Monday, July 4, 2005

If You Don't Read This Article, We'll Kill This Dog!

Hey, whatever happened to the National Lampoon?

Come to think of it — and I don't have a link to an answer for this one — whatever happened to Ed Bluestone? He was the guy who came up with that "...we'll shoot this dog" cover and wrote some brilliant pieces for the Lampoon, and he had a brief career as a standup comedian. Anyone have any idea if he's still with us or still performing?

• Posted at 9:38 PM · LINK

Oh, Say Can You See --?

We wish you all a safe 'n' sane Fourth of This Month today and suggest a screening of either of my favorite 7/4 movies — 1776 or Yankee Doodle Dandy. 1776, of course, tells the tale of the battle to write and adopt the Declaration of Independence...and does a marvelous job of building suspense as it tells a tale where we already know the outcome. There's actually a point in the proceedings, a little before "Cool, Conservative Men," where I always find myself thinking for a moment, "Gee, I hope they can get that Declaration voted in but I don't see how." Followers of the movie (or of American history) might be interested in this article that ran recently in Salon, discussing the trafficking in rum that figured so prominently into the American Revolution, and which gets its due in 1776. [To read said article, you'll either need to be a Salon subscriber or watch some advertising.]

Yankee Doodle Dandy, of course, starred Jimmy Cagney as George M. Cohan. It starts with the specious claim that Cohan was born on the Fourth of July (he was not) and like so many Hollywood bio pics, the level of accuracy never gets much higher than that. Based on the extant films and recordings of Mr. Cohan, I would say that the greatest misrepresentation is in the suggestion that he was anywhere near as talented as Mr. Cagney. I don't like the bogus history and I don't like the celebration of Cohan's hollow, "I got mine" brand of flag-waving...but I like Cagney so much in this film that I can overlook the negatives.

• Posted at 10:23 AM · LINK

Krediting Kirby

There's a short piece in this morning's Los Angeles Times about the general neglect of Jack Kirby, in both a credit and financial sense, in the current spate of Marvel Comics movies. I was interviewed for the article but do not endorse its view of Kirby's legal status, nor do I think its estimate of Stan Lee's compensation is an accurate summary. That's mostly a function of how few column inches the reporter was given. I don't think it's possible to summarize the situation in so little space. So not only is Jack not getting his due but the fact that he isn't getting his due isn't getting its due, either.

This will be discussed at greater length at the Jack Kirby Tribute Panel at this year's Comic-Con International. It takes place on Friday afternoon at 2 PM in my home away from home, Conference Room 8. We'll have some of Jack's friends and family members there, and we'll talk about the way the comic book industry treats its geniuses and such.

We'll also have a special appearance by the late, great Johnny Carson. As many of you are aware, Mr. Kirby once had a little altercation with the King of Late Night that resulted in a lawsuit. I showed the relevant Johnny Carson video a few years ago at a Kirby panel and have had numerous requests to show it again and to explain more about the incident. So it'll get another showing and we'll be joined by the lawyer who represented Jack in his legal action, Paul S. Levine. Paul will also tell you some very surprising (I suspect) things about some other disputes in which Jack was involved in the eighties.

I dunno which of the 7,000 panels I'm hosting this year will be the most entertaining but I can tell you which will be the most important. This one.

• Posted at 10:00 AM · LINK