Valentine’s Babyheads! Babyheads Valentine’s!

by geoff on February 14, 2012 at 8:17 am
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Happy Valentine’s Day from your favorite Babyheads!

 

And now–a proper Valentine.

Covered Re-run: Confesions of Love. (originally published at pulpink.blogspot.com on Feb. 14, 2011)

(I wrote this to my wife last year. It’s just as true today, maybe more so. Tomorrow, forever. )

To my wife; you are the fire that warms my life, the nourishment that fills my soul, the center of my world. You are all that I hold dear.You have made our home a place of such contentment, such abiding warmth, that I never want to leave, and when finally I must, I think only of the minutes until I can be back with you.  I’d travel thousands of miles for just the promise of your smile. You are my partner, my best friend, my joy, my love.  I love you deeply, more deeply than I could imagine possible when I was young-my heart feels like a wide open sky, a rolling, endless landscape when I’m with you.

I can only hope that I can bring you the same warmth, joy and contentment that I feel. I will do my best to make it so, for to disappoint you would be the sorrow of my life.

For all of these years, for now and forever more- I love you.

 

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Covered Re-run: Laugh Out Loud: Al Wiseman’s Dennis the Menace

by geoff on February 11, 2012 at 8:33 am
Posted In: blog

 

(originally published Feb. 21, 2011 at  pulpink.blogspot.com)

As a kid,  Dennis the Menace was one of my absolute favorite comic books–and I loved it far more than the TV show or the daily newspaper panel, although I loved that too. But the comics accomplished something very few funny comics(other then Mad) actually did-they made me howl with laughter. Dennis was a holy terror-fully deserving of the title, and in the comic books, the storytellers( Fred Toole,writer and Al Wiseman, artist) had the opportunity to fully flesh out his irresistible destructiveness. Dennis could take a simple night out in a Chinese restaurant and turn it into a full-fledged disaster movie–his frustrated parents unable to do anything but stand back and watch in amazement as their little whirlwind wreaked havoc upon an unwitting society. I loved every beautifully wrought, fine line of it!

And the art was indeed something to marvel at. Modeled upon Hank Ketcham’s exquisite designs, Al Wiseman had a style all his own; clean, crisp, sharp, minimal but wonderfully expressive. You never saw lawns so neatly manicured, suits so crisply tailored, towns so ordered and picturesque –a picture-perfect suburbia circa 1960, just made for a tiny little tornado to pummel to the earth and leave in rubble. Order reduced to chaos in a matter of seconds at the hands of a three year old boy!

Do yourself a favor–search out some of these wonderful comics(that somebody, somewhere really ought to reprint!)sit back, and have a laugh!

& check out this link for more info on: Dennis –in the comic books.

* This one is for my mom, my first set of inks and crowquill pen(from “Colliers”house paint store in Binghamton–the only paint(& art supply) store in town) and the Dennis the Menace cartoon I drew with them(with only a few ink splots) that she framed and hung proudly on the wall! thanks, mom!

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Covered Re-run: The Great Bob Oksner and The Adventures of Jerry Lewis

by geoff on February 10, 2012 at 9:09 am
Posted In: blog

Jerry Lewis comics were some fun! I enjoyed doing this one-and re-writing the joke.

 

(originally posted Feb. 20, 2011 on pulpink.blogspot.com)

Jerry Lewis comic books? What the $#*%!? Who’s idea was this? I have no idea what the equivalent comic would be today-Jimmy Fallon comics? Will Ferrell? Somehow-the idea was more appealing than the comics–and well, that’s not saying much.

Will Ferrell comics? ( some comics publisher somewhere is rushing off to license that property, I’m just sure of it!)

But still, it held on for nearly 20 years! From 1952-1971, DC published a comic book starring Jerry Lewis, first as “The Adventures of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis” and then, after the comedy team broke up in the mid- fifties, known simply as “The Adventures of Jerry Lewis”.

The comics could be amusing-but never quite  LOL funny as they should have been.  But–JL did have the good fortune to be drawn by the late, great Bob Oksner, whom I believe drew this cover-and had a capacity for caricature and a talent for drawing rather fetching women, as you can see in this example. Over the course of his long but reatively unsung career, Oksner drew many a romance comic, a whole lot of Bob Hope, Shazam!, Supergirl and any book that needed attractive women and recognizable celebrities. He had a rich line, and a spare, clean style that never felt restrained or minimal-sort of like a cross between C.C. Beck, Curt Swan and Dick Giordano. Coming across his work in a comic was a treat, because you knew you were in for an attractive, consistent package, if not an innovative one.

I enjoyed these comics in their day, mostly for their out and out silliness.  They are a reminder of a period when celebrities were somehow simpler cultural constructions and mainstream comic books on the spinner racks at the drugstore included humor and an array of genres amidst the super-heroes.

 

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Thursday Babyheads! Hope Springs Eternal!

by geoff on February 9, 2012 at 8:41 am
Posted In: blog

Hope rears its ugly head!

 

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Nice Work update! Plus: Covered Re-Run: Gotta Love the Ploog!

by geoff on February 8, 2012 at 9:31 am
Posted In: blog

Think Sinatra! Think Sixties! Nice Work Page Two!

and..as if that weren’t enough–more for your viewing pleasure:

Friday Frankenstein (on Wednesday!) Ploog! Frankenstein! Yeah!

 

So..I admit it. I’ve done a lot of Ploog!(How many times do you hear that in rehab?) There will be at least one more of these, so I hope you like Mike Ploog–and Monster of Frankenstein as much as I do.

And of all the Ploogs I’ve done, this and the one that kicked off this month-long blogging bonanza, were my favorites to do. This one in particular because of the drama of the sea, the boat in flames, and that elliptical space of Ploog’s that I mentioned in the last one. That space is really apparent in this image–and it works wonderfully with the rollicking, burning boat being tossed upon the ocean waves.

Oh-and the beautiful girl tied to the mast didn’t hurt.

 

 

 

 

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