Monthly Archives: March 2017

Comic book artist Dave Hunt died this past weekend, the end of a long battle against cancer. Some sources are reporting his age as 75 but my references peg him with various earlier birthdates so I just don't know.

What I do know is that he had a long career that had him working as an art director at various comics-related magazines in the early seventies, segueing into comics as an apprentice inker around 1973 and becoming a full-fledged inker just a few years later. He did painting and sculpture outside of the comics field.

For comics, I think he worked exclusively as an inker with a long stretch as Curt Swan's inker on Superman for DC, and inking most of the Spider-Man books for Marvel…but at one time or another, his work appeared in most of both firms' major titles, as well as lots of work for Archie and Disney Comics. He was well-liked both as a person and an artist, and the few times we worked on the same project, I found him to be professional and easy to get along with. Given the volume of work he did, I would guess that was the experience of everyone who was fortunate enough to work with Dave. We need more guys like that.

From twenty years ago: A Charlie Rose conversation with Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks…

My pal Rick Scheckman called my attention to this article about his former boss, David Letterman. It's a good conversation with a very brilliant man who oughta be doing more than he is.

Trump is looking increasingly looney with this "Obama wiretapped me" story. I don't mean he's looking like a liar, though there's that. I'm thinking though that he's starting to look looney and also dysfunctional as a leader of the government. As Politifact explains, the whole accusation seems to be based on an anonymous source on a news site that no one in his right mind would trust. This is the same Donald Trump who a week ago was excoriating the press and saying that anonymous sources are not to be trusted and probably don't exist.

In the meantime: A lot of you, Republican friends of mine included, liked this article by Josh Marshall that I linked you to the other day. Here's Part Two, which I think makes some important points.

Friends keep asking me why I think Donald Trump is doing this or that. I think it's safe to assume that whatever he says or does, it's because at that moment, he thought that would be good for Donald Trump. That seems to be the only reason he ever does anything…not because it would be good for his country, not because he thought it would be good for his party, not even because he thought it was true. He doesn't think about anyone but himself and he doesn't think about truth and he doesn't think too far ahead. That's pretty obvious.

But beyond that, who knows? Darn near everything about this guy is without precedent, which is why so many folks who try to predict what he'll do next come up short. It's like one of those scenes in half the detective novels I ever read where the officer in charge of the investigation explains how it's much, much harder to catch a criminal who's crazy than it is to apprehend one who's sane. At least the sane one's plans make some internal sense and you can maybe figure out his moves using a bit of logic.

So this morning, White House press secretary Sean Spicer says, "President Donald J. Trump is requesting that as part of their investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016." Then a bit later, he adds, "Neither the White House nor the President will comment further until such oversight is conducted."

Is that it? The idea here is to try and turn any investigation of Trump's Russian connections into an investigation of Trump being wronged by Obama? It's to throw out a charge, refuse to provide any evidence whatsoever and dump it in the lap of Congress, figuring that they'll take forever and never fully say there's no proof Trump was spied-upon. Is that it? Trump can go for months saying the Obama administration is "under investigation" and he's not going to comment? Is that the idea here?

Probably…because Trump loves the "other people are saying this" and "I'm just asking questions" kind of accusation. But with this guy, you can't be sure of anything except that at that moment, he thought that would be good for Donald Trump.

Robert Lee says that almost everything you think you know about the Louisiana Purchase is wrong. I didn't even know we'd purchased it. I thought we won it all on Deal or No Deal.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts recently presented its highest honor (or maybe honour) the Fellowship to Mel Brooks.  Here's a bit of his acceptance speech and a post-ceremony interview that also involved Stephen Fry…

• The man who decries reporters who use anonymous sources keeps expecting people to believe claims with no sources or evidence whatsoever.

Theories that Donald Trump was becoming more "presidential" lasted about five days. He's out there now tweeting that during the election, Barack Obama had Trump Tower bugged. There's no proof out course but you don't need proof when you're trying to set up a distraction and stoke the paranoia of your base.

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert won, by a narrow margin, the February ratings "sweeps" period. Remember when some people were saying that Colbert would fail because his politics would drive away too many viewers? Apparently not.

Yesterday, I posted the sad news that comic book artist John Calnan passed away late last year. You can read what may be the only interview ever conducted with Mr. Calnan over on this page. His interrogator was Bryan Stroud, who earlier this week broke the news of Mr. Calnan's passing over here on the Scoop webpage. He has a few details I didn't get.

I thought we'd said everything that could be said about the Oscars envelope mix-up but Neil Gaiman sent me this link to an article about the typography on the cards in the envelopes. Okay, now everything has been said.

I've received a ton of messages (i.e., about eight) asking me to comment on Internet discussions and debates about whether the character Garfield the Cat is male or female. Here's my comment: He's male and this is a stupid argument.

And yes, it's true. As a joint venture of two comic book publishers — Boom and Dynamite — there's a mini-series coming out later this year in which Garfield meets Grumpy Cat. And yes, I'm writing it.

Lastly for now: Comedy Central has made a deal with comic Jim Jefferies to do a once-a-week half-hour late night series. I think Jefferies may be the best, smartest stand-up comic working today but I suspect you have to see him performing live, he has to do at least sixty minutes and he has to be utterly free of restrictions of taste and language. Go see him live if you can. And if his Comedy Central show sucks, don't hold it against him.

Well, I spent the morning at my doctor's office getting a check-up and using my Medicare card for the first time. Turns out that despite the best efforts of the Trump administration to drive it up, my blood pressure is decently low and everything else is jes' fine. Then the rest of the day was taken up hosting that event at the Television Academy. It was called "But the Characters Live On," discussing how others have taken over the roles of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, etc. Also, we had Mallory Lewis — daughter of Shari Lewis — who does an uncanny simulation of her mother, keeping mom's characters alive.

Let me identify the folks in the above photo.  In the top row, left to right, you have Jeff Bergman (currently the main voice of Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd), Grey Griffin (formerly Grey DeLisle, now the voice of Daphne on the Scooby Doo cartoons), and then Gary Hartle and Matt Craig (producers of the cartoon show, Wabbit.)

On the couch, also left to right: Dee Baker (current voice of Daffy Duck), Bob Bergen (who does Porky Pig), me, Andrea Romano (casting and voice director) and Lamb Chop and Mallory Lewis.

After I came out and talked a little about the topic, I brought out Andrea and talked with her for a while, then I brought out Gary and Matt and talked with all three of them.  Then we added Dee, Jeff, Grey and Bob to the stage.  There was a reading of a Wabbit script by the voice actors, then we showed the finished cartoon.  Following that, I interviewed Lamb Chop and Mallory, and we closed with a dramatic reading — a highly-abridged version of Hamlet cast, of course, with all cartoon characters — followed by an encore where Bob Bergen taught the entire audience how to sound like Porky.

The performers and interviewees were all sensational and if you missed it, fear not. A video of the whole thing will be up on the Academy website in a week or two. I'll let you know when.  Here are a few other random thoughts…

• Everyone was good but I was especially impressed with Mallory's ability to sound exactly like her mother.  I worked with Shari Lewis on a project that never reached fruition and I'd talked to Lamb Chop then.  I know Mallory has a genetic advantage but that's the closest "voice match" I ever heard in my life.
• Boy, the new Wolf Theater out on the campus of the Television Academy is terrific.  What a great facility.
• Three of the four voice actors have been on my Cartoon Voices panels at Comic-Con International in San Diego.  I took the opportunity to conscript Jeff Bergman for this year, plus Grey is coming back.  (I'm doing a Cartoon Voices panel at WonderCon on April Fool's Day.  We'll have Katie Leigh, Dan Gilvezan, Bill Farmer, Daniel Ross, Elle Newlands and maybe one more person.)
• So I'm in the Green Room doing my last notes before we start…and in come some Academy staff members with cupcakes and everyone sings "Happy Birthday" to me — which I ordinarily hate but I've got Bugs, Porky, Tweety and Daphne leading the singing so it's kinda surreal and fun.

And that's about all that comes to mind at the moment.  It ran about 90 minutes but where I was, center-stage, it felt like about ten minutes. A great time was had by all, including the Birthday Boy.

Just one today…this link to an essay by Josh Marshall. This is not one of those pieces where someone says they know exactly what's going on and how you must view it. Marshall is a thoughtful writer who never pretends to know more than he does and as you'll see, a lot of this is theory and is acknowledged as such. Understand it in that context and I believe you'll decide he's on to something even if he can't say exactly what. As I've long said, I think Donald Trump is, always has been and always will be about what's best for Donald Trump…and is incapable of viewing the world with any other viewpoint.

We recently found out that veteran comic book artist John Calnan passed away at the end of last year at the age of 84. John was kind of a utility infielder for DC Comics from around 1967 to 1982, working on all their books — war, western, romance, super-hero, etc. Sometimes he penciled, sometimes he inked. He drew Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman and was the artist for Metamorpho after artist Ramona Fradon left comic books to draw the Brenda Starr newspaper strip.

Calnan was a graduate of the School of Visual Arts where, like many of his contemporaries, he studied with artist Jerry Robinson and got his first jobs in comics as an assistant to Lone Ranger artist Tom Gill. Mr. Calnan did some work on his own for Classics Illustrated, then went to work in advertising for a time. A co-worker at the ad agency knew some people at DC Comics and that led to Calnan beginning to moonlight for DC. Eventually, the part-time job became the full-time job and vice-versa.

He proved to be a very reliable artist for them — not flashy but really, really useful to have available. DC editor Murray Boltinoff is said to have remarked, "My job would be a breeze if every artist was as good and professional as John Calnan." I never met Mr. Calnan — apparently, relatively few folks who worked in comics ever did — but I greatly respected his skill and dedication and I thought his passing should be noted.

This evening, I'm hosting this event at the TV Academy — a program devoted to the art and science of recasting cartoon voices when the original voice becomes unavailable, usually due to death. I'll be interviewing casting-and-voice director Andrea Romano, Producers Matt Craig and Gary Hartle (who bring you Wabbit), voice actors Jeff Bergman, Grey Griffin, Dee Baker and Bob Bergen, and puppeteer Mallory Lewis, who is carrying on the work of her mother, Shari Lewis. It's only open to members but it will probably be viewable online before long.  I'll let you know where it is.

I also have a pressing script deadline, a doctor appointment (nothing important) and a lot of birthday greetings to reply to. If I don't reply to yours, please forgive me as they literally number over a thousand…and there are even some from people I know! So there won't be a lot of posting here today.

I am absolutely fine with turning 65. I have never felt old at any age. Eubie Blake used to ask the question, "How old would you be if you didn't know how old you were?" I'd be 24, which was the age I was when I moved out of my parents' house and took full control of my life…or at least as much as anyone could ever have.

I have friends around my chronological age who I think make themselves older than they have to be by obsessing on the topic, worrying that they'll become unattractive at this age or that no one will want to hire them at that age. I'm sure at some point, I'll become acutely aware and concerned that I don't have much time left on this planet but I'm going to try to not descend into that dead-end more than an hour or two before I check out. Back later.

If you attended Comic-Con International in 2016 and hope to score badges for it this year, go read this.  And mark March 11 on your calendar.

I'm a big fan of the musical 1776.  I've seen maybe a dozen stage productions of it and every so often, I watch a little of one on YouTube, where people often upload scenes from — or the entirety of — regional productions.

Here's a nice rendition of the "Cool, Conservative Men" number from one such production. Alas, the uploader didn't identify where it was done but a bit of detective work on my part suggests it's probably a performance done last April by the City Circle Acting Company at the Coralville Center for the Performing Arts in Coralville, Iowa. If it isn't, my apologies to whoever did stage it. Based on this clip, I'd say they did a nice job. The song itself may be more relevant today than ever…