With the approach of April Fool’s Month (one day is not nearly enough!), it seems appropriate to conclude this year’s Women’s History Month coverage, with a bit of silliness — Photo Funnies from the April 27th, 1895 issue of the New York City publication, The Standard.

Click on the above & below pictures, to view the cartoons in detail, and better read the words within them.

The Standard was one of a handful of 1890s/early 1900s periodicals, that fairly regularly featured photo funnies (or, “fumetti”). Sequential photographic comic strips were hardly something new — going back to the late 1850s in the format of series of stereographic cards — but it wasn’t really until the 1890s that printing technology allowed for mass, cheap reproduction of photographs in magazines and newspapers. I suspect there was a certain degree of overlap between printed photo funnies and stereograph sequences (there are certainly instances I’ve spotted of cartoonists stealing from stereograph sequences — and vice-versa). And even more likely, an overlap in camera crews, actors, and studio sets involved. But I’ve not yet explored that possibility.

At any rate, the type of comedic material The Standard (and at least one other parallel publication) regularly featured — as you can see in the example shown here — tended to be more out-there risque than American & British (at least) stereoviews tended to go.

The “sequence” of events in these photographs (and to be more accurate, some of these have combined images of photographed players, placed atop/in front of cartoon or drawn backgrounds; with the last scene, below, being purely cartoon), is somewhat artificial. They all refer to the same/similar incident, but I’ve rearranged them to read in a more fun, sequential manner — this is not the order they appeared in the magazine.

Finally, I’d like to point out the similarity of the above 1895 photographic comedy, with the below panel from an 1851 comic book I posted here earlier this month… (Clicking on the below picture, will take you to that comic book.)

Doug Wheeler

NYStandard

For years - decades even! - the Warner Brothers have been stating quite publicly that phrase the Road Runner says is “beep beep.” The proper title of the comic book is even Beep Beep The Road Runner. Wait. Is that supposed to be his first name? Beep Beep? And his last name is Road Runner? (I’ve heard that Smokey The Bear’s middle name is “The.” True or just rumor?) But when I, D. J. David B., watch a Road Runner cartoon, the noise that speedy little bird makes sounds more like “meeb meep” to my talented ears. I don’t hear a B sound at all. It sounds like an M the way he says it. Am I crazy?

Regardless, I have an exciting new discovery to share! Based on my research, Mr. B. B. Road Runner has more songs about him than any other animated cartoon character. I’m not counting Batman, because all of those records are versions of the same song. No, there are whole a bunch of different songs called “Road Runner,” including this one by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers. (Should be “the Cartoon Lovers” if you ask me.) Can anyone prove me wrong? If so, please keep it to yourself.

Click the link below and listen.

Roadrunner - Jonathan Richman & the Modern Lovers

As this year’s Women’s History Month coverage approaches its end, we have one more round of Women’s Suffrage cartoons from 1913 issues of Cartoons Magazine.

Click on the above & below pictures, to view the cartoons in detail, and better read the words within them.

Above, from the May 1913 issue, artist Carey Orr depicts the argument of corrupt politicians who like things the way that they (were).

Below, from April 1913, cartoons by Billy DeBeck and Walker O’Loughlin.

From March 1913, above, cartoons by Terry Gilkison and Robert Satterfield.

Beneath from February 1913, cartoons from William Kemp Starrett, DeBeck, Herbert H. Perry, and H.T. Webster.

Doug Wheeler

Women’s History

You all know much I love me Golden Age masked mystery men something fierce, but even I have trouble understanding what the hell the appeal was of Spy Smasher. Colorful patriotic who smashed spies were sometimes (quite literally) a dime a dozen back in the 1940′s so it’s a more than a little odd that an aviator in a drab outfit ranked just behind Captain Marvel in popularity at Fawcett Comics. Sure, he had one sweet ride in the form of the Gyrosub, a combination air/land/sea vehicle, but that was about as imaginative as his adventures got. Case in point, his principal opponent was The Mask, so named because he craftily hid his face behind a white hankie.

After the war Spy Smasher became Crime Smasher. I had known about the name change but had always assumed that he just switched from spies to crime, but otherwise it was pretty much busy as usual. Then I read the first Crime Smasher in Whiz Comics #77 and discovered he was one of the few of the era’s masked heroes who had a very public retirement celebration; gone was the suit and his Gyrosub and he was just plain Alan Armstrong, millionaire playboy/inventor, just another returning WWII era vet trying to figure the next stage of his life.

Now me, I would have stuck with what worked; it’s not like there weren’t plenty of Commie spies to smash. But no, thinking to hop on the crime comic bandwagon Alan Armstrong was an (apparently) unlicensed, most often unpaid private detective. Crime Smasher only got through a handful of adventures before Alan Armstrong retired permanently, though he did get a one-shot comic in 1946, a title that I didn’t know existed up until a couple of weeks ago.

Let’s start with former Cracked editor mort Todd’s complete history of the controversial (and fictional) Zeus Comics!

http://getvex.com/zeus.html

Here’s a fascinating look at the postwar Italian newspaper strip, Frisco BIll.

http://smurfswacker.blogspot.com/2013/02/guilty-pleasures-frisco-bill.html

Minion Factory offers many fun and unconventional takes on comics icons from one Phil Postma.

http://minionfactory.blogspot.ca

Finally today, Dick Tracy and the end of Flattop can be found in the original color Sundays here.

http://newspapercomics.tumblr.com

Before we reach month’s end, it’s time we review the Focus on Cartoonists pages from the March 1913 issue of Cartoons Magazine.

Above, Robert Minor, Jr. writes about the cartoonist’s art.

Click on the above & below pagees, to enlarge and read them.

Below, Henry C. Williamson continues his series on 19th century cartooning, writing about artist James Wales, and the progress of Wales’ career through the publications Wild Oats, Puck, and Judge magazines.

Cartoonist Ben Franklin Hammond, above, writes about himself, from the perspective of his cartoon mascot, Hoots the Owl.

Beneath, short bios of cartoonists Harry Murphy and Raymond Oscar Evans.

Cartoonist Camillus Kessler above, writes about his chalk-talk like Vaudeville stage act.

Below, bits of cartoonist news.

Above, James E. Murphy on cartooning.

Below, stories involving cartoonists John Scott Clubb, William Kemp Starrett, and Homer Davenport.

Doug Wheeler

NYWildOats NYPuck JudgeMag

Although I’ve been unable to find a specific incident sparking the above cartoon by Robert Minor, Jr. (scanned from the February 1913 issue of Cartoons Magazine), I imagine it possibly referencing a specific lecturer, known to readers of the time. The women depicted listening, are drawn possessing the strength of Suffragettes, fully capable of beating the crap of the diminutive, bald, bespectacled (all cues signalling weakness) speaker.

Click on the above & below pictures, to view the cartoons in detail, and better read the words within them.

Below, on the front cover of the November 9th, 1861 issue of Vanity Fair, cartoonist Henry Louis Stephens parodies, during the American Civil War the idea of an all female battalion.

Click here to see previous Women’s History Month postings.

Doug Wheeler

Women’s History

Wage Inequity between the sexes — still an issue being fought today — has likely been with us since the invention of money, though it is eye-brow raising to see that a century ago, when most women had yet to achieve even the right to vote, and when most men were receiving barely a subsistence wage from their robber baron employers, that side-by-side with those, exploitation of women in the workplace was being given attention. As seen in cartoons reprinted in issues of Cartoons Magazine, a major argument being used at that time, was how factory work paid so much less than sex-work, that women were being driven towards prostitution to provide for themselves and their families.

Click on the above & below pictures, to view the cartoons in detail, and better read the words within them.

Above, from March 1913, cartoonists Burt Thomas and William Charles Morris, on striking women garment industry workers.

Below — from May 1913 — Robert Minor, Jr. and Will Dyson, on how poor wages encourages prostitution.

From February 1913 above, we have Barnett and William Charles Morris striking the same theme.

While Robert Minor, Jr. below (from the February 1913 issue as well), shows another reason “Why Women Want to Vote”…

You can find previous Women’s History Month postings, by clicking here.

Doug Wheeler

Women’s History Financial Reforms Wall Street Frauds

Recently I have been accused of “phoning it in.” Of not trying hard enough. People say I’m just hacking out another post in order to meet a Tuesday deadline.

Here’s the Hawkman theme!

Click the link below and listen.

Hawkman theme - John Gart

Here’s an oddity, in 1945 Magazine Enterprises published six issues of Keen Teens. From these kinds of covers…

…you might well expect a punch of Archie type comics, or at the very least some teen skewing features and photos of then popular stars. Which is exactly what you got…starting with Keen Teens #3.

The contents of #1-2 included a collection of forgotten comic strips, like Dotty Dripple, Babs and Gertie O’Grady, Claire Voyant as well as this original feature Kitty Hawke. It’s basically a standard issue ‘jungle girl’ story updated to the then contemporary Phillipines; publisher Jim Hawke and his ‘crack-brained’ daughter are trapped there during the Japanese invasion. Somehow young (and fully clothed) Kitty becomes the queen of a group of Filipino guerilla fighters. ”Badass” is a term that’s been incredibly overused of late but no question, Kitty Hawke is something of a Badass.

It’s a fairly handsome feature, full of strange jive jargon some of which I’m hoping was invented…

…and it touches on some unpleasant realities of race during the WWII era.

And, finally, here’s a nice chunk of Claire Voyant by Jack Sparling, It’s one of those features I’ve heard about for decades and it’s surprisingly good.