Scrooge Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 So the "Scientification logo" cover sold more copies than the awesome Robot vs. Lion cover or the legendary flying man Skylark cover. Obviously tastes change. Actually the editorial states the opposite. The Scientification Logo sold less than the issues surrounding it. (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theagenes Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 So the "Scientification logo" cover sold more copies than the awesome Robot vs. Lion cover or the legendary flying man Skylark cover. Obviously tastes change. Actually the editorial states the opposite. The Scientification Logo sold less than the issues surrounding it. (thumbs u Whoops! My reading comprehension skills are obviously on th blink. I plead "not enough coffee." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrooge Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 So the "Scientification logo" cover sold more copies than the awesome Robot vs. Lion cover or the legendary flying man Skylark cover. Obviously tastes change. Actually the editorial states the opposite. The Scientification Logo sold less than the issues surrounding it. (thumbs u Whoops! My reading comprehension skills are obviously on th blink. I plead "not enough coffee." At least we know the world is NOT upside down. The Robot vs. Lion DID sell better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 I hope the NYT won't mind me copying this 1935 editorial and the reply from the publisher. What I think is interesting is the tone of the reply to the condescending article which clearly struck a nerve. The last few paragraphs, which predict what future historians will think of pulps, are well worth the read. Thanks for posting the two articles. I always enjoy reading contemporary news pieces written about pulp magazines and vintage comics. Interesting that the editorial writer for the Times cites Dashiell Hammett and Leonard Nason as examples of writers who have graduated from the pulps. Who remembers Nason today? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 One unrelated question to the animation fans: does anyone know of other examples in the following sequence? Is the challenge to find an example of a comic book story or animated cartoon that used similar imagery? I recognize the first image as being from Disney's 1929 Silly Symphony cartoon, "The Skeleton Dance." The second image is from the Donald Duck short, "Trick or Treat." ...but I don't know what might logically follow the Barks splash. A DuckTales cartoon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 One unrelated question to the animation fans: does anyone know of other examples in the following sequence? ...but I don't know what might logically follow the Barks splash. Chistmas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 ...but I don't know what might logically follow the Barks splash. A DuckTales cartoon? Chistmas? I wish I had an answer. I asked the question after thinking about Mr. Zoom's links to internal Disney swipes of animation sequences, for example in the "Jungle Book" and "Robin Hood". I wonder if the "Trick or Treat" swipe from "Skeleton Dance" simply was a way to reuse conceptual artwork or whether it was an early example of animators paying homage to their idol, Ub Iwerks. When I worked for Pixar, many of the story/creative people were big time traditional animation buffs and they loved to add obscure references to classic movies that hardly anyone would recognize. "Skeleton Dance" would have been a perfect target for such a tribute, which is why it would be cool for a geek like me if there were later references somewhere. I have an extra interest in this scene since the third example is hanging on my wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have an extra interest in this scene since the third example is hanging on my wall. Congratulations on owning such a cool piece of artwork. When I was a kid I found a copy of Donald Duck #26 at the Salvation Army and it was always one of my favorite comics. I liked it so much I purchased one of the Carl Barks lithos of "Halloween in Duckburg" years later. It's currently hanging in my daughter's bedroom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 When I worked for Pixar, many of the story/creative people were big time traditional animation buffs and they loved to add obscure references to classic movies that hardly anyone would recognize. I love spotting examples of things like that. I've noticed that the Fleischer 1940's Superman cartoons have had a long-lasting influence. The Wikipedia Superman (1940s cartoons) entry takes note of it: The robot robbery scene from "The Mechanical Monsters" short has been echoed by several later works. In 1980, Japanese animation director Hayao Miyazaki, created an identical robbery with a similarly functioning robot in the last episode of the second Lupin III TV series, a robot design he used again in his feature film, Castle in the Sky. The elements of the scene were borrowed again in 1994 for The Tick (animated TV series), specifically, The Tick vs. Brainchild (season one, episode 9), this time with the robbery committed by Skippy, a cyborg dog. The 2004 feature length movie Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (which Paramount released in several territories, WB also distributed in a few countries) kept the setting in the 1940s, but scaled up the scene from a single robot robbing a jewelry exhibition to an army of gigantic robots stealing city infrastructure. The movie gave a nod to its source following the robbery with the newspaper headline, "Mechanical Monsters Unearth Generators." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tb Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 A little more information from the New York Times "Times Machine". The following articles are copyright The New York Times. I am posting them as examples to show how what an interesting resource this is for the history of comics and animation. References to Walt Disney first started appearing in the regular movie column, "The Screen". The earliest I could find was from November 11, 1928 (attached). The next reference is from July 15, 1929, which briefly mentions "an amusing Disney cartoon". On October 29, there is a positive one line review of the "Silly Symphony" "Springtime", followed by similar reviews of "Jungle Rhythm" and "El Terrible Toreador" on November 23 and December 2. Curiously, some of the earliest articles outside of the movie column are on censorship (see below). There are around 750 hits on "Walt Disney" prior to 1940. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Porky liked to work in the lab. Doesn't everyone have a lab at home. But where are the safety glasses? CSI ducks on the job use their microscoope in the story from WDCS 61 I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
50YrsCollctngCmcs Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Porky liked to work in the lab. Doesn't everyone have a lab at home. But where are the safety glasses? CSI ducks on the job use their microscoope in the story from WDCS 61 I think. I am sure most of you know this but those little codes Dells used as shown in the lower right hand corner of the story above tells you the issue number and date of the book this story appeared in. October '45 here. I remember reading this in the early 70's and using it when reading current Disney comics, most of which were reprints. As I recall sometimes the old date would be in the artwork (telling you the source of the reprint) sometimes the new date and sometimes both! The digest books also had these codes and you could squint to determine the source of the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
selegue Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 Porky liked to work in the lab. Doesn't everyone have a lab at home. But where are the safety glasses? CSI ducks on the job use their microscoope in the story from WDCS 61 I think. Good stuff! Thanks. Jack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted August 16, 2009 Share Posted August 16, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the ID Jack. After I made the scan and posted it, I forgot what issue I had scanned. I think the Porky Pig scan was the back cover of Four Color 48 which was listed on ebay recently. I didn't win it, unfortunately, but I did save the scan. bb Edited August 16, 2009 by BB-Gun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 A little more information from the New York Times "Times Machine". The following articles are copyright The New York Times. I am posting them as examples to show how what an interesting resource this is for the history of comics and animation. Facinating bit of history. This is the first I've heard of the German censor not allowing "The Barnyard Battle" to play in their country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted August 17, 2009 Author Share Posted August 17, 2009 Great peeks of both comics, BB. Now you've got me interested in reading both comics. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the Porky Pig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Joe Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 A recent acquisition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 The Porky Pig issue by Barks is available but somehow I always lose when I bid on it. It is also a Big Little Book which I have found a few times but rejected due to condition. It must be really bad before I reject something. bb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 I was noodling around, checking out my usual list of blogs, when I stumbled across a few intriguing photos at Heidi MacDonald's News Blog for Publisher's Weekly. A few clicks later and I discovered an additional stash of incriminating photos at the Life Archives. The Secret Life of Cartoonists... Things started innocently enough, I suppose. Cartoonists + models + a few drinks to loosen up. A dare was made, followed by a double dare...and the next thing you know, pens were taken from pockets and everyone started drawing on the models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BangZoom Posted August 20, 2009 Author Share Posted August 20, 2009 Charles Biro (Crimebuster) Alfred Andriola (Kerry Drake) Bill Holman (Smokey Stover) C.D. Russell (Pete the Tramp) Ernie Bushmiller (Fritzie Ritz) Ernie Bushmiller George Wunder (Terry and the Pirates) George Wunder Otto Soglow (The Little King) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...