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

NextGen TV Comes to Boston

This Thursday morning at 9 is supposed to be when the major Boston TV stations will flip the switch to enable ATSC 3.0 broadcasting.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/next-gen-tv-signal-launch-announcement-january-2023/42655417

For all of its potential advantages over ATSC 1.0, including 4K resolution, the only one that matters to me is improved reception. Specifically, freedom from the multipath interference that plagues UHF signals. This relative immunity, as seen in otherwise inferior VHF signals, is made possible by borrowing the modulation technology that’s used in cellular networks.

The problem is, where are the ubiquitous and affordable NextGen TV tuners and, especially, DVR’s? Without an FCC mandate like there was for ATSC 1.0, electronics manufacturers continue to drag their feet. As soon as TiVo has an ATSC 3.0 USB dongle available, I’ll get one. If I have to buy a new TiVo, that’s okay too.

https://www.techhive.com/article/1470564/atsc-3-0-in-2023-why-nextgen-tv-still-needs-another-year.html

The National Association of Broadcasters has met with the FCC to voice its concern about the slow adoption of NextGen TV tuners by manufacturers.

https://www.nexttv.com/news/nab-to-fcc-atsc-30-transition-is-in-peril

William Cameraman Menzies

Had a blast at my buddy Bismo’s place, sharing beers and watching the restored Invaders From Mars in 4K UHD. Before directing that 1953 Sci-Fi classic, William Cameron Menzies designed and directed Things to Come in 1936.

Written for the screen by H.G. Wells, with some of the worst dialogue this side of Ayn Rand, Things to Come is a Sci-Fi classic for its impressive design and visual effects. Some of what Menzies envisioned for the future became reality, such as widescreen, flat-panel HDTV.