Monday, May 30th, 2011
A Memorial Day Observance
In honor of Memorial Day and all that it stands for, we offer Milton Caniff's Terry and the Pirates Sunday from October 17, 1943, popularly known as "The Pilot's Creed," that was read into the Congressional Record the following day. This is Caniff's hand-watercolored guide for the engravers.
posted by
Dean Mullaney
posted by Bruce Canwell
posted by Lorraine Turner
Saturday, May 21st, 2011
STILL Talkin' Toth
Bruce Canwell sat down with Alex Dueben at Comic Book Resources for a fascinating in-depth discussion about Alex Toth and our process of researching and assembling Genius, Isolated, as well as the next two books in the set.
Meanwhile, over at Scoop, both X9: Secret Agent Corrigan and Genius, Isolated have received great reviews.
Happy reading!
But before you go, many of you have probably never seen Alex Toth's "Battle Flag of the Foreign Legion" from 1950's Danger Trail #3. It's one of the rarest and most expensive early '50s DCs. We print the complete story in Genius, Isolated (© DC Comics Inc, used with permission, thank you very much!). Here's a sample page that gives you an idea of how modern and sophisticated Alex's design was that early in his career. Remember, this was 1950!
posted by
Dean Mullaney
Thursday, May 19th, 2011
Steve Canyon…on Slide and Screen
When the Steve Canyon TV show starring Dean Fredericks hit the airwaves in 1958, Caniff's agent Toni Mendez got busy. She lined up scores of licensees, producing everything from lunch boxes to jet helmets to puzzles. As part of our research for the artbook—Caniff…A Visual Biography—we uncovered some fascinating art connected with the Canyon Tru-Vue slides. Tru-Vue was manufactured by the same company that produced the better-known View-Master slides. Each "slide" contained seven pairs of stereoscopic images that were slid in a hand-held viewer, a modern version of the stereoscopic photographs that were produced at the turn of the 19th century.
Above is an example of the pencil rough for one of the Canyon slides. Below is the inked version.
Harry Guyton, Milton and Esther Caniff's nephew, and John Ellis have been diligently overseeing the digital transfers of the TV episodes so we can all enjoy the show in the comfort of our homes. Check out the official Steve Canyon website to read about—and order—the DVDs. And look for Caniff…A Visual Biography in July.
posted by
Dean Mullaney
Friday, May 13th, 2011
The Nation's Capital Loves Annie
In a full-page article in the print (and online) version of the Washington Times on May 6th, reviewer Michael Taube opined that LOAC's “Complete Little Orphan Annie series is one of the most impressive comic-strip collections ever produced."
Harold Gray's forty-plus years writing and drawing the strip has long engendered strong praise from across the political landscape—from rave reviews such as this in the decidedly conservative Washington Times to huzzahs from libertarians to wildly enthusiastic essays by liberals such as Art Spiegelman and me. Politics be damned, Harold Gray was a phenomenal and compelling storyteller.
In Volume Seven, to be released in August, real politics exist side by side with the fantastic. Gray offers the story of Ginger the flower lady which is a thinly-disguised rant about the Roosevelt Administration, followed by the introduction of the apparently immortal Mr. Am. It just doesn't get much better than this!
The politics of the strip are covered by Jeet Heer in his introductory essay, and as a bonus, we look at Gray's work on the much-neglected Little Joe.
posted by
Dean Mullaney
Wednesday, May 11th, 2011
In the pre-digital world…
Some of you may be old enough to remember the pre-Photoshop days when we actually used paste-ups, rubber cement, waxers, rubylith film, and Graumbacher opaquing paints! (Dates me, doesn't it?!).
It's been brought to our attention that in Bloom County Volume Four, the "Meet Deathtongue" Sunday page from December 7, 1986 (which we also used on the back cover) was missing a few words in the last two lines of the final panel. One reader speculated that we exercised "crude censorship" in deleting a reference to the singer Lionel Richie.
Well, I like a conspiracy theory as well as anyone, but in this case, the explanation for the missing words in the "Deathtongue" Sunday is pretty mundane. When Berkeley packed up the original art for us to print the book, the paste-up lettering simply fell off. Neither he nor we noticed it. No censorship, no conspiracy, just old rubber cement!
Sheesh—and you thought there was a deep dark secret! Thanks to the reader who pointed it out.
Here's the Sunday with the lost lettering re-created in all its original glory.
posted by
Dean Mullaney
Friday, May 6th, 2011
They Don't Wear White in Foxholes
As Lucy Shelton Caswell writes in her Introduction to our forthcoming art book—CANIFF: "Milton Caniff came from a family of pack rats and he was married to one for more than fifty years. As a result, his personal and business papers are unusually complete and intact."
It's from these comprehensive files at the library that Lucy was instrumental in establishing at The Ohio State University that we've culled an incredible array of Caniff's art, from his childhood through the 1980s. It's an unprecedented resource to study the career of a major cartoonist. It also presents a challenge—which of the cool artwork and memorabilia will make the cut! It's a "problem" I wish we had every day.
This is another way of saying that we're running a little late on deivering the book to the printer. No too late—just a few weeks—but for you Amazon-release-date watchers, be patient. It'll be printed and in your hands in July instead of June.
To hold you over, here are three more goodies that have never been reprinted:
1. The original art to one of the travel headers Caniff illustrated and lettered as part of his staff job on the Columbus Dispatch in the late '20s and early '30s.
2. The original art to one of the many illustrations he made to accompany serialized stories while working at the Associated Press in the early '30s.
3. A syndicate promo piece that introduces Taffy Tucker, everyone's favorite nurse in Terry and the Pirates.
And if THAT doesn't leave you salivating for more, I give up!
posted by
Dean Mullaney
P.S. For you baseball fans, please join me in wishing Willie Mays a happy birthday today! Say Hey!!!
Thursday, May 5th, 2011
It's the Golden Age…
I'd like to think that we're playing a large part in making this the Golden Age of Comic Strip Reprints, but we're certainly not alone. I recently thrilled to the first volume of John Cullen Murphy's Big Ben Bolt published by our pal Charles Pelto at Classic Comics Press. If you're not familiar with the strip, I urge you to take a look. In the next few months, Charles has plans to begin José Luis Salinas's Cisco Kid, which rivals Alex's Raymond's Rip Kirby as the best drawn strip of the '50s. My mouth's watering already!
Another book that's available now is an absolutely stunning Robert Fawcett art book from another old pal of ours—Manuel Auad. It's not comics, but if you like art—especially mid-Century illustration work—Fawcett is THE MAN. This book—along with LOAC's own Scorchy Smith and the Art of Noel Sickles—belongs on the shelves of all serious art fans.
posted by
Dean Mullaney
Wednesday, May 4th, 2011
We Just Got Back from Bahstawn!
That was the cry when my friends and I were still wet behind the ears and returning to our homes in rural New England after making the three-hour drive home following a weekend in Boston. We typically found driving into the city was no big problem - but for whatever reason, driving out of town often confounded us. Somehow, we didn't mind making a few wrong turns before getting untracked, because invariably we'd had such a good time we weren't eager for our adventures to end.
Many of my friends have remained in the state of our births, but fifteen years ago I moved into the greater Boston area. Though I've never had cause to regret that change of venue, at times I do wish that many of my closest friends lived closer than a hundred miles away.
When three of those friends announced they were coming to The Hub of the Universe on April 30th and May 1st for the Boston Comiccon, there was no doubt I'd be there, too. For the first time since October at NYCC, I found myself on a convention floor.
The Boston show wasn't as big or as loud or as crowded as New York, but there was still plenty of activity. Dealers aplenty were hawking Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age comics, plus all sorts of paperback and hardcover collections(I saw Terrys and Annies and Bloom Countys displayed on several tables). There was no shortage of costumed fans (kudos to the guy in a barbarian-style loincloth and the gal who wore a Power Girl outfit - it's no small achievement to be able to sell costumes like that!). And the lineup of professional guests was first rate - there were more Big Names on hand than I had time to visit (I tried to look up Mark Chiarello twice; alas, he was away from his table each time.)
Still, it was a thrill to at last meet Gahan Wilson. I've followed Mr. Wilson's career since his days with The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and I've read all his prose fiction, as well. He was more than generous with his time, telling me how a boyhood visit to Chester Gould's home helped him decide he wanted a career as a cartoonist. And what a delight to meet Stephanie Buscema! The granddaughter of the late, great John Buscema, she is carving her own niche in the comics business. I encountered John at a 1999 show in White Plains and was in the DC Comics offices the same day as John's brother, Sal, a few years before that. Meeting Stephanie allowed me to score a trifecta when it comes to speaking with The Drawing Buscemas.
It was a delight to spend a few minutes with Joe Kubert. Since he gave us a terrific interview about Alex Toth in support of our Genius series, I was pleased to be able to tell him Genius, Isolated is now on sale. I also had a wonderful visit with Howard Chaykin and I admit it—I fanboyed out, asking for an autograph in my copy of his sassy and spritied 1986 graphic album, Time2: The Epiphany. And Darwyn Cooke is not just a tremendous talent, he's one helluva nice guy who roots for exactly the right NBA team (we're both big Boston Celtics fans). I had great fun talking both comics and Celtics Pride with him.
I'm not just idly dropping names - those three talented gentlemen all agreed to let me interview them in the weeks ahead to support upcoming text pieces I'll be writing. Keep watching future LOAC volumes and when you see their quotes appear, you'll know the way it all began.
Best of all for me, the fun did not end each day as the convention wound down. That meant it was time for my friends and I to leave the Hynes Convention Center, and head off for a tasty meal, and enjoy plenty of good conversation. Coming home from the city is now commonplace for me, but as I said goodbye to my friends, I wondered if they'd get home ready to say, "I just got back from Bahstawn…"
posted by Bruce Canwell
Sunday, May 1st, 2011
Sometimes Size DOES Matter
Polly and Her Pals, our first release in the massive 12" x 16" Champagne Edition size, has—as we noted—garnered two Eisner nominations this year.
Our second series in that oversized format will premiere in September. Although Flash Gordon has been previously reprinted, this—finally—is the first meticulously restored edition that prints the strip in a large size, and in Alex Raymond's original format that includes the Jungle Jim topper! Look for the complete Alex Raymond Flash/Jim in four deluxe volumes.
The books are designed by LOAC's own Lorraine Turner, two-time Emmy winner (and now Eisner nominee—for Polly and Her Pals), with historical essays by Bruce Canwell—LOAC's Man About Town, and edits by Yours Truly.
We'll have more details about the series in coming months.
posted by
Dean Mullaney