Category: Cartooning

Catholic Comics

Joe Sinnott had something more in common with Georges “Hergé” Remi, the Belgian creator of Tin Tin, than both of them being cartoonists. They had their work published by the Catholic Church.

In 2014-15, my friend Jim Tournas, aka Jimmy T., ran a Kickstarter campaign to reprint Joe’s illustrated life of Pope John XXIII, scanned from Joe’s original art. The biography had originally been published as a series in the Catholic Church’s line of Treasure Chest comics.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jetta/the-story-of-pope-john-xxiii-illustrated-by-joe-si

On that Kickstarter page you can see there was a pledge level of $1500. Did anybody fund the project for that amount? Yeah, I did. In this video Joe is holding a paperback proof of the book. Being Joe’s friend meant so much to me that I keep my proof copy at my beside. The final hardcover printing is much larger.

Publication of the book received notice in The Catholic Register.

https://www.catholicregister.org/features/arts/item/19870-comic-book-reissue-of-st-john-xxiii-s-life-improves-on-the-original

A couple of months ago, The Knights of Columbus featured Joe in this piece about comics and the Church.

https://www.kofc.org/en/news-room/columbia/2022/december/the-knights-behind-a-comic-book-revival.html

Ask Me No Questions, I’ll Tell You No Lies

A couple of months ago I mentioned borrowing some images from Ken Quattro, who had posted them on Facebook.

Toth’s Angel and Ghost

Ken is one of the sources appearing in “The Lie Detector,” an excellent new American Experience documentary on PBS. The popularization of lie detectors — which are valid only as an intimidation tactic — has a comic book connection.

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/lie-detector/

The documentary doesn’t touch upon another device, that is also used for truth-seeking interrogation. Scientology’s E-meter.

Well Blow Me – Down!

Way back during the Dubya years, I mentioned a perceived sadistic streak in some of the Famous studio cartoons.

Popeye’s Alien Abduction

"Popeye, the Ace of Space" (1953)
“Popeye, the Ace of Space” (1953)

In “Popeye, the Ace of Space” Olive isn’t present to be sexually assaulted by Bluto, which is the premise for most of the cartoons. Another example of the boys going at it without Olive being caught in the middle is “Friend or Phony” from 1952.

It makes sense that Bluto is dying as a result of Popeye’s addiction to his performance-enhancing drug of choice. But you have to likewise wonder how Popeye has survived Bluto’s ultra violence.

Here’s the cartoon, with the ever-naive Popeye being a sucker for Bluto’s never-ending scheming.

Spector’s Christmas Spectacle

On this Christmas Day I have posted something about Phil Spector, and something about Joe Sinnott. Now for the kicker.

A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector was released on the day that JFK was assassinated, November 22, 1963 (two days before my family appeared in Parade magazine).

Fifty years ago, Apple Records re-released the album, retitled as Phil Spector’s Christmas Album. Spector posed for the cover photos wearing “Back To MONO” buttons, as seen in the enlarged scan I made for the previous post.

The following year, 1973, John Lennon was photographed wearing a Back To MONO button. It’s probably safe to assume that he got it from Spector.

https://sfae.com/Artists/Tom-Zimberoff/John-Lennon-Back-to-Mono-Pin-Los-Angeles-1973

The origin of the button is uncertain. An account I read in an audio magazine many years ago credited the creation of the buttons to a well-known name in Hi-Fi at the time, whose name I don’t remember. He attended a music industry event and allegedly handed out the buttons, that were circulated from there. Even today, true mono mixing has an advantage over stereo that’s been “folded down” into mono. I’ll try to explain that later.

So what does this have to do with Joe Sinnott? Take a look at the back cover of the Apple album.

What does “Santa” have there? It’s a comic book!

Fantastic Four #127, October 1972 cover date, with art by John Buscema and Joe Sinnott.
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Fantastic_Four_Vol_1_127

Well, there you have it. Joe’s work hiding in plain sight, with one of the most notorious names in the history of popular music.

Ten years later, forty years ago in 1982, a CBS Records subsidiary, Pavilion, released Spector’s Christmas album in stereo. It wasn’t actually mixed in stereo, however. It’s a twin-track master, like the first two (according to George Martin three) UK stereo Beatles albums are. The sound is nonetheless, like those early Beatles albums, jaw-dropping revealing of studio ambiance and wonderful to hear.