Wednesday, June 25, 2003

www.dawsbutler.com

That's the address of the new official website that Joe Bevilacqua and Lorie Kellogg have erected in tribute to one of the all-time greatest actors — and I don't just mean cartoon voice actors. Daws Butler was also a very fine actor, period. That he plied his trade voicing Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, Augie Doggie, Snooper, Blabber, Cap'n Crunch, Elroy Jetson and so many more — including the smarter-than-average bruin at left — was a happy fact for the cartoon field. As I wrote over on my page, he was also one of the nicest men I've ever met and, for those who were privileged to take classes with him, a wonderful teacher.

So I'm delighted that Joe and Lorie have expanded their collection of Daws facts and curios into a standalone website, and that Ben Ohmart and Joe have compiled a new book of Butler scripts. He was the best.

• Posted at 10:36 PM · LINK

Teasing San Diego

On or about Friday, I should be posting here the schedule of panels I'll be moderating at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego. (Click here for info on how to be among the 70,000+ to attend) This year, I'm moderating ten, which is down from my previous high of twelve...but I'll also be appearing on one other.

Right now, I'll just tell you that there will be "spotlights" (one on one interviews) with Larry Lieber, Sal Buscema and Stan Goldberg. There will be the Annual Jack Kirby Tribute Panel with all three of those gents plus some others. There will be the annual Golden Age Panel on Saturday (looks like that'll be Paul Norris, Harry Lampert, Mart Nodell, Irwin Hasen, Howie Post, Murphy Anderson and Julius Schwartz). There will be a panel on Seduction of the Innocent, the deathless book by Dr. Fredric Wertham, and we'll be showing some video footage of Doc Wertham that has been unseen since 1967. There will be a panel on my work with Sergio Aragonés and another on the history of Dell and Gold Key Comics.

And I especially want to plug two events. On Friday afternoon, I'll be presiding over "Quick Draw," which was a smash hit last year. Basically, we get four of the funniest, fastest cartoonists in the business and with the help of the audience, I throw challenges at them which they have to meet with rapid-fire sketching. If you've seen us do this, you know what a wonderful thing it can be.

And then late Saturday afternoon, we have the Cartoon Voice Panel to end all Cartoon Voice Panels — one of the greatest arrays of top folks who speak for your favorite animated characters. They'll be performing scripts and taking your questions, and it oughta be wonderful.

More info in 48 hours. Or maybe a little after that.

• Posted at 9:42 PM · LINK

Quick Update

Just cleaned up some sloppy phrasing on the item (two back) entitled "Dem Weapons."

• Posted at 9:33 PM · LINK

Another Weblog to Watch

My pal Nat Gertler has a weblog devoted to his observations about television. Check out Nat's TV.

• Posted at 8:12 PM · LINK

Dem Weapons

Here's Josh Marshall on the evidence (circumstantial but damning) that the White House knew, when G.W.B. mentioned the Nigerian Uranium connection in his State of the Union Address, that those reports were phony. And over here on his weblog, Marshall makes the case that the thinking in or around the Oval Office went roughly like this: We aren't sure Saddam has these weapons but he might, so to get America behind the war effort, we'd better fib and say we're absolutely sure that danger is imminent.

Something like that.

The thing that bothers me about all this...well, two things. One of course is that so many people who flew into High Outrage over Bill Clinton's comparatively-minor truth-warpings are ready to spin or ignore any damn thing the Bush Administration says, no matter how poorly it stacks up against the evidence. Perhaps this shouldn't surprise me by now. Maybe we have actually reached the stage in this country where people — at least those actively involved in politics — are emotionally incapable of admitting that "their guy" lied. Democrat or Republican, it doesn't matter; Lying is only something the other team does. (The only exception to this seems to be when it looks like "your guy" is going down anyway. Then it's okay to pile on and try to claim a fragment of Moral High-Ground. You certainly want to call him a liar before he actually admits it.)

The other thing that bothers me is another one of those "pox on both parties" issues. There's some odd variation on the principle of schadenfreude that has to do with wishing ill on your enemies even if it brings harm on the nation and its people. It would be like a Republican (a few years ago) hoping that Clinton's economic plan would bring on massive unemployment because that would help the G.O.P. reclaim the White House. Or it would be like a Democrat (today) hoping that the economic picture will get worse because it will harm Bush's chances in '04. These are pretty sick things to be wishing.

The other day, cruising The Corner (a conservative weblog — and one often worth reading), I came across a post by its ringleader, Jonah Goldberg, on reports that new documents on Iraq's weapons plans have been seized...

Man, oh, Maneshevitz, it would be nice if this leads to huge stockpiles of WMD. But we've been burned on promising stories before, so we'll see.

Beyond the fact that a guy named Goldberg ought to be able to spell "Manischewitz," there's this: Wouldn't the best thing for America and the world be if we didn't find huge stockpiles of Weapons of Mass Destruction but rather, deduced that all the non-war actions (inspections, sanctions, etc.) had worked to eliminate them? I know some folks think those tactics are wimpy and unreliable but isn't the cause of peace and security a little better off if it turns out those methods prove to be more effective than previously thought?

Yes, there's a certain embarrassment for Bush and Company if the weapons aren't there...but most of that embarrassment has already occurred and won't be undone. Clearly, our intelligence — the specifics Powell cited before the U.N., for instance — is already discredited. We clearly didn't know what Hussein had or where he had it...and even if it turns out he had something, few are going to believe that we didn't invade based on faulty evidence. That's assuming we even find something and that anyone besides die-hard Republicans doesn't believe we didn't put it there.

If we do find W.M.D., those folks will celebrate — but only because it will help George W. Bush, not the world. The world is better off if the end of this story is that the sanctions and the inspections and maybe even the 1998 bombing of Iraq are why our guys ain't finding all that stuff that Hans Blix was ridiculed for not being able to find.

• Posted at 1:55 PM · LINK

Me and Al

My mention that I once sat for Mr. Hirschfeld brought mail. Glen Hauman, Phil Fried and Shelly Goldstein* all asked that I tell the tale of sitting for The Line King and/or that I post the resultant drawing. I have done this before so I'll refer you all to this posting. There you will be greeted by a portrait of a man with three Ninas in his hair. That is me.

*Chanteuse extraordinaire

• Posted at 11:49 AM · LINK

Martin, Out...Al, In

As we all know, the Martin Beck Theater in New York has been renamed for the great caricaturist and Nina-hider, Al Hirschfeld. Here's one of the few news reports I can find about the renaming that includes a photo of the new marquee.

It's a lovely gesture for a lovely man. (I had the honor of sitting for Mr. Hirschfeld a few years ago when he sketched me and just to be in his presence for a few hours was a joy.) But why couldn't they have done this when he was still around to see it?

I'm sorry. That's the last time I'm going to whine about this.

• Posted at 1:29 AM · LINK