Cecil Surry's Mr. Magoo

I love to discover comic book work done by animators. This Mr. Magoo story from Gerald McBoing Boing And The Nearsighted Mr. Magoo #1 (Aug-Oct 1952) was drawn and lettered by Cecil Surry, an animator I was not familiar with until today. Mr. Surry worked for Walt Disney (Silly Symphonies), Walter Lantz, Leon Schlesinger (in Tex Avery's unit), and UPA. He also drew comics for Dell Publishing from 1948 to 1957. There is a profile of him over at Animation: Who & Where.

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If You Crash Hashimoto-San's Daughter's Birthday Party...

Bad things happen. Very bad things...

Swing You Sinners!

Here is a bit of animated weirdness that you must see. Released in 1930, "Swing You Sinners" was directed by Dave Fleischer and was part of their Talkartoons series of cartoons, of which 42 were made (this is #9). The star is a little character named Bimbo, whose star would soon be eclipsed by his girlfriend, Betty Boop. And now you know...the rest of the story.

talkatoons-swing you sinners(1930). @ Yahoo! Video

"Mr. Owl And The Atomic Bomb"

News of the atom bomb comes to the banks of the Okeefenokee Swamp in this classic tale from Four Color# 148 (May, 1947) that featured the adventures of Albert The Alligator And Pogo Possum. Walt Kelly was a genius at sermonizing sleight-of-hand, disguising his timely messages under layers of slapstick action and English-mangling accents. That's to say nothing of his crisp yet fluid artwork, some of the best ever produced in the comics or any other medium. By the way, bombs suck.

If "Peanuts" Characters Aged Like Real People

I was glad to get word that Frank Jacobs, longtime writer for Mad Magazine, is to be one of two recipients of the Bill Finger Award at the Eisner Awards ceremony at Comic-Con this year (the other honoree is the brilliant John Broome). There are many reasons Frank's clever satires have appeared in over 300 issues of Mad. Here is but one, from #148 (January, 1972), featuring the artwork of Bob Clarke.

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If the "two-tone saddle" and the "chrome rear carrier" doesn't sell you , the "tubular rims" and "flamboyant colors" surely will. Warning: do not take suppositories while operating the Schwinn "Fleet". If you are not man enough to handle the "Fleet," you WILL be designated "Pixie".

Father Of The Year: Mike Brady

Ol' Groove has more of this story here.

Air Wave - "The Case Of The Talking Gun"

Now here's something you don't see every day, a really nice looking Air Wave story, direct from the pages of Detective Comics #68 (October 1942). The script is by Murray Boltinoff. Art chores are handled by the team of Harris Levy (aka Lee Harris) and Charles Paris.

Robert Crumb Makes No Apologies!

Here is an interesting piece produced for the magazine Art? Alternatives #2 (October 1992) by Michelle Delio. The subject is the reclusive genius Robert Crumb, who, by this time, was living in France. Besides a portfolio of his then current sketches, Michelle explains how her accomplice "J" tracked down and almost got an interview with him. Good stuff.