What Joe Sinnott was to Marvel, his friend Joe Giella was to DC. Joe passed away yesterday at age 94.
Mark Evanier has this remembrance.
DC 94 yr. GIANT, Joe Giella
Category: Cartooning
Get Tilted
A new one from Phish bassist Mike Gordon. On guitar is my pal and former techie colleague Scott Murawski. The animation has nods to Leonardo da Vinci, Heironymous Bosch, and what appears to be Miyazaki’s Howl’s Moving Castle.
Having Fits Over Fritz
The BBC has a surprisingly positive and in-depth article about the controversial Fritz the Cat movie from 1972. It shouldn’t be called Robert Crumb’s Fritz the Cat, because Crumb didn’t license the production himself, and he didn’t want his name associated with it.
Fritz the Cat is available on a recent Blu-ray release. Bonus commentary is with my old pal, G. Michael Dobbs, author of Made of Pen & Ink: Fleischer Studios, The New York Years, and Mike’s cohort in film and animation history, artist Steve Bissette.
https://www.amazon.com/Fritz-Cat-Skip-Hinnant/dp/B09BF59MQR/
You can watch it here for free, sans the commentary.
Walmart Beats Amazon!
I’m miffed at Amazon for ending Kindle magazines and newspapers. Even before that announcement I was annoyed to see the only place taking pre-orders for the Max Fleischer’s Superman (1941-1943) Blu-ray set isn’t Amazon, it’s Walmart.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Max-Fleischer-s-Superman-1941-1943-Blu-Ray/1574573807
Update: Amazon now has a listing, but Walmart’s price is $4 less.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXQM8FTK/
Update: Amazon’s price now matches Walmart’s.
The Music Man of Steel
A tip o’ the Dog Rat toupee to my best buddy Denro, for tipping me off to this 1975 ABC-TV production of the 1966 musical, It’s a Bird… It’s a Plane… It’s Superman. Lesley Ann Warren plays Lois Lane. She would have been good in The Rocky Horror Picture Show if Susan Sarandon hadn’t played Janet in the movie.
Coming in May will be an official Warner Blu-ray release of the 1940’s Fleischer/Famous Superman cartoons. It’s being reported that the original negatives have been scanned for perfectly super image quality. The cartoons will also be available to purchase for online streaming.
You’re Woke, Charlie Brown!
The wife of a cartoonist introduces a feature with the widow of another cartoonist.
https://youtu.be/RyaHhF4UY_M