I've linked before to D.S. Karroll's weblog, which is devoted to the work of illustrator Henry E. Vallely (1886-1950). Of particular note is how many of Vallely's illustrations were blatantly swiped by early comic book artists, especially Bob Kane for the earliest Batman stories. Karroll has just posted this amazing example.
Many of you have written to me to tell how you used to, like I, avidly collect the 8mm masterpieces that were known as Castle Films. I even set up a little gallery of their box art. That's how much I liked the home movie cutdowns. In the age before home video, they made you feel like you had an actual home film library.
The most widely-circulated Castle Film was Have Badge, Will Chase, which was a four minute chunk of a not-great movie called Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops. It was one of Bud and Lou's biggest flops and I think you can see why just from the title. If I said we can watch Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein, you think of scary monsters and Lou Costello playing terrified and lots of opportunity for unexpected things to occur. If I say we can watch Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops, you think, "Hmm...one washed-up comedy team running into another." Even in '55, no one was sitting around saying, "You know what the movies need? The return of the Keystone Kops." Heck, they didn't say that in 1926.
Most Castle Films were sold in stores or mail-order catalogs and came in two versions — a one-reel edition with 200' of 8mm movie film...or a 50' reel which ran around four minutes. Have Badge, Will Chase only existed in the 50' length and most copies were given away free when you bought a certain brand of 8mm movie projector. For some reason, many camera stores wound up with hundreds of 'em and were just giving the films away or selling them for fifty cents each, back when the other 50' Castle Films were two bucks.
It was quite common back in the sixties...and now someone who still has a copy (someone else besides me) has transferred it to video and posted it on YouTube, which is a nice intermingling of generational video. I like the fact that they didn't add music to the transfer since silent is the way I always experienced this film. (To clarify: The 1955 version was, of course, a talkie. But most Castle Films until late in the company's run were silent since sound 8mm movie projectors weren't common.) If they'd added in the sound of a whirring projector and put the whole thing on the wall of my childhood bedroom, the experience would be complete. Here's the film...
In case you haven't heard, Friday memberships at Comic-Con International are sold out. That means that if you ain't already got one, you ain't getting in. Saturday sold out some time ago. Sunday may sell out soon. What this probably means is that we're answering the long-asked question of how large the San Diego Con can get. Answer: About as large as it gets this year. Next year, the whole event will probably be a matter of advance registrations — up to the point where they sell out — and nobody registers on-site.
Along with the news of these days selling out comes the inevitable (I guess) rumors that the con is soon to move to larger facilities in some other city. The people spreading this rumor know not of what they speak. It's just speculation and it's wrong. You might take heart in the knowledge that the hotel situation should be a little better next year and a lot better as of 2009. More hotels will be opening up and there will not be as many competing conventions in town. This year, for instance, a huge chunk of rooms at the Hyatt were not available to Comic-Con attendees because of a convention of folks in the car insurance industry.
Preview Night (Wednesday) was mobbed. Thursday seemed a little less cramped, at least at the end of the hall away from the big videogame and toy exhibitors. They probably had as many attendees at the con Thursday as they did Wednesday night but Wednesday night, there were no panels or other events to take thousands of people out of the main hall. So they were all in every aisle I tried to walk down.
A tip to the convention organizers: I know you're concerned about crowds and also about safety. It would seem to me you could help both situations a bit if you barred Star Wars style light-sabres from the floor. In fact, I saw a lot of awkwardness and a few near-injuries because people toting around swords and staffs seemed oblivious to how much space their weaponry requires when they walk about the hall.
Not a lot to report on my end. Did three panels. Talked with a lot of people. One reader of this blog I'd never met before walked up and handed me a DVD set of The Complete Captain Nice, which was...well, nice. I walked around for a little while with Gary Owens and it was wonderful watching him tell people he was a fan of theirs as they were telling him they were a fan of his. (Did I get that sentence right? It's been a long day.)
As usual, the Ralphs Market a few blocks away was the place to be. When Gary and I were walking around, it was in part because he wanted to locate Rubén Procopio, a fine artist who's been responsible for some of the best conversions I've seen of animated and comic book chartacters into three-dimensional sculpture. (Here are some samples of his work.) Well, Gary and I never did find him in the convention hall but later in the evening, when Carolyn and I hiked over to Ralphs to get some necessities of life, there was Ruben, right next to the Glad Sandwich Bags. I may skip the con next year and do my panels there, maybe over near the deli case.
Hey, here's something I've been thinking about for the last six or seven conventions I've attended. I've been thinking about Hot Pockets. You know those little frozen calzone things that are full of ham and cheese or beef and cheese or meatballs and cheese or something and cheese. You pop 'em into the Microwave for two minutes and they aren't bad as far as quick snacks go. Why doesn't someone sell those in these tourist-trappy places instead of or in addition to the rotten hot dogs? I know why snack bars sell hot dogs: Because people need (and will pay for) a nice shot of protein when they can't get away to an actual restaurant, and hot dogs are about the easiest thing in the world to prepare, plus they don't require a lot of plates and forks and spoons and such. But Hot Pockets aren't that much more difficult to cook or handle, and some of us actually like them.
Come on, convention center operators. Get rid of the hot dogs that everyone hates but they eat because they're famished. Dump the inedible mini-pizzas. Give up on those stale nachos with the cheese sauce that you made out of the Exxon Valdez oil slick. We want Hot Pockets. All you need is a freezer, a couple of small Microwaves and a teenager who knows how to press a "start" button. What could be simpler?
I think that's it for the Thursday report. Tune in tomorrow. Same bat-time, same bat-station.
July 28, 2007
