone doesn't pony up the cash to have them removed.

Photos and contact information available at the link.
posted by Steven at 1:37 PM

 
Market Day

The new breed is nothing if not lazy." - Robert Mankoff

An interesting article on the next generation of New Yorker cartoonists at The New York Times (to read the article without registering, username - flatearth, password - flatearth), including a behind-the-scenes peek at the weekly cartoon selection process and comparisons between the old guard and new.Courtesy of The Comics Journal Message Board.

One of the aspects touched on in the article is the dying tradition of cartoonists making the rounds every week to all the magazines that accepted gag cartoons. This is something you'll bump into time and again in the memoirs of those cartoonists who had to pound the pavement back in the day. For example, Hank Ketcham of Dennis the Menace fame.

"The high point of the week began each Wednesday morning when I boarded the 8:11 train to Manhattan. It was a ritual performed throughout the greater New York City area by perhaps 40 or more cartoonists, hopeful of getting some 'holds' and making some sales, while dropping off batches of their roughs to various cartoon editors who would respond by mail the following week. It was a social delight for most of us who lived in different communities and met only on 'market day'."
posted by Steven at 4:14 AM

 
Hi and Lois - Totally Exposed, Uncensored and Beyond!





Two Hi and Lois strips that never made it into the papers, and one that did. According to Mort Walker, in the original version of the third Lois was meant to be naked.
posted by Steven at 2:47 AM