If you're a Disney fan, I'm about to cost you a nice piece of change. That studio has had many brilliant artists on the payroll but none more astounding than Peter Ellenshaw, master matte painter. Many beautiful visions in Disney live-action films have emanated from his easel and there's now a gorgeous book that reproduces many of them, accompanied by all the biographical and historical data you could crave. It's called Ellenshaw Under Glass – Going to the Matte for Disney and it's available in several editions. If you can afford it, spring for the Deluxe Edition. It comes in a slipcase with a hologram of Ellenshaw sitting on a cloud, floating over Mary Poppins' London…and then the book itself has glass (or maybe plexiglass) covers with Ellenshaw himself turned into a matte painting. Everyone who's seen the copy I have on my table has taken one look at it and said, "I must own one of these." You can own one of these by visiting this website and ordering online.

Long before comic books discovered the mini-series, there was the mini-comic. In 1966, Marvel issued six "comic books" that, depending on the size of your monitor, may have been even smaller than they appear in the above photo. They actually varied a tiny bit in size but were generally under 7/8" in height and a bit less than 1/4" thick with black-and-white interiors. Each was bound along the left ledge with the kind of rubbery glue used to bind a pad of writing paper and featured jokes and an occasional smidgen of story. I dunno who wrote them but some of the art was stats from the comic books and some of the new art was by Marie Severin.

I first heard about them in the Marvel Bullpen Bulletins page when they said…well, here. I'll let you read it for yourself:

Upon reading that, I immediately began checking out every vending machine I passed. As a more-or-less Marvel completist, I had to have them. For weeks, the search was fruitless but then one day, my father took us to a White Front department store down in the Crenshaw district…down where white folks never went in '66 unless they wanted to save money buying a washing machine or something of that size. While my parents priced portable room fans, I scoped out the vending machines and sure enough, there was one with with Marvel mini-books therein. Alas, it also had other stuff. You put in a quarter, turned the handle and you got a little plastic egg with a cheapo toy in it — a ring, a balloon, a little top, something of the sort. From what I could estimate as I peered in the glass, the odds seemed like about one in five that you'd get a Marvel mini-book.

I ran off and found a nice snack bar lady who changed three dollar bills (all I had) into twelve quarters. Then I ran back to the machine and began feeding in those quarters. By the time I'd used them all up, I'd scored mini-books of Sgt. Fury, The Hulk and Millie the Model as well as a lot of plastic whistles and other things I didn't want.

In later years in Vegas, I would see grown men and women look almost hypnotized as they pumped quarters and silver dollars into slot machines. I experienced some of that at the White Front that day. By the time my parents had made their purchase, I had squandered every quarter but I had half a set of the Marvel mini-books. To make matters worse, I could see some of the missing ones in their little plastic modules inside the glass dome of the vending machine. They were distributed across the top of the pile and the machine picked from the bottom, so what I was seeking was perhaps unattainable without injecting a few hundred more quarters.

"Let's go," my father called and I headed for the car, defeated. I knew full well I'd never see another vending machine that sold Marvel mini-books; that there would always be that aching void in my life…sigh, weep, moan. Fortunately for me (unfortunately for my parents), the room fan didn't work right so we had to go back a week or so later. I was well-armed with quarters this time and while they exchanged, I gambled some more. My luck wasn't quite as good. I think I went through $5.00 of quarters and got lotsa dupes but came away one mini-book short. I still needed a Captain America.

But sometimes things work out. A week or three later, a new kid showed up at our Saturday afternoon comic book club and he brought along his almost-complete Marvel Mini-Book collection. He had an extra Captain America but no Hulk. I had an extra Hulk but no Captain America. You didn't have to be Monty Hall to close that deal.

At the time, it seemed like I'd spent an awful lot of money to amass that complete set, especially when you compared the cost-per-mini-book to what it then cost to buy a full-sized real Marvel Comic but it was worth it, just to not have to feel unfulfilled and to scratch that all-consuming itch. And if you look at what those mini-books sell for today on the collector market, it wasn't that bad an investment.

Someone recently asked me what a publicist does for a client. Well, there are many ways in which a publicist can help you…but I think this is what you'd call going the extra mile.

If you crave the most up-to-date info on the attempts to oust Michael Eisner from his post at Disney, Jim Hill Media is the place for you.

Thanks to all of you who sent birthday greetings. I'm taking a little time out from blogging and answering e-mail to tend to some personal and celebratory matters but I'll be back to you soon.

Well, not much point in me going out to vote in the presidential primary, is there?

I usually get annoyed when a race is called before the polls close but in this case, it saves me the trouble of deciding between Kerry and Edwards. I think Edwards would make a better candidate and he's a wee bit closer to my views than Kerry. Then again, a Kerry vote these days is almost an anti-Bush vote and it was tempting to cast one of those. So I think I'll just go vote on the propositions and I guess I'll cast my ballot for Kerry, just as a vote of confidence. Even though I'm not that confident.

Paul Krugman explains what's what with Alan Greenspan's silly economic policies.

Eric Idle discusses plans for a Broadway show based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

In 1964, Producer David Merrick collected a Tony award for the musical, Hello, Dolly. If we are to believe this listing on eBay, here is what happened to the medallion presented that year: Someone got hold of it and had it re-engraved, obliterating the inscription that said "David Merrick" and "Hello, Dolly" and inscribing a bogus one that read, "G. William Marshall, The Literary Award for "The Deal." The date on the medallion has also been changed to 1969. One would assume Merrick did not do this to his own Tony award, but Merrick did some pretty bizarre things during his career. I mean, one would also assume he would never let loose of the medallion and that if it had been stolen, we'd have heard about it.

A bit of Internet Sleuthing tells us that there actually was a paperback novel called The Deal, written by G. William Marshall and published in 1969 by Dell Books. It does not appear to ever have been a play, nor did G. William Marshall ever write anything that might have warranted a real Tony award.

The person who sold this item for $810 says they obtained it at a flea market in Paris in 1982 and that they had it authenticated at the time by Merrick's former press agent, Harvey Sabinson. Mr. Sabinson is still with us. Perhaps someone can ask him if he did indeed authenticate this thing and if so, does he have any idea wha' happened.

As reported the other day, longtime comic book inker Rudy LaPick has passed away. As I said, I didn't know the man but I now really wish I had. I just received the following from his son, Rudy LaPick, Jr. and we both thought it should be read by a wider audience…

How does one put into words a lifetime they shared with someone in just a paragraph or two? You see, this was not only my father but my best friend. My father was a warm, sharing, sensitive, loving person who helped provide and care for his family since the age of 9. You see, he lost his father at that age and watched over his younger sister and brother while their mother was out earning a living. His family had nothing and it was very difficult trying to make ends meet. Even at such an early age, he had a sense of humor, telling his younger siblings jokes about the area neighbors and making them laugh while they lay in bed together. My father had learned at that early age that in order to get through the difficult times in life that we all encounter, one must learn how to look at the humorous aspect of things. My father had many friends. Even the store clerks and cashiers in the stores that my father frequented knew him on a first name basis. Some of whom called him "Archie" being that he worked on the comic strip. Between his telling jokes and doing his impressions, everyone looked forward to seeing him in order to have their day brightened up. My father had a knack for making a total stranger feel very comfortable in his presence. I remember while growing up at home, that when friends came by to visit me, my dad would join right in and have them all in an uproar of laughter.

My dad loved his work and took much pride in it, I'm sure his co-workers would agree. In fact, he was sitting at his drawing desk when he passed away.

My mother Mary was the love of his life. Right up until my mother's death, 18 years ago, they were the honeymoon couple holding hands and kissing like teenagers in love. There was not a day that had gone by since her death that he didn't mention her in some loving memory. I'm sure that my brother and sister would agree that dad was the ultimate father and friend who was always more concerned with our troubles rather than his own. I know that dad is with mom now and already has Saint Peter laughing at his jokes and impressions.

In closing I would like to say that anyone here that knew dad would know what I mean when I say, "Alright pilgrims. I want you to all put your wagons in a circle." God bless you, dad.

Jim Keegan writes in response to my saying that Sean Penn's "WMD" line seemed a bit gratutious…

You know, Mark, I read your blog each day, but sometimes you really disappoint me. Penn earned his 90 seconds. It was his to do with whatever he chose. He wasn't a presenter abusing the privilege. He wasn't the host hired to do a job (Crystal made a few political comments too — where's the outrage?). Penn didn't rush the stage, he won the time fair and square.

Since the actual news media (and I use the term lightly) will barely mention the fact that there are no WMDs, I was proud of Penn for reminding viewers that THOUSANDS of people are dead and America's credibility has been squandered over those phantom WMDs.

You mention WMDs on your blog. Isn't that "gratuitous?" I guess the addition of the word "politics" on the header makes it okay, as opposed to Penn's hard-earned 90 seconds? Maybe you're planning on joining Bush on the missing WMDs, "What's the difference?"

Well, first off, I think the fact that we went to war based on an enormous false premise is and deserves to be the all-time great political scandal. And even if I were convinced that Bush and his men acted in good faith and didn't gin up the evidence, I'd think it was the all-time great political scandal that no one has been fired or, insofar as I can tell, even slapped on the wrist for what was, at best, a colossal screw-up. So obviously, "What's the difference?" does not begin to summarize my view on the matter. I also think it has gotten more attention in the press than you do. Polls do say that a majority of Americans think there were no Weapons of Mass Destruction, and I think that accounts for a large chunk of Bush's currently-dropping approval ratings.

That said, I still think what Penn said was gratuitous. You're right: He earned the time and had the right to say anything he wanted up there. I just thought he trivialized the statement by making it so off-hand and non sequitur. I would have preferred he say nothing rather than to say so little. It's not that I disagree with his message. I just think he picked a poor time and way to express it.

Never mind arguing over the birthdays of Superman and Captain Marvel. Today is the verifiable birthday of a real hero. When I was reading DC Comics in the sixties, the books didn't carry writer credits so I had no idea who'd dreamed up my favorite stories. Years later, as I started to learn who wrote what, I discovered that I had favorite writers; that many of the tales I'd enjoyed most had come from certain men who had, despite their utter anonymity, had the creativity and pride to work above the norm. That was when I learned of Arnold Drake, the man who co-created The Doom Patrol, co-created Deadman, wrote those great issues of Tommy Tomorrow in Showcase, wrote the Bob Hope and Jerry Lewis comics and some of the better Blackhawk tales and Challengers of the Unknown and…hey, let's not forget Stanley and His Monster and many more. In many venues, Drake showed himself to be a writer who brought a lot more imagination to comic books than the job required. Later, I was pleased to get to know Arnold and found him to be a bright, articulate and lovely gentleman. It is therefore a joy to tell you all that today is his 80th birthday and I wish him at least eighty more.

LIVE OSCAR BLOGGING! — Best Picture, Lord of the Rings. Eleven wins…and not one for acting.

Well, I hope you enjoyed Live Oscar Blogging of what turned out to be an infomercial for New Zealand. Thanks to all of you who filled my e-mailbox with running comments and questions, and thanks to my wonderful friend Carolyn for putting up with me neglecting her for so much of the evening as I moved my typing fingers faster than Ann Miller tap-dancing on hot coals. And I'd like to thank my agent and thank the Academy and…

Good night, everybody!

LIVE OSCAR BLOGGING! — I always wince when people try to "explain" an Oscar with one simple reason. No one knows how the Academy votes. We don't even know if a given winner made it by one vote or if it was unanimous. Somehow though, you hear these pat rationales that presume everyone who voted had the same thing on their mind…and that it wasn't a matter of voting for what they thought was the best work. Going into this ceremony, we heard that Sean Penn would win because he had a body of fine work behind him so it was "his turn." We also heard that Bill Murray would win because Penn's politics or personal style had alienated some voters. Those are wonderful theories and of course, no one can ever prove them right or wrong. But isn't it possible that the guy who won just had more voters who thought he gave the best performance? And it could have been only one more than the second-place finisher.

Best Actor, Sean Penn. Okay, I'll be fifteen out of nineteen. I predicted Murray almost as a whim. And I can't help remember years ago when I heard an NBC exec saying how foolish it was to put the guy on Saturday Night Live because he had such bad skin, and you can't be a TV star (never mind, a movie star) with bad skin.

Penn's line about "no WMDs" seemed a bit gratuitous but he otherwise gave a good speech if only because it didn't sound written and wasn't a list of agents and lawyers.

LIVE OSCAR BLOGGING! — They must be giving up and going to bed all across the Eastern time zone and again, I don't think there was much the producers could have done. It's not their fault that the winners aren't huge shocks and no one's bursting into tears. Those are the moments we remember from the Oscars, like Halle Berry getting hysterical or Roman Polanski defying all odds. We haven't had a one of those.

Best Actress, Charlize Theron. Oh, well. At least no one knows the next one…