I'd like to thank everyone who's taken a couple minutes out of their day from time to time to read my ramblings. I'm still not sure what it is I'm trying to do here but I do know that, some days this is the only 20 minutes that makes sense to me when I'm done.So for commenting and keeping me going in my undirected therapeutic sessions here and keeping me out of a clock tower with an automatic rifle, society and myself thank you very much. I hope you'll keep coming back. I love seeing you here.
I partly kid about not knowing what I'm trying to do here. I have lots of little reasons that keep me satisfied. One thing I like to do is try add something positive to the modern media and information stream that we live in. So disgusted am I in our world of TMZ and other non-celebrity focused scandal BS that I thought...you know, even if nobody gets around to reading what I have to say, at least I can talk about worthwhile people I admire who have done worthwhile things like contributing to society through art and music and storytelling. I can take a little of the bandwidth back from the Hilton's and Kardashian's of the world and add my grain of sand to the unbalanced scales and feel a little better for trying.
I also talked about allot of my heroes as a way of introducing myself to any readers who may find me. We are nothing if not an amalgam of the things we admire in others.
I did this over the last year by spotlighting some of my heroes (that's right, I haven't gotten to all of them yet) on the anniversaries of their births. Now that I've covered a full calender year and hit allot of them, I thought I should do a more regularly scheduled tip of the hat to some of the great one's out there, so today I'd like to begin a series on comics and what better day than Sundays.
Today starts with an article about a story done by Milton Caniff in his nigh perfect newspaper strip "Terry and the Pirates". The story is from 1940 and the article is from "Nemo: The Classic Comics Library" issues 1 and 2. Filling a niche market (and doing an incredible job of it by the way) and economics of printing and early 1980's economy in general (remember folks...it was as bad as it is now) Nemo was printed in black and white so these gorgeous Sunday color pages lose a little something here.
But actually I find it helps you focus on the great storyteller that Caniff was. Intricate layers of intrigue and adventure and a multitude of multi-faceted characters weaving a wonderfully dense story...it's hard to imagine this as a newspaper comics feature when compared to the one off gags in 6 panels of today's Sunday funnies.
I'm gonna shut up now so you can enjoy the real deal. And Caniff WAS the real deal!
Nemo was a great magazine and I hope to post a lot from this great work in the coming weeks. Thank you Rick Marschall and Bill Blackbeard and the rest for this wonderful labor of love.See ya'll tomorrow!
My congrats, Jeff!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you're not certain 'bout you're tryin' to do with this blog, but it's a worthwhile thing, that's for sure.
Your stuff and yarns are always enjoyable and MOSTLY funny. Your sharings are needed.
Keep 'em coming!
So disgusted am I in our world of TMZ and other non-celebrity focused scandal BS that I thought...you know, even if nobody gets around to reading what I have to say, at least I can talk about worthwhile people I admire who have done worthwhile things like contributing to society through art and music and storytelling. I can take a little of the bandwidth back from the Hilton's and Kardashian's of the world and add my grain of sand to the unbalanced scales and feel a little better for trying.
ReplyDeleteA most worthy endeavor, if I may be allowed to throw in a pair of copper pennies. Posts like your salute to the immortal Milton Caniff (an artist who was simply one of the kings of comic strips, and I have my father to thank for turning me on to his stuff) are what keep me coming back for more.
Happy first blogiversary and many more to come, paisan!
Happy birthday, Jeffie!! Love your blog. Any word yet from the barmaid covered in dollar bills about my generous offer, or are you keeping her for yourself?
ReplyDeleteGabriel: Thanks very much. I'm glad you want my posts to keep coming, because now that I've established the habit, I don't know if I could stop them if I tried.
ReplyDeleteIvan: I'm glad to see I'm on the right track, and knowing there are like-minds out there and taking comfort in that was part of my goal. Thanks for the encouragement Gumba.
Mykal: I'm afraid the world of "Jeffy's Angels" is sometimes a fleeting one, like catching lightning in a bottle. I haven't seen this particular one in quite sometime. You'll note in my cartoons, there are never two Angels that are the same (like snowflakes) and this is not my way of objectifying them, it's just that they come flitting through my world just long enough to steal my heart and then they are replaced by another. Careful my friend Icarus, don't fly too close to the sun lest the wax which secures your wings melts. Admire the Angels from a safe distance and they will rest on your shoulder and lighten your heart.
I actually only met this young lady the one time and it was a couple of years ago. I don't remember her name, but for her costume I've decided to call her "Legal Tender". :P
Like snowflakes, beautiful but temporal – unique but ever melting for the next.
ReplyDeleteBesides, the time when I flew near the sun is well behind me - I just loved that bikini of money.
ReplyDeleteNow THIS is the kind of banter that makes it all worth it.
ReplyDelete