Friday, November 29, 2019
Thursday, November 28, 2019
Wednesday, November 27, 2019
Tuesday, November 26, 2019
RIP John Simon
Learned, sharp, perceptive, offensive and droll with sarcastic, caustic wit: literary, theater and film critic John Simon was all these. I first became aware of him in 1978, when Fantagraphics Books publisher Gary Groth reprinted Simon's negative review of the first Star Wars film in one of the first issues of The Comics Journal I read. I then followed Simon's film and theater reviews in various magazines for decades.
For a sample, here's Simon critiquing/desecrating the writing of fellow film critic Rex Reed:
Bette Midler's eyes are "glittering green venetian blinds from which stars are shooting like emeralds," and one is forced to wonder whether green venetian blinds are in fact shutters, and whether one has ever seen an emerald shoot - and shoot in a cowardly fashion, from behind venetian blinds, painted green, no doubt, as camouflage for an emerald. Tennessee Williams is "shy, pursued by visions of hell, and blind in one eye." Curious collocation: Is it the hellish visions or the shyness that blinds you in one eye? And does one get the visions of hell in the blind or the seeing eye?
Monday, November 25, 2019
Saturday, November 23, 2019
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Jack Kirby's Ookla the Wanderer
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
Recently Read: Marvel Masterworks: Golden Age U.S.A. Comics, Vol. 1
For comics historians and deep-diving fans, Marvel's (now defunct?) hardcover and softcover reprints of some of their earliest published comics was a godsend (as purchasing even beat up copies of the original comics is a bank-breaking proposal). The use of talent used on these books was uneven, though, with a lot of workmanlike (and just plain bad) publishing product.
The first four issues of USA Comics is a good example. A Jack Kirby cover and two Basil Wolverton stories stand out; the rest of the material, starring forgotten characters like Major Liberty, Jack Frost, The Defender and Corporal Dix, are simplistic patriotic tales of German saboteurs, slobbering despots and fifth columnists who barely try to hide their intentions. Expect little characterization or subtlety. Historian Michael J. Vassallo does a excellent job researching, identifying and making educated guesses at the mostly uncredited authors and artists, and reading the book from the perspective of seeing longstanding cartoonists' earliest work can be rewarding. I can only recommend the book, otherwise, for those, like me, who just want to read it all wholesale.
Sunday, November 10, 2019
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