Category Archives: Uncategorized

Back when Mike Douglas was doing his talk show out of Philadelphia, the producers occasionally brought in famed Stooge Moe Howard to guest. Invariably, pies were thrown, which was half the point of bringing Moe in at all. Someone has posted a whole mess of these segments to YouTube and I'm only going to link to this one. You can find the rest on your own if you like.

In this one, Moe, Mike and guest star Soupy Sales do a version of the Stooges' old "Maharjah" sketch that runs a little less than ten minutes and feels like thirty. It's slow going but it's worth it just to see Moe and Soupy. The older woman at the end who gets a pie in the face is Moe's wife, Helen.

I'm back, I'm back. Before I get out of Bitching and Moaning mode, what is it with all these caste systems about who boards the plane in what order? I understand letting on the elderly, infirm or even families with small children before anyone else. I even understand letting on the First Class people, though I always thought that since they sit in the front, it would be more comfy for them to get on last. But last night at Alaska Airlines, it was like, "We now invite all passengers with elite gold level in our Mileage Plan to board," followed by "We now invite all silver card holders in our mileage partners plan to board" and then "We now invite all Alaska Air Super Saver Partnership cardholders with platinum star points to board" and so on. I don't remember the specific tiers but it seemed like those of us who'd just bought tickets (i.e., 98% of us) were in the nineteenth group allowed to go down the jetway. The whole idea seemed to be to get me on last. I kept waiting for them to say, "We now invite everyone who's never written Groo the Wanderer to get on the plane."

And here's something that's long puzzled me. Why is it that at some airports, when I pick up my suitcase at the Baggage Claim, someone examines my little claim check stub to make sure I'm taking only my own luggage out of there…but in some, nobody checks? If that's a good idea sometimes, why isn't it a good idea always? Are there times when suitcase theft is more likely to occur? Or is the checking, when they do it, in the same category in which I place most of the screening they do when you board the plane and they make you throw away lighters and take off your shoes? (That category is "Useless inconveniences they put you through to make you think they're protecting you when they really aren't.")

Okay, change of mode. Let me underscore the very good time I had at the Wondercon, doing my panels and seeing friends and just talking with people. If I'd been in more of a shopping frame of mind, I could have had a very good time purchasing goodies. The place was loaded with treasures. I've been to good conventions and bad. Wondercon is one of the best.

For those of you who are interested in such silliness, here's a report on a panel I did with Sergio on Friday.

I have a ton of work to do, as well as an awful lot of unread e-mail. So posting on this site may not be up to speed for a day or three. Or four or ten.

Welcome to the weblog that is unafraid to tackle tough questions. Today's tough question is: "Why do airlines keep telling me to be 90 minutes early for flights that take off two hours late?"

Tonight, we're coming to you from San Francisco International Airport where I arrived at 7:15 for an 8:50 flight which they're now saying may (a note of hopeful expectation in that "may" take off at 10:15. Fortunately, I found a nice eatery here in the airport called Max's Deli that has a pretty good matzo ball soup and — of greater importance — tables on which one can dine and set up one's laptop. Let's see if my patience or my Lithium Ion battery runs out first.

Today's session of the Wondercon didn't seem as crowded as yesterday's. Then again, there were scenes in Ben-Hur that didn't seem as crowded as yesterday's Wondercon. The joys were many, the complaints were the usual for most cons…rotten, overcrowded food stands and long lines and nearby hotels and eateries that charge on the presumption that everyone's on an expense account and is charging it all to the home office. I think I may stop bitching about these things and just learn to accept them as a part of most convention-going. Wherever you go, no matter what the con, the food at the convention center is going to be awful and way overpriced, and there's nothing the operators of any one convention can do about it.

I did a nice panel today called "The Art of the Cover" with Al Feldstein, Nick Cardy, Gene Colan, Phil Jimenez, Tony Harris and Michael Turner. I showed random covers these gentlemen had drawn for comics and they discussed how and why they'd done what they'd done. Not only did the audience seem to find it interesting but the artists were intrigued by the "shop talk" aspect of it all. Gene was supposed to leave early for another engagement but he elected to stay because he found the discussion so enlightening. (Gene's been drawing comics since Johannes Gutenberg used to print them between running off Bibles. And I suspect that one of the reasons Gene is still doing stellar work, eclipsing his previous personal bests, is that he doesn't regard himself as too experienced to learn something from someone else.)

Not much more to report other than to say it was a great con, as always. Oh, yeah — and there's this: Late in the day, Russ Heath (who's been doing comics about as long as Gene Colan) packed up his table and left, and he gave me permission to set up my laptop there and get a little work done, which I did. So I'm sitting there typing on this here machine and a young man comes up with a pile of DC war comics. Seeing the sign on the table which still says "Russ Heath," he informs me that he always loved the way I drew Sgt. Rock and asked if I'd mind signing a batch. I know Russ doesn't look his age but still…

I can't post this from the airport without paying T-Mobile a serious chunk of change for wireless access so I'll put it up on the site when I get home. If you're reading this, I did. I hope the time stamp below isn't too late.

Whadda ya say we all watch an interview with Charles Schulz? Here's a nice little ten minute chat with the creator of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang. He makes a good point in this, which is that people often said that Peanuts was about children talking like adults…but their dialogue was only slightly like adults, not a lot like the way adults talk. There were occasional exceptions in the strip but only occasional ones.

Second day of the con: Same as the first, only a lot more people there. Around 2:00 in the afternoon, you could have lifted your feet off the floor and just let the crush of humanity carry you down the center aisle. But off to most sides, it was a bit less cramped and most people didn't seem to mind a lot.

I did three panels, starting with a nice chat with Nick Cardy, one of the great comic book artists. Here's a link to Nick's website and if you browse about, you'll agree with the way I introduced him: No one ever drew handsomer men or sexier ladies. We discussed his work for DC, particularly on Bat Lash, and Nick narrated a slide show of his paintings and advertising work. He did some real nice movie posters but the paintings he did for his own edification were even better.

Then came a MAD panel with Sergio Aragonés and Al Feldstein. Al was Editor-in-Chief of the rag for more than a quarter of a century, back when it was selling more than 2.5 million copies per issue. (Current sales are a lot less…like 2.4 million less.) Al was fascinating and some publisher is missing a bet by not making a grab for his autobiography, which he's still trying to find a home for. It's the story of how he went from writing and editing horror comics that almost killed the industry to helming the best-selling humor magazine of all time. He took over MAD after its original editor, Harvey Kurtzman, departed with most of the staff. In an amazingly short span of time, Al stepped in, restaffed and reinvented the magazine and it became a success in so many ways, including its influence on a generation or two. Somebody, please. Publish this man's book so his story can be properly documented and shared with the world.

Lastly for today, I did an interview with Gene Colan. Here's a link to his website — and come to think of it, here's a link to Al Feldstein's website.

Everyone who ever read Marvel Comics knows what a class act Gene has always been. He drew most of the major Marvel titles at one time or another but particularly distinguished himself on Iron Man, Daredevil, Tomb of Dracula and Dr. Strange. We discussed all that and how movies had played such a vital role in his work. People write a lot about the intersection of those two media, film and comics, but it was never more visible than in Gene's work, especially in how he "lit" his world and positioned light and shadow. If you were there and had as much fun listening to Gene as I did interviewing him, you had a great time.

I roamed the hall after that and enjoyed talking to an awful lot of people whose names I won't itemize. If you were among them, it was a pleasure to chat with you. Maybe I'll see the rest of you there tomorrow.

Steve Duin reports on the panel I did yesterday at WonderCon with Gerard Jones.

Our cartoon today, kids, is called Betty Boop and Grampy. It was released August 16, 1935 during a time when the Max Fleischer Studio was loading Ms. Boop's cartoons with new and/or guest star characters who might warrant being spun-off on their own. There were a couple of other films with Grampy but he didn't catch on.

The most interesting thing about this cartoon is probably its use of the table top background camera in which a small, three-dimensional model took the place of the usual painted background in some scenes. It was one of Max Fleischer's many inventions and some have suggested, based wholly on speculation, that Grampy's own inventiveness was inspired by Max's tendency to cobble together new devices. Maybe so.

Mae Questel did Betty's voice while Grampy's voice was supplied by someone named Everett Clark, about whom I know absolutely nothing. Jack Mercer — who was best known for playing Popeye — can also be heard in there somewhere. The animation is credited to Dave Tendlar and Charles Hastings but a number of other fine artists worked on it.

The other night, sitting around with some other animation folks, we got to recalling Dave, who passed away in 1993. He was a colorful, affable gent who finished out a long career in cartoons the way a lot of cartoon creators of his era did…working at Hanna-Barbera. He'd been one of the main animators on the classic Popeye shorts and in 1978, when H-B got the rights to produce a TV series of the squint-eyed salt, Dave was excited at the prospect of getting back into the Popeye business. He started warming up and lobbying the art directors to let him design the whole show…and was then crushed when the decision was made to ship the production off to a studio H-B had in Australia. One time after that, I went up to visit another artist whose table was right across from Dave's and I heard him sitting there and sketching, muttering under his breath just like the early Popeye did. Dave had been assigned to a show called Casper and the Space Angels. It starred what was ostensibly the same Casper the Friendly Ghost that Dave had once animated for Famous Studios but he was still moaning, "Why am I drawing this when I should be drawing Popeye?"

He was right. He should have been drawing Popeye. But as you'll see, he did a good job drawing Betty Boop and her eccentric grandfather, too. Have a look…

Several of you have written to tell me that the Federal Anti-Nepotism Act of 1967 would prohibit President Hillary Clinton from choosing her husband as Secretary of State. The law, which I must admit I'd never heard of, is summarized as follows…

A public official is prohibited from employing, appointing, promoting, advancing or advocating for appointment, employment promotion or advancement any relative for a civilian position in the agency in which the public official is serving.

So if I understand this correctly: If Bill Clinton had a different state as his place of legal residence, Hillary could pick him as her running mate and he could become Vice-President…but could not serve in her cabinet. Or the Clintons could get a divorce (thereby making hundreds of past tabloid headlines retroactively accurate) and then he could be Secretary of State. Seems kind of odd to me but I guess someone was worried that Robert Kennedy would become President and put Teddy in the cabinet the same way J.F.K. made Robert his Attorney General.

Anyway, I stand corrected on the technicalities of the matter and I still would be happier with William Jefferson Clinton running our foreign policy than anyone we have now. Maybe President Barack Obama could make him Secretary of State.

Let's see if I can crop and post a photo from my laptop. This was taken today at the WonderCon: Me surrounded by two of my favorite comic book artists. On the left is Nick Cardy, best known for his fine work on Aquaman, Bat Lash and Teen Titans. On the right is Gene Colan, best known for his fine work on Iron Man, Tomb of Dracula and Daredevil. I could list another two dozen credits for each of them but you get the idea. We took this photo during a rare moment today when they weren't besieged by fans wanting autographs, sketches or just to say, "I've always loved your stuff." I've never understood how "stuff" became a term of endearment for work that you love and respect, but that's how people talk to artists…and even how most artists talk to each other. Well, I like the "stuff" these men have produced for comics for many years and as usual, it's always nice to discover that your favorite artists are such nice people, as well. It almost always works out that way but it's still something to be happy about.

First day of the con. Some members of the staff seemed a bit surprised by how many people were in attendance today at what was supposed to be the "non-busy" day. Does this bode ill for tomorrow, which is supposed to be the "busy" day? We shall see, we shall see.

I attempted — foolishly, I might add — to live-blog from the convention floor earlier but a wireless Internet connection I tapped into kept cutting out on me and I lost the post I'd composed. It was a list of folks I'd spent time talking to and it included Russ Heath, Gene Colan, Nick Cardy, Al Feldstein, Al Gordon, Trina Robbins, Steve Leialoha, Tom Yeates, Ernie Chan, Tony DeZuniga, Mike Royer, Paul Power and an awful lot of others whose names were in that list the first time I typed it.

I hosted three panels today and was pleasantly surprised at the turnout for all three. That goes double for the first one, which the con billed as "When Historians Clash," a discussion of comic book history between myself and Gerard Jones, author of this fine volume. We discussed a number of things but kept drifting back to a little-known facet of funnybook heritage which Gerry delved into when he wrote his book. It's how many of the early comic book publishers had previous (and sometimes, concurrent but concealed) careers publishing what then passed for pornography. That was part of, or in addition to, what enabled some of them to get their wares distributed…connections with what some might term "organized crime." Once upon a time, magazine distribution was a pretty dirty business and so, by extension, was comic book publishing.

Later, I did a panel with Sergio Aragonés about our work together and then a panel with Al Feldstein about his work on the classic EC comics like The Vault of Horror and Weird Fantasy. Tomorrow, I interview Nick Cardy on one panel, Gene Colan on another and we have a MAD panel with Al and Sergio. If you can make it for any of these, you'll probably enjoy yourself a lot.

No real news on the convention floor…or at least, none that reached my ears. Nice to meet so many of you who read this silly stop on the World Wide Web, and I hope to see more of you tomorrow.

Another Fred Kaplan article…and this one's in the "must-read" category. It's about how the Bush administration has botched (and probably lied a lot about) relationships with another arm of the infamous "Axis of Evil." In this case, it's North Korea that's now more of a threat to us than before George W. and his mob began handling things.

I'm not enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton for President, either as someone who can win or should win. But I'm beginning to think she could get a lot of support, including mine, if she ran on a simple platform: "I'll appoint Bill as my Secretary of State and let him try to put all our foreign relations back the way they were when he was in office." With North Korea, it looks like the Bush team is now trying to close a weapons control deal very much like the one Bill C. put in place. That's the deal they and all their supporters denounced as "too weak" but the current version is weaker, and they're making it after North Korea built its nuclear arsenal, rather than before, like Bill did. Way to go, guys!

Time for another one of the great Superman cartoons produced by the Max Fleischer Studios. We're serving The Arctic Giant, which was the fourth one in the series. It was released February 27, 1942.

One of the credits you'll see on this cartoon is for animator Reuben Grossman. Mr. Grossman later went to work for DC Comics drawing, among other strips, Peter Porkchops and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

You'll also notice a writing credit there for Ted Pierce. Mr. Pierce was, before and after his stint at Fleischer's, a gagman and occasional voice for Warner Brothers cartoons. For example, he did the Bud Abbott imitation in the cartoon, A Tale of Two Kitties. Lured away to the opposite coast for a few years, he worked on the Fleischer Brothers' Gullivers Travels and a few other films. (He is sometimes given the credit/blame for Popeye getting those four nephews in his cartoons.) He also did voice work there. He's in this cartoon in a couple of roles, including (I think) Perry White. Superman and Lois are Bud Collyer and Joan Alexander.

Okay, it's cartoon time!

Almost forgot. While at LAX, I got a call from Jim Amash saying that Joe Sinnott is doing much better and earlier in the day, I got an e-mail from Ken Gale saying that Arnold Drake's condition is much improved. Happy news.

Okay, now I'll post a video link and go to bed. I think it'll be one of those Fleischer Superman cartoons.

So the first thing that happens is that at LAX, the lady who checks your I.D. against your ticket doesn't believe I'm me. She looks at my driver's license, then at my face, then at my license again, then at me, back and forth for quite a while before declaring, "This isn't you."

I said, "It's me. I've lost a hundred pounds since that photo was taken. Probably more than a hundred pounds."

She stares at me and tries to imagine what I'd look like with extra weight. I said, "Here, let me help you." And I puffed up my cheeks and scrunched my jaw downward to try and create some double chins for her. She laughed and said, "I'm sorry…I don't think this is you" and she called another lady over to give a second opinion. The other lady didn't think I was me, either. In fact, she seemed so sure that it raised grave doubts in my mind.

Then the first lady noticed that the date of birthday on the license was 03-02-52. I'm typing this on March 2 but it happened last night. That's when she said, "Oh, it's your birthday tomorrow. In that case, you can go on through."

A tip to any terrorists who read this site: If you want to get past security with a fake I.D., forget about the photo. Just fly the day before the date of birth on the fake I.D.

Then the flight was running late because it was coming in from Chicago, and the weather there is apparently like the inside of a snow globe. A woman ahead of me at the gate podium was asking why they let a storm in Chicago impact a flight between Los Angeles and San Francisco. This was not a stupid woman. She was trying to ask the gate attendant why the airlines do that…why they don't just have planes that go back and forth within the state so that a LAX/SFO flight is not at the mercy of lake effect snow in Illinois. The gentleman there didn't understand and kept explaining to her how the route is for the plane to come in from Chicago, stop in L.A. and then go on to San Francisco. I could have intervened and cleared up the confusion but I figured we had more than three hours to kill before our fight was taking off. Might as well let them duke it out.

The flight finally did take off. On the plane, I checked out the roster of America's Top Steak Houses in the in-flight magazine, which is really the only reason to ever get on an airplane. They had someplace called III Forks in Texas listed in the top slot, while Peter Luger's in Brooklyn was nowhere on the list. That makes me think the whole thing is as bogus as the 2000 presidential vote totals in Florida and that it was probably another one of those Scalia deals. By the way, I get that the alleged winner is actually named "Three Forks" but they type it in Roman numerals and I can't help thinking that it looks like the place is named "ILL FORKS." Would you eat at a restaurant named that? Of course not, and that's more proof that this list is a fraud. If they keep this up, people will suspect it's all just a group advertising deal and that these places pay to get their names on it.

The flight finally landed and here I am, ready to report on the Wondercon, which opens in about eleven hours. Maybe I'd better post a video link and turn in. Good night.

As you may know, I sometimes direct voices for cartoon shows. Whenever feasible, I try to heed a piece of wisdom that was imparted to me by one Mr. Joseph Barbera. He said, "It's important to audition everyone you can before you hire Frank Welker." Frank is the "workingest" voice actor in the history of mankind. I don't mean he's worked more than Mel Blanc, Daws Butler or Paul Frees. I mean he's worked more than all three of them put together.

Frank does cartoon voices. He does commercials. You've heard him in dozens of movies, including many of the top box office grossers of all time, making creature sounds and barking for dogs and often replacing the vocal tracks of the on-screen actors. Sometimes when you think you're hearing Jack Nicholson or someone like that in one of their movies, you're hearing a line redubbed by Frank. He can sound like anyone or anything.

This is a very tiny taste of what he does. This is two and a half minutes of him making monkey sounds for a Curious George videogame. The weird and amazing thing about him is that he could go seamlessly from doing this to making terrifying dragon shrieks or sounding just like Bill Cosby or Gregory Peck. Once for a show, I asked him to create the sound of living oatmeal that was bubbling in the pot and getting angry at the person cooking it. Without pause to ponder, Frank went immediately to the microphone and made the sound of living oatmeal that was bubbling in the pot and getting angry at the person cooking it. Honest. If I played you the tape with no explanation, you'd hear it and say, "Hey, that sounds like living oatmeal bubbling in the pot and getting angry at the person cooking it." He's that good.

Thanks go out to Augie De Blieck Jr. for telling me about this. Here's Frank getting paid, probably very well, for making monkey sounds. This man, by the way, went to college.