I suppose I should go ahead and admit the obvious; as a kid I was diagnosed as having ADHD (Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). And if I was going to be absolutely honest I’d confess that while I’ve mostly out grown the worst of it I still have a tendency to become obsessed with all sorts of things. Pens, fons, downloading…things, and not just comics but certain kinds of comics. For a while there I couldn’t get enough teen comics, now I’m all about British comics.

Which is why I’m presenting this 1952 issue of Sun, a astonishingly old fashioned looking publication that even at this late date (it’s the bloody space age for heaven’s sake) still looks a lot more like a turn of the century “story paper” (i.e. dime novel) with comic strips than a proper comic book as even the British knew it. I present this mostly as a historical curiosity but there’s some good stuff here. The highlight, for this very old American boy anyway, is the very nicely drawn installment of Jak of the Jaguars, where a Tarzan (or should that be a Bomba the Jungle Boy?) rip-off finds himself shanghaied into space.

Our coverage of the centennial of Cartoons Magazine, continues with more extracts from the January 1912 debut issue.

Above, adjust the $ amount mentioned, for 100 years worth of inflation, and this would make a perfect cartoon for the 99 versus 1 percent outcry, of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

Beneath, one cartoon from several pages worth, of cartoons from foreign sources. This one from the German publication, Munich Simplissimus.

Click on the above & below pictures, to view them in detail, and read the captions.

Below, two pages collectively labelled The Cartoonists Take a Whack at their Old Favorites. On the left page, we have: Turn on the Light!, by Robert Minor, Jr., calling for opening the ledgers of railroad monopolies; Breaking Home Ties, concerning the anti-trust breakup of Standard Oil; a cartoon concerning moneyed interests controlling the Panama Canal; and, Another One, showing Uncle Sam as a cop, hauling in another monopoly on anti-trust charges. On the right, cartoons involving dragging in meat companies for collaborating to artificially control prices.

Two more postings of extracts of the January 1912 issue coming, before moving on to February.

Click on the following link, to find prior postings of the Wall Street Frauds Make Wonderful Cartoons series. And, to find earlier posts concerning financial reforms in general, click here.

Doug Wheeler

financial reforms

The Wonder Woman Network, created by the family of WW’s creator, is a really cool website based around the history of the quintessential female superheroine and her impact on fans!

http://wonderwomannetwork.com/

Here are the incredible Joe Shuster Studio illustrations from the classic 1942 Superman novel by George Lowther. Click and make ‘em big!

http://mydelineatedlife.blogspot.com/2012/01/so-much-fun.html

The MLJ heroes are some of my all-time favorites including the violent but well written and drawn Hangman, seen here.

http://pappysgoldenage.blogspot.com/2012/01/number-1094-hangman-in-future-if.html

no matter if you loved Charlton Comics in the sixties and seventies or hated them, one has to admit they had some amazing covers, such as those seen in this gallery.

http://grantbridgestreet.blogspot.com/2012/01/charlton-comics.html

The new Ghost Rider film opens February 17th. But why wait? Here’s a song by Suicide that commemorates the leather-clad, motorcycle-riding, flame-headed hero from Hell.

Do you think Nicholas Cage will play him like the ghost of Elvis again?

Interestingly, Alan Vega named his band “Suicide” after a Ghost Rider comic book. It’s all connected, kids.

Go see Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance and see if this song is included on the soundtrack.

Click the link below to listen.

Ghost Rider - Suicide

Above, we present the eighth misadventure/appearance of artist Livingston Hopkins‘ recurrent Victorian Age comic strip character, Professor Tigwissel.

(Click on the above picture, to view it in detail, and read the accompanying text.)

Professor Tigwissel’s Experiences with New Forces in Nature, appeared on the front page of the January 10th, 1876 issue of the (New York) Daily Graphic.

Click here, on Tigwissel Tuesdays, to view prior episodes in this series.

Doug Wheeler

ProfTigwissel NYDailyGraphic

I know I’ve been posting a lot of black and white reprints of American comic book stories from the 40’s and 50’s from Australian comics but here’s one morel; the marvelously named Super Adventure Comic.

Along with some very nice funny fillers from the always reliable Henry Boltinoff Super Adventure Comic #54 featured…

From Superman #54 “Superman Vs. The Wrecker” by Bill Finger and Wayne Boring. When I think about the quality of various eras of Superman’s career I don’t tend to think very highly about the Superman stories of the 50’s. That is until I actually come across a solidly professional effort one like this. And as always seeing familiar artwork usually seen in color in b&w is something of a revelation; guys like me tend to think of Boring’s work being ‘ugly’ but, gosh, his art here sure is pretty.

And from Batman#47 “The Crime Crazy Clown” by Jerry Robinson and Dick Sprang, where The Joker “pretends” to be crazy (which, frankly, I think would be a great reveal for the modern version of the character; “You know all that crazy crap I do? I don’t do it because I’m crazy; I do it because I like it”). I’ve always been a fan of Dick Sprang’s work and I believe the first time I saw this story it was in b&w (in the 1966 Signet mass market paperback Batman, The Best Of The Original Batman) but it’s still lovely seeing his artwork this way.

Above, cartoons about the Democratic side of the 1912 Presidential race. Compared to the pages worth devoted to T.R. — and to President Taft’s worries about T.R. possibly running — the Democratic side was loaded with candidates (bottom left of the above page), including repeat candidate (and future anti-Evolution loon), William J. Bryan (bottom right, of the above). At this point, eventual 1912 victor — Woodrow Wilson — only merited solo treatment in the topmost left cartoon.

Click on the above & below pictures, to view them in detail, and read the accompanying text.

Beneath, an extract of anti-war cartoons.

Three additional postings of extracts of the January 1912 first issue will follow over the next seven days, in celebration of the centennial debut of Cartoons Magazine. After that, we’ll continue with February 1912, and Cartoons Magazine‘s entire centennial year.

Doug Wheeler

ElectionCartoons Ole May

Let’s start with a cool visual history of Jack Kirby’s seventies DC creation, The Golden Guardian, an update of his forties’ Newsboy Legion character.

http://ripjaggerdojo.blogspot.com/2012/01/golden-guardian.html

Pappy offers up some lovely but unidentifiable art on a long story from Dell’s Fairy Tale Parade.

http://pappysgoldenage.blogspot.com/2012/01/number-1093-sorcerors-apprentice-this.html

Siegel and Shuster did a lot of series prior to Superman’s debut but only one afterwards, the spectacularly unfunny Funnyman!

http://johnglenntaylor.blogspot.com/2012/01/funnier-than-speeding-bullet.html

Ditko, Cuti, Howard, Kirchner-so many of his friends and co-workers did work for seventies Charlton but here’s Wally Wood’s sole story and even then it was pencilled by Jack Abel.

http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2012/01/boys-from-derby-bridal-night-by-wally.html

Above, by Joseph Keppler, Sr., from the centerspread of Puck magazine, June 20th, 1888 — Saving His Own Skin — For 1892. Depicted is James G. Blaine, the Republican Party’s nominee for President in 1884.

Blaine’s character highly resembled that of current Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich — i.e., his innumerable incidents of corruption, impropriety, and immorality, was largely what brought down Blaine’s 1884 run for President. Puck magazine made him an infamous cartoon target, as The Tattooed-Man, who like a circus freakshow inhabitant, entire body was tattoed with his sins.

Despite his failure in 1884 as the nominee, he again attempted a run in 1888, and we see him here — like Gingrich today — attempting to save his own skin, after playing sabotage with the G.O.P. Blaine leaps from the train he de-railed — its engine “Grand Old Party” hurtling downward — while following behind it is the rest of the G.O.P.’s train cars, labeled “Land Grabs”, “Trusts”, and “Monopolies”.

Click on the above cartoon, to view it in detail, and read the labels found within the picture.

Doug Wheeler

ElectionCartoons NYPuck KepplerSr

Above, the front cover from the June 20th, 1888 Puck magazine, depicting candidates then in contention for the Repubublican Party’s nomination for President. The point of this Frederick Burr Opper cartoon — titled The Bigger the Bar’l, the Smaller the Man — is applicable to either party. That the candidates with the bigger barrel of money, tend to be the worse candidates. This was especially true back before election reforms, when those with the bigger barrels, tended to get that cash from moneyed interests to whom they then owed allegiance.

Click on the above cartoon, to view it in detail, and read the captions.

Oh, yeah! “Whoops!” The Supreme Court recently threw out those reforms! This year, we’re back to the days when corporations can once again be upfront about buying candidates…

Doug Wheeler

ElectionCartoons NYPuck