Category: Comic Books

What’s All the Hoopla?

Last Monday, I was on a ZOOM call with members of the National Cartoonists Society. One of the participants was MAD Magazine artist Sam Viviano. Seeing Sam reminded me of this new documentary about MAD.

It’s currently available on Amazon to rent for five bucks, or purchase for only $7. CHEAP!

https://www.amazon.com/When-Went-MAD-Alan-Bernstein/dp/B0F22GNGJ5

But it’s also available to view for free on Hoopla.

https://www.hoopladigital.com/

Hoopla is an online digital library that requires just three things to join:

  • A library card with an affiliated institution
  • An e-mail address
  • An interest in free access to books, magazines, audio and video material

Early in the documentary, the claim is made that M.C. Gaines, father of MAD publisher Bill Gaines, had a hand in how Superman was first published. Here is some historical background.

https://bleedingcool.com/comics/maxwell-charles-gaines-the-man-who-rejected-superman-in-1936/

Jimmy’s Kimmelmann Turn*

I’m pleased to be wrong about Jimmy Kimmel not returning to ABC-TV. He’ll be at his usual spot tomorrow night. If he’s going to make a change to his show, it should be bringing up the lights on his set. It’s as dark as the Batcave.

Did you like that AI Batman clip? Here’s another one.

On Facebook, the MAGA trolls were repeating Trump’s taunts about Kimmel’s network TV ratings, with reportedly about 1.5 million regular viewers. What they’re missing is that he has 20 million followers on YouTube.

* “An Immelmann turn was a maneuver used after an attack on another aircraft to reposition the attacking aircraft for another attack.”

Cover Thumbs-Up

Most “hour” network TV shows are now about 40 minutes long. So is this survey of Fantastic Four comic book covers from the legendary Lee-Kirby run on the title. More than half of the issues were inked by my dearly departed pal, Joe Sinnott, who returned to the series in issue #44, after inking Jack’s art for the introduction of Doctor Doom in issue #5.