Thursday, January 20, 2005

Links Go, Links Come

Over on my Links page, I've just removed (sadly) the connect to Spinsanity, a very sane political site that debunked a lot of foolish rhetoric from both the right and left. The folks behind it have decided to expend their efforts on other projects, which I regret, though I can't say I blame them.

But let's say hello to a new recommended weblog: Gary Sassaman's Innocent Bystander. Gary is a fine writer-artist (take a look at his "album" on The Last Days of Groucho Marx) and also the man behind the programming at the Comic-Con International in San Diego and the WonderCon in San Francisco. With all that, he still has time to toss out an interesting blog on a variety of subjects.

And, speaking of that WonderCon in San Francisco...

• Posted at 8:08 PM · LINK

Sponging

By now, you may have heard that the right-wing scold, Dr. James C. Dobson, is warning America that SpongeBob SquarePants is recruiting for the gay movement. One might recall that a few years ago, Jerry Falwell managed to look pretty foolish with some sort of incoherent claim that one of the TeleTubbies on that kids' show was a bit light in the bunny slippers.

(Actually, to be fairer to the Reverend Falwell than he usually is to his opponents, it sounded to me then like he was being quoted out of context and that his meaning was distorted. But even what he did say was such a doofus statement that you almost couldn't expect foes and comedians to not run with it and exaggerate it into something even dumber.)

So my question is: Did Dr. Dobson not learn from Falwell's becoming a laughingstock? Or is it perhaps deliberate? That he expects to be ridiculed for the statement but also expects some offsetting benefits? I do think a lot of public crusaders, left and right, say outrageous things to get attention. A few years back, we had a low-level public servant down in Orange County who was prone to some really offensive, racist statements. They got him a lot of hate mail...but they also got him a lot of TV air time and a surprising number of campaign donations from folks who liked his message. My sense was that he considered it a great trade-off.

Here's the New York Times article on the outing of SpongeBob, via a link that should not require registration. My sense is that if played right, this is worth at least a week of Leno/Letterman monologues. Which may be exactly what Dobson wants.

• Posted at 7:54 PM · LINK

Jack's Back!

Just received my copies of the new, 2005 version of Kirby Unleashed from the excellent folks at TwoMorrows Publishing. This is a reprint/update of a book/folio of Jack Kirby's work that was originally published in 1971. My then-partner Steve Sherman and I assembled it, and for the new edition, Steve has written a new intro and John Morrow and I have updated and corrected a lot of the text. (As usually happens when I look back at something I worked on long ago, there was a powerful drive to completely rewrite...but John restrained me, so I settled for just fixing some of the dumber writing and all — I hope — the mistakes.) John has also tweaked the design and added in loads of additional artwork, much of it in color...and it's really quite a handsome volume.

For the Kirby connoisseur, this is a must-have item, even if you own the original. For those new to Kirby, it's a pretty good introduction to the man and his work...nothing too deep but at twenty four bucks (postpaid), it's a heckuva bargain. Here's where you get a copy.

By the by: As any of my long-time friends will tell you, I used to have an uncanny ability to simulate the handwriting of others. In the last decade or so, as I have segued from occasionally drawing or lettering something to doing it all on this here computer, my control of a pen or pencil has sadly atrophied...but that's a matter we should discuss another time. What I did want to mention is that when I worked for Jack, he was oddly delighted by my ability to sign his name...and if I studied a real sample and put my mind to it, I could do it such that neither he nor his wife Roz could tell the difference. He'd even hand me my paychecks unsigned and say, "Here...you can sign this better than I can." Once in a while, he'd finish a drawing and hand it to me to sign, sometimes telling me to do the "neater" version of his autograph, which was not so much a forgery as an improvement. The "Jack Kirby" signature that sometimes adorns the covers of The Jack Kirby Collector as part of the title logo is, I think, one of mine.

A number of the signatures in Kirby Unleashed were by me, and I also inked part of one drawing. In some cases, I did the "slicker" Kirby signature and in some cases, I did the one that looked exactly like Jack could have signed in two seconds. In the next issue of The Jack Kirby Collector, I'll attempt to identify which ones are Jack and which ones are me. But first, I have to study a couple and decide for myself.

• Posted at 2:49 PM · LINK

P.S.

Two more notes on the Stan Lee lawsuit. At this moment, Google News lists 264 articles online about Stan's victory. Some list Stan as creator, not co-creator. A few refer to him as "cartoonist Stan Lee," suggesting wrongly that he drew. Steve Ditko is unmentioned in the 264 articles.

Also, Scott Shaw! identifies the person wearing the Spider-Man costumes in the picture I ran...

Dunno if you're aware of it, but the photo you've posted with the "With Great Profits Comes Great Responsibility" article is of additional interest, inasmuch as it was photographed when Stan was at Marvel Productions. The fellow in the Spidey costume was Chris Sanders, the creator of Lilo and Stitch for Disney. Chris was working for me at the time as a character designer on Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, and frankly, was the only employee there who was physically fit enough to look good in the Spider-togs.

I trust you are all visiting Scott's Oddball Comics page every week. And if you get to WonderCon next month, make sure you catch his very amusing slide show of such strangeness. It'll be on Saturday afternoon, right after we play our famous game of "Quick Draw!," in which Scott will also be a participant. Full schedule of my panels to come in a day or two here.

• Posted at 8:43 AM · LINK

Freberg Alert! Freberg Alert!

A few years back, our friend and idol Stan Freberg appeared on three episodes of the Roseanne sitcom, playing Mr. Parker, the manager of a grocery store. Craig Crumpton (thanks, Craig) informs me that those three episodes are running on Nick at Nite, the next few days. The first two are tonight at 11 PM and 11:30 PM with repeats on Friday at 2 AM and 2:30 AM. The third airs Saturday at 12 AM with a repeat at 2 AM. Consult the TV Land schedule for more info.

• Posted at 8:12 AM · LINK

The Michael Wars

An interesting piece about the Michael Eisner-Mike Ovitz lawsuit. [Los Angeles Times, registration a necessity of life.]

• Posted at 7:55 AM · LINK