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Special guest post — Taking leave of my Census

Historian and genealogist Denro sets us straight on the United State Census:

The countdown to the release of the 1940 Census on April 2, 2012 has begun! Genealogists are salivating already! You posted some concerns about the 2010 Census. There’s nothing new under the sun — detailed questions have always been asked, especially in the 20th Century. The Census is the Genealogist’s friend!

Just watch these films. They are actually on the Archives.gov site, but they have also been posted to YouTube. The 1st is a Patriotic Infomercial, 1940s style – “Cooperate” with a Census-taking Uncle Sam! “Census of Housing” is hilariously bad on the acting front — and filled with detail upon hilarious detail. I believe that David Lynch watched this one continually for 24 hrs. straight, and then made “Eraserhead.”

Thanks, Denro! The Census of Population and Agriculture films likewise have some deliciously stilted acting.

Al Williamson’s Flash drive

It’s been only a month since Frank Frazetta’s passing, and now Al Williamson is gone, too. They did some outstanding work together at EC. If Frazetta’s forté was fantasy, Williamson’s bent was more for science-fiction.

I first saw Williamson’s work in 1966, in issue #1 of the Flash Gordon comic-book series, from the short-lived King Comics line. Here is a sample of what I saw when I was but a wee lad of ten. The artistry in these pages is stunning, compared to many of the comics that were being published at the time.

Williamson worked in a style inspired by Alex Raymond, who is my pick for the all-time greatest artist of adventure comic strips. Younger fans came to know Williamson from his run on Star Wars. By that time, Al was being assisted by Carlos Garzón, from Bogotá, Columbia, where the American-born Williamson had grown up.

The last time I saw Williamson at a comics convention he still had something of the brash, young artistic turk about him, despite being in middle-age, and he was still very much a lady’s man. He was a rare breed, who updated a classic style of illustration, while staying true to it. Williamson and Frazetta were to comic books what the Method was to acting, where tried-and-true techniques of the past were reinvigorated with an independent, cutting-edge, attitude.

Speaking of Frazetta, his most famous ink drawing was recently bought by Heritage Auction co-founder Jim Halperin for $380,000. It was drawn for a Famous Funnies issue of Buck Rogers, but it ended up as the cover for the EC book Weird Science-Fantasy #29.

Erik Colan with his father Gene

Gene Colan is one of the all-time great comic-book artists. There are many favorite stories that Gene illustrated, starting with the first I ever saw, Daredevil #20, in 1966. Another is the Iron Man story in Tales of Suspense #93.

Two years ago, Gene Colan was at death’s door. With a lot of medical care, and some financial help from his peers and fans (myself included), Gene made a miraculous recovery. Recently, Gene has had a tough time with some personal, as well as physical, setbacks. The Colan family is starting to recover from these latest difficulties, and I was surprised and pleased when Denro told me that Gene’s son Erik has posted some videos with his dad on YouTube.