I’ve needed a good excuse to get blog-ness happening again. I used to do the Arf Lovers Blog in support of those comics history books, then I kept up the Secret Identity when Secret Identity: The Festish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster launched. But I’ve been planning for a long time a blog for I.T.C.H.-the International Team of Comics Historians, so this is a “soft” launch. And one of the things that gets me going is todays’ “hard ” news. Disney buys Marvel! It boggles the mind.

Back in 1991, I did a coffee table art book “The Art of Mickey Mouse”, I got artists from around the world to do their interpertation of “The World’s Favorite Mouse.” One of the first people I called was Jack Kirby. He and his wife Roz were very excited about the idea. He sent me two drawings, as I recall, and I chose this one. I colored it “animation style,” with the black line on an overlay and the background colors underneath. Jack’s contribution was part of a touring exhibit of art from the book throughout Japan. So, Marvel is called by some fans “The House that Jack Built” (not, in my opinion to take ANYTHING away from the brilliant genius Stan Lee’s more than vital part.) And here’s Jack doing Mickey! Is this weird, or what?

I got John Updike (R.I.P.) to write the intro. Some other artists in the book are Patrick McDonnell, Charles Schulz, R. Crumb, John Stanley, Andy Warhol, Moebius, Rick Griffin, Saul Bass, Gary Panter, Seymour Chwast, Milton Glaser, Gary Baseman, William Steig-but Jack’s is one of my favorites.

On the I.T.C.H. blog, Wacky Wonder Woman Wednesdays will return with the popular DJ David B.’s Tueday’s Comic Tunes. I am going to get a team approach this time with international comics historians posting to the blog (let me know if you’d like to be a part.) And they’ll be lots of news about my upcoming books on Steve Ditko, Milt Gross, Krazy Kat, and updates on Secret Identity! Please tell your friends, post news on your blogs, give I.T.C.H. links, etc. Meanwhile, Make Mine Marv-ney!

Please take a look at some of my other books, Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster, now out, will be reviewed in The New York Times Book Review September 20th. The Art of Ditko, out soon ,will have an introduction by Stan Lee and essays by Jerry Robinson, John Romita and P. Craig Russell. The Complete Milt Gross Comic Book Stories and Life Story, out soon, will have a special FOLD-INtroduction by Mad ‘s Al Jaffee. The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers, now out, is being compared to Fletcher Hanks. The Great Anti-War Cartoons, out soon, has an introduction by Dr. Mohammed Yunus, the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Sara Duke from the Library of Congress.

(A big thanks to Rand Hoppe of the Jack Kirby Museum and Research Center for giving me the idea for this Marvel Mouse Jack Kirby post!)

To order Secret Identity: The Fetish Art of Superman’s Co-Creator Joe Shuster, click here

To order The Art of Ditko, click here

To order The Complete Milt Gross Comic Book Stories, click here

To order The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers, click here

To order The Great Anti-War Cartoons, click here