The one-time editor of Timely Comics (aka Marvel), Vince Fago, has passed away from stomach cancer.  He was 88 years old and had devoted his entire life to cartooning and comics.  Fago was born in New York and got into the animation field there in 1933.  He worked for an array of small commercial houses in New York and Detroit before settling in briefly at Max Fleischer's operation, where he worked on Betty Boop, Superman and Popeye other cartoons, as well as the feature, Gulliver's Travels.  When World War II broke out, most of the animation studios shifted over to making films for the military and Fago, who found such work boring, went out to try and get work in comic books.

Timely was plunging into "funny animal" titles and when editor Stan Lee saw Vince's work, he knew he had a good source of them.  Fago drew strips with names as odd as " Frenchy Rabbit," "Dinky and Rudy Rooster." and "Floop and Skillyboo."  Soon after, when Stan entered the service, he had to pick someone to take over the editor's job in his absence.  He chose Vince Fago.

Fago held the job until soon after Stan returned.  Thereafter, Vince worked for Timely as well as other companies as a writer, editor and artist, usually of "funny animal" comics.  He dabbled in newspaper strips, magazine publishing, animation, commercials and just about any field where you could make a buck drawing silly pictures.  Roy Thomas's fine magazine, Alter Ego, recently published a number of exhaustive articles and a long interview with the man, conducted by his friend, Jim Amash.

Joe Raiola is a senior editor at Mad Magazine and when he's not doing that, he delivers impassioned, entertaining speeches about Censorship and the First Amendment.  My pal Lou Mougin e-mailed me to tell me that one of Joe's addresses was on C-Span this weekend.  (I'd have alerted you folks via this page but my site was down — a high-tech form of unintentional censorship.)  If and when it reruns, I'll try and announce it here…but I found it very interesting.  I agree with Joe's belief in the sanctity and importance of Freedom of Speech, disagree with him on some of the particulars, and respect the hell outta him for going out and speaking his mind.  In any case, here's a link to a website that books speaking engagements for the guy.

I don't agree with a lot of reviewers so I expected to quibble a lot with the notices for Neil Simon's Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple.  But I disagreed with almost none of this review in the L.A. Times or the one that ran in Daily Variety, which is available on-line only by subscription.  And at this page over at the Times, you can see two on-line clips from the show.

On his show this week, Dennis Miller did the same Southwest Airlines joke, and I have to wonder why.  Leno, Letterman and O'Brien all did it the same night — Tuesday — and none of them could have seen the other shows when they taped.  But Miller does his show live on Friday nights.  Hard to believe no one on his staff had seen Dave, Jay or Conan.  (I am not suggesting theft here; just that someone needs to be a little more careful.)

And, yes, I have seen this article about the guy who ripped off royalties for Garfield & Friends.  No wonder I haven't gotten a check lately…

A company called Wilson Research Strategies does all sorts of polls to gauge the American public.  Recently (May 5-8), they conducted one that asked 1000 registered voters, "Who is your favorite super-hero?"  This poll has a margin of error of ±3.2% and I offer it here for whatever it's worth, with the suspicion that Spider-Man's stock has probably risen since the movie came out.

• Superman – 27%
• Spider-Man – 15%
• Batman – 14%
• Wonder Woman – 11%
• The Incredible Hulk – 7%
• Flash Gordon – 4%
• The Bionic Man – 4%
• Other/Don't Know – 20%

The Reprise! group in Los Angeles stages short-run, stripped-down, no-frills (i.e., minimal sets and costumes) versions of great Broadway musicals — usually three a year at the Freud Playhouse up at U.C.L.A. and one slightly-bigger production at the Wadsworth Theater over on the grounds of the Veterans Administration.  I am just back from the sixth of eleven performances of this year's "slightly-bigger" event at the Wadsworth — Follies, book by James Goldman, songs by Stephen Sondheim.

Yes, Follies again.  It was not so long ago that I saw the recent New York production done by Manhattan's Roundabout Theater Company.  That one was criticized by some for not being lavish enough in its art direction and staging.  The Reprise! version offers even less and, in some ways, less is more.  Take away the staging tricks and glitter and all you have left are the skills of the performers and their very formidable personal histories.  That is more than enough to make for a very enjoyable event.

For those who don't know: Follies in the story of the closing of a great theater and a last reunion therein of the showgirls who once paraded across its stage.  It is often cast with lead performers who have rich show biz histories themselves, making it a showpiece for the great ladies of the stage who have been around a while.  The cast for this Reprise! incarnation is most impressive and includes Carol Lawrence, Carole Cook, Amanda McBroom, Stella Stevens, Mary Jo Catlett, Justine Johnson (who was in the original Broadway production in '71), Liz Torres and Donna McKechnie.  The male leads are Bob Gunton and Harry Groener — both of whom are incredible — while the two main female roles are filled by Patty Duke and Vikki Carr.

The latter two choices were deemed controversial when announced — Ms. Duke because it was felt she couldn't sing; Ms. Carr, because folks wondered if she could act.  Apparently, the early performances were a bit awkward (these shows are always woefully under-rehearsed) but tonight, both ladies proved the skeptics wrong.  Patty Duke is still a helluvan actress and that makes up for any slight deficiencies in her singing.  Vikki Carr is still an amazing singer and I thought she was wonderful in the difficult role of Sally.  And I have to say just one more time how good the men were, especially Harry Groener.  You want to know what a good song-and-dance man looks like on stage?  He looks like Harry Groener.

A tiny minority of folks left at intermission.  There are rough edges in this kind of production — bobbled lines, missed notes — and it seemed like a few people let that kind of thing get to them.  Those of us who remained jumped to our feet at the end to applaud a truly memorable, emotional production of a truly memorable, emotional show.

Although I almost wish a few more had left.  The folks sitting directly behind us seemed unable to grasp that all their favorite musical performers weren't up on the stage there.  One man kept paging through his program book, asking over and over which of those ladies on stage was Lainie Kazan (answer: none of them).  His wife was equally certain that at least one of those women had to be Connie Francis or maybe Connie Stevens.  But maybe such mistakes add to the charm.  Follies is about fantasy and nostalgia.  Maybe it's appropriate to let one's imagination run rampant at such an event.

In a few days, I'll be posting the list of panels (twelve of 'em) I'll be moderating at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego.  However, I wanted to mention one thing that delights me; that our annual Cartoon Voice Actor Panel will be graced by the presence of the legendary Gary Owens, along with other folks of amazing voice.  You can also expect a Golden Age Panel, a Jack Kirby Tribute Panel, a tribute to the late Dan DeCarlo, another Marvel Bullpen Reunion (including a tribute to John Buscema), panels celebrating the 50th anniversary of Mad Magazine and the 20th of Groo the Wanderer, and many others.

There will even be a couple that may look more like low-budget (but fun) game shows.  If you're thinking of going to the con and ain't got your hotel reservation yet, you may be commuting quite a distance, as all the lodgings for some distance around seem to be booked.  Hustle over to the convention's website — www.comic-con.org — for more info.

Fox News is reporting here that Cartoon Network is reinstating Speedy Gonzales to its cartoon line-up.  As we predicted here, they're citing online petitions as one of the factors that prompted the decision.

Regarding the "Late Night Trifecta" mentioned below: Several e-mails this morn remind me that the three comedians not only all told the same joke, they were all factually wrong.  Southwest Airlines does not serve meals on their flights.

We hit the late night trifecta last night! Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O'Brien all did the same joke, which went roughly like this…

Southwest Airlines has announced that they're going to begin charging overweight passengers for two seats. The overweight passengers were upset until they realized it means two meals.

It happens quite often that two of the three happen onto the same topical joke. This is the first time I can recall all three doing one. (And, no, no one stole it from anyone else. No one ever steals jokes like that, especially on the same night.)

Anybody but me bothered by those new Denny's TV commercials featuring The Muppets?  It's not that the characters are doing commercials.  It's not even that someone other than Frank Oz is doing the voice of Miss Piggy.  It's that Miss Piggy is ordering and enjoying Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast — which includes two slices of bacon and two links of sausage!  Aren't those, like, her relatives?  Shouldn't Miss Piggy have been reacting in horror to the cuisine?  As I recall, The Muppet Movie was all about Kermit refusing to do TV commercials for a chain of restaurants that served frogs' legs.  Where did that independent, selfless spirit go?

One of the most talented people I know is an actor-comedian-inventor-silly person named Chuck McCann.  Once upon a time, he and Soupy Sales were a one-two parlay on New York television, making for a seamless bloc of hip kids' shows.  Later on, he appeared in films and on TV and did cartoon voices and…well, I can't begin to tell you all that Chuck has done.  Here's a link to his listing in the Internet Movie Database, which itemizes about a tenth of it.  (By the way: Ignore the credits they have for him as a film editor.  Those rightly belong to the other Chuck McCann.  Completely different person.)

As you can see, even without cutting film, this Chuck McCann has an awesome list of credits.  And one of the things that impresses me about Chuck is that he's done everything, met everyone, etc.  A year or three ago at a party, we were chatting and somehow, Edgar Bergen's name came up in the conversation.  Chuck works puppets and knows everybody so it didn't surprise me that Chuck knew him and had worked with him.  But even I was amazed when Chuck said, "Did you know I once did the voice of Mortimer Snerd for him while he was working the dummy?"  No, I didn't know…

Chuck went on to explain that it was on an episode of the game show, I've Got A Secret.  Bergen was the celebrity guest — with Mr. Snerd on his knee — and his secret was, "I'm not speaking for Mortimer…I have another ventriloquist under the desk."  Sure enough, Chuck was hidden uncomfortably down by the feet of Bergen and Garry Moore, and he copied Mortimer's voice.  Bergen worked the controls and — here's the part I love — moved his lips a little to complete the illusion.  The panel never guessed it.

I believed Chuck when he told me this.  Still, I was impressed to see it the other night when Game Show Network re-ran that ancient (6/14/61) episode.  It was just as Chuck described — his imitation of Snerd was flawless — and the whole spot was delightful.  I couldn't wait to call Chuck the next morning and tell him I'd seen it.

"It was on?" he gasped.  No one had told him.  I saved it for him, of course, and we're getting together for lunch next week so I can give him a copy.

But that's not why I recounted all this.  I just think it's great that things like this have been saved.  Chuck thought he'd never see that episode again; assumed it was lost forever, as so much fine work has been lost.  With eight zillion cable channels out there, why do they all have to be rerunning Dude, Where's My Car?  Why can't we have more stations rooting around in old film vaults, preserving and sharing treasures of the past?  I'm amazed how few old TV shows are available on my satellite dish beyond the biggies like M*A*S*H and I Love Lucy.  When is someone going to start The Old Sitcom Network?  Or The Cop Show Channel?  Why can't I tune in one of my thousand channels and see The Defenders?  Or Car 54?  Or even Bilko, for God's sake?

Sorry.  There's no answer to this.  I'm just venting.

By the way: Game Show Network is closing in on the end of their supply of What's My Line? episodes.  The last one (probably the actual last episode, featuring John Daly as the Mystery Guest) will air at the end of this month.  It'll be replaced on the schedule by old installments of To Tell the Truth.

I have another theory. It's that many old TV shows have been secretly refilmed to make them cheap-looking and less entertaining.  I formulated this notion a few years ago when I caught a couple of vintage reruns of The Man From U.N.C.L.E..  I just know this series didn't look that chintzy and wasn't as silly when it first aired.  Using doubles of Robert Vaughn and David McCallum — or perhaps employing sophisticated computer imagery — someone has managed to drain the entertainment value of them.

I started thinking the same kind of monkeying had been done to David Frost's 1977 interviews with Richard Nixon.  I watched them when they first aired and I watched the first two hours again the other night on the Discovery Civilization Channel.  Something, one can't help but think, has changed.  Maybe it's CGI animation or maybe they found David Frye and got him to redo Nixon's role…but I don't recall our 37th president being that rotten a liar.  He's really terrible.  My recollection is that while Frost landed some solid punches, Nixon held his own for much of it and made some solid points on his behalf with regard to Watergate and its allied scandals.

I could then understand how his supporters could have believed him…something I cannot fathom after the other night.  He seems nakedly insincere and his tactic for diverting questions is in full view and utterly ineffective.  I never liked or trusted the man but I thought he was a better fibber than this.

Perhaps the tapes (Frost's tapes, that is) have indeed been altered.  The shows now airing have been recut to include material that was previously unused.  Still, I find it hard to believe they cut out Nixon's better moments for this version, or that they omitted his worst, the first time around.  I find it more credible to believe that in the quarter-century since, we've endured so many lying, weasely politicians up-close and personal on the cable channels, the art form of political misdirection has had to advance.  They've had to improve on what Nixon did, and his skills of misdirection are no longer State of the Art.  I wonder if people who once supported him watched these shows this week and said, "I can't believe I voted for this guy."

Three of you wrote to remind me that Roger Broughton's small press comic book company is reprinting old Herbie comics in black-and-white.  I guess what I meant was that the comic probably won't get reprinted in a quality, full-color volume.

I've posted a list of the panels I'm hosting at this year's Comic-Con International in San Diego.  Here it is.

The interview I did with Paul Harris on his splendid radio show earlier this week is now available for on-line listening on Paul's website.  Here's a link to a page with it and a number of vastly more interesting chats.

Just noticed: If you don't want to wait 'til next Monday to see Triumph the Insult Comic Dog abuse Star Wars fans, the complete video — it's ten and a half minutes, by the way — has been posted to several websites.  You can try this link or this link or this link or even this link.  One of those oughta work, at least for the next day or two.