Monday, November 25, 2013

Al Plastino (1921 – 2013)

Though most fans know his 1940s-60s work on DC's Superman and Batman...
...Al Plastino had quite a varied output, ranging from Golden Age comics to almost becoming Charles Schultz's replacement on Peanuts!
Mark Evanier has a nice pro/fan tribute to Plastino HERE.
And, you can read about a recent controversy involving Al's long-missing art for a Silver Age Superman story featuring the late President Kennedy HERE.
As for me, I'd like to link you to a tale from Plastino's early days...and a character he co-created, which unfortunately went nowhere.
The wild thing about The Rainbow, is that he was one of the first comic characters inspired to become a super-hero by reading a comic book!
Have a look HERE.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Design of the Week Redux: JOHN F KENNEDY "...ask not..."

Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another, except when the response has been so good that we can't see a reason to replace it, at least for another week.
Once more, we remember the passing of President John F Kennedy on the 50th Anniversary of his assassination with this retro-style art with a red/white/blue motif and his most famous quote "ask not what youre country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.
Available as a poster, mug, t-shirt, and a host of other kool kollectibles HERE.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

Happy 50th, dear Doctor...

Sitting in front of the telly..
...waiting for the simulcast of the 50th Anniversary show.
Saw An Adventure in Space and Time last night.
Thought it was great.
Hopefully it'll inspire Whovians who think the show began with Christopher Eccleston (or Tennant, or Smith) to check out the earlier adventures...
Note: my favorite Doctor is Jon Pertwee, and, despite not being "canon", my first was Peter Cushing.)

Friday, November 22, 2013

Reading Room: JOHN F KENNEDY "Death of the Assassin"

50 years ago today, America lost a great man...
...several days later, the assassin was assassinated.
There's been an incredible amount of speculation as to why either killing occured.
The Warren Report presented it's evaluation of the matter, including their analysis of the actions of Jack Ruby, the man who shot President Kennedy's assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald.
In early 1967, Esquire magazine presented a cover story about it...
...and, instead of doing the usual article with photos, engaged Jack Kirby, the primary artist and co-creator of the Marvel Comics universe to write and draw the piece, using, among other things, exact quotes from the Warren Commission's report.
(Note: normally, I post images "same size" on this blog like the ones above.
In this case, in order to make the tiny footnotes referencing specific pages from the Warren Commission and other sources report legible, I've posted larger files for the story pages that you have to click on to see full-size.)
Click to see full-size
Click to see full-size
Click to see full-size
Inked by Chic Stone, the art was colored by Kirby using Dr Martin dyes on photostats of the original art.
Apparently, Esquire's art director felt the coloring was clean enough that it could be used as the actual art instead of as "color guides" for standard comic book hand-separated "flat color".
It gives the art a "children's storybook" softness unique to comics until the late 1980s when similar coloring techniques became more prevelent in comic books.
And now a word from our sponsor (us)...
...kool kollectibles with this retro design featuring Kennedy's most famous quote; "Ask not what your country can do for you..." (You know the rest.) for this week ONLY!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Reading Room: JOHN F KENNEDY "From Triumph to Tragedy"

Cover for the comic we've been re-presenting this week
...his term in the Highest Office in the Land had been tumultuous, including a barely-avoided nuclear conflict.
But the worst was yet to come...
Tomorrow:
by Jack (King) Kirby
This 1964 one-shot from Dell Comics appeared on newsstands about six months after Kennedy's death and was one of the first comics to go thru multiple printings!
Written by Paul S Newman (no, not the actor), penciled by John Tartaglione (with assists by Joe Sinnott) and inked by Dick Giordano & Frank McLaughlin.

And now a word from our sponsor (us)...
...kool kollectibles with the cover art from this HTF comic book featuring Kennedy's most famous quote; "Ask not what your country can do for you..." (You know the rest.) for this week ONLY!