Category Archives: To Be Filed

One of America's all-time great cartoonists has left us at the age of 91. Jack Davis made his initial fame in EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt and MAD but went on to become one of the most visible (and imitated) creators of advertising, movie posters and record album covers ever. His ability to make anything funnier when he drew it and his keen eye for caricatures could be seen darn near everywhere in this country for well more than half a century.

Jack Davis was born in Atlanta, Georgia on December 2, 1924. His first drawing in print was a small sketch that ran in Tip Top Comics in the thirties. It was on a page that printed reader contributions and he was not the only soon-to-be-famous cartoonist who first saw a drawing of his published there. So did Mort (Beetle Bailey) Walker and Davis's soon-to-be collaborator/employer, Harvey Kurtzman.

Davis attended the University of Georgia and his work on the campus newspaper (and an independent humor publication) got him an intern job at the Atlanta Journal which in turn led to assistant work on the newspaper strip, Mark Trail and later on The Saint.

In 1950, he hooked up with EC Comics and became one of the firm's most popular artists on its popular line of horror, crime, war and humor comics. Davis could do any of those but it was the funny stuff he did for MAD that really set him apart from the pack. When MAD's first editor Harvey Kurtzman left, Davis followed him to other humor periodicals (all short-lived) but returned to MAD in the mid-sixties. By then, he also had a steady flow of work for movie posters, record album covers, magazine covers (including Time) and other commercial venues.

His poster for the 1963 movie It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World wasn't his first film job but it was the one that everyone noticed. Thereafter, a hefty percentage of folks marketing comedy films — especially those with large casts of well-known comedians — turned to Davis for their key art. Just as there are performers who have made good careers impersonating Elvis Presley or The Beatles, there are artists whose livelihoods have involved outputting commercial art more or less in the Jack Davis style.

I loved everything he drew but Jack was not fond of some of them. He was great at horror comics but uncomfortable with the subject matter. He turned up occasionally in Playboy, often assisting on his friend Harvey Kurtzman's "Little Annie Fanny," but didn't much like the magazine or its hedonist philosophy. He eventually stopped drawing for MAD partly because of his advanced age but partly because he didn't like its politics or a subtle trend he perceived towards raunchiness. He also just plain wanted to take it easy, drawing when and what he felt like drawing. (One job he was very glad to do was for the U.S. government in 1989: A postage stamp he drew to honor postal carriers.)

Mr. Davis won every award he could possibly win for cartooning and was widely-loved and respected among his peers. The photo above was taken at a 2006 dinner held in his honor in Los Angeles by the Comic Art Professional Society. That's Jack on the left, me in the middle and the guy at right is Jack's friend and fellow MAD artist, Sergio Aragonés. I always found Jack to be a delightful man — cheery and gentle with what is generally described as old-school Southern Manners. He loved talking about the Civil War and old monster movies and his fellow cartoonists, all of whom he loved. He was truly as adored as his cartooning was, and that's a lot of adoration.

There was something about his art that just plain made you smile, starting with the fact that there was no meanness whatsoever in his caricatures. He didn't like all the politicians he drew for magazine covers but you wouldn't know it from his renderings. He made every movie he drew look a little funnier and livelier. I have the original to one of his movie posters on a wall in my home and everyone who sees it — artists, writers, my plumber, my electrician, etc. — knows that style and grins when they see it. That's a great legacy to leave behind.

You can see a lot of Jack's work on this page and this page and this page and this page. See if there's one drawing there that doesn't make you smile.

Around this blog, we think Barack Obama has been a pretty good president and we're impressed that he's achieved as much as he has, given a powerful opposition whose credo is "If he's for it, we're against it." Jonathan Chait reminds us of three pretty good accomplishments of the Obama administration.

David Letterman's 2015 Peabody Award Acceptance Speech, with Steve Martin as presenter…

The Funai Corporation — reportedly the last company still making video cassette recorders — is about to stop making them. Will someone else start? Probably. You can still buy devices that play your old vinyl records. Still, it's jarring to realize that the V.C.R., which once seemed so revolutionary, is now classified along with Polaroid cameras and other outmoded inventions. I have lots of tapes I've yet to transfer over to digital — some VHS, some Beta — and I have three or four of each machine in my home or garage. Maybe I need to get around to this.

A little over a year ago here, I posted this…

So how is it that whenever politicians pick a recent piece of popular recorded music to use as a theme song for their campaigns, they almost invariably pick a record by someone who is against their candidacy? Donald Trump used Neil Young's "Rockin' In The Free World" as his entrance and exit music for yesterday's announcement and, of course, today we have Neil Young saying nobody got his permission and he's supporting Bernie Sanders.

Is it my imagination or does this happen all the time with every politician? Newt Gingrich used "Eye of the Tiger" in his hapless campaign without getting any sort of clearance and okay from its composer or the artists who performed the record. Michele Bachmann, back when she thought she might get more than eleven votes for president, was using "American Girl" by Tom Petty against the wishes of Mr. Petty. Petty also objected when George W. Bush used his "I Won't Back Down." I seem to recall Sarah Palin doing this several times and I'm sure there must be Democratic candidates who did the same thing.

The folks at ASCAP, the composers' society, have put together a FAQ about the use of such music. Here it is in a PDF file. It took me five seconds to find this online. Does no one running a political campaign ever bother to check to see if they need permission? Or do they just not care if they violate a musician's rights?

So once again, we have his controversy…Trump using Queen's "We Are The Champions," for instance. Our pal Paul Harris explains that a recent segment on John Oliver's show got it slightly wrong. The issue isn't that the songwriters and artists aren't being paid for the use of their songs, at least when they're played in places like the convention halls in Cleveland and Philadelphia. That may be an issue when the songs are played in certain venues but the real problem is that the moral rights of the songwriters and performers are being ignored. Check out the above-linked PDF for more on this.

And the real problem — and the one I was really wondering about even if I forgot to say it — is that it seems foolish politically to use a popular song without its makers' okay. Don't you look like kind of a careless jerk when you use a Springsteen tune and the next day, the press is all about how Springsteen complains? Does that get you any votes? Then why do it?

I made up that graphic in case I needed to declare a Mushroom Soup Day while I was at the con but I never got around to doing that. So I just decided it also applies to getting too busy to post right after the con as, today, I attempt to do some of the things I neglected while in San Diego.

Hey, how about that great Michelle Obama speech last night at the Democratic Convention? First really great speech I heard at either of them. And were the newsfolks — even on MSNBC — trying to interview only the most stubborn, clueless Bernie Sanders supporters? I know smart people who backed the guy. Heck, I voted for him. But I got the feeling that all the media decided "the story" was or would be about dead-enders who would never give up the dream; who thought that 45% of the vote is a majority; that Hillary is not for (or not really for) a lot of the things she's said she's for; and that Bernie Sanders is absolutely right about every single thing except that he's lost and you should vote for Ms. Clinton.

And I love Sarah Silverman. I'm not sure that telling people they're being ridiculous is the best way to get them to adopt your point-o'-view but I still love Sarah Silverman.

I'll try to get back here later today.

Singer-songwriter Bunk Pickett came up with a little song about Joe Simon, Jack Kirby and their great creation, Captain America. Here's Bunk and as you can see, he's wearing a t-shirt that enshrines the worse episode of Star Trek ever…

I'm home and almost unpacked and decompressed. There is something very enjoyable about living at that pace for a few days. I couldn't do it every week but I get an odd feeling of excitement when I look at the little schedule sheet I make out for myself and see that I have a breakfast meeting at 9 AM, an interview at 10:30, a business meeting at 11, a panel at 12:30 and so on. Yesterday, I had panels at 10 AM, 11:30, 2 PM and 3 PM…and these are not grudging obligations. These are things I wanted to do. Just as today, I wanted to go home and do nothing, at least on a timetable.

The convention has changed names over the years but this one was the 47th…so it was my 47th. I haven't attended every day of every con but I've attended at least one day of all forty-seven to date. I can't tell you my favorite moment ever — maybe the time everyone chipped in dough to give Jack Kirby a surprise birthday party — but I'll tell you two from this one…

One was meeting Congressperson John Lewis, a genuine superstar of the civil rights movement in this country. He was an unannounced-in-advance presenter at the Eisner Awards…and a winner of one, as it turned out. Not long after I presented the ones I presented, he sauntered into the green room backstage where I was dining…so he was ripe for the meeting. Nothing particularly interesting was said, especially since I resisted asking him if he'd stage a sit-in to protest the cole slaw in the buffet supper. Mostly, I told him I admired him for all the same reasons everyone admires him and he grinned a tiny grin and said, "Not everyone does," which I suppose is true of anyone who accomplishes something noble in this world.

Other fave moment: Sergio's award.

Many awards are presented at the convention but the biggie is the Icon Award, which has been given out since 2006, starting with the one they gave to Frank Miller. A week or so before the con, I was contacted by David Glanzer, who among his other serious duties, is the convention's spokesperson. He told me the convention had voted to give this year's to my partner/best friend Sergio Aragonés and they wanted to present it at Quick Draw! I said, "Okay, if I can make a bit about it." We kept it an absolute secret, especially from Sergio.

If you attended Quick Draw!, here's what you saw happen. Quick Draw! is where three cartoonists — in this case, Sergio, Scott Shaw! and Keith Knight — do drawings based on challenges, some of my devising and some from the audience. In setting up the next challenge, I explained what the Icon Award was and how it had been won by the likes of Ray Bradbury and George Lucas among others. I said (approximately), "This year's winner will be announced later today so right now, let's decide who we think should get it!" The cartoonists on stage set to work drawing their nominees while I polled some folks in the audience for their suggestions.

Sergio drew his fellow MAD veteran, Al Jaffee. Scott and Keith both drew Sergio and gave nice, warm speeches about how they felt he was worthy. Sergio, as a joke, flipped over his drawing of Jaffee and on the other side, drew himself begging for the award. He, of course, had no idea what was happening next. I said, "Well, we'll find out who the winner is when it's announced later today. Now, let's start the next game!"

Just then, Peter David yelled out, "When is the announcement?" or words to that effect. I forget exactly what he said or what I'd told him to yell out. I consulted my notes and said, "Well, how about that? It's being presented here at Quick Draw!" And then I introduced David Glanzer who walked out and presented it to a very-stunned Sergio.

At times, I'm pretty good (I think) at reading the minds of an audience. When David was announced, I'd say a third of the people present realized exactly what was about to happen. When David mentioned that Keith Knight had said much of what he was going to say and then mentioned MAD, another third of those present realized who the winner was and the rest did too, but were waiting for final confirmation before celebrating.

Once it was certain, there was the biggest, happiest and longest standing ovation I have ever seen in my life. Around three thousand people — the capacity of that room is close to that — were standing and clapping and cheering and a few of them were even crying a little. Sergio's eyes looked a little moist, too.

For the rest of the con, people were stopping me and saying they'll never forget that moment. A few asked me if I'd had anything to do with my friend being chosen as the recipient. Nope. Not a thing. If it had been up to me, he would have gotten it of course but it was their good idea. I don't have ideas that good.

Comic-Con was great fun and I'll tell you why over the next few days. You didn't get as many posts during it as I might have liked because in addition to my hotel room having no place in the shower to put my Dial soap and hair stuff, the guy who picked the chair at the desk was apparently about seven feet tall. That's about how tall you'd have to be to work comfortably on a laptop at the work desk. I, being a lowly 6'3", had a little trouble. Otherwise though, it was a peachy room.

And a peachy convention. It seemed less crowded than recent cons here, a fact many attributed to the new RFID badges (embedded with a chip to verify their authenticity) largely eliminating the counterfeiting of badges. It may also have had something to do with more and more big events moved to offsite locations.

Or maybe some of us just have learned to steer clear of the more crowded aisles in that hall. Also possible. My new right knee served me well, though. Walking was much easier than last year with the old, original equipment. I never even took my emergency pain killers.

I also didn't post a lot because so much of my con was déjà vu, doing things I've done and written about in past years. In the next few days though, I'll tell you about, for example, the joy of interviewing Golden Age comic book artist (an endangered species) Allen Bellman and about surprising my partner n' best buddy Sergio Aragonés with a big award. Stuff like that will be coming your way after I'm unpacked and decompressed. Later.

The other day when I mentioned hotel showers with no place to put your soap or shampoo, I should have expected a long, informative message from my pal of many years, Joe Brancatelli. Joe knows more than any person alive about airlines and travel — as you'll see…

You asked about hotel showers. First of all, you should know that hotel bathrooms are undergoing massive changes. The old "four point" bathroom (tub, shower, vanity, toilet) is actually disappearing. People don't really bathe in hotels now so hotels are switching to shower-only arrangements. Which, of course, allows them to design fancy showers and use less space for the bathroom, too. I wrote about it here.

Now, of course, that doesn't really answer your question: Why design without shelves for things like shampoo and soap? Most places do, but, occasionally, you will find them omitted. And the answer is that no one was back-checking the designer and no one gave the designer a punch list of what they wanted in the shower. The designer will show the fixtures (i.e. handheld, rainwater heads, etc.) but the hotel owner is rarely going to be impressed by looking at the shelves. So many designers won't show them and if they aren't specifically asked for them, they may not install them. Ruins the look, don't you know…

Now I'll give you two good hotel-bath stories.

The Opposite House is a glorious hotel in Beijing, designed by one of those artsy-fartsy Japanese minimalist designers. I checked in shortly after it opened and found two anomalies: No shelves in the wood-lined shower, which was otherwise sybaritic. And the sink, also made of wood, was so shallow that even a gentle stream of water splashed up and caught your pants exactly where you wanted not to be caught.

I arranged a walkthrough with the general manager (an Aussie), who had been with the hotel from the construction stage. As we went through all the design aspects, he says "And, of course, you know all about the shower by now. We're very proud of them." When I mentioned the lack of shelving, he sheepishly admitted that the Japanese designer, in his drive for minimalism, decided they weren't needed. They back-filled by finding some lovely teak stools and had them placed in the shower so that guests could at least put things on the stool.

But when we got to the sink, I explained how they splash your pants at the most inopportune spot. The GM looked at me, disgusted, and said: "Yes, I do hear that from guests, but they're wrong."

Imagine a GM saying that. All his guests are telling him his fancy wooden sink was too shallow and soiling their slacks and his answer was only: "They're wrong."

What do you say to that?

Other interesting tale: In the late 1990s, I was in a newly opened Marriott hotel in Moscow. It was a big deal, right on what had been called Gorky Street and just a short walk from Red Square. The place was wonderful. Everyone spoke English. The staff was incredibly well trained. And you may remember the old AT&T Merlin phones that had voice mail. But one problem: The shower curtain kept collapsing in a heap. Four or five times a day. Why? The GM had ordered incredibly ornate curtains, but the bathroom designer used awful spring-tension rods that couldn't hold the weight. As he said: "Who knew you had to ask for the specs on the shower-curtain rod?" You can read that story here. Any help?

I guess. So the answer to my question as to why someone designs a hotel shower with no little shelf in it is that the people who design these things are sometimes stupid. Makes sense, I guess. That's probably the answer to most mysteries of life. Thanks, Joe.

In Jon Stewart's little rant the other night (this one) he said but CBS bleeped the word "bullshit." Paul Harris explains why CBS didn't have to bleep that word but did.

I browsed a number of right-wing websites to see the reaction to Stewart's segment and found a few who didn't seem able to fault most of what he said and some who kinda/sorta agreed. And of course, there were those who referred to him as "Jon Liebowitz" because, of course, if your mind is in a certain place, you believe the worst way you can belittle an opponent is to remind everyone that he's a Jew.

The best summary of the Republican Convention comes to us from Matt Taibbi…

We expected thousand-foot light columns, a 400-piece horn section where the delegates usually sit (they would be in cages out back with guns to their heads). Onstage, a chorus line of pageant girls in gold bikinis would be twerking furiously to a techno version of "New York, New York" while an army of Broadway dancers spent all four days building a Big Beautiful Wall that read winning, the ceremonial last brick timed to the start of Donald's acceptance speech…

But nah. What happened instead was just sad and weird, very weird. The lineup for the 2016 Republican National Convention to nominate Trump felt like a fallback list of speakers for some ancient UHF telethon, on behalf of a cause like plantar-wart research.

But read it all, especially the parts about scaring white people into believing their survival depends on the guy with no track record for anything but selling smoke with his name of it.

If you didn't see this, you should. If you did see this, you probably want to watch it again. This is what this election is all about, people…

So why does someone design the shower in a luxury hotel and make it lovely and stylish with expertly-chosen wall covering and stylish hardware and a fancy curtain and no place to put the soap or shampoo? Please, someone, help me out here…

Megan Hilty and Matthew Morrison singing bits of a few show tunes. This is from a concert with the New York Pops at Forest Hills Stadium in Queens earlier this month…