In the age of declining newspaper readership, there aren’t many American papers left that have their own in-house political cartoonist. So it’s distressing when an established cartoonist is fired, especially when the reason isn’t economic, but political.
A few years ago the radical cartoonist Ted Rall was pushed out of The Los Angeles Times under very strange and confusing circumstances. Until a couple of days ago The Pittsburg Post-Gazette had Rob Rogers, and there is nothing confusing about the reason for his firing.
With nothing else to do here today in hot ‘n’ sunny AZ, I saw “Avengers: Infinity War.” Last night I did some preparatory homework by watching “Thor: Ragnarok” on Netflix.
Without having the very confusing Thor movie under my story arc belt, I would have been lost trying to follow the start of the even more confusing Infinity War. Having not seen the Black Panther movie, I ended up nevertheless suffering from continuity exhaustion.
Avengers #4, page 4, panel 4, 1964. Art by Jack Kirby and Paul Reinman.
The only thing I didn’t see listed in the closing credits was the kitchen sink, but it must have been in there, because everything else was! Without giving anything away, one comment I will make is there’s a scene in Infinity War that’s identical to Captain America being rescued in Avengers #4 — except it isn’t Cap, it happens in space, and the Avengers aren’t the team that does the saving.
Panel 5. Thor is wrong about Cap. He was a freedom-fighter in WWII, not a crime-fighter.
Oh, wait. There was one other thing I didn’t see in the closing credits. Steve Ditko’s name. He co-created Spider-Man and created Doctor Strange. Maybe he’s in there but I missed it.
After “The Americans” finished up its run, the thought came to me that the series has one huge trait in common with “Breaking Bad.” The villain(s) in each TV show is hiding in plain sight, successfully concealing his bad guy identity from a law enforcement agent with whom he has a close relationship. I’m sure others must have pointed out this similarity in fan forums, but I don’t follow them.
Matthew Rhys and Noah Emmerich
With “The Americans” the identities of Philip and Elizabeth Jennings are false fronts. In contrast, Walter White in “Breaking Bad” transforms into Heisenberg. In a way it’s like Clark Kent being Superman’s made-up identity, while Bruce Wayne becomes Batman. Except they’re good guys!
Bob Clampett made so many outstanding, outrageous cartoons during his tenure at Warner Brothers, that picking a favorite isn’t easy. There’s Draftee Daffy and Book Revue, not to mention the unmentionable Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs. Only during the relaxed censorship of wartime could such a thing have been created! But if I were forced to choose, I would say it’s this cartoon that strikes my fancy the most.
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery, a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Robert “Bob” Clampett, released July 20, 1946.
Note: The snippet of music heard over the opening title is “Mysterious Mose.” Carl Stalling made generous use of Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse” throughout.
The Dover Boys at Pimento University, a Leon Schlesinger Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Charles M. “Chuck” Jones, released September 19, 1942.
With America fully engulfed in the Second World War, Chuck Jones looked back forty years to make this whimsical parody of the Rover Boys series of books for boys. And yet the stripped-down and highly stylized design of the cartoon provided a glimpse into the future, by influencing John Hubley, one of the founders of the UPA animation studio. Even the way the letters “P” and “U” are animated at the beginning of the cartoon was years ahead of its time.
