'TBH Politoons'
Cory!! Strode On Graphic Novels
Uncle Scrooge
There have been a lot of great graphic novels this summer, but the one that stands above them all is one that most adult readers of comics will dismiss out of hand and by doing so, will miss the best story of the year.
I was never a fan of Disney's main characters in cartoons, preferring the Warner Brothers pantheon, but when it came to comic books, the Disney Ducks were ones that I kept reading, even after I "outgrew" kid's comics.
Disney's Uncle Scrooge is a character who was invented in comic books in the 1940's and didn't even appear in a Disney cartoon until 1967's "SCROOGE McDUCK AND MONEY", which made the school circuits by the time I was a kid as a short cartoon on how investing worked. The character is best known because of the brilliant work of cartoonist Carl Barks, who wrote and drew most of the Uncle Scrooge stories, and while his work was unsigned until the late 1980's, he was known simply as "The Good Duck Artist." Many of his stories featuring the character are classics, and were collected in large collector hard covers in the 1980's. In these stories, Bark's showed Scrooge to be an adventurer who had little time for laziness or fear. While many of the stories Barks did were about someone trying to get Scrooge's money, the best of them are adventure stories of Scrooge, Donald and Donald's nephews traveling to a far-distant land to find some rare artifact. They were adventure stories wrapped in a "funny animal" suit, and owe more to movie serials and Edgar Rice Burroughs stories than to the bland cartoons Disney would have Donald and Mickey appear in.
However, when Gladstone Comics was formed in the 1980's to publish Disney comics, they had a new artist drawing Uncle Scrooge stories: Don Rosa. Rosa was a long-time fan of Barks's work, and it showed in his attention to detail and complex plots. This culminated in 1991 with a series of stories that tied together all of the different hints Barks had dropped in his stories about Uncle Scrooge's background and embellished on them in a series of 12 stories called "The Life And Times Of Scrooge McDuck." Those stories were wildly popular at the time, were collected in a series of four "album" style books (which were popular at the time" and have since gone to be worth quite a bit of money as Disney comics took back publication of their characters and then failed in the American marketplace.
Now, the entire series of stories has been reprinted in a single book for the first time in the United States and has been a surprise hit, selling out in comic shops at a time when Disney comics don't do very well.
The story starts in the late 1800's, and deals with Uncle Scrooge finding his famous "lucky dime", but more than just an exercise in retelling old stories done by Barks, Rose uses the bits and pieces scattered in Barks's stories to tell all new stories. The whole book could have been a dull continuity driven slog, but instead, Rosa draws the reader in with deft plotting, historical research (no, really…his work is historically accurate except for the ducks taking the place of humans) and deft use of background gags that have little to do with the main story and seem like little bonus jokes for those paying attention to the art.
Playing off the character's name and gruff personality when first introduced, Rosa takes the character traits Barks used and explains not just how he became "the richest duck in the world", but why he was so tough and hostile, and why all of the family members Barks alluded to in his stories weren't around any more. Deeper and richer than what most people think of when they think of a Disney comic book, Rosa shows that the thing that makes a story work is having characters that the reader cares about. If you haven't ever read a Disney comic book because "it's kid's stuff", "The Life And Times Of Uncle Scrooge" is one that will surprise you, and is as good, if not better, than any of the "historical fiction" sitting of the shelf of your local bookseller.
Life and Times of Uncle Scrooge gets a 5 out of 5.
Cory!! Strode (The Best Dressed Man In Comics) has written comic books, novels, jokes for comedians, Op Ed columns, the on-line comic strip
www.Asylumon5thstreet.com and has all kinds of things on his website, www.solitairerose.com
Recommended Reading
from Bruce
William Rivers Pitt: Every Mother's Son (TruthOut.org. Posted on Alternet)
Why Cindy Sheehan won't leave Crawford until she gets some answers from George W. Bush -- the man who sent her son needlessly to die in Iraq.
Cindy Sheehan: "The Secret Service is Trying to Intimidate Us" (bellaciao.org)
Cindy Sheehan called After Downing Street moments ago at 10 p.m. ET to report that the Secret Service is trying to intimidate her and members of Gold Star Families for Peace, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and Veterans for Peace into leaving their protest near Bush's Crawford, Texas ranch.
Cindy, Crawford, and the Bush Smear Machine (pnionline.com)
It's truly amazing what the human spirit can accomplish. From Gandhi's Salt March to Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, a single person can fight a corrupt establishment and win -- when truth and justice is on his or her side.
Ted Rall: 'Got empathy?' (smirkingchimp.com)
Sounds like a movie, huh? "Red Dawn" is a classic document of Reagan-era jingoism filtered through Cold War paranoia.
Joshua Holland: Why Conservatives are Winning the Campus Wars (Gadflyer. Posted on Alternet)
The campus Left, which is still organized for the most part by students and community activists, increasingly finds itself up against conservative strategists who put as much as $20 million dollars a year into building a conservative student base.
A Personal Note from Bruce
Bruce fights backs by donating $50 each month to the Ohio University College Democrats at OUCD, c/o Athens County Democratic Party, 18 W. State St., Suite 102, Athens, OH 45701. (They say "thanks" for the checks you guys sent earlier.)
Bill Gallagher: 'Bush vacations while soldiers die' (Niagara Falls Reporter. Posted on smirkingchimp.com)
DETROIT -- The worst commander in chief in American history is relaxing, escaping from reality, and enjoying his five-week vacation down on the ranch. Maybe he should spend a little time reviewing his war plan for prevailing in Iraq, thinking of a way to end the carnage and get U.S. troops home safely.
A.J. Daulerio: MR. ROGERS IS GOING TO HELL, THE FDNY IS EVIL BUT HE LOVES THEM ANYWAY: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO PASTOR FRED PHELPS
FRED: Oh, hogwash. I'm the only one who loves these beasts. I'm the only one that loves them. It plainly says in Leviticus: 19 that "if you love these Sodomites, you've got to warn them that they're going to hell or if you don't you hate your brother and your heart."
Rory O'Connor: Wiki-mania (AlterNet)
The latest 'Big Bang' in information-sharing is free, and its flagship already gets more traffic than the New York Times and USA Today combined: Meet the 'wiki.'
Dave Shulman: In Conversation with Jim Jarmusch (LA Weekly. Posted on Alternet)
The iconic director of 'Broken Flowers' discusses the film, Bill Murray, the Hollywood machine, and the annoying expectations of interviewers.
Brett Sokol: Payola on the Cheap (miaminewtimes.com)
Bribing DJs used to be expensive, but now mere trinkets will do the trick
Zen Stories: Cartoon
Another Rant
Avery Ant
No. 2 --- Wu Yi
Having risen up the ranks of China's Communist Party, Wu Yi, 66,
battled her archvillain, the evil "Capitalist Menace" and became a
member of The Super Great Chinese Superhero Society...
Purple Gene Reviews
'Duel'
Selected Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Sunny day - the kid's final report card finally arrived, and it was much improved, so we went down to Seal Beach for the day.
Seal Beach is a lovely seaside community barely behind the Orange Curtain.
Was rather Twilight-Zonish, though.
Beautiful, sunny, mid-August summer day in beach towns are traditionally crowded, but not today - not at all.
The beach was nearly empty. Huge patches of sand with no blankets/towels. No lines at any of the restaurants. Passed fewer than 20 people walking down the pier. The city parking lot was ¾ empty - there was even (free) street parking available.
In the 30-odd years I've lived in California I've never seen any beach town so empty mid-summer.
Tin Foil Hat Warning:
Came across this prediction for Thursday, August 11, at 5:15 PM (no, I'm not endorsing anything - but as a curosity).
Are You Ready For Some Football?
Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are teaming with ABC and the NFL for a season-long marketing tie-in with "Monday Night Football."
Footage from the Stones' concert tour performance in Detroit will be included in "NFL Opening Kickoff 2005," a one-hour pre-game special on Sept. 8 (8 p.m. EST), the network announced Monday. The special will run before the season opener between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders.
ABC will feature music and video footage of the Stones throughout the 2005 season in "Monday Night Football" promotional campaigns and in-game highlights packages.
Rolling Stones
Subject Of Demme Documentary
Neil Young
American filmmaker Jonathan Demme, who directed the Oscar-winning movie "Silence of the Lambs," will film rock legend Neil Young for a documentary on the veteran musician, an industry publication said.
Demme will film the Canadian rocker in concert August 18-19 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, for the documentary titled "Prairie Wind," according to Variety. Young's next album due in September bears the same title.
Neil Young
An Officer & A Gentleman
Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau
A full-time Air Force Reserve lieutenant colonel could face criminal charges for allegedly vandalizing cars parked at Denver International Airport bearing pro-Bush bumper stickers.
Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau, director of operations for reserve forces at the National Security Space Institute in Colorado Springs, is believed to be responsible for defacing at least 10 vehicles between December and June, police spokesman Sonny Jackson said Tuesday. A bait car left by a police detective was also defaced and the detective tracked down Fecteau, who turned himself in Friday.
Jackson said Fecteau is suspected of blacking out the Bush bumper stickers and then spray painting an expletive and the president's name on the vehicles.
Lt. Col. Alexis Fecteau
Song Not an Anti-Bush Tirade
Mick Jagger
The Rolling Stones' upcoming album contains a song seemingly critical of resident Bush, but Mick Jagger denies it's directed at him, according to the syndicated TV show "Extra."
"It is not really aimed at anyone," Jagger said on the entertainment-news show's Wednesday edition. "It's not aimed, personally aimed, at President Bush. It wouldn't be called 'Sweet Neo Con' if it was."
"It is certainly very critical of certain policies of the administration, but so what! Lots of people are critical," Jagger told "Extra."
Mick Jagger
Mural Misspellings Corrected
Maria Alquilar
Miami artist Maria Alquilar, much maligned for 11 misspellings that popped up in the educational mural she designed for the Livermore public library last year, spent today under the hot sun correcting her mistakes.
In addition to fixing the Shakespeare's name, she changed "Eistein" to "Einstein," "Gaugan" to "Gauguin" and more.
Apparently, Alquilar wanted to return quietly to do the edits, for which city officials are paying her $6,000 plus travel expenses. That's on top of the $40,000 she received for creating the 16-foot circular mosaic, made up of 175 historical names and cultural words.
Maria Alquilar
Pictures
Banned By The BBC
'Popetown'
A cartoon which was banned from the BBC for its depiction of the pope as an immature brat is set to cause new controversy after it was confirmed it will be released on DVD in Britain.
"Popetown", which features the voices of comedienne Ruby Wax as the pontiff and model Jerry Hall as a fame-hungry nun, was commissioned for digital TV channel BBC Three, but deemed too offensive for broadcast last year.
The 10-part animation, commissioned in 2002 before the death of Pope John Paul II, also features corrupt cardinals, plotlines about bestiality and an elderly pope bouncing around the Vatican on a pogo stick.
'Popetown'
L.A. Woman Drops Suit
Snoop Dogg
A makeup artist dropped a lawsuit alleging she was drugged and raped by rapper Snoop Dogg and several of his associates after a taping of ABC's "Jimmy Kimmel Live" two years ago.
The woman's attorney filed a request last Wednesday to dismiss the suit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled. No criminal charges were ever brought.
Snoop Dogg's attorney also asked that a suit he filed against the accuser be dismissed, said the rapper's publicist, Meredith O'Sullivan.
Snoop Dogg
Vehicles Strike Woman
Hummer Limo
A 25-year-old woman was fatally injured Wednesday morning on the southbound San Diego (405) Freeway in Costa Mesa when she apparently jumped from a Hummer limousine in a possible suicide, authorities said.
The Orange County Register reported that the woman was a member of a German punk rock band and had been partying with friends before the incident occurred. The woman's name was not reported.
Police told the newspaper there were five other passengers in the limousine, including another band member.
The incident happened shortly after 5 a.m., causing southbound traffic on the busy San Diego Freeway to back up for miles.
Hummer Limo
Dances On Reagan's Grave
'Monte'
A California man dubbed a "Satanist" on an online message board has posted photos of himself dancing on President Ronald Reagan's grave, raising the ire of the former chief executive's admirers.
Posted on Ruthlessreviews.com (warning: vulgar site), the photos show a thin, white man likely in his 20s wearing an AC/DC T-shirt and having hopped over the fence that protects Reagan's grave.
The poster, who goes by "TheFreakKingdom" and claims he's from San Diego, writes with one photo: "Judging from my expression and body language, combined with what little I do remember, this appears to be about the time security guards noticed I had jumped the fence and started jigging over Reagan's rotting corpse (the original plan called for the Electric Slide, and then humping the ground, and then whatever else I could get away with, but security was stricter than we had anticipated)."
The post is signed "Monte."
For the rest of this shocking story - with pictures (including one of a visit to Nixon's grave) - 'Monte'
Crowned King
Goat
A wild mountain goat was crowned King of Ireland on Wednesday in an ancient annual ritual whose origins are lost in the mists of history.
For three days, Charlie, a grey male goat with brown trimmings, will reign over this year's Puck Fair -- one of Ireland's oldest and best-loved street festivals -- in Killorglin, in the southwestern county of Kerry.
The festival, which also includes a traditional horse fair, open-air concerts, and firework displays, is expected to generate around 7 million euros (4.8 million pounds) for the local economy.
Goat
In Memory
Barbara Bel Geddes
Barbara Bel Geddes, the winsome actress who rose to stage and movie stardom but reached her greatest fame as Miss Ellie Ewing in the long-running TV series "Dallas," has died. She was 82.
Bel Geddes was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress for the 1948 drama "I Remember Mama" and was the original Maggie the Cat on Broadway in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
But she was best known as the matriarch of the rambunctious Ewing oil family on "Dallas," which hurtled to the top of the ratings despite negative reviews. Bel Geddes won an Emmy in 1980 as best lead actress in a drama series and remains the only nighttime soap star to be so honored.
In 1945, Bel Geddes made a splash on Broadway at 23 with her first important role in "Deep Are the Roots," winning the New York Drama Critics Award as best actress.
In her film career, Bel Geddes was able to work with great filmmakers such as Kazan ("Panic in the Streets") and Alfred Hitchcock ("Vertigo"). She also costarred with Danny Kaye in "The Five Pennies" and with Jeanne Moreau in "Five Branded Women."
Among Bel Geddes' other major theater credits were roles in Terence Rattigan's "The Sleeping Prince" (1956); Robert Anderson's "Silent Night, Holy Night" (1959), which co-starred Henry Fonda; and Edward Albee's "Everything in the Garden" (1967). She was born in New York City on Oct. 31, 1922, the daughter of renowned industrial designer Norman Bel Geddes.
Barbara Bel Geddes
In Memory
Emery 'Detroit Junior' Williams
Pianist and songwriter Emery "Detroit Junior" Williams, a raspy-voiced bluesman known for rambunctious stage antics that included playing piano while on his knees, has died, his record company said on Wednesday.
Two songs he wrote and recorded became blues standards for other performers -- "Call My Job" and "Money Tree."
Emerging with his own band, The Blues Chaps, in the Detroit area at age 19, Williams backed such touring stars as John Lee Hooker and Amos Milburn. Milburn's songs about the evils of alcohol inspired Williams' best songwriting.
Williams joined Howlin' Wolf's band in 1968 and stayed on with The Wolf Gang after the bandleader's death in 1976.
Emery 'Detroit Junior' Williams
In Memory
Judith Rossner
Judith Rossner, the straight-talking, straight-writing New Yorker who in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" and other novels relentlessly analyzed educated women amid the fear and freedom of social and sexual revolutions, has died at age 70.
Born Judith Perelman in 1935, Rossner was a native New Yorker who dropped out of college to marry Robert Rossner, a writer and teacher whom she divorced in 1972.
As a single mother with two children, and three previous novels that sold little, Rossner consciously sought a more commercial story and began working on "Mr. Goodbar," based on the true story of a teacher murdered in a singles bar.
She wrote in the early morning, before leaving for her job as a secretary, and hoped the book would make enough money to allow her to take time off from work. She achieved far more. "Mr. Goodbar" was both a best seller and hot property in Hollywood, which purchased film rights even before the book came out.
Rossner's survivors include her husband, Stanley Leff; her children, Daniel and Jean Rossner; and three grandchildren.
Judith Rossner
In Memory
Matthew McGrory
Matthew McGrory, the deep-voiced 7-foot-plus actor who moved from appearances on Howard Stern's radio show to a high-profile role as a gentle giant in the movie "Big Fish," has died. He was 32.
McGrory died Tuesday at his home in Los Angeles, said director Drew Sky, who was working with him on his current movie, a biopic of wrestler-turned-actor Andre the Giant. Paramedics determined he died of apparent natural causes, police said.
He played a human Sasquatch in 2001's "Bubble Boy," an alien in "Men In Black II" (2002) and Tiny in the Rob Zombie horror movies "House of 1000 Corpses" (2003) and its sequel released this year, "The Devil's Rejects."
His big break in Hollywood came in 2003 with Tim Burton-directed "Big Fish." Ewan McGregor's character refuses to be intimidated by the size of McGrory's Karl character, walking up to shake his hand.
Matthew McGrory
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