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 Monday, January 14, 2008
Stanley and Janice Berenstain
Posted by maggie
You'll note the previous entry features two books by the couple who created "The Berenstain Bears." Oddly, Wikipedia contains almost nothing about their pre-Bears career, and I have to say that (despite the fact that I enjoy the Bears books) I prefer their earlier work, aimed (as it was) at adult readers. More than one of the cartoons they came up with, both as magazine features and as book-length projects, produce spontaneous laughter to this day. The Big Honey Hunt was published in 1962, introducing their Bears, and we met the Berenstains when the success of their kids' books had led to licensing the Bears as dolls. The two went on a book tour, and purchase of two dolls led to two free drawings. We diffidently asked whether they were permitted on the tour to draw, for example, a Bedside Lover Boy image; they were very nice about it, conferred together, and then apologized but said they didn't think it would be appropriate in connection with the tour. Stan Berenstein died in November 2005, but Jan Berenstain and son Mike continue to produce Bears material. Here's a view of the family from the back of Baby Makes Four. 
1/14/2008 10:43:33 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00) 
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Milwaukee Renaissance
Posted by maggie
Now that I'm happily in the routine of posting pictures again, let me gloat over yet another recommendation: When I came back from a Christmas-and-New-Year's trip to New York and Maryland, it was via Midwest Express and its Milwaukee hub. Milwaukee has what is probably my favorite airport -- and that's in part because of its ambiance and in part because of what it has to offer to those willing to go into the main terminal and, so, through security again. The bookstore in the Milwaukee airport is Renaissance Books, an outpost of the downtown store. And both locations offer that precious commodity: used books. The store even merits a Wikipedia entry. So it is that a book by Erma Bombeck (1927-1996) may be only a few shelves away from one by Bill Nye (1850-1896), with volumes by Garry Trudeau (1948-) and P.G. Wodehouse (1991-1975) to follow. And many, many books are way under current new-book prices. Mind you, I spent a bit more than that on the trip -- but these were among what I found this time:    
1/14/2008 10:24:46 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Have You Ever Heard of Green for Danger?
Posted by maggie
Thanks to a recent DVD sale at Barnes and Noble, I ended up with two impulse DVD purchases. (It had to be a good sale for me to buy the pricey Criterion edition of any movie. A very few merit the bucks added to the basic costs we usually see on DVDs today.) Both films featured ongoing fictional characters. The first, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse ( Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse), is a 1933 film by Fritz Lang shown (and here is a credit to Criterion) complete and in its original aspect ratio. Censored and trimmed in its earlier releases, it features not only the ongoing villain Dr. Mabuse (pronounced mah- boose-uh) but also a police inspector who appeared in Lang's classic M (which, by the way, I also recommend enthusiastically, but I bet you've already seen that film; if you haven't, see if your library can get you a copy). But the prize viewing for me was another film I bet you're not likely to have seen: Green for Danger. The ongoing character is detective Inspector Cockrill, created by Christianna Brand. Cockrill appeared in six mystery novels, but the most successful (in part because of the 1946 movie) was Green for Danger. I'd last seen it a couple of decades or more ago and enjoyed the heck out of it -- but I wasn't sure when I bought it whether it'd hold up today. It's terrific fun -- and a terrific mystery, with all the clues clearly in place (but, though I did recall how the murder came about, I still didn't solve it second time through). The film (screenplay by the men who wrote the screenplay for The Lady Vanishes) made a star out of Alastair Sim [photo here from a book on film comic performers] -- with good reason. Again, ask your library about borrowing it, if you enjoy sprightly British detective films.   
1/14/2008 10:02:42 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Comics on NPR's In Character
Posted by maggie
According to this morning's broadcast, The Lone Ranger will be the topic of the broadcast of today's "In Character" feature. I think it's scheduled for All Things Considered, but I'm not sure; I do know it'll be a National Public Radio feature. So it's the second comics-associated icon under discussion, though so far we haven't seen on the site characters that originated in comics. In addition to the online tributes featured in my earlier post, there are now: Yakko, Wakko, and Dot (who, at least, originated as animated comics characters) Maggie May Andy Dufresne Tyler Durden Chaplin's Little Tramp HAL 9000 Come on, folks! Where are Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and Spider-Man, to name only four that spring to mind?
1/14/2008 9:39:37 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Friday, January 11, 2008
Catching Up
Posted by maggie
You know how it happens sometimes that you think, "Hey, I wonder how long it's been since I ..." And then you fill in the blank with such routine duties as, say, getting a lube job and oil change for the car, having a dental check-up, draining the house's hot water tank [which, just for the record, I've never gotten around to doing], or changing the batteries in the smoke alarms [which, again for the record, I do every spring and fall]. In my case, one of those routine bits of maintenance is posting the list of comic books that have been reviewed by CBG. Imagine my reaction which I realized this morning that I'd put it off for the last four issues! Yikes! So they're posted now, along with their ratings. And so is the separate listing of the top picks from those four months. At last.
1/11/2008 11:48:38 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Given Comics' Relationship with Characters ...
Posted by maggie
You might want to keep an eye on a new blog at National Public Radio: "The 'In Character' Blog."Headed, "Great characters: What makes them? What does it take to create them? Why do they matter?" the site features essays on icons -- which must, sooner or later, include some of icons of our own. (And the site is open to nominations, so start thinking.) To date (including reader nominations): Lassie (mentioned earlier in my blog) Mr. Spock Blackie DuQuesne Dorothy Gale Buffy Summers Carrie Bradshaw Laura Ingalls Mary Richards Come on, folks! Which characters would you nominate?
1/11/2008 9:16:19 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Onion Picks 2007's Comics
Posted by maggie
Yesterday, the Jan. 3 issue of The Onion appeared in my mailbox, and I was especially intrigued by the fact that the issue's "Words" feature was devoted to its (well-informed) staff's picks of "The Best Comics of 2007." Noel Murray, Keith Phipps, and Tasha Robinson came up with the following six: Pascal Blanchet. White Rapids. Drawn & Quarterly. $27.95. The Luna Brothers. Girls: The Complete Collection. Image. $99.99. The Fillbach Brothers. Maxwell Strangewell. Dark Horse. $19.95. Gilbert Hernandez. Chance in Hell. Fantagraphics. $16.95. Jack Kirby. Jack Kirby's Fourth World Omnibus. DC. [actually, several volumes, the first two of which were released in 2007 at $49.99 each] Rick Geary. The Saga of the Bloody Benders. NBM. $15.95. The text of the feature is also available online -- accompanied by (at the moment) 149 comments that may lead you to further thoughts on the topic. (Warning: The Onion is not an all-ages publication, and neither are its discussions.) By the way, the Geary is just the lastest of his "Victorian Murder" series, which began in 1987 and all of which I recommend: 1 A Treasury of Victorian Murder (Mary Eleanor Pearcey, E.W. Pritchard, The Ryan Mystery) 2 Jack the Ripper3 The Borden Tragedy4 The Fatal Bullet (assassination of James Garfield) 5 The Mystery of Mary Rogers6 The Beast of Chicago (H.H. Holmes) 7 The Murder of Abraham Lincoln8 The Case of Madeleine Smith9 The Bloody Benders(When a book club I belong to was reading Erik Larson's highly praised The Devil in the White City about Holmes [born Herman Webster Mudgett], I brought in The Beast of Chicago, which brilliantly conveyed details of events outlined in the Larson book.)
1/10/2008 10:22:24 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Monday, January 07, 2008
This Lad and Lass Love Lassie
Posted by maggie
So I'm happily listening to NPR's Morning Edition today, when I hear a familiar voice in a feature on Lassie. His Wisconsin accent ringing from my radio, Dark Horse Vice President of New Business Development Michael Martens extolled the collie, as did his wife, Cindy Marks. So give a listen to the delightful essay by Ketzel Levine. 
1/7/2008 9:50:50 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Missing Bill Idelson
Posted by maggie
There are few sites I visit whenever I have online access and a few spare moments in which to inform myself. Mark Evanier's (see link on the left) is one of those few. Every so often (too often), one of his beautifully crafted postings hits me hard. So it is with the news (otherwise absent from my usual news sources) that Bill Idelson has died.
Most of the readers of my blog will blink and say, "Who?" A few will say, as I did, "Oh, no!"
Check Mark's tribute to Idelson's wonderful talent. Then come back here.
OK, this isn't about a figure from comic books. But Idelson was - from his youth - involved in one of the finest radio comedies of all time: Vic and Sade. And that's no small accomplishment. His delivery - always on target - shone as brightly as that of performers decades older than he was. [Aside regarding Vic and Sade: Paul Rhymer's classic is an acquired taste that, once aquired, makes its owners life-long devotees. Among them: Ray Bradbury, a member of his own informal group, The Vic and Sadists.]
And I'd hoped to meet him in October 2007, when he was scheduled to attend the Friends of Old Time Radio convention. But his health had failed to the point at which he couldn't attend.
In any case, his career did not end with a show that I never heard while growing up. He went on to a life of creative delights. His website (which will probably be retired) promoted his seminars. And (on a more personal level that never involved me with him but gave an added affection for his work) my daughter handled book design on his Story of Vic & Sade. You'll find that and his Bear Manor Press book on writing at the company's site. I'm not at the moment seeing a listing on his Gibby, a thinly disguised autobiography that Valerie also designed, but it's fascinating.
And that's not to mention his skills as a performer. Among his roles was that of the seldom-seen Herman Glimscher, Rose Marie's boyfriend, on The Dick Van Dyke Show. His was a wonderful, rounded talent displayed in a variety of creative roles in a life devoted to entertaining the rest of us.
1/2/2008 6:40:47 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Leap Year Again ...
Posted by maggie
Is there another comics connection to Leap Year besides Sadie Hawkins Day? (Or was Sadie Hawkins Day an annual event carrying out the tradition of Leap Year? Or does anyone in these liberated times even know what I'm talking about?)
Or ... Wait a minute ... another comics connection besides Sadie Hawkins Day and Superman's birthday ... Right?
1/1/2008 8:59:48 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Monday, December 31, 2007
Updating
Posted by maggie
With 2007 barrelling to a close, I find my mind drawn to the ongoing challenges of updating. It's something most news suppliers find challenging, and many use that challenge as little more than a footnote, at best.
But here we are with recent losses including Wayne Howard and Paul "Zeus" Grant and (on a different note) the ending of Tom Ryan's TUMBLEWEEDS, and I realize all over again just how many people in the industry I haven't managed to keep up with.
It was great to see Gary Friedrich appearing at some conventions in 2007. How many other well-known figures from years back have we lost touch with? These aren't necessarily Facebook-type folks; whom should we be seeking out these days, anyway?
Son Stephen got an entire book out on this sort of project years ago (TENACITY OF THE COCKROACH), but can't we start tracking down people in a less elaborate way?
12/31/2007 1:47:55 PM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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Sunday, December 30, 2007
Yes, I'm Still Lurking About
Posted by maggie
It's been a bit since I posted here, though I've put up a couple of items on CBGXtra.com. Life is more complicated electronically, when a full computer is not at hand. I'm babysitting at the moment, Grandkids Jonah and Grace just having paraded through the room, announcing, "We're grounded, because we don't like anybody."
Could it be a reference to the 2008 primaries?
In any case, comics are still a part of life. SpongeBob has been a part of Christmas festivities in the homes of both my kids, and Jonah's bedtime reading night before last was the Christmas story of Donald, Uncle Scrooge, and the kids and the giant gold nugget. Hoo hah!
12/30/2007 9:56:10 AM (Central Standard Time, UTC-06:00)
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