The Diogenes Club
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Outside-In: The History of a Comix Series
Buttons - Comic Art - 1994
Richie Rich
On the curl: Character "Richie Rich, The Poor Little Rich Boy" (R)&(C) Harvey Publications. (C) 1994 Warner Bros. All Rights Reserved
I believe this button was presented to me by a cartoonist who many of us suspect used to run around comic conventions in a giant Richie Rich head. I won't say his name but his initials are Bruce Chrislip.
Buttons - Comic Art - 1980s?
On reverse: Badge-A-Minit, LaSalle, Ill. 61301
I have no idea where this came from or who made it.
Favorite Movie Quotes: North to Alaska
"It's hunky dory with me if he walks off with his gold mine."
This quote interests me for two reasons. First, it was uttered by the great Ernie Kovacs. Second, I had no idea the term "hunky dory" predated the 1970s, but I guess it has a long history.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Phone photo 2101
Notice
8 Break-ins a wk. in
Seaview
You are dealing with
low-life Cowards
Protect You're Property
I found this sign at the base of a telephone pole, where it apparently had been originally displayed before the elements dashed it to the ground.
Morty Comix # 2478
Here's the story: Back in the 1980s and the pre-Internet 1990s I was right on top of my postal mail. The US Postal Service was my lifeline to my comix comrades. But that was then.
Today I check my PO box infrequently, and even then I just pile up the mail and look at it once a week. Sometimes I throw it in a stack and don't get to it for months.
On this rainy weekend I started excavating through my studio and found several long forgotten documents dating back to the Stone Age. This included a SASE from one of my all time favorite artists, Maximum Traffic.
So, here's to you, Max. My buddy Charlie helped me stuff the envelope.
This issue of Morty Comix is a bit unusual. Many of the 5 x 3 in. versions are made of old discarded Gaylord circulation cards with WLN labels, originating from South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia, Washington.
I miss WLN. It was a great organization and the contribution to the field of librarianship in the Pacific Northwest has not been matched since their demise over a decade ago.
Phone photo 2100
Even at the coast I encounter another entry in the throwaway dental floss series
Seaview, Washington
This was in someone's mouth cleaning out gunk between their teeth and now it is out there on the ground for the rest of us to behold. Excuse me while I get sick.
The Blue & Gold
Before middle schools we had junior high schools, grades 7-9. In Olympia there were two junior high schools, Washington and Jefferson. I started out in Washington but partway through my academic journey there they built a new junior high to absorb us Boomers. It was called Reeves Junior High. It was named in honor of Mr. Reeves, my grade school principal at Roosevelt Elementary. He was a nice man who lived a block away from me.
Reeves was the school for the tough, working class kids. It was not an easy place to learn from the classroom due to the anarchy. All of our lessons came from elsewhere.
The school newspaper was called The Blue & Gold (school colors) and was run off on a mimeograph. I have a scattered few issues from the first year. Many of my cartoons failed to reproduce to the point where they could not be read, but I found a few I could post here.
It was at Reeves that I first learned the power of cartooning in politics. The Olympia Mayor, Tom Allen, wanted to turn the downtown Sylvester Park into a parking garage. Even though I was a teenager, I met with him to state why this was wrong, and he treated me like a teenager. That is to say, I was brushed off and ridiculed by him as an "environmentalist." (The term "treehugger" had not been invented yet and The Evergreen State College had not surfaced in Oly at this time, so we were still living in an extension of the 1950s in Olympia). So I drew a bunch of cartoons about "Tommy Treecut" for the Blue and Gold. The principal, Ted Wynstra, called my parents to complain, saying Tom Allen was a friend of his, and my Mother responded by saying, so what? The kid has a right to free expression.
Yes! As I have stated before in this blog, I was very fortunate in the parental department.
And Tom Allen was later nailed in some scandal involving self-interest in the construction of the public library and left office under a deserved dark cloud.
Anyway, part of digging into that mimeo gel to produce those cartoons meant I had to sit in the school office area. I quickly noticed that the central microphone for the school announcements was in the same room, as well as the stack of notices waiting to be read. So I started writing bogus notices and slipping them into the stack. I wonder how many people showed up for fake meetings?
Ain't I a stinker?
So, here are some of the cartoons I drew during that era, 1969-1970:
This was the kind of Cold War paranoia nonsense we Boomers could not get away from, even in a junior high newspaper!
Reeves was the school for the tough, working class kids. It was not an easy place to learn from the classroom due to the anarchy. All of our lessons came from elsewhere.
The school newspaper was called The Blue & Gold (school colors) and was run off on a mimeograph. I have a scattered few issues from the first year. Many of my cartoons failed to reproduce to the point where they could not be read, but I found a few I could post here.
It was at Reeves that I first learned the power of cartooning in politics. The Olympia Mayor, Tom Allen, wanted to turn the downtown Sylvester Park into a parking garage. Even though I was a teenager, I met with him to state why this was wrong, and he treated me like a teenager. That is to say, I was brushed off and ridiculed by him as an "environmentalist." (The term "treehugger" had not been invented yet and The Evergreen State College had not surfaced in Oly at this time, so we were still living in an extension of the 1950s in Olympia). So I drew a bunch of cartoons about "Tommy Treecut" for the Blue and Gold. The principal, Ted Wynstra, called my parents to complain, saying Tom Allen was a friend of his, and my Mother responded by saying, so what? The kid has a right to free expression.
Yes! As I have stated before in this blog, I was very fortunate in the parental department.
And Tom Allen was later nailed in some scandal involving self-interest in the construction of the public library and left office under a deserved dark cloud.
Anyway, part of digging into that mimeo gel to produce those cartoons meant I had to sit in the school office area. I quickly noticed that the central microphone for the school announcements was in the same room, as well as the stack of notices waiting to be read. So I started writing bogus notices and slipping them into the stack. I wonder how many people showed up for fake meetings?
Ain't I a stinker?
So, here are some of the cartoons I drew during that era, 1969-1970:
Norman, the Wonder Prune was regular character I used
Remember, the Moon landing was new thing in 1969!
This cover was drawn by our art teacher, "Snuffy" Jenkins.
He died fairly young, only a few years after he drew this.
He was a squat, square, straight-talking guy who loved teaching.
Buttons - Comic Art - 1987?
Enough time has passed that some of you might not be familiar with Jeff's work. So let me tell you his comix are definitely worth tracking down.
Favorite Movie Quotes: My Darling Clementine
I love the Victor Mature-Hamlet-Shakespeare scene in this film.
$100 - Original Art - Chow Time
4 pages, 11.5 x 9 inches. Nonphoto blue pencil and felt tip on light bond. I find a tiny spot of whiteout on the top left corner of the final page. The art is in very good condition.
As an extra bonus, I am tossing in a copy of the 2011 enlarged digest reprint of Dog of Dawn, Dog of Dusk!
$100 ppd.
Check or money order to
Steve Willis
PO Box 390
McCleary, WA 98557-0390
or order through PayPal
Morty Comix # 2477
I am putting it in a special envelope with a Morty portrait recognizing the occasion. For you collectors, I should point out the Morty Comix series is rather unusual in that it is not the oldest issues from almost 30 years ago that are super rare, it is the newest set from number 2279 onward that will be the most difficult to track down. This series is Obscuro Comix in action for real. Quite liberating from my point of view.
I'm offering two more issues for the campaign and there are still a couple days left to pledge. Ron and Louise are creating a great project worthy of support for anyone who enjoys the comic art form.
Morty Comix # 2476
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