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Post by MDG on Jan 4, 2024 21:09:42 GMT -5
I picked up an e-version of this fairly cheap. It's a compilation of work that Jack Davis drew for Cracked magazine. There's no indication of what issues those comics appeared in. No indication of who the writers were. So as a historical document it's pretty useless. Davis was a master. One of the great cartoonists of his time. And there's nothing here to fault the artwork. But Cracked was a decidedly inferior product to Mad and that fact is readily apparent here. But it's a bit like painting a masterpiece on an outhouse wall. The writing just isn't up to snuff. I'm certainly not upset I read it. But the price per page was honestly a bit high for anything other than admiring Davis' artwork. I bought into the Kickstarter for this and the companion volume of John Severin Cracked work from around the same time. Yeah, a little pricey, but stuff I like and I got a couple stickers with them (though I didn't spring for the Sylvester P. Smythe painters' hat).
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Post by MDG on Jan 4, 2024 20:54:33 GMT -5
Betty & Veronica 157
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Post by MDG on Jan 4, 2024 13:01:03 GMT -5
It makes me worry for our society when the first thing people thing of when a beloved children's property becomes public domain is to make a cheesy horror film out of it. It certainly seems lazy and creatively bankrupt. It would've been "edgy" if they didn't wait 'til it was legal. Now it's a yawn.
(The Air Pirates died for our sins!)
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Post by MDG on Jan 4, 2024 12:56:31 GMT -5
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Post by MDG on Jan 4, 2024 12:53:04 GMT -5
Heart Throbs #141
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 22:36:53 GMT -5
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 16:20:51 GMT -5
Marge's Little Lulu #117
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 14:12:29 GMT -5
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 11:09:43 GMT -5
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 11:06:09 GMT -5
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 11:04:49 GMT -5
By the way, while I was re-watching the film there was a scene that made me smirk. During the interview Superman says: "I never lie." Sure Superman, except when you fool your friends into thinking you're a bumbling buffoon and claim that Superman and Clark Kent are two different people. Apparently Superman and I have two different definitions of "lie". Just because someone says "I never lie" does not mean that they may not be, in fact, lying. Such is the duplicitous nature of falsehoods. I'm trying to remember if in the movie Lois (or anyone) asks Superman if he's Clark. Or if anyone even suspects that Superman has another identity. Why would thay?
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 10:59:50 GMT -5
It must have been very disheartening to go to the drugstore with your dime to check out the comics and the only things on the spinner rack were Famous Funnies and Mickey Mouse Magazine. On the other hand, it was probably amazing to find a 64-page magazine that was nothing but comics.
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 10:56:25 GMT -5
" I'm a complete novice when it comes to understanding how inking works, but there appears to be a clear difference to me how Mignola's work looks when inked by Al Williamson and how it looks when it he inks himself. There seems to be far more detail in the Williamson pages, especially when it comes to facial expressions. Some of the background work is extraordinary as well, making me wonder if there were assistants involved, as Chaykin's assistants did exquisite background work on the work Chaykin did for Marvel during the same time period. I can't say whether Williamson used assistants or not, but he drew science fiction comics for EC in the 50s. Also, Williamson was a fan of Alex Raymond and later drew Raymond's Flash Gordon. So detailed art is nothing new to him.... It's less the "detail" thing than Williamson's traditional illustrative style over Mignola, who was more a stylist and more interested in mood than realism. I looked up a few pages and appreciated the way Williamson maintained the "black and white" design we'd expect from Mignola, but inked the faces pretty realistically.
I believe Williamson was using assistants periodically; I think Dan Green was one for a while, though I don't know if he used them with ink-only jobs.
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Post by MDG on Jan 3, 2024 10:42:15 GMT -5
Glad you're headed beyond the Schiff Era, Hoosier X ! Yes, Gotham Village may have been the best thing about Detective 327, especially as depicted by Infantino. Bruce and Dick actually look like they are human beings for the first time in ages. Roland Meacham looks like Dexter Myles from the Flash, who always reminded me of Vitamin Flintheart. I've always loved this page--design and drawing is so different from what was happening in the "Bob Kane"-signed art
When I was reading this stuff in the 60s, I don't think I was conscious of the stylistic differences between the stories in Batman and Detective, though they are so obvious now--or even the way the covers of Batman (by Infantino) was so different from the insides (by Moldoff or whoever).
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Post by MDG on Jan 2, 2024 20:48:39 GMT -5
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