Beyond the Pleasure Principle, Comic Quotation in Contemporary American Painting!

Final chapter and index for the companion magazine to the Whiteny Museum of Art's comic art exhibition back in the 1980's.

Art appreciation on a subject I hold dear.

Enjoy!

And a checklist of the exhibition.

I wish I could have seen it.

Talk to you soon.

Whitney Museum and More Vulgar Modernizm!

The Whitney Museum of Art Comic Art show covered the gambit of cartooning from comic strips to comic books to todays topic, animation.

Vulgar modernism sounds like an insult. I'd say it's pure Americana. My favorite flavor!

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon.

Whitney Museum and Comic Books Evolution!

More from the Whitney Museum of Art's companion magaine for their comic art show back in the 1980's. In this issue, the comic book grows up! "Nothing is Sacred, From EC to Underground Comix"! Looking at the humor of Bill Criffith, Robert Crumb and those geniuses of "Mad" and more! Enjoy!

Talk to you soon.

Whitney Museum and the Comic Book!

As I continue to share my scans of the Whitney Museum of Art comic art exhibit co-magazine, the chapters veer from comic strips (which I like to highlight on Sundays here) to the other worlds of cartoons, the comic book and animation, so I'll keep these posts going and conclude this week.

Here's the first of two chapters on the comic book. "Representing Force: from Superman to the Fantastic Four".

Enjoy!

Talk to you soon.

"The Whitney Museum of Art" - part 3

Continuing from the last two Sundays, my sharing of the program magazine which accompanied the Whitney Museum of Art's exhibition of the art of comics from the 1980's.

This chapter, more on the comic strip - "Mass Appeal: The Development of Realism, Sequential Narrative and Social Satire". Ah, the modern age of comics is born.

Enjoy!

The next sections cover "Comic Books" and "Animation" as well as covers the show itself, so I won't be waiting till next Sunday to share (I like to save Sundays for comic STRIPs, you see) so come back over the next few days for this little oddity.

Talk to you soon.

Renegade Sam Cobra and Chief Cherokee - "Best of the West"!

Another Saturday, another dive into "Unca Jeffy's Toy Box" and checking out the rest of Marx Toys "Best of the West"!

Every hero needs a villain and Johnny West was no exception. In Marx's "...West" world, that spot was filled by "'Renegade' Sam Cobra"!


You can tell he's the bad guy because, not only does he wear all black, but he also sports a nefarious goatee! You see, back in the 1960's before every fat white guy hipster sported those chin whiskers to supposedly hide their double-chin (wow...I'm ragging on myself now!), only the very evil had them. Jack Cassidy was of course the exception that proved the rule.

Sam Cobra also comes with a mighty impressive collection of artillery. Rifle, sawed-off shotgun, six-shooter with a holster which also houses a sheath for a dagger, shoulder holster with pistol and even a belt buckle with concealed derringer. This boy was loaded for bear, but it weren't no bear he was shootin' for!

He also came with a safe for breaking into, bomb, a few sticks of dynamite and his own pair of handcuffs. Either for his hostages or to be used on him if the good guys caught him I presume. Unless he had a bondage fetish, which would go right along with that goatee!

He also came with a velice, a neck-tie, spurs, sporty black hat (standard issue for all bad guys, dontchaknow) annnnnnnnnnnnd some kinda strap. Leads me back to the hand-cuff issue.

I'm proud to say they've all been in "Unca Jeffy's Toy Box" loe these many decades....however, there was a final tradgedy...

Chief Cherokee suffered the same joint damage that Johnny West himself did, but to an even greater extent...

Poor, poor Chief. These are the things that break my heart. I thought I had been being his caretaker and it all fell apart under my nose.

His many accoutraments did survive though. His chief headdress with atttachable extension and extra feathers, his scout headband and feathers, medicine man hat and mask, necklace, vest...

...rifle, spear, bow and quiver full of arrows, hatchet, sheild, belt and knife, pouch,...

...drum and mallet, peace-pipe and something that looks like a maraca, though I'm sure there is an indian name for it and what looks like a branding iron.

That sews up my delving into my "Best of the West" collection. Some real joys and real heart-aches.

There's a visceral pleasure in the touch and smell of these toys from childhood though. I'm really glad I've hung onto them and it was really worth the effort.

Another shining ray of happy, I found the third sack of gold from the chest of Johnny West...

...it was tucked in with Sam Cobra's belongings. Damn renegade!

Talk to you soon.