Category: Cartooning

Mighty Young Joe

I’ve been trying to work through my thoughts and feelings about Joe Sinnott, but I haven’t made much progress. Although Joe’s passing was not due to the coronavirus, I feel the crisis had an indirect effect, because he couldn’t have visitors. Joe wasn’t able to see his family and friends, and Joe had a lot of friends and fans. I was proud and happy to have been one of them.

Joe was buried yesterday with military honors, following a private service with his family. There will be a future public event celebrating Joe’s life, if the pandemic ever releases its grip. Marvel Comics has published a remembrance of Joe at this link.

Walkering Distance

As I have mentioned before, I grew up in Connecticut surrounded by cartoonists. Unfortunately, I didn’t begin to realize that until shortly before my family moved to Massachusetts. What might have been if we hadn’t moved!

Mort Walker passed away a couple of years ago, and his sons continue the family business. Brian Walker’s studio is only two miles from where I lived as a kid.

Reveille – A Family Legacy In Comics from Dave Walker on Vimeo.

A tip o’ the ol’ DogRat toupee to Mark Evanier, who recently featured this video on his NewsFromME blog.

Crumb-y Music

A few posts ago, in a screen shot from Ghost World, Thora Birch is shown holding a copy of an album by R. Crumb and His Cheap Suit Serenaders. Lo and behold, here’s the album for your listening pleasure.

In an interview at this link, Crumb talks about his record collecting habit. Robert had to edge-ya-ma-kate the interviewer a bit about shellac 78’s, and the web page design is too “interesting” for easy reading. But it has some good comments and information, including this gem that, believe it or not, I’ve wondered about for years. How often does Crumb replace the stylus on his vintage, Swiss-made Lenco L75 turntable?

“In the 1970s I had some hi-fi components put together for me by a sound engineer wizard, which I’m still using. When this set of components wears out, I’ll have to get some help in finding the right stuff to replace it. About once a year I have to order a new stylus from a small company in England, the Expert Stylus Company, which will re-tip your stylus with a new diamond tip specially made for pre-WWII 78s. It now costs about 100 euros for this service.”