You always have to be different, don't you?
As a little kid, I was into comic books as well as uncomic ones. But, because I was something of an eccentric boy, I dove headfirst into the Donald Duck/Uncle Scrooge comics. Other kids were starting off on the mother's milk that was Superman, progressing to the "brooding" Batman (only in those days he didn't brood so much, probably because he was a bachelor billionaire) and then some delved deeper into The Flash, Greent Lantern et al., while others migrated to the Marvel Comics which had characters with all kinds of "human qualities" (i.e., they were vaguely fu'd up) because, I dunno, those were the late 1960s - early 1970s when every form of imbecility seemed to make sense. Why the Silver Surfer had chlamydia or the Submariner was lactose intolerant I have no idea. But some people went in for that.
Later on, some people moved on to "alternative" comics. Harvey Pekar, etc. If you saw Chasing Amy, you know what I mean.
Can you see me being into any of the above? Not on your life.
I went (and stuck) with Donald/Scrooge partly because I am pathologically loyal, but mostly because those comics were erudite, clever, beautifully researched and free from the pie-in-the-sky naivete or the haunting/brooding thing or the miasma that accompanies the "underground" scene. Definitely none of that angsty $#!+.
Those comics told stories, had plot, theme, subtext and nuances to which I'm only now catching up. I found them engrossing and involving in ways the others (with the possible exception of Tintin) could never deliver. Free from the contortions required to flesh out characters the individual adventures (one comic became so beloved by Steven Spielberg he practically lifted the whole damned thing for Raiders of the Lost Ark) hit the ground running.
They were also beautifully drawn and fanatically researched. I liked them, sensing there was stuff being learned painlessly. I mean, c'mon, only a genius can make 7 year-olds learn the word "littoral" and like it. And here we come to the crux of the thing: these comics were all the product of one guy, Carl Barks. From 1946-1972 he drew every line, colored every panel, wrote every word and practically ran the printing press at Disney. He had been brought over from Animation to help out with the then-new comics department and he slowly took over, flourishing in the unsupervised air. He put out three issues a month for 26 years until he retired.
To this day, one of the favorite things to do on a quiet evening is pull out some of these comics and read along with the boys. NOS gets into the adventure, NTS likes the pictures and I like the whole damned thing.
-J.
Later on, some people moved on to "alternative" comics. Harvey Pekar, etc. If you saw Chasing Amy, you know what I mean.
Can you see me being into any of the above? Not on your life.
I went (and stuck) with Donald/Scrooge partly because I am pathologically loyal, but mostly because those comics were erudite, clever, beautifully researched and free from the pie-in-the-sky naivete or the haunting/brooding thing or the miasma that accompanies the "underground" scene. Definitely none of that angsty $#!+.
Those comics told stories, had plot, theme, subtext and nuances to which I'm only now catching up. I found them engrossing and involving in ways the others (with the possible exception of Tintin) could never deliver. Free from the contortions required to flesh out characters the individual adventures (one comic became so beloved by Steven Spielberg he practically lifted the whole damned thing for Raiders of the Lost Ark) hit the ground running.
They were also beautifully drawn and fanatically researched. I liked them, sensing there was stuff being learned painlessly. I mean, c'mon, only a genius can make 7 year-olds learn the word "littoral" and like it. And here we come to the crux of the thing: these comics were all the product of one guy, Carl Barks. From 1946-1972 he drew every line, colored every panel, wrote every word and practically ran the printing press at Disney. He had been brought over from Animation to help out with the then-new comics department and he slowly took over, flourishing in the unsupervised air. He put out three issues a month for 26 years until he retired.To this day, one of the favorite things to do on a quiet evening is pull out some of these comics and read along with the boys. NOS gets into the adventure, NTS likes the pictures and I like the whole damned thing.
-J.
Comments
I was totally mainstream. Mad Magazine all the way for me. Read them over and over. Studied the art styles. Learned the names and quirks of the entire gang of idiots.
I've purchased the Mad in the 60's and 70's, Spy vs Spy, etc. and I remember every word, drawing and nuance.
That magazine made a huge impact on me.
I got into Mad later, and it was always supplemental to the Donald Duck stuff.
I especially loved Spy vs. Spy and also the Don Martin stuff. And Al Jaffe.
And the reissues of the old 1950s Mad.
-J.
All the way.
(Doorbitch is njnjek which suggests those modern ninja turtles are trying to muscle in on this superheroes conversation)
They're still around! Disney has a new company printing them out these days.
http://www.gemstonepub.com/disney/default.asp
Some of the content is "new" stuff (meh) but each issue has at least one classic adventure.
-J.
In high school I started making money, whereupon I became a huge fan of R. Crumb, Zap Comix, and S. Clay Wilson. I also loved Marvel titles like Spiderman and the Avengers.
No Betty and Veronica, no Donald Duck, no DC, no Asterix, no Tintin.
-J.
-J.
Not that I'm a NaNooNaNoo nut or anythin', but your absence is noted...
-J.
P.S. I also had to prove I wasn't doing GoSloNoMo.
(Mind, I'm here because of a bout of bloggers' block halfway through writing this week's RSM, so I should be more kind to you, really I should.)
-J.
Oh wait: I've regained the last word.
Looks like I win.
-J.
(woohoo - how many times do you get to use a movie quote as aptly as that?)
-J.