Shielding Stephen Colbert

It’s no surprise to this old comic book fan that the death of Captain America wouldn’t last very long. There’s a new hero in action, taking Cap’s place. But what of the indestructible shield that belonged to the original Captain America? Isn’t it now in the possession of none other than Stephen Colbert?
[flv:/Video/2008/JAN/ColbertMarvel.flv 440 330]

A Visit With An Old Friend

Good Ol’ Mike Dobbs, author, editor, and animation expert, has a new book out called ESCAPE! How Animation Broke Into The Mainstream. Click the picture to read an article about it.

Mike Dobbs - Escape: How Animation Broke Into The Mainstream

On Saturday I drove out to Springfield for a talk Mike gave about animation in general, and the book in particular. He gave a great introduction to the history of animation, providing a clear and concise explanation of how we got where we are today. It was fun seeing The Dobbster (no relation to Lou Dobbs, that I know of!) in person after many years. Mike mentions my visit in his blog, at this link.

Background on Background

Mr. D.F. Rogers of Massachusetts writes,

Okay, what’s with the new header? I can’t place it. Hmm, an old Popeye background?

Glad you asked. You are correct! Good catch. It is indeed the background to an old Popeye cartoon.

Popeye and Olive

This is another photo taken of the projection screen with the ol’ 1.3 megapixel digital camera sitting on top of the Panasonic PT-AX200U. Why did I use this image for the blog header? No particular reason. I just thought it looked neat and weird. As you can see, I added some tint to it.

Happiness Is… Security Is…

Charles M. Schulz is still on our minds here at DogRat.com, and Monte Schulz is still soldiering on over at Cartoon Brew, responding to readers who are just now reading Schulz and Peanuts by David Michaelis. He says today is his deadline for an essay, some 70 pages long, about the biography to be published in The Comics Journal.

Charles M. Schulz self-portraitHappiness Is A Sad Song

My buddy D. F. Rogers recently made an impulse purchase of a Peanuts Classic Edition reprint of the 1967 book, Happiness Is A Sad Song. A copy of this was a fixture in my sister’s room for many years. One of the “Happiness Is” items that Dennis pointed out is this one, which is also a favorite of mine.

Happiness Is...

Ignoring the fact that Charlie Brown isn’t in a child safety seat, it’s a very nice sentiment. In 1972, Charles Schulz expanded on the idea in this Sunday comic strip. Click the panels to see the full page.

Click to enlarge

For Dennis and myself, the best expression of happiness is this one…

Happiness Is...