Monthly Archives: April 2022

“The Mirror Man” (Tip Top Comics 56, December 1940, p. 36)

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 “The Mirror Man” (Tip Top Comics 56, December 1940, p. 36)
by Fred Methot and Reg Greenwood (1899-1943)
13.5 x 19.5 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

The Mirror Man was a super-hero series introduced in the Tip Top Comics anthology in issue 54 (October 1940), by writer Fred Methot and artist Reg Greenwood (who also introduced The Triple Terror characters in this same issue). It ran for 23 issues.

This is from the third Mirror Man issue (page 3 of a 5-page episode).

As Mirror Man, Dean Alder possesses the Mystic Garment, a robe that permits him to use mirrors and other reflective surfaces as his transport, and he uses this to fight crime and evil.

Soon after WWII broke out, both the Mirror Man and Triple Terror characters hung up their spandex and enlisted in the army, becoming military warriors fighting the enemy overseas. The first Mirror Man war story was in Tip Top Comics 71 (March 1942), and the Triple Terror triplet had a spy-adventure and decided to formally enlist at the end of their Tip Top 72 (April 1942) story.

Methot and Greenwood (1899-1943) are credited with The Mirror Man stories through Tip Top Comics 87 (August 1943), which was presumably Greenwood’s last story because he is listed as dying in 1943). The more noted Paul Berdanier (1879-1961) took over The Triple Terror and did one Mirror Man story (TTC 88, September 1943). The rest of the Mirror Man series, which lasts about another year, is not credited except for a couple of stories signed “Singer.” Methot is still thought to have written these, and the artist is referred to as Sam Singer in some places.

Mirror Man saves young Benton from the clutches of the evil Professor, but then takes a bullet. Benton assists him to a mirror, through which the hero passes, rests and recovers from his wound. After Gregg is jailed, Alder is informed of young Tommy Britt being cheated out of money at the Cattail Club, so Mirror Man takes a hand before Tommy’s brother Bob takes on the thugs at the club alone.

The Late Late War

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 “The Late Late War” (May 14, 1963)
by Fred Fredericks (1929-2015)
8.5 x 13 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

In 1960, during the Civil War centennial, Fredericks created this proposed strip, which lasted only a few months. You get the “Hogan’s Heroes” problem of looking at wars as a context for humor.

This was then a “tryout” for a color comic section to appear in “At Ease,” a supplemental color section for the Armed Forces to be published by owner/publisher Zeke Zekley, which never transpired.

After this time, Fredericks was known for taking over the drawing of “Mandrake the Magician” in 1965 from the late Phil Davis. Fredericks is also well known for inking “The Phantom” Sunday strips 1995 to 2000.

 

The House of Dawn

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“The House of Dawn” (February 17, 1934)
by Frederic Rodrigo Gruger (1871-1953)
12 x 16 in., pencil and crayon on board

From part 1/6 of “The House of Dawn” by C. E. Scoggins
In “The Saturday Evening Post” (February 17, 1934)
Coppola Collection

This is a particularly nice example from Gruger, both in terms of composition and rendering. The lighting and the reaction to the open door is a tangible story, spectacularly told in the artistic narrative.

Gruger, a master of photorealism in pencil-strokes, contributed artwork to various magazines and for the works of more than 400 authors. In 1928, The Saturday Evening Post published a cartoon about Gruger, dressed as a knight in armor to defend the secret of his famous drawing technique.

He was one of the most highly regarded and prolific illustrators of the day. In 1939, Time proclaimed him “the dean of U.S. magazine illustrators.” Norman Rockwell looked up to him as “one of our greatest illustrators.” His work appeared everywhere — he created an astonishing 6,000 illustrations between 1898 and 1943, but his true home was with the Post, for which he did thousands of illustrations.  The same Time article stated, “After 1899 when George Horace Lorimer became editor of The Saturday Evening Post, Gruger became the mainstay of that magazine. The Post’s romantic and period fiction…got half its atmosphere from Gruger’s old fashioned, deep-browed men and frail but credulous women.”

Surprisingly, his technique was just drawing with a pencil on cheap cardboard. When Gruger first began working on the staff of a newspaper, he learned to draw on flimsy cardboard called “railroad blank.” The newspapers kept stacks of railroad blank lying around for anyone to use as a backing for photos. The cardboard was so cheap, nobody cared how much Gruger borrowed to practice his drawing. He experimented with smearing and erasing the carbon pencil to achieve special effects that no one else had achieved. Pretty soon, he became a virtuoso of pencil and cardboard. Railroad blank was renamed “Gruger board” in recognition of the astonishing work that Gruger was able to perform on it.

As it appeared in print:

Mike Wallace (signed) and his Controversial Interviews

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 “Mike Wallace (signed) and his Controversial Interviews” (October 10, 1957)
by Eddie Germano (1924 – )
14 x 16.5, ink and wash on board
Coppola Collection

A native Bostonian, Germano became a full-time cartoonist in 1948, at age 24, after serving in WWII. Among other positions, he worked as the editorial and sports cartoonist for the Brockton Enterprise from 1963-1990.

Germano handled the TV beat for a few years. He (or his editor) was able to get hand-written notes from the featured subjects to integrate into the 3-column Sunday illustrations.

The Mike Wallace Interview debuted on Sunday April 28, 1957 on ABC. Wallace interviewed senators, authors, actresses, politicians, and a Klansman. Controversial nearly from the start, it drew lawsuits, network retractions, charges of censorship and more, all in the span of 15 months. A year in, on March 17th, 1958 ABC announced that The Mike Wallace Interview would be discontinued after its April 19th broadcast. And, the plot thickens. On April 18th, The New York Times reported that Wallace would present a thirteen-week series around the themes of “Survival and Freedom” beginning April 27th. Production costs would be paid by the “Fund for the Republic” and ABC would donate the airtime, Sundays from 10-10:30 PM. The controversies, delayed and cancelled interviews, continued.

I have a draft copy of the cartoon, which is interesting to compare.

Ed Sullivan (signed) Celebrates His 9th Anniversary

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 “Ed Sullivan (signed) Celebrates His 9th Anniversary” (September 23, 1956)
by Eddie Germano (1924 – )
14.25 x 15.5, ink on board
Coppola Collection

A native Bostonian, Germano became a full-time cartoonist in 1948, at age 24, after serving in WWII. Among other positions, he worked as the editorial and sports cartoonist for the Brockton Enterprise from 1963-1990.

Germano handled the TV beat for a few years. He (or his editor) was able to get hand-written notes from the featured subjects to integrate into the 3-column Sunday illustrations.

In this one, from 1956, celebrates the 9th anniversary of the Ed Sullivan Show, which ran from 1948 to 1971. Ed muses about Elvis, Bing Crosby, and Jayne Mansfield. The Beatles are still 8 years off at this point.

 

Jimmy and His War Bride

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“Jimmy and His War Bride” (August 8, 1920)
by Frederick Burr Opper (1857-1937)
12 x 14 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Burr_Opper

Frederick Burr Opper is perhaps my favorite of the first generation of cartoonists. I like his loose style, and the obviousness of his ink strokes, and the way he depicts the common people of the day.

Forming the League of Nations after WW1 was not embraced by the growing isolationist movement in the US. The Senate turned down the Treaty of Versailles on November 19, 1919 (55-39), spurning the formation of the League. The Senate reconsidered the treaty once more, with reservations, on March 19, 1920. That vote, 49-35, fell seven votes short of the required two-thirds majority. In 1921, Congress passed the Knox-Porter Resolution, formally ending the war with Germany. By then, the treaty was widely seen as lifeless.

Article X of the Covenant of the League of Nations was the section calling for assistance to be given to a member that experiences external aggression. It was signed by the major Peacemakers (Allied Forces) following the First World War, most notably Britain and France. But due to the nature of that Article, Wilson was unable to meet his obligation to join the League of Nations, as a result of strong objection from U.S. politicians.

James M. Cox, Governor of Ohio, was an outspoken advocate for the League, and his support was used by his critics.

During the period for the selection of delegates to the Democratic Convention at San Francisco in 1920, Cox gave a signed interview to the New York Times, in which he reviewed the controversy concerning the League of Nations and outlined two reservations which he believed would satisfy every reasonable objection. In part, he said:

“If public opinion in the country is the same as it is in Ohio, then there can be no doubt but that the people want a League of Nations because it seems to offer the surest guarantee against war. I am convinced that the San Francisco Convention will endorse in its vital principles the League adopted at Versailles. “There can be no doubt but that some senators have been conscientious in their desire to clarify the provisions of the treaty. Two things apparently have disturbed them. First, they wanted to make sure that the League was not to be an alliance, and that its basic purpose was peace and not controversy. Second, they wanted the other powers signing the instrument to understand our constitutional limitations beyond which the treaty-making power cannot go.”

He was chosen as the Democratic nominee for president on the forty-fourth ballot of the 1920 Democratic National Convention.

The Governor’s position on the League was amplified in his Address of Acceptance at Dayton on August 7th, 1920, in which he said: “We are in a time which calls for straight thinking, straight talking and straight acting. This is no time for wobbling. Never in all our history has more been done for government. Never was sacrifice more sublime.”

Running on a ticket with future President Franklin D. Roosevelt as his running mate, Cox suffered the worst popular vote defeat (a 26.17% margin) in presidential election history.

Bernard Baruch was a long-time financial powerhouse and advisor, and would predict the market crash of 1929, advising Will Rogers, among others, to pull their money (which Baruch had started to do in 1927).

Opper’s text gives great contextual insight:

Our hero, realizing that he can’t shake his bride, tries to make the best of a bad job. He stages a thrilling tableau entitled “Don’t Best the Heart of the World,” with his bride as the Angel of Peace. But – she crabs the scene by appearing with a pair of boxing gloves and big club. Article ten also gets it all wrong. It was tough! How can you give a serious show when the whole audience is laughing? Look for the next installment. We hate to brag, but it’s simply – to be continued.

 

He Must Be Dead… My Mind Just Went Blank!

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“He Must Be Dead… My Mind Just Went Blank!” (Sept 23, 1971)
by Paul Francis Conrad (1924- 2010)
11 x 14 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

With a 50-year career in editorial cartooning, mainly at the LA Times, Conrad picked up three Pulitzer Prizes for his work. In one amusing story, his cartoons about Ronald Reagan, while Reagan was Governor of California, started a campaign of phone calls from Nancy Reagan to the Times’ publisher, complaining that Conrad’s cartoons were ruining Ronnie’s breakfast. The publisher finally just needed to stop taking the calls.

In July 1971, President Nixon made the momentous announcement that he would be visiting China, so there was suddenly a great uptick on US attention to the affairs of the still-isolated PRC. As we have seen, when these secluded leaders disappear for a while, the death rumors begin, and this happened with Mao in September 1971. On September 22, 1971, Beijing issued a strong denial about the rumors, but no habeas corpus. On September 23, this cartoon appeared. I think the sentiment is an absolutely timeless commentary on the perception of authoritative leadership and the accusation of cult-like devotion that accompanies it. You can quite easily swap the characters into any setting (North Korea… Moscow… the US Capital on January 6, 2021) and keep the dialog the same.

Every piece I buy, I buy to preserve the story and give it a little voice. This one is well deserving.

Q-Nuts: It’s the Great Storm, Charlie Brown

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“Q-Nuts: It’s the Great Storm, Charlie Brown” (Tom the Dancing Bug, Jan 25, 2021)
by Ruben Bolling (Ken Fisher, 1963- )
11 x 17 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

Ken Fisher, who publishes under his pseudonym Ruben Bolling, has been drawing the weekly full pager, “Tom the Dancing Bug,” since the 1990. It was picked up for syndication in 1997.

I have enjoyed reading his strip for a while. It is carried by Boing Boing, where I read it, although he does have a subscription option ($10/6 mo.) to help alleviate the modern digital dilemma of more-readers/less-income.

“Tom the Dancing Bug” is not a character, it’s a statement. Fisher/Bolling pushes hard on the daily non-sequitur, although there are a few recurring characters and bits.

I thought that this strip, from January 25, 2021, was exceptional. The commentary is straightforward, but it’s an inspired and award-winning delivery from start to finish. The characters in P-Nuts (oops, Peanuts) and Linus’s obsession about the myth of the visit by the Great Pumpkin are recast as Q-Nuts and their obsession about the Great Storm.

The strip is a master lesson in the difference between how parody, which is protected and why he can get away with this, and satire are treated under copyright law. Both are commentary, but a parody uses the context in a way that would render the adaptation meaningless if it was placed in a different setting. That is: if you could lift this script and just as equally well make your point by having the Avengers as the characters, then you are exploiting the characters and the genre is satire. On the other hand, if the only way the script makes sense is coming from those characters, then you are parodying them (much like a weird Al song).

I am also a huge Peanuts fan, the highlight of which was the day in 1997 that I was treated to lunch at the Snoopy Ice Rink in Santa Rosa by Charles Schulz. I was mumblingly incoherent for that entire hour.

And that brings me to this piece. Bolling does not selling his original art. It is a pastiche of pieces and modifications done digitally, so when asked he says, “I have priced it not to sell.” And while that was disappointing, I am undaunted unless the answer is “no, piss off.” So, I asked a different question: would you consider a commission request to reproduce that strip for me?

And here you go. I could not be happier with how this turned out.

Reimagined Cover Fragments: TOS #65 (Iron Man v. Iron Man)

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“Reimagined Cover Fragments: TOS #65 (Iron Man v. Iron Man)” (2021)
by John K Snyder III (1961-)
11 x 8.5 in, ink and wash on board
Coppola Collection

Snyder wrote and drew his first project, “Fashion in Action” (Eclipse Comics), as a backup feature in Timothy Truman’s “Scout in 1985.” He also began to illustrate gallery pieces and covers for books such as Comico’s “Jonny Quest” comic book series and Alan Moore’s “Miracleman.” I noticed Snyder’s work on Matt Wagner’s “Grendel” series, when he illustrated “The God and The Devil.”

John has a lovely, classic style as a comics illustrator. I enjoy artists who enjoy interpreting the work of early 1960s Marvel, the comics of my youth. Fragmenting covers (or panels) into individual compositions is an idea.

This is the bottom half of the cover to TOS #65

Reimagined Cover Fragments: TOS #65 (Cap v. the Skull)

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Reimagined Cover Fragments: TOS #65 (Cap v. the Skull) (2021)
by John K Snyder III (1961-)
11 x 8.5 in, ink and wash on board
Coppola Collection

Snyder wrote and drew his first project, “Fashion in Action” (Eclipse Comics), as a backup feature in Timothy Truman’s “Scout in 1985.” He also began to illustrate gallery pieces and covers for books such as Comico’s “Jonny Quest” comic book series and Alan Moore’s “Miracleman.” I noticed Snyder’s work on Matt Wagner’s “Grendel” series, when he illustrated “The God and The Devil.”

John has a lovely, classic style as a comics illustrator. I enjoy artists who enjoy interpreting the work of early 1960s Marvel, the comics of my youth. Fragmenting covers (or panels) into individual compositions is an idea.

This is the top half of the cover to TOS #65