Mike Wallace (signed) and his Controversial Interviews

 “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.

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

“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)

“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)

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

Reimagined Cover Fragments: X-Men #9 (X-Men v. Avengers) [bottom]

“Reimagined Cover Fragments: X-Men #9 (X-Men v. Avengers) [bottom]” (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 X-Men #9.

Reimagined Cover Fragments: X-Men #9 (X-Men v. Avengers) [top]

“Reimagined Cover Fragments: X-Men #9 (X-Men v. Avengers) [top]” (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 X-Men #9.

The Strange Death of Alex Raymond (Bookplate Sketch)


“The Strange Death of Alex Raymond (Bookplate Sketch)” (2021)
by Carson Grubaugh (1981- )
drawing in pen
Coppola Collection

In The Strange Death of Alex Raymond, Dave Sim, legendary creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, and Carson Grubaugh, talented and creative artist across multiple media, explore and examine the line-making techniques of some of comics’ greatest photorealist creators.

The art is impressive. And thanks to work of master production designer and line-smith, Sean Michael Robinson, the integrity of the printing and reproduction is truly unmatched.

“The Strange Death of Alex Raymond” (SDOAR) is self-contained in a 320-page, 8.25×12 inch oversized hardcover book.

From April 28 – May 22, 2021, the book was available at a pre-sale Kickstarter, a S/N limited edition sold out on May 10. Original art is available from Carson.

Kickstarter.com, search for “The Strange Death of Alex Raymond” for the rest of the history.

I enjoy Carson’s art and really like having the pieces that I’ve picked up or commissioned. He is also a terrific person to work with, and we share a real-life connection as academics.

There was one reward tier in the Kickstarter, a 1/1 edition that included the original art for the bookplate affixed to the book along with a few pages of original art (called the “morbid” level because the tier price of $906.56 is the date of the titular death).

Yes, yes… that was me who got it. I also picked up some other art that I liked from the book.

During the campaign, Carson posted the draft for an earlier version of the bookplate, one where he and Dave were locked in a cosmic battle, swirling in a fray while a Rip Kirby character reassures us that all is swell. Dave rejected it as an idea. I did not. So, for an extra dollop of money, I commissioned Carson to complete the art and to attach it to the inside back cover as Bookplate #2 for the 1/1 edition.

The big reveal waited until the book was in my hands.

This book has the full page of original art for the actual bookplate pasted in as the inside front cover.

And this book has the full page of original art for the unused bookplate, completed, as the inside back cover.

And the standard, signed bookplate with #183 was mistakenly stickered into the book before Carson realized it needed to be the custom 1/1 numbering, so I still requested the 1/1 bookplate.

How to customize it?

Then Carson told me the story about how Dave customized Carson’s Rip Cerebus print, “where he took what I did, whited out parts of my face, and made me uglier. Hahaha. The nose on that last one looks like it was done by a man who wishes violence on another man…”

So, I suggested to Carson that he could return the favor and do a quid pro quo /quote/portrait/unquote of Dave for the bookplate (bwah hah hah hah). He liked that idea and selected an image where Dave had been under medical care and signaling his good health while hooked up to a breathing tube.

The Strange Death of Alex Raymond (Bookplate #2)

“The Strange Death of Alex Raymond (Bookplate #2)” (2021)
by Carson Grubaugh (1981- )
8.75 x 11.75 in., ink and brush on board
Coppola Collection

In The Strange Death of Alex Raymond, Dave Sim, legendary creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, and Carson Grubaugh, talented and creative artist across multiple media, explore and examine the line-making techniques of some of comics’ greatest photorealist creators.

The art is impressive. And thanks to work of master production designer and line-smith, Sean Michael Robinson, the integrity of the printing and reproduction is truly unmatched.

“The Strange Death of Alex Raymond” (SDOAR) is self-contained in a 320-page, 8.25×12 inch oversized hardcover book.

From April 28 – May 22, 2021, the book was available at a pre-sale Kickstarter, a S/N limited edition sold out on May 10. Original art is available from Carson.

Kickstarter.com, search for “The Strange Death of Alex Raymond” for the rest of the history.

I enjoy Carson’s art and really like having the pieces that I’ve picked up or commissioned. He is also a terrific person to work with, and we share a real-life connection as academics.

There was one reward tier in the Kickstarter, a 1/1 edition that included the original art for the bookplate affixed to the book along with a few pages of original art (called the “morbid” level because the tier price of $906.56 is the date of the titular death).

Yes, yes… that was me who got it. I also picked up some other art that I liked from the book.

During the campaign, Carson posted the draft for an earlier version of the bookplate, one where he and Dave were locked in a cosmic battle, swirling in a fray while a Rip Kirby character reassures us that all is swell. Dave rejected it as an idea. I did not. So, for an extra dollop of money, I commissioned Carson to complete the art and to attach it to the inside back cover as Bookplate #2 for the 1/1 edition.

The big reveal was waiting until the book was in my hands.

I scripted the dialog and loaded it with allusions. Even the brief version is too long. Suffice it to say that I am the alchemist, and Dave did warn Carson about me, so that is the origin of this cosmic battle.

Carson’s reply is more direct and practical. The only thing you need to figure here is that because the $906.56 was selected for its honoring the day Alex Raymond died (Sept 6, 1956), I offered the $310.97 for the second bookplate because March 10, 1997, is the day that Stan Drake died, which belongs at ‘the other end of a SDOAR book’ and now does so.

Additional images: the original art for the actual bookplates pasted into the 1/1 edition, and the signed bookplate derived from that art.

 

Briefly, in case you are coming in late: Dave Sim claims a metaphysical view of a highly interconnected existence that, from what I have read, is an unwarranted POV and is wholly consistent with mystical (based on one’s experience) rather than metaphysical (based on first principles) philosophy. I really cannot explain the rest with any coherence. Suffice it to say that having spoken out a few times, I was assessed as being possessed by the demons of the spirit who lives in the earth, the one who seeks to silence Sim, and who drove me to select “alchemist” as by eBay name, years ago (as opposed to the fact that I am a chemist who loves chemical history and who has drawn one-panel cartoons called ‘Animated Alchemy’ and ‘Al Kemist’). Whatever. Anyhow, Dave did warn Carson about me, so that is the origin of this cosmic battle. Fans of the “Cerebus” comics will recognize the homage to Dave’s lettering and scripting in the way the text is represented in his word balloon.

 

Misogyny

“Misogyny” (2021)
by Carson Grubaugh (1981- )
8.5 x 11 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

At the Patreon site organized by Sean Michael Robinson and Carson Grubaugh, which accompanies their collaboration on “Living the Line,” they offer a premium based on Carson’s Google Grab-Bag schtick.

He offers an original straight-to-ink sketch. Here is how that works. You are asked to provide a word or phrase (and obviously you can game this a bit). Carson then searches this word or phrase using Google Images. The first photographic image listed by Google Images will be the source material for the straight-to-ink sketch.

Carson has got a great eye. In fact, it freaks me out. He can use a brush (or pen) on paper with NO underlying outline, lay down lines or brushstrokes all over the page, and in about 20-30 minutes he produces a sketch. And all without the training wheels! He records it live. There are videos of this on YouTube (and at the Patreon site).

The October 2021 Grab-Bag phrase came from me. In fact, all three words that were voted on came from me. I figured to put voters in the lesser-of-three-evils position by suggesting misogyny, racism, and homophobia as the words.

Misogyny won.

The Patreon Site: https://www.patreon.com/livingtheline/posts

The Home Site: https://www.livingthelinebooks.com

The Matrix Morpheus

“The Matrix Morpheus” (2021)
by Carson Grubaugh (1981- )
8.5 x 11 in., ink on paper
Coppola Collection

At the Patreon site organized by Sean Michael Robinson and Carson Grubaugh, which accompanies their collaboration on “Living the Line,” they offer a premium based on Carson’s Google Grab-Bag schtick.

He offers an original straight-to-ink sketch. Here is how that works. You are asked to provide a word or phrase (and obviously you can game this a bit). Carson then searches this word or phrase using Google Images. The first photographic image listed by Google Images will be the source material for the straight-to-ink sketch.

Carson has got a great eye. In fact, it freaks me out. He can use a brush (or pen) on paper with NO underlying outline, lay down lines or brushstrokes all over the page, and in about 20-30 minutes he produces a sketch. And all without the training wheels! He records it live. There are videos of this on YouTube (and at the Patreon site).

The December 2021 Grab-Bag phrase came from me. In fact, all three words that were voted on came from me. In honors of the new Matrix movie, I offered up “The Matrix Morpheus,” “The Matrix Neo,” and “The Matrix Trinity.”

Morpheus won.

The Patreon Site: https://www.patreon.com/livingtheline/posts

The Home Site: https://www.livingthelinebooks.com