Bakshi Blast: Jack Cole's Plastic Man

Today, I got a call from Ralph Bakshi...

"Stevie! Ya gotta get everyone who reads your site to look at this story on Pappy's blog... He's got a Jack Cole Plastic Man story that just may be the greatest thing he ever did. Every artist takes a little bit from here and a little bit from there and puts it all together in his own way... but this one is different. In this story, Cole's like a pool player in the zone. He owes nothin' to nobody. It's phenominal!"

Now I don't know about you, but with a recommendation like that, I had to go take a look at the story myself...

Pappy's Golden Age Blogzine: Fantastic Plastic
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Stumble It!

Comics: Crime Does Not Pay No. 52 (1947)

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


Yesterday, Archive supporter Marc Schirmeister stopped by with a little bit of comic book history. A copy of Crime Does Not Pay from June of 1947. This particular comic book is not for the faint of heart. It's grusome and extreme. In fact, it marks the absolute peak of comic book sadism that led to the Publishers' Code of 1948 and the condemning of crime and horror comics by psychiatrist, Frederic Wertham in the book, Seduction of the Innocent a few years later.

Soon after this comic was published, publisher Lev Gleason decided to shift gears away from the grusome subjects and focus on a new angle in Crime Does Not Pay comics. Artist/writer Pete Morisi quoted a conversation he had with editor Charles Biro about the change in direction...

Listen, Pete, we've got a good thing going here, and we don't want to lose it. I don't want to see any blood and guts. I don't want any violence. Just give me detail, lots of detail!

Detail of what? What am I supposed to show?

Tits!

Some things never change.

This first story by Fred Guardineer does a great job of translating the crime/noir film style to the comic medium with the maximum amount of action per page... and the maximum amount of gunplay. It also features a cameo by a cartoon version of J. Edgar Hoover!









What's with that jarring comic relief strip at the end?!

This second story is over-the-line ugly in just about every way imaginable...







Thanks to Marc Schirmeister for bringing this rare and historically important comic to our attention! Let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more like this.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is looking for collectors of gold and silver age comic books, 50s and 60s Mad magazines, 50s Playboys, National Lampoon, etc. who would be willing to lend us their books to digitize. If you'd like to help out, contact me at... sworth@animationarchive.org.

If you enjoyed this post, see... The Animation Business in Boy Comics, Jack Kirby in Not Brand Echh Number One, Marie Severin in Not Brand Echh Number Two, Parody: Whack Comics Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; Boodie Rogers' Babe Comics Part One, Part Two, and Part Three; Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No. 4; Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women; Here We Go Again and Man The Beast; George Lichty's Grin and Bear It; Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; and Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

Stumble It!

Comics: Jack Kirby Presents Forbush Man

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


Many thanks to Archive supporter Kevin O'Neil for the loan of these great Marvel parody comics, Not Brand Echh. You might remember our first post featured Jack Kirby parodying his own Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer comics, and our second post was Marie Severin's take on Spidey-Man vs Gnatman and Rotten. Today, we bring you another great team-up of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, "The Origin of Forbush Man".


Mark Evanier has a new book out titled, Kirby: KIng of Comics. I haven't had a chance to take a look at it yet, but I'm sure it's great. Click through the link to find out about it at Amazon. If anyone out there would like to contribute a copy to the ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive's library, we would greatly appreciate it!


Here we have a story from the fifth issue of Not Brand Echh titled, "The Origin of Forbush Man". It was written by Stan Lee, laid out by Jack Kirby, drawn by Tom Sutton, with lettering by Artie Simek.










If you'd like to see more, let me know in the comments.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is looking for collectors of gold and silver age comic books, 50s and 60s Mad magazines, 50s Playboys, National Lampoon, etc. who would be willing to lend us their books to digitize. If you'd like to help out, contact me at... sworth@animationarchive.org.

If you enjoyed this post, see... Jack Kirby in Not Brand Echh Number One, Marie Severn in Not Brand Echh Number Two, Parody: Whack Comics Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; Boodie Rogers' Babe Comics Part One, Part Two, and Part Three; Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No. 4; Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women; Here We Go Again and Man The Beast; George Lichty's Grin and Bear It; Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; and Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

Stumble It!

Comics: The Animation Business in Boy Comics 1942

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


Today, we have another treasure from the collection of Archive supporter, Marc Schirmeister. Here's the oddly titled Boy Comics Number 39 from April, 1942. This comic book isn't as interesting for its art, (check out the wonky perspective on that cover!) but rather for its subject matter...


Yes, this noir style comic written by cartoonist Charles Biro and drawn by Norman Maurer deals with the animation business! And check out the names of the incidental characters...


Sound familiar? And the design of "B.S.", the head of NDN Studios, it a pretty clear caricature of Walt Disney!

It seems that Biro had some sort of connection to the East coast animation scene. Does anyone out there reading have more info on this unique comic book? If so, please let us know in the comments. UPDATE: Mark Mayerson points out the Charles Biro was an animator and director at the Fleischer Studios from 1930-1936. Thanks, Mark!













Thanks to Marc Schirmeister for bringing this rare comic to our attention!

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is looking for collectors of gold and silver age comic books, 50s and 60s Mad magazines, 50s Playboys, National Lampoon, etc. who would be willing to lend us their books to digitize. If you'd like to help out, contact me at... sworth@animationarchive.org.

If you enjoyed this post, see... Jack Kirby in Not Brand Echh Number One, Marie Severin in Not Brand Echh Number Two, Parody: Whack Comics Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; Boodie Rogers' Babe Comics Part One, Part Two, and Part Three; Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No. 4; Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women; Here We Go Again and Man The Beast; George Lichty's Grin and Bear It; Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; and Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

Stumble It!

Comics: Marie Severin In Not Brand Echh Number 2

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


A little while back, we posted a story from the premiere issue of Not Brand Echh. Lent to us by Archive supporter Kevin O'Neil, this series of comics produced in the late sixties made fun of superheros in general, and Marvel superheros in particular. Our first post featured Jack Kirby parodying his own Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer comics. Today, we present a parody that mingles the superhero universes of both Marvel and DC. Other stories in this issue lampoon Gold Key's Magnus, Robot Fighter and Tower's T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents.


Marie Severin is one of the underrated geniuses behind Marvel comics. She started as a colorist for EC Comics in the 1950s, where she established a reputation for creating sophisticated color schemes that raised the level of quality above the arbitrary primary and secondary colors that filled other comics at the time. She transitioned to working as an artist on the Doctor Strange and Sub-Mariner lines, but really made her mark doing parodies in Not Brand Echh and Crazy.


One of those unanswerable questions that never seems to go away (at least at gatherings of comic book nerds) is "Who would win in a battle between Batman and Superman?" Fanboys have expended many hours debating the fine points of this and other match-ups with no clear answer. But now we finally get to see the decisive outcome of a battle royale between the "Caped Crusader" and the "Web Slinger"!

Here we have a story from the second issue of Not Brand Echh titled, "Peter Pooper vs Gnatman And Rotten". It was written by Stan Lee and drawn by the Marie Severin. (Inking by Frank Giacoia and lettering by Al Kurzrok.)









If you'd like to see more, let me know in the comments.

The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is looking for collectors of gold and silver age comic books, 50s and 60s Mad magazines, 50s Playboys, National Lampoon, etc. who would be willing to lend us their books to digitize. If you'd like to help out, contact me at... sworth@animationarchive.org.

If you enjoyed this post, see... Jack Kirby in Not Brand Echh Number One, Parody: Whack Comics Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; Boodie Rogers' Babe Comics Part One, Part Two, and Part Three; Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No. 4; Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women; Here We Go Again and Man The Beast; George Lichty's Grin and Bear It; Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; and Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Stumble It!

Comics: Jack Kirby In Not Brand Echh Number 1

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


Archive supporter, Kevin O'Neil spotted our feature on Jack Davis' work for Mad magazine earlier this week. It reminded him of some treasures in his own stash of comics. So he came down to the archive and lent us his collection to digitize. Thanks, Kevin!

Current superhero comics (now referred to self-importantly as "graphic novels") take themselves VERY seriously. It's rare for a publisher to allow a parody of its own characters... and unheard of for the creator himself to get the opportunity to make fun of his own creation. But back in the silver age of comics, cartoonists didn't take themselves quite so seriously. Here we have the unthinkable... Jack Kirby and Stan Lee doing a parody of their own Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer comics for Marvel's Not Brand Echh!


Not Brand Echh was a short-lived humor comic line from Marvel that parodied superhero comics. The title was derived from the term of derision used in the letters section of Marvel comics to describe competing comic book companies... "Brand Echh" was a riff on TV commercials that compared products to their competitor, "Brand X". The series ran for 13 issues from August of 1967 to May of 1969, and featured art by Bill Everett (see our recent post on Bob's Big Boy), Roy Thomas and John and Marie Severin.

Here we have a story from the premiere issue of Not Brand Echh titled, "The Silver Burper". The plot was loosely based on the story of Fantastic Four #57 through #60... It was written by Stan Lee and drawn by the great Jack Kirby. (Inking by Frank Giacoia and lettering by Artie Simek.)









If you'd like to see more, click on the splash page below. I'd be happy to introduce you to an underrated artist, Marie Severin and her classic battle royale... "Spidey-Man vs. Gnat Man and Rotten"!


The ASIFA-Hollywood Animation Archive is looking for collectors of gold and silver age comic books, 50s and 60s Mad magazines, 50s Playboys, National Lampoon, etc. who would be willing to lend us their books to digitize. If you'd like to help out, contact me at... sworth@animationarchive.org.

If you enjoyed this post, see... Parody: Whack Comics Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Part Two; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; Boodie Rogers' Babe Comics Part One, Part Two, and Part Three; Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No. 4; Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women; Here We Go Again and Man The Beast; George Lichty's Grin and Bear It; Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; and Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Stumble It!

Comics: Big Boy And The Power Of Licensing

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


In 1936, entrepeneur Bob Wian opened a small lunch stand. He had a brilliant, yet slightly devious idea for a hamburger. If he took a standard hamburger bun and sliced it down the middle twice, instead of once... and if he took a standard hamburger patty and divided it into two small patties... he could create a double-decker hamburger that appeared to be larger than the average without costing him any more to make. He named it the "Big Boy".


Wian hired pretty high school girls as car-hops and dressed them in short skirts and cowboy hats. But something was still missing...

One day, animator Benny Washam was lunching at Wian's stand, doodling on placemats. Wian saw that he was a cartoonist and asked him to draw a caricature of Richard Woodruff, a chubby, apple cheeked boy who helped out at the stand sweeping up after school. Washam obliged, depicting the lad in oversized checkered overalls munching on a burger. He gave it to Wian to use as a mascot for the stand and didn't think any more of it for many years...




Wian turned the caricature into an empire, branding not only his hamburger stand, but a line of sauces and spices and a franchised chain of family restaurants that eventually covered the entire country. A cutened version of Washam's doodle was plastered all over the menus, signage and television advertising.



Wian knew who in the family made the decisions about where to eat... It wasn't mom and dad, it was the kids. Outside each restaurant in the chain, he placed a huge fiberglass statue of Big Boy as a beacon to attract children...


And cartoonists, like assistant archivist, JoJo Baptista!

At the restaurants, Wian gave away free comic books featuring the character. Here is an extremely rare example... Big Boy comics number one from 1956. These comics were produced by Timely Comics, which later became Marvel. They were written by Stan Lee and drawn by Bill Everett. Later issues featured the work of Archie comics artist, Dan DeCarlo. Adventures of the Big Boy is one of the longest continuously running comic book lines. It's still being produced fifty years later.










Years later, when Big Boy had become a familiar figure to the entire country, Washam admitted to his fellow artists at Warner Bros that he was the cartoonist who had created the character. They laughed and teased him, saying, "Benny, you should have been heir to a hamburger fortune, but no! Your lot in life is to toil day and night making animated cartoons!" They were joking, but there's an element of truth in it. Never underestimate the power of a doodle. The Big Boy sketch that Washam traded away for a free meal in 1936 ended up selling millions and millions of dollars worth of hamburgers.

If you would like to see more Big Boy comics, let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this post, see... Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics; Harvey Kurtzman Comics; Harvey Eisenberg's Foxy Fagan; Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics Part One and Part Two; Virgil Partch's Here We Go Again, The Wild Wild Women and Man The Beast. Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Part Two; and Milton Knight's Great Brown Pericord Motor.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

Stumble It!

Comics: Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part Two

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


Continuing Basil Wolverton's Acoustics In The Comics from last week...

My publisher pointed at me demandingly. "If you want a raise, every one of your sound effect words will have to be absolutely authentic! In other words, don't draw a single sound word into your strips until you've actually staged the cartoon situation with real people and things!"

As for my publisher's demands, they resulted in my running out of friends and relatives within a week. Neighbors complained about howls and screams emanating from the studio. People sued. The ASPCA hounded me. My wife and fourteen kids swore sudden allegiance to the Progressive party, then fled to Siberia.


Meanwhile, however, I managed to catalog hundreds of authentic sound words- enough to last me for a lifetime of cartooning, and enough I thought, to cover any and all comic situations, regardless of how terrible. I was so proud of my achievement that I showed the lengthy list to my publisher. Here are some of the more subtle sound words describing various clashings, crashings, slashings, bashings, hashings, mashings, etc. Read the situation, then voice the accompanying sound word to yourself, and note how vividly the picture then comes to your mind:

• Pinheaded person pullingg pate out of a pop bottle: FOINK!
  
• Glass eye falling into tomato soup: PLOOP!
  
• Glass eye falling into a pitcher of thick syrup: PLOFF!
  
• Man sitting on short tack: SQUINCH!
  
• Man sitting on long tack: SQUONCH!
  
• Uppers dropping in gob of putty: FLUP!

• Hungry cannibal filing eyetooth: FWATCH!
  
• Man with calloused feet crossing rough linoleum: SKIRP! SKIRP!
  
• Thumb gouging eye: SPOP!
  
• Hot lava speweing on WCTU convention: FOOSK!
  
• Hot lava spewing on Elks' convention: SSSCRISH!
  
• Person skidding on hot stove in bare feet: SCREESH!
  
• Beaver biting into wooden leg: CRASP!
  
• Car crashing into large vat of frogs' eggs: SKWORP!
  
• False teeth falling through skylight: TWUNK!
  
• Sock in the face with Sears Roebuck catalog: PWOSH!
  
• Sock in the face with Montgomery Ward catalog: PWASH!
  
• Octopus slapping a tentacle on bald bean: SPOOP!

• Man dragging toenails over No.2 grade sandpaper: SKARP!
  
• Man falling on face in a barrel of wet teabags: FROMP!
  
• Sock in the kisser with a wet codfish: SCHALAMPF!
  
• Person socking wet halibut with his kisser: SCHLOOF!
  
• Lowers falling into a bucket of cup grease: UNPH!
  
• Man with small head drowning in a glass of tomato juice: GOIK!
  
• Woodpecker hammering on human head: DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD!
  
• Cannon ball landing in mush of toothless man: FWOCK!
  
• Two bald men colliding headon: KROCK!
  
• Garter snapping on varicose vein: SCHWIPP!
  
• Single BB shot landing on a cow's udder: PWIP!
  
• Person pulling ponderous pate through a puny porthole: SPOOCH!
  
• Bear trap springing on human noggin: SPROCK!
  
• Rat trap springing on person's big toe: SPACK!
  
• Man falling into a garbage can full of spoiled caviar: CROFF!
  
• Surgeon tossing gallstones into empty garbage can: KRANG!
  
• Man with one hair getting a haircut: WHICK!
  
• Person being kicked in the neck: PFWUMPFPH!
  
• Person getting kicked in snappers: PWACK!
  
• Measle germ snapping at skin: SCHLOPP!

If you've been able to struggle through the foregoing list of cartoon words, perhaps now your acoustical sense has been sharpened to the extent that you can readily guess a situation just by reading a sound word. To test your ability, hee is a list of cartoon words denoting various noises. If you can guess the action by which even one of them is produced, then your extremely something or other.

SNIKK / SPIRP / FAMP / SWORP / SPITCH / KANK / IKK / SPRATCH / PWOT / YOTCH / KZEEP / KLISH / FEEMP / SHZWOP / KOPYP


Now check your definitions with the following list. Even if you missed defining all the words, it's no reflection on your intelligence. Fact is, the more you miss, the brighter you probably are. On the other hand, the more you can guess, the better comic strip cartoonist you can become- unless, unfortunately, you're already one.

• SNIKK: The sound made by an African pygmy idly snapping his fingernail against his skull
  
• SPIRP: Nose being caught in an orange juicer
  
• FAMP: Corpulent person falling on back in a vat of peanut butter
  
• SWORP: Meteor hitting obese dame on back of neck
  
• SPITCH: Man sticking his head inside huge dynamo in action
  
• KANK: Crazed horsefly crashing into dome of empty-headed man
  
• IKK: Person with protruding eyeballs falling face down

• SPRATCH: Court plaster being yanked off polose chest
  
• PWOT: Wet socks being tossed into the corner of the room
  
• YOTCH: Post office pen forming the letter O
  
• KZEEP: Man with rusty eyelid winking at gal
  
• KLISH: Man falling on chin on thin crusted beetle
  
• FEEMP: Mole (on chin) being hit with stray buckshot
  
• SHZWOP: Obese dame's girdle splitting out
  
• KOPYP: Skin pore snapping shut on contact with cold air

"Good work!" my publisher mumbled two days later, when he had finished reading the list. "Then I get the raise?" I gurgled hopefully. His brows knitted. (He was working on a pair of socks at the same time.) "Not until you complete that list by adding one more sound word! The word that's missing is the one that describes the sound of a railway train running over a cartoonist's conk!"

"That should be easy," I chirped. "I'll just-" Suddenly, the awful significance of his demand dawned on me. My publisher had conceived of this diabolical plan to prevent my getting a raise. But I would fool him.

A half hour later my noggin was resting uncomfortably on a railroad rail.


They told me later at the hospital that it wasn't too bad. Only 22 cars, plus the locomotive had been derailed. "The train crew wanted the day off anyway" my doctor said. "They will be up later to thank you." While he poured glue in the cracks in my conk, I struggled to recall the exact sound of the locomotive passing over my pate. I became frantic at the thought that it had eluded me. Then I remembered. How could I forget something that had been so forcefully crammed into my mind?

I raced out of the hospital and downtown to my publisher's office. When that man saw the Scotch tape on my skull, he blanched a little. "Did you find out what the sound of a train running over a cartoonist's head is?" he asked. "I did." I announced triumphantly. He leaned expectantly so far forward that his rear suspender buttons flew off, zipped out the window, and nailed a burglar who was ransacking a safe in an office across the street.


"What is the sound?" he asked shakily.
"It is GJDRKZLXCBWQ."
"GJDRKZLXCBWQ?" he queried doubtfully.
"No. It's GJDRKZLXCBWQ. The L is silent."


My publisher is not emotional. I have never known him to be moved to tears. But now his lips quivered violently. Or perhaps he was just trying to get something out of his teeth. "Now I have heard everything!" he blubbered.

"The raise." I reminded him. "How about it?" "The raise? Oh yes. To show my appreciation for collecting the most complete and authentic list of cartoonists' sound words, I'm going to double your salary!" Whereupon he reached into his wallet and tossed me twice as much as I had been getting previously per week.


Then I realized that my list of sound words wasn't quite complete until that moment. In all my life I had never heard that lush, lovely sound. It was a mild, whispery sound, barely audible.

Here it is: FMNW!

It was the sound made by my new doubled salary- two $1.00 bills brushing lightly together.


Thanks to Marc Schirmeister for sharing this with us. Big news for fans of Basil Wolverton! There's an exhibit of his work in Santa Ana! Here are the details courtesy of DougH On The Go

The Original Art of Basil Wolverton
from the Collection of Glenn Bray
September 1 - November 11, 2007
Opening Reception: September 1, 7-10 p.m.
Grand Central Art Center
125 N. Broadway,
Santa Ana, CA 92701
General Phone: 714.567.7233

For more examples of Basil Wolverton's genius, see Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper

Also see... Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women Part One, Part Two and Part Three, Here We Go Again and Man The Beast. Also see... George Lichty's Grin and Bear It; Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics; and Milton Knight's Great Brown Pericord Motor.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

Stumble It!

Comics: Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


Last week, archive supporter Marc Schirmeister stopped by with a stack of rare fanzines from the late 1960s and early 70s. Included among them were two great issues of Graphic Story Magazine devoted to Wolverton.


Here is an article Wolverton wrote in 1948 for the Daily Oregonian...



ACOUSTICS IN THE COMICS
By Basil Wolverton

The so called comic strip on my drawing board showed a heavy horse stepping on a bozo's bean. The horse was tramping on the guy's head in a delicate way, of course, so the situation would be more entertaining than grusome- depending on the reader's sense of humor. But, like an old silent movie, the cartoon needed something, and that something was sound. There had to be a heavily lettered word oozing out from the exact point of contact between the horse's hoofs and the man's head. Thus the reader, pronouncing that sound word to himself, would actually hear within his mind the excitingly comical noise that would eminate from such action.


Summoning both brain cells hurriedly together, I tried desperately to imagine just what sort of sound would ensue if a nag were to step on someone's skull. The word CRUNCH popped into my mind. Then CRONCH. Then CRANCH. I settled for CRANCH because somehow it seemed more refined. But before I could letter the word on the cartoon, I suddenly recalled my latest unhappy interview with the person who publishes my comic strips.


"I want realism!" he had bellowed. "No more of this wild imaginitive stuff that's causing some people to want to ban our comic books! From now on, get that realism in there, and your strips will be horribly funny! Then the readers will go into hysterics and laugh like crazy, and our books will be acclaimed the most laugh provoking on the stands!" That meant that an imaginative word like CRANCH was taboo. It was up to me to get the real sound word. I looked furtively about as a preposterous plan permeated my pate.

It was easy to rent a horse. It wasn't as easy to argue my brother in law into placing his pan on the pavement, and letting me ride the nag over his noggin. "Horses are so heavy!" he foolishly kept countering. "Besides, I have a cold sore." As he waddled away, I realized my plan was hopeless- until he stumbled over something in the street. Before he could pull his chin out of the asphalt, I had steered the rented mare over him, and her hind hoof scored a bull's eye on his bare bean.

The sound? It was far from CRANCH. The real thing turned out to be SLORNK. It was a sort of a slippery liquid sound. That was probably because my brother in law has oily skin and a thin skull. With the noxious noise fresh in mind, I streaked into my studio and feverishly lettered the word SLORNK boldly across the cartoon.


Weeks later the fan mail began pouring in. They all said the same thing. In fact, both of them were worded the same. The first one read "I want to congratulate you on that completely true to life cartoon you drew of the horse stepping on a man's head. The word SLORNK describing the sound was absolutely accurate. I know, because I am always getting my head stepped on by some careless nag." The second letter was the same as the first, except for the signature. I figured when I wrote them that there should be some difference. Otherwise the publisher might get wise when I showed them to him.

He was dumbfounded when he saw them. After recovering, he slapped me on my sunburn and rammed one of his dollar cigars into my mush. Unfortunately, he stuck the wrong end into my mouth. Besides, he was smoking it. "Two fan letters in eleven years" he murmured incredulously. "My boy, you have arrived! It's just like I predicted," my publisher beamed, "your horribly realistic sound words are paying off!"


I leaped on his desk. "Then I'm ripe for a raise?" I queried. peering so anxiously and closely into his red-rimmed readers that I could detect his wife's fingernail scratches on his contact lenses. Anticipation was causing me to quiver like a rat terrier with radio-active fleas on a cold day. The suspense was terrible. Finally he opened his trap. He was grinning. This was the day for which I had waited eleven long years. "It does not!" he roared, brushing me off his desk. "I was merely feeling pleased that at last you may be worth almost as much as I've been paying you!"

While I gathered my teeth up off the floor, he pointed at me demandingly. "If you want a raise, every one of your sound effect words will have to be absolutely authentic! In other words, don't draw a single sound word into your strips until you've actually staged the cartoon situation with real people and things!"


(Incidentally, you readers should stop worrying about my brother in law. Ever since the day the horse stepped on his head, he has had nothing but good luck. Why shouldn't he, what with a horseshoe embedded in the back of his bean? Furthermore, he's the only living person who can slide his head inside those record-in-the-slot phonographs without crushing his ears.)

My publisher pointed at me demandingly. "If you want a raise, every one of your sound effect words will have to be absolutely authentic! In other words, don't draw a single sound word into your strips until you've actually staged the cartoon situation with real people and things!"

As for my publisher's demands, they resulted in my running out of friends and relatives within a week. Neighbors complained about howls and screams emanating from the studio. People sued. The ASPCA hounded me. My wife and fourteen kids swore sudden allegiance to the Progressive party, then fled to Siberia.


Meanwhile, however, I managed to catalog hundreds of authentic sound words- enough to last me for a lifetime of cartooning, and enough I thought, to cover any and all comic situations, regardless of how terrible. I was so proud of my achievement that I showed the lengthy list to my publisher. Here are some of the more subtle sound words describing various clashings, crashings, slashings, bashings, hashings, mashings, etc. Read the situation, then voice the accompanying sound word to yourself, and note how vividly the picture then comes to your mind:

• Pinheaded person pullingg pate out of a pop bottle: FOINK!
  
• Glass eye falling into tomato soup: PLOOP!
  
• Glass eye falling into a pitcher of thick syrup: PLOFF!
  
• Man sitting on short tack: SQUINCH!
  
• Man sitting on long tack: SQUONCH!
  
• Uppers dropping in gob of putty: FLUP!

• Hungry cannibal filing eyetooth: FWATCH!
  
• Man with calloused feet crossing rough linoleum: SKIRP! SKIRP!
  
• Thumb gouging eye: SPOP!
  
• Hot lava speweing on WCTU convention: FOOSK!
  
• Hot lava spewing on Elks' convention: SSSCRISH!
  
• Person skidding on hot stove in bare feet: SCREESH!
  
• Beaver biting into wooden leg: CRASP!
  
• Car crashing into large vat of frogs' eggs: SKWORP!
  
• False teeth falling through skylight: TWUNK!
  
• Sock in the face with Sears Roebuck catalog: PWOSH!
  
• Sock in the face with Montgomery Ward catalog: PWASH!
  
• Octopus slapping a tentacle on bald bean: SPOOP!

• Man dragging toenails over No.2 grade sandpaper: SKARP!
  
• Man falling on face in a barrel of wet teabags: FROMP!
  
• Sock in the kisser with a wet codfish: SCHALAMPF!
  
• Person socking wet halibut with his kisser: SCHLOOF!
  
• Lowers falling into a bucket of cup grease: UNPH!
  
• Man with small head drowning in a glass of tomato juice: GOIK!
  
• Woodpecker hammering on human head: DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD-DUD!
  
• Cannon ball landing in mush of toothless man: FWOCK!
  
• Two bald men colliding headon: KROCK!
  
• Garter snapping on varicose vein: SCHWIPP!
  
• Single BB shot landing on a cow's udder: PWIP!
  
• Person pulling ponderous pate through a puny porthole: SPOOCH!
  
• Bear trap springing on human noggin: SPROCK!
  
• Rat trap springing on person's big toe: SPACK!
  
• Man falling into a garbage can full of spoiled caviar: CROFF!
  
• Surgeon tossing gallstones into empty garbage can: KRANG!
  
• Man with one hair getting a haircut: WHICK!
  
• Person being kicked in the neck: PFWUMPFPH!
  
• Person getting kicked in snappers: PWACK!
  
• Measle germ snapping at skin: SCHLOPP!

If you've been able to struggle through the foregoing list of cartoon words, perhaps now your acoustical sense has been sharpened to the extent that you can readily guess a situation just by reading a sound word. To test your ability, hee is a list of cartoon words denoting various noises. If you can guess the action by which even one of them is produced, then your extremely something or other.

SNIKK / SPIRP / FAMP / SWORP / SPITCH / KANK / IKK / SPRATCH / PWOT / YOTCH / KZEEP / KLISH / FEEMP / SHZWOP / KOPYP


Now check your definitions with the following list. Even if you missed defining all the words, it's no reflection on your intelligence. Fact is, the more you miss, the brighter you probably are. On the other hand, the more you can guess, the better comic strip cartoonist you can become- unless, unfortunately, you're already one.

• SNIKK: The sound made by an African pygmy idly snapping his fingernail against his skull
  
• SPIRP: Nose being caught in an orange juicer
  
• FAMP: Corpulent person falling on back in a vat of peanut butter
  
• SWORP: Meteor hitting obese dame on back of neck
  
• SPITCH: Man sticking his head inside huge dynamo in action
  
• KANK: Crazed horsefly crashing into dome of empty-headed man
  
• IKK: Person with protruding eyeballs falling face down

• SPRATCH: Court plaster being yanked off polose chest
  
• PWOT: Wet socks being tossed into the corner of the room
  
• YOTCH: Post office pen forming the letter O
  
• KZEEP: Man with rusty eyelid winking at gal
  
• KLISH: Man falling on chin on thin crusted beetle
  
• FEEMP: Mole (on chin) being hit with stray buckshot
  
• SHZWOP: Obese dame's girdle splitting out
  
• KOPYP: Skin pore snapping shut on contact with cold air

"Good work!" my publisher mumbled two days later, when he had finished reading the list. "Then I get the raise?" I gurgled hopefully. His brows knitted. (He was working on a pair of socks at the same time.) "Not until you complete that list by adding one more sound word! The word that's missing is the one that describes the sound of a railway train running over a cartoonist's conk!"

"That should be easy," I chirped. "I'll just-" Suddenly, the awful significance of his demand dawned on me. My publisher had conceived of this diabolical plan to prevent my getting a raise. But I would fool him.

A half hour later my noggin was resting uncomfortably on a railroad rail.


They told me later at the hospital that it wasn't too bad. Only 22 cars, plus the locomotive had been derailed. "The train crew wanted the day off anyway" my doctor said. "They will be up later to thank you." While he poured glue in the cracks in my conk, I struggled to recall the exact sound of the locomotive passing over my pate. I became frantic at the thought that it had eluded me. Then I remembered. How could I forget something that had been so forcefully crammed into my mind?

I raced out of the hospital and downtown to my publisher's office. When that man saw the Scotch tape on my skull, he blanched a little. "Did you find out what the sound of a train running over a cartoonist's head is?" he asked. "I did." I announced triumphantly. He leaned expectantly so far forward that his rear suspender buttons flew off, zipped out the window, and nailed a burglar who was ransacking a safe in an office across the street.


"What is the sound?" he asked shakily.
"It is GJDRKZLXCBWQ."
"GJDRKZLXCBWQ?" he queried doubtfully.
"No. It's GJDRKZLXCBWQ. The L is silent."


My publisher is not emotional. I have never known him to be moved to tears. But now his lips quivered violently. Or perhaps he was just trying to get something out of his teeth. "Now I have heard everything!" he blubbered.

"The raise." I reminded him. "How about it?" "The raise? Oh yes. To show my appreciation for collecting the most complete and authentic list of cartoonists' sound words, I'm going to double your salary!" Whereupon he reached into his wallet and tossed me twice as much as I had been getting previously per week.


Then I realized that my list of sound words wasn't quite complete until that moment. In all my life I had never heard that lush, lovely sound. It was a mild, whispery sound, barely audible.

Here it is: FMNW!

It was the sound made by my new doubled salary- two $1.00 bills brushing lightly together.


Thanks to Marc Schirmeister for sharing this with us.

For more examples of Basil Wolverton's genius, see Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper Also see... Virgil Partch's Wild, Wild Women Part One, Part Two and Part Three, Here We Go Again and Man The Beast, George Lichty's Grin and Bear It; Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics; and Milton Knight's Great Brown Pericord Motor.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive
.

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Comics: More Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.







I'm busily scanning more Milt Gross Sunday pages from the collection of Marc Deckter today, so I don't have time to say much about these great comics. But who needs words when the pictures are as good as this! Thanks to Kent Butterworth for providing us with these great scans!








If you enjoyed this post, see Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics and Jim Tyer: Barnyard Actor;

Also see... Harvey Kurtzman Comics; Harvey Eisenberg's Foxy Fagan; Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics Part One and Part Two; Virgil Partch's Here We Go Again, The Wild Wild Women and Man The Beast. Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; and Milton Knight's Great Brown Pericord Motor.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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Comics: Kurtzman's Comic Books

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about comics.


Today, Kent Butterworth stopped by on his lunch break to watch Terry Bears cartoons featuring eye popping Jim Tyer animation. I realized that it's been a while since I posted any comic book scans from Kent's great collection of golden age funny animal comics. I'm righting that wrong right now with some great examples by Harvey Kurtzman. Enjoy! (Thanks Kent!)




















If you enjoyed this post, check out our first article on Kurtzman & Elder's Little Annie Fanny Part One and Part Two. Also see... Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No. 4, Milt Stein's Supermouse (Coo Coo Comics No. 7) Dan Gordon's Superkatt, Jim Tyer's Comic Books, Harvey Eisenberg's Foxy Fagan and Boodi Rogers' Babe Comics.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

6.6.09
.

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Comics: Harvey Eisenberg's Foxy Fagan 1946

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about comics.



Here is a vintage funny animal comic by cartoonist, Harvey Eisenberg. Eisenberg started out in New York at the Fleischer and Van Beuren studios, but he is best known for his work with Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera as a layout artist on the Tom & Jerry series. He went on to work at Hanna-Barbera as a character designer, layout artist and story man.

This comic is particularly interesting because it is a collaboration between Eisenberg and Joe Barbera, with Barbera providing the story sketches and Eisenberg creating the finished art. (This is very similar to the way they worked together as director and layout artist on the Tom & Jerry cartoons at MGM.) This story is from Foxy Fagan No. 1, published by Eisenberg and Barbera's DIY comic book company, Deerfield in 1946.

John Kricfalusi recently posted an insightful article on Eisenberg's Tom & Jerry comics that you definately shouldn't miss. Mark Evanier has an interesting article on Foxy Fagan too and a link to more scans of it on the web. Thanks to Archive supporter, Kent Butterworth for sharing this great comic with all of us.














See also Harvey Eisenberg and Al White's Huck Hound Builds A House.

For more great golden age funny animal comics, see... Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No. 4, Milt Stein's Supermouse (Coo Coo Comics No. 7) Dan Gordon's Superkatt, Jim Tyer's Comic Books and Boodi Rogers' Babe Comics

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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Comics: Dan Gordon's Superkatt

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.

The other day, John K posted an article in his blog about Dan Gordon. He described Gordon as a "pure cartoonist" whose characters seem really alive and motivated from within.

Gordon was an animator, story man and director on the Superman and Popeye series at Fleischer in the early 1940s. After the war, he dropped out of animation and made a living as a comic book artist, working on titles like Giggle Comics. He returned to animation in the late 1950s as a storyboard artist at Hanna Barbera, (Gordon boarded the pilot episode of The Flintstones) and on Clampett's Beany & Cecil series.

Here is an example of Gordon's work featuring Superkatt. These scans were donated to the Archive by our good friend Kent Butterworth. Thanks Kent!










For more on Dan Gordon, see Sherm Cohen's great features at Cartoon Snap.

If you enjoyed this comic, see also... Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No. 4, Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper, and Boody Rogers' Babe Comics Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

12.10.08
.

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Comics: Milton Knight's Great Brown-Pericord Motor

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.

Today, we had a visit from the talented cartoonist, Milton Knight. He brought along the original boards from one of his stories for Graphic Classics series.

Milton is an amazing artist... His work is informed by a diverse variety of influences, from Japanese art to Terrytoons. His compositions and line reflect a distillation of the New York cartooning style, while still remaining uniquely his own. I can't think of a single living cartoonist whose work in any way resembles Milton's. He's truly one of a kind.

Milton kindly agreed to let us post this entire story adapted from a short story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...

THE GREAT BROWN-PERICORD MOTOR

















If you enjoyed this story, you can find the Graphic Classics Anthologies at Amazon. Also, make it a point to visit Milton's Website.

Thanks
Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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Media: Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.

Basil Wolverton was one of the most imaginative and unique cartoonists who ever lived. He was born in 1909 and early on worked in Vaudeville and radio as a comedian. At the age of 20, he took up cartooning as a profession, and working from his home in Vancouver, Washington, drew several science fiction comic series throughout the thirties. Wolverton had a huge range... from finely detailed space monsters, to tightly drawn heros, to grizzly dripping horror, to his own bizarre caricatures, lovingly dubbed the "spaghetti and meatball school of design". We'll have some postings featuring that material soon.

In 1942, Wolverton turned his cartooning skills to comedy for Timely Comics, which was later to become Marvel. The two stories here are from Timely's Joker Comics and the unfortunately titled Gay Comics. Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper comics reflected his unique sense of humor, and forshadowed the early comic book version of Mad Magazine. These scans were made from original comics in the collection of Kent Butterworth. Many thanks for sharing them with us, Kent!

















Eddie Fitzgerald has posted a great post with Wolverton's work from Mad Magazine. Check it out!

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

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Media: Jim Tyer Comic Books

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about print cartoonists.


Jim Tyer was a one-of-a-kind. He animated for Van Beuren, Famous Studios, Terrytoons and Hal Seeger and drew and wrote funny animal comics. Once you've seen a really good Tyer drawing, you can never forget it. I'm going to let these examples tell you about him...



























Thanks to Kent Butterworth for providing us with these great scans!

If you enjoyed this post, see... Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics; Harvey Kurtzman Comics; Harvey Eisenberg's Foxy Fagan; Virgil Partch's Here We Go Again, The Wild Wild Women and Man The Beast. Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Part Two; and Milton Knight's Great Brown Pericord Motor.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

7.31.08
.

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Media: Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics No 4

This post is just the tip of the iceberg... see reason number 2 on our The Top Ten Reasons To Support The A-HAA for links to more great posts about comics.

Funny animal comics don't get enough respect.

Many incredibly talented artists worked in funny animal comics... some, like Kurtzman and Frazetta, went on to fame in other genres. Yet the only artist working in this field that most people are familiar with is Carl Barks. Uncle Scrooge comics are fine, but they're just the tip of the iceberg. In the 1940s and 50s, there was a wealth of funny animal comics all drawn in completely unique styles. I have to admit that comics aren't my strong suit, but when I see a comic like this one, I want to know more about the people responsible for them.

Here is Supermouse Comics number 4, drawn by Milt Stein. Little is known about Stein's career. Tom Sito points out that he was an animator at Famous for a time, and he worked on Tubby the Tuba for Dr. Alexander Shure's Westbury Long Island Company, the tradtional forerunner of NY Tech's Computer Animation Program. He committed suicide in 1977. Milton Knight adds, that Stein "animated some very expressive scenes at Terry in the early 40s (the girl mouse puppet in Down With Cats). And in the 60s, he animated the humorous characters on an independent TV pilot that Jerry Beck likes to include in his "Worst" ASIFA shows, titled Cosmic Raymond. I think Stein was one of the most neglected artists of all time; and he drew far better than Barks!"

If anyone else with expertise in this area are reading, please post what you know about Stein into the comments field and I'll add your info to this post too.



















Thanks to Kent Butterworth for donating these scans to the Archive.

If you enjoyed this post, see... Milt Stein's Supermouse Comics Part Two; Jim Tyer Funny Animal Comics; Harvey Kurtzman Comics; Harvey Eisenberg's Foxy Fagan; Virgil Partch's Here We Go Again, The Wild Wild Women and Man The Beast. Milt Gross Sunday Pages Part One, Part Two and Part Three; Basil Wolverton's Powerhouse Pepper; Basil Wolverton On Cartoon Sounds Part One and Part Two; and Milton Knight's Great Brown Pericord Motor.

Stephen Worth
Director
ASIFA-Hollywood
Animation Archive

6.26.08
.

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