If you follow Mark Evanier’s NewsFromME site, you can’t miss the fact that he’s at the San Diego Comic-Con. The cable TV station G4 had a show from the con, and I was hoping Evanier would be featured, but I didn’t see him. They did, however, have this…
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUL07/ComicCon.flv 400 300]
Category: Cartooning
Mort Walker’s The Best of Times
Here’s something I didn’t know. For the past year cartoonist Mort Walker (or, more likely, his son) has been publishing a magazine of cartoons, ads, and household hints, called The Best of Times. The formatting of the page at that link is a bit messed up, but clicking on the pictures works to bring up PDF copies of the issues.
When Walker isn’t in Florida he lives in Wilton, Connecticut, next to Norwalk, where I grew up. In fact, I used to ride my bike through Wilton, on my way to buy comic books. My two regular stops were in the same shopping center — a stationary store, and a drug store. Click the picture to see a map of my bike route. I made that trip many, many times between the spring of 1966 and the fall of 1968, weather permitting. Two miles exactly. I don’t believe Hillcrest was there 40 years ago. If it had been I probably wouldn’t have taken it anyway, as I preferred to avoid Route 7, which was a very busy and fast stretch of road. When I was older, living in Massachusetts, it was painful to realize that in Fairfield County I had been surrounded by many of the cartoonists and illustrators who I idolized.
Superman in “A Game of Moonball”
In a blog post that was lost in what I’ll call The Great Database Disaster, I made a comment that I’m not ready to buy an HDTV set. I haven’t even decided yet if I want a direct-view set or a front projection unit. Note: I said FRONT and not rear projection. For example, this little gem looks interesting, but oh that sticker shock! A more reasonable choice would be this model.
For now, it’s an academic question, because it’ll be a year or two before I do anything, and the gear will be completely changed by then anyway. But why would I be considering a projector, rather than, say, a plasma or direct-view LCD? Because when I was a kid I had one of these…
…which was my #1 favorite childhood toy. This is the Kenner Super Show. The picture came from an eBay auction I just won. To a great extent, this blog is nothing more than me playing with an updated Super Show. In acknowledgment of this, I will present my favorite slide that I enjoyed projecting on the wall. It’s Superman and Lois Lane, in “A Game of Moonball.”
I have two comments about this 7-panel comic strip that I used to think to myself, whenever looking at it over 40 years ago, shining on the wall.
- The red and yellow are reversed on Superman’s “S” emblem
- Superman seems to almost be acting as if Lois knows his secret identity.
What I didn’t wonder back then, but I am now, is who did the art? It’s fairly apparent that Curt Swan did the pencils, but I’m not sure of who inked them. At the moment I’m inclined to say Stan Kaye.
Eric’s Anime Pick — Ergo Proxy
Besides giant robot battles, another fave Anime theme is the hot female agent/assassin who begins to suspect she isn’t working for the good guys. (See previous post about Kurau.) Ergo Proxy is another example along these lines. So far we’ve watched it through episode 4. The series has some subtly stylized, if dark and monochromatic, artwork and an attention-holding narrative.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUL07/ErgoProxy.flv 425 240]
The theme song played over the closing credits, “Paranoid Android,” is by Radiohead, a band I featured here. The song heard during the opening is by Monral.
Eric’s non-Anime Pick — Linda Linda Linda
Eric’s first non-Anime contemporary Japanese movie pick was the winning romantic comedy Train Man. Now he has us watching another winner. We haven’t finished Linda Linda Linda yet, but already we can recommend it with confidence. Below is a review from The Boston Globe. And here’s a clip from the movie.
[flv:http://www.dograt.com/Video/JUL07/LindaLindaLinda.flv 425 240]
Schoolgirl charm rocks sweetly funny ‘Linda’
By Wesley Morris, Globe Staff | January 12, 2007
Don’t let the lack of punctuation fool you. “Linda Linda Linda” is a peachy two-hour delight that ends with a flurry of exclamation points. If the Beatles were teen girls starring in a John Hughes picture made with a distinctly Japanese attention to the comedy of everyday life, the movie showcasing it all would go something like this.
The members of an all-girl punk quartet have about three days to learn a number for the spring rock show at their high school. The new lead singer, Son (Doona Bae ), is a solemn Korean exchange student whose face contains limitless ways to touch you with its sleepiness. The group’s chosen song is a fuzzy firecracker called “Linda Linda,” an ’80s classic (in Japan) by the Japanese group the Blue Hearts. I’m still singing it.
Continue reading Eric’s non-Anime Pick — Linda Linda Linda
June in July
Mark Evanier is helping legendary voice actor June Foray write her autobiography. She turns 90 this year! Evanier recently said he “will soon be announcing some sort of publication date, I hope.” June herself has a slightly different take on the situation. She was on WBZ radio in Boston late Sunday night, and this is what she said.