Category: Cartooning

Diane Disney, 1933-2013

Sharon, Walt, Diane and Lillian Disney
Sharon, Walt, Diane and Lillian Disney

Diane Disney has passed away, a month shy of her 80th birthday. Diane was Walt’s first daughter, and his only biological child. Sharon, who died in 1993, was adopted. Brian Sibley knew Diane, and today he talked about her on BBC Radio 4.

[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Audio/2013/11/Brian+and+Diane.mp3|titles=Brian Sibley on Diane Disney]

This is the Disney Studio’s press release with Diane’s birth announcement.

12/18/33 - IT'S A GIRL! At the Walt Disneys. The infant was born almost at the moment that Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse, was receiving a medal from a Parents' Magazine for distinguished service to children. Hastily thanking 75 distinguished guests for the medal, Disney deserted the luncheon and rushed to the Good Samaritan Hospital (Los Angeles) to see his wife and baby girl. The baby, born through a Caesarian operation, and mother were reported doing well by the attending physician. Photo shows Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse making the important announcement.
12/18/33 – IT’S A GIRL! At the Walt Disneys. The infant was born almost at the moment that Disney, creator of Mickey Mouse, was receiving a medal from a Parents’ Magazine for distinguished service to children. Hastily thanking 75 distinguished guests for the medal, Disney deserted the luncheon and rushed to the Good Samaritan Hospital (Los Angeles) to see his wife and baby girl. The baby, born through a Caesarian operation, and mother were reported doing well by the attending physician. Photo shows Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse making the important announcement.

Happy Birthday, Joe Sinnott!

I have to post this fast, before Joe’s 87th birthday is over! This is the first photo I’ve seen of Joe since his shoulder replacement surgery. Haven’t heard yet if he’s added working at his drawing board to his physical therapy routine.

JoeSinnott87

While I’m on the subject of comic books, a couple of things. PBS has made a big splash with the 3-part documentary Superheroes: A Never-Ending Battle, and if you go that link the entire thing is supposed to be online for a limited time.

My interest level dropped off quickly in the third part of Superheroes, and I could nit-pick the first two parts — Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko deserved even more attention than they got — but as I said six years ago, when In Search of Steve Ditko by Jonathan Ross came out, I’m happy that comic books are now widely accepted as a valid creative medium. My mother sure didn’t think they were more than trash when I was a kid, because that’s where she threw my collection. In the second part of the documentary I was pleased to see Jim Steranko being featured prominently.

IDW Publishing has announced something that has me ignoring my self-imposed restriction on buying more big books, and these are REALLY big books! The Steranko Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Artist’s Edition, and the Steranko Nick Fury and Captain America Artist’s Edition. What makes these IDW editions special is that they’re scanned from the original art. After all these decades, Steranko has held onto all of the original pages — well, most — of his ground-breaking comic book work, and for fans like me this is the payoff.

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There is at least one piece of Steranko original art that isn’t in the possession of its creator. To scan the original cover art for Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #8, IDW will have to borrow it from none other than Jonathan Ross.

J. David Spurlock with Jonathan Ross