Daily Scans Below are the 5 most recent journal entries recorded in the "Daily Scans" journal:
October 30th, 2009
11:07 pm
[dr_hermes]

[Link]

You'll feel like a New Man, Alfred
Yikes. Is this one of the most famous faces of the 20th Century? you bet.



Alfred E Neuman is not an original creation of MAD MAGAZINE, of course. The grinning impish face (with a missing tooth and ears like an early warning system)goes way way back. He appears in ads and postcards in the years before WW I, although the further back one digs, the less clear the resemblance becomes until you're not sure if you can really call that poster for a painless dentist an ancestor or not. This charming portrait first appeared in MAD# 27, the April 1956 issue. The illustration was taken from an old postcard. The border itself is worth studying for a few minutes at the higher magnification, being art by Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder and Wally Wood.

Tags: , ,

(7 comments | Leave a comment)

October 5th, 2009
09:43 pm
[xdoop]
[User Picture]

[Link]

"There'll Be Some Changes Made!"


Tags: , ,

(Leave a comment)

October 3rd, 2009
01:59 am
[dr_hermes]

[Link]

Iron Maiden (not the metal group nor the torture device)


Wally Wood's Iron Maiden was a freelance criminal who worked for various eeevyil masterminds and pulled a few schemes with her own gang in the Tower Comics' T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS starting back in 1965. We never learned anything about her past, she was just there in her armor, cloak and gun. "Rusty" had the typically bantering attraction/distrust relationship going on with Dynamo that so often happens between uptight super-heroes and attractive villains. Iron Maiden had a wry awareness about how unworkable an affair between them would be, but she found the big lug very sexy and enjoyed teasing him and trying to bring him over beyond the law. On his side, Dynamo was a bit more confused about his feelings; the fact that Iron Maiden had him framed for treason and put in other sticky spots was something he understandably held against her. Yet they also sometimes covered to let the other escape at the end of an adventure. It was a typical crazy mixed-up quasi-romance. (Comic fans will likely find Batman and Catwoman coming to mind as the classic example.)

I like the way Rusty is frequently shown with a cigarette. By the late 1960s, smoking was becoming rarer in comics except for a few tough-guy heroes at Marvel. It adds to her bad-girl image. She did go to jail a few times (her gang broke her out in one case). The original run of T.H.U.N.D.E.R. AGENTS ended with her still up to her felonious tricks; since then, copyright ownership was disputed and a number of publishers did their own riffs on the series, but that's outside my area.

Tags: ,

(8 comments | Leave a comment)

September 17th, 2009
11:20 pm
[dr_hermes]

[Link]

Blimey! Vampires by Wood?


How cute is that Wally Wood art? With just a tweak and a nudge, he could swing from humor to science fiction to horror, and yet still have that instantly recognizable Woodness. This sample is from MAD# 3, February 1953. I love the trail of footsteps click-clicking behind Godiva like footprints. Can you tell Wood worked with Will Eisner on THE SPIRIT? This might be better if they had played up the dialect more; maybe you can't tell from the way the characters are talking but this is supposed to be in England. (Script is by Harvey Kurtzman, natch.)




creator: harvey kurtzman, creator: wally wood

Tags: , ,

(8 comments | Leave a comment)

July 28th, 2009
07:49 pm
[dr_hermes]

[Link]

Wally Wood's alien women
The cover by Wally Wood to the SPACEMEN 1965 YEARBOOK. This was a short-lived effort from James Warren to branch out from FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND to other genres. He also tried WILDEST WESTERNS, SCREEN THRILLS ILLUSTRATED and MONSTER WORLD with limited success. Warren actually did best with the black and white horror comics magazines... CREEPY, EERIE, VAMPIRELLA, 1984/1994, THE ROOK. Maybe with more commercial than artistic success, to be sure.



Looking over the alien chicks in this astronaut's swinging bachelor pad (you just KNOW he has modern jazz on his stereo), I'm intrigued by the one on the far left with the horse legs and tail. An interesting take on a centaur? Or a reference to the "Horstel" race in Philip Jose Farmer's DARE? Other aliens here remind me a bit of Marvel characters who came along later, namely Storm and Tigra. Also, although it seems our hero really has it made, do not envy him. The green woman is planning to get him alone, shove her ovipositer down his throat and lay her eggs in his thoracic cavity. So he'd better enjoy the situation while he can.

Tags: ,

(9 comments | Leave a comment)

Powered by InsaneJournal