For Women’s History Month & the continuing Primary Season — Wouldn’t It Make You Mad!, by cartoonist Nelson Harding. Originally published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and reprinted in the pamphlet, The Political Campaign of 1912 in Cartoons by Nelson Harding.

Click on the above picture, to view a larger version.

Doug Wheeler

ElectionComics Women’s Suffrage

Presidential Election 1912 is heating up, as Teddy Roosevelt starts to more seriously consider running for a third term (after following the not-yet-legally-required tradition, established by George Washington, of leaving the White House after serving two terms). Our continuing coverage of this important election, is provided via extracts from the March 1912 issue of Cartoons Magazine, now in its Centennial Year.

Above on left page, T.R.’s position is best illustrated by Robert Minor, Jr., in Tick-Tack-Toe. On the above right page, artists W.A. Ireland & Charles Bowers both show what’s cooking.

Below by Ole May, from the March 1912 issue’s title page, we see current President Taft’s other Republican rivals, abandoning ship as they see T.R. approaching on the horizon. (Note, also, how John T. McCutcheon’s cover art for the second issue of Cartoons Magazine, has now become part of the title page logo.)

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

Left page below, Wall Street and other anti-Progressive forces, attempt to put out the growing sentiment for T.R.’s return (due to the lousy job Taft is doing). Right page below, in the top left corner, a worried President Taft at all the newspaper coverage for Roosevelt; while in the bottom right corner, Republican sentiment slipping from Taft, to Teddy.

Doug Wheeler

ElectionComics Billy Ireland

In 1944 a publisher calling itself Narrative published four issues of Power Comics. I think we can all agree that it’s a title that sounds like it should have had at least a couple of masked mystery men in it. However along with covers by L.B. Cole only the final two issues featured several characters who skirted the genre. But the one thing that really distinguishes every issue of Power Comics was that it was ugly; not the usual sort of standard issue amateurish Golden Age awful artwork that I’ve gotten used to. I’m talking about drawn by super intelligent raccoon’s who were briefly shown a comic book kind of ugly. I mean profoundly ugly.

First up was The Black Raider, a feature that really should have been called The Black Raiders plural (as it was incorrectly called on the cover of #4) as it featured a pair of masked crime fighters who were essentially indistinguishable from each other. Meaning, it was impossible to determine who got top billing, especially since the secondary Black Raider didn’t have a crime fighting name of his own. Gordon Summers and Red Crandall were a pair of former commandos (their battle cry was “Gung Ho!”) who along with having a lot of trouble readjusting to civilian life clearly had a severe lack of imagination. Along with not thinking up individual superhero names for themselves they fought crime in the cheapest DIY costumes possible; mechanics coveralls dyed black and domino masks. For a while I thought they were at least wearing buccaneer boots but finally decided they were just stuffing their cuffs into their boots. It featured some really awful art by George Appel.

The supposed humor feature Chin Chop was written by Bill Woolfolk and drawn by Tony Dipreata, is, sadly, the best drawn feature in the book. Along with being a toxic racist stereotype Chin was also a momma’s boy.

Dr. Mephisto was at least kind of interesting, seeing as how it was that rare Golden Age feature that focused on a larger than life villain. Of course it’s more interesting as an idea rather than in the actual execution.

There was also Miss Espionage, a supposedly (artist Rudy Palais unfortunately couldn’t draw attractive women very well) sexy spy type who was supposed to be the daughter of Mata Hari.

And, finally, a feature that started as Merlin and the Boy Magician but became Merlin the Boy Magician in #3.

Horn tooting time. Lots of gems at my Four-Color Shadows lately if I do say so myself!

Here we have, from the infamous and legendary 1966 one-shot Kosher Comics, Mel Crawford doing Supermax!

http://fourcolorshadows.blogspot.com/2012/03/no-color-special-supermax-mel-crawford.html

How about this anachronistically modern-looking strip, The Bishop and the Halo by the forgotten Geo. Tukel?

http://fourcolorshadows.blogspot.com/2012/03/bishop-and-halo-geo-tukel-1943.html

Cult favorite Jack Mendelsohn (later the author of Yellow Submarine!) did Mel Lazurus’s Miss Peach for comic books!

http://fourcolorshadows.blogspot.com/2012/03/miss-peach-jack-mendelsohn-1963.html

Hey Look! It’s Harvey Kurtzman with a sleek and stylized female superheroine, Black Venus.

http://fourcolorshadows.blogspot.com/2012/03/black-venus-harvey-kurtzman-1946.html

Four-Color Shadows is actually nominated for the fan-voted Rondo Awards as Blog of the Year. If you like what we post there, we’d appreciate your vote!

http://www.rondoaward.com/rondo/rondos.html

R.I.P. Jean “Moebius” Giraud

http://www.progressiveruin.com/2012/03/11/jean-moebius-giraud-1938-2012/

http://ripjaggerdojo.blogspot.com/2012/03/jean-moebius-girard-rip.html

http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com/2012/03/rip-moebiusjean-giraud.html

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2012/03/remebering-moebius.html

There are plenty more tributes out there and sure to be many new ones in coming days.

Above & below, a couple of non-Tattooed cartoons on James G. Blaine, from the 1884 Election & Puck magazine. Blaine was the highly corrupt former Speaker of the House, whose moral failings plus arrogance, blew it for the Republicans in 1884. Delusionally self-important Newt Gingrich, is today following in Blaine’s dirty footsteps.

Above, a Frederick Burr Opper‘s one-shot comic strip, following James Blaine’s path to becoming the 1884 Republican Presidential Nominee. Sad, But True was published in the July 16th, 1884 issue of Puck.

Below, by Bernhard Gillam, The Plumed Knight’s War Record, parodying how Blaine had paid $500 to avoid the North’s draft in the Civil War, and send someone else in his place. It appeared in the same July 16th issue.

Click on the above & below cartoon, to both view in greater detail, and read the text.

Doug Wheeler

ElectionComics NYPuck

I’m not a big fan of Herb Trimpe’s art but here’s a nice gallery f his best Hulk covers, often abetted by the Severin siblings.

http://stevedoescomics.blogspot.com/2012/03/herb-trimpes-all-time-top-ten-hulk.html

Here we find a long run of Sunday Tarzan strips from 1968-70 by Russ Manning who was always just under the radar but surprisingly influential.

http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/2012/03/russ-manning-1929-1981-tarzan-sundays.html

Here’s some nice scans of those Wally Wood/Dan Adkins LP covers from the sixties, some of their best work (even though the albums are unlistenable).

http://atomic-surgery.blogspot.com/2012/03/wally-wood-lp-covers.html

Finally today, a very rare look inside the legendary Motion Pictures Funny Weekly at the original appearance of the Sub-Mariner.

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=3529486#Post3529486

The Centennial of Cartoons Magazine marches on, with our third installment of extracts from its March 1912 issue #3. Today’s sampling involves cartoons whose subjects are all over the map, but which I found too interesting to just skip over.

Above, a variety of topics, from French, German, and British sources (the latter featuring W.K. Haselden), but applicable everywhere. Below, a cartoon by John Campbell Cory, concerning a bill being debated in Congress, involving a promised Pension for Civil War Veterans that Congress had been avoiding honoring.

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

Below, one-hundred years ago, debate over how to save a troubled U.S. Postal Service (in the days of nothing but “snail mail”)!

Next, from San Francisco, Denver, and New York City, cartoons about crime. Including one each by W.A. Rogers, and Nelson Harding.

Finally, A Pictorial Sermonette, by John T. McCutcheon, “Showing that people don’t always mean exactly what they say”.

Doug Wheeler

ElectionComics

Here’s an odd, serious little tale by the great humorist Basil Wolverton. R.I.P Gene Gallatin, friend of Yoe and Wolverton junkie.

http://allthingsger.blogspot.com/2012/03/hey-buster-friday-comic-book-day.html

Here’s the story of the Legion’s Tyroc, that seventies disco/blacksploitation member that must have seemed like a good idea at the time.

http://www.armagideon-time.com/?p=6945

Brian Bolland, one of the great comics cover artists of all time, is sharing lots of great pencil pages at his blog.

http://brianbolland.blogspot.com/

Finally, a brief look at Heritage, the wonderfully odd Flash Gordon fanzine from the early seventies with Wood, Williamson, Morrow and those guys!

http://blogintomystery.com/2012/03/08/a-smiling-ming-the-merry-offers-you-this-expensive-looking-yet-slapdash-1970s-fanzine-enjoy-heritage-flash-gordon-1b/

I really have nothing much to say about this issue of a mid-50′s British boys weekly I came across, except that it’s kind of odd and cool looking — as if it was an artifact not from a different era but a different world. Unfortunately this is the only issue of Flash I’ve ever come across, which is kind of a pity, seeing as it’s nicely done; I especially like the logo and the color/cover featured Kangy the Bush Boy.