Category: Cartooning

Home, Cold Home

There’s still no electricity at home. The utility company says it should be back on by Wednesday night, but if it isn’t we’ll be looking for a hotel room. I’ve got the fireplace going in the evening, and I can run space heaters off the portable generator. I have a 5-gallon gas container, but I wish the generator’s tank were bigger. We have oil lamps, and they work great. I can see why sperm whales were hunted to near extinction before petroleum took over. My GE Superadio III, 17 years old, has been our primary source of entertainment.

Compliments of great guy Mark Sinnott, here’s a follow-up pic from the Albany Comic Con, with me on the right, with Denro and Joe Sinnott. Men with caps! As always, I make a point of not looking directly into a camera flash, which is painful for somebody who has lattice degeneration.

Albany Comic Con

After a harrowing drive in a freak snow storm last night, especially nerve-wracking when going through the Berkshires, Denro and I are in Albany for a comic book convention. These one-day shows are nice because they’re small and manageable. Joltin’ Joe Sinnott is here, and this is a picture of Denro with Joe.

Dennis is holding the original art to page #19 of Fantastic Four #46, the third issue of many that Joe inked over Jack Kirby’s pencil art. Technically, it’s the fourth issue of FF Joe handled because he had inked ish #5, before leaving Marvel for a while when he was under contract with Treasure Chest comics.

The power is out at my house and at Dennis’ too. I’m told there is a large tree down that’s blocking my street. It’s a dead end, so I’ll be returning to a dark, cold house in a neighborhood I can’t leave!

Hergé today, gone tomorrow

Tintin is huge! Created by the late Georges Remi, aka Hergé, spunky and intrepid boy reporter Tintin is hugely popular everywhere — except in the United States. Way back in March 2007, I noted that Stephen Spielberg intended to produce a Tintin movie, and I posted a bit of video from the documentary Tintin Et Moi.

[flv:http://s3.amazonaws.com/dogratcom/Video/2011/Oct/Tintin.flv 400 250]

For some more background on Hergé and Tintin, watch this short video with Michael Farr, author of the excellent book, Tintin: The Complete Companion. I own a copy of the original 2002 edition. The book has been out of print, but it’s scheduled to be republished.

As things turned out with The Adventures of Tintin, Peter Jackson produced and Spielberg directed. The movie opens this week exactly where it should, in Europe. But even if it’s a blockbuster success there, will it catch on here in America, when it’s released on December 21?

http://youtu.be/nlE4kXKwG7Y

Despite excellent early reviews for The Adventures of Tintin I’m not a fan of this sort of motion capture animation, but seeing the name Steven Moffat in the credits gives me hope. Moffat is an outstanding writer, whose work on the BBC’s Doctor Who is some of the finest, most enjoyable television I have ever watched.

http://youtu.be/vY_Ry8J_jdw

BBC Radio 4 Extra is running audio dramatizations of Tintin adventures that you can hear at this link. And while you’re on Radio 4 Extra, don’t miss a repeat presentation of Brian Sibley’s outstanding adaptation of the Titus Groan books, by Mervyn Peake and his wife Maeve Gilmore.

Happy Birthday, Joe Sinnott!

Marvel Comics art legend Joltin’ Joe Sinnott is 85 today. Hover over the picture to see Joe “back in the day,” as he likes to say. The thing about Joe is, looking at the artwork he does now, there’s no “back in the day” about it, because it’s as perfect as ever.

I didn’t start collecting comic books until early 1966, after the Batman TV show premiered, so I’d missed a lot of great Sixties issues and I really appreciated comics with reprints (although later I was dismayed to learn the artists and writers received no reprint royalties). Marvel Tales #10, September ’67, reprinted the Thor story from Journey into Mystery #92, May ’63. That was the first time I saw art that Joe had both penciled and inked. From that I was able to get a better appreciation for what Joe did to give Jack Kirby’s forceful Fantastic Four art such an attractive and clean appearance.

For much better printing quality than this scan from Marvel Tales #10, I recommended The Mighty Thor Omnibus, Vol. 1, which I was happy to get for my birthday. I don’t know how much of the book was taken from original art, but this particular story sure appears as though it was.

Joe will be appearing at the Albany Comic Con in two weeks, Sunday, October 30, and you can be sure Denro and I will be there!