Sunday Funnies - Comics as Art!

I bought this magazine through mail order back in 1983 when I was still living in the middle of Montana. It's a commemorative booklet promoting "The Comic Art Show" at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

As I said, I was still in the middle of the wilderness, far away from anyone who considered comics an art and even further away from one of them thar museumy things that I'd only heard of in TV shows.

Needless to say I read this back then with all the importance of any dissertation on art ever written.

I still enjoy it.

I'll be posting the rest of this magazine over the next few weeks on Sunday's. I hope you enjoy it.
Talk to you soon.

Marx - "Best of the West" - Johnny West!

It's Saturday and time for another rummage through "Unca Jeffy's Toy Box"!

This trip is actually the reason that I started doing these rummage-explorations. After seeing KW's post on his great diverse blog here, I had a penchant for digging for my own collection of Marx Toys "Best of the West". They weren't called "action figures back then...they were just fun toys.

As I dug through my trunks of toys, I recognized the "custom carrying case" shoe box my figures were stored in and my heart jumped...


...take a gander at 'em. Hours, days, weeks of my childhood, preserved as if in amber...

...pay no attention to the guy on the far left. He wasn't intended by the toy makers to go with the others. But he was in my young imagination. His name is "Mike Hazard" I believe, and once belonged to my big brother Mike. We'll get to him in a few weeks.

Here's how OCDed I am. The original brochures which came with the figures...

..."A handy guide to the complete collection! "Best of the West" - by Marx!

The star of the collection Johnny West...and Jane West (the girl toy...ewwwwwwwww)

..."Sheriff Garrett" and "Renegade Sam Cobra" (he's in that thar boox, too!)...

..."General Custer" and "Capt. Tom Maddox" (and he's in the box too!)...

..."Fighting Geronimo", "Chief Cherokee" (also in Unca Jeffy's Toy Box) and "Fighting Eagle"...

..."Covered Wagon and Horse" and "Buckboard and Horse"...

..."Thunderbolt" and "Storm Cloud Pinto"! Note that all figures made of "solid poly plastic", vinyl faces and hands and best of all, wagons and animals of "high impact styrene"! A petrolium based wet dream!...

..."Comanche Horse" and "Buckskin Horse"...

..."Pancho Horse", "Jay West" and "Jamie West"...

..."Janice West", "Josie West" and "Princess Wild Flower"...

...ahhhhhhh if I could only have them all. Even the girl toys would be neat to have.

As I said, my heart jumped when the memories flooded back to me. Imagine my horror when I found...

I knew Johnny's right hand was missing (thank my nephew Skip when we were kids for that...grrrrrrr), but apparently through the years of storage, the plastic clip on Johnny's hip decompsed and let go of the high tension spring that held the hips in place.

Sigh!

This is what a close-up autopsy would show...

"Oh, the pain! Someone shoot me NOW!!!", said Johnny.

..."But I must go on. I've fought for too many years to give up at something like this.", resolved the tough rancher. "Who needs a right hand and two legs? Not me!"

And that's what makes Johnny West cool. Hell, they named a whole direction after him!

A stolid faced man, ready to meet new challenges!

I haven't unpacked the whole shoe box yet, I'm hoping to find more accessories, but for now here's what Johnny still has in his arsenal!

His hat, kerchief, vest and chaps are all here. Though the soft plastic snaps that held the kerchief and chaps in place are long worn out from use...

...I'm afraid to remove his spurs for that very reason.

...Got a frying pan, coffee pot, coffee mug and canteen for nourishment...

...and his gun belt, knife and rifle are here. I'll be digging for his gun, though the soft plastic buckle of his belt is worn. :(

He's got his money box with 2 of the 3 bags of gold still here (I'm digging) and a branding iron...

Impressively enough, he even has his own brand. "W" for West!

um...or it's probably "M" for Marx.

Keep playing, cowpokes. Like Woody told us in "Toy Story 2", a toy's not happy in a box. A toy needs to be played with.

Talk to you soon.

Vic's Train Ride and Hank Gutstop Wants to Make Good!

It's "OTR Friday" and time to smile again with America's Home Folks for another 1/2 hour inside my head.

The first episode I'll share with you today is from May 3, 1940 and concerns Sade's mis-understanding of the work-a-day world outside her home and her belief that a favor from a friend is more important than anything. Vic is to make a pilgrimage to Chicago to meet with a couple of muckety-mucks from the kitchenware industry and Sade has it all worked up for Mr. Donahue (recently promoted to railroad inspector) to let Vic ride in the locomotive.

During the debate, Vic makes passing mention of Funk's Grove, Illinois and shot me down a lane of memories. Back in 2007, my sister, nephew and I headed down Route 66 to find America. Find it we did, and one of the stops was at the aforementioned Funk's Grove.

Funk's Grove has been a family owned producer of REAL Maple Sirup (the spelling is intentional) since the 1800's and during the heyday of old 66, a popular stop off place for travelers. I-55 by passed the joint in the 1970's but the family is still there and still doing what they do best. Here's a few picture memories from me from that summer of '07...

Me finding an icon...


Mrs. Giada Funk interupted her lunch to wait on us personally. A real Route 66 celebrity!


Some of their signage explains how it all works...

And nephew Brian models next to the sign that explains the difference between Sirup and Syrup...

We were there!

Saaaaalute to America and it's Main Street, Route 66

This really has nothing to do with the show, just a minor connection to me only seperated by 67 years. Now, enjoy the show.

The second episode is from May 6, 1940 and involves Hank Gutstops indebtedness to Vic, how he proposes to make things square and Sade's dislike for the aforementioned Gutstop. A side-line is Rush reading from an exciting volume of the adventures of "Third Lieutenant Stanley" and the lovely Lady Margaret. Enjoy!



And for a little more visual, here's "Radio Varieties" from September 1939 announing the beginning of the 8th season of "Vic & Sade", along with some contemporary news of the day.

Talk to you soon.