Pop Culture Roundup: Black Terror! Al Feldstein! Charlton Arrow! Diagram for Delinquents! Leonard Nimoy!

There's a Kickstarter afoot to create action figures of relatively obscure characters such the Black Terror, Stardust the Super Wizard, the Golden Age Daredevil and more. Details here.

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Comics historian Mark Evanier remembers longtime Mad Magazine editor Al Feldstein.
Al was right that he didn't get sufficient credit for writing all those EC Comics. His own fault for not putting his name on them? Probably — but he still deserved more recognition than he received, even if all that may have mattered to him at the time was the paycheck.

And not to take anything away from Harvey Kurtzman, who was also a wonderful man with a stellar body of work, but he got a lot of kudos because MAD survived so long and it survived so long because of Al Feldstein and people hired by Al Feldstein. It was a wonderful magazine that became an important part of the social consciousness and sense o' humor of a couple of generations. (By the way, it's still — under its present regime — a pretty good publication.)

I don't think Al has received enough credit for that magazine. Some of the folks who worked under him think he received too much of the money but I'm not taking sides on that one. I really only mention the dough because I think it's wonderful when anyone who started in the hardscrabble days of comic books created something of great value and managed to actually get paid what their work was worth. We can all name so many who did not.
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The second issue of Charlton Arrow is out soon!
Our first issue was a runaway success… can we top it? Signs say YES! Get a load of the line-up: Howard Bender, Pat Boyette, Sandy Carruthers, Ron Fortier, Joe Gill, Gary Kato, Jack Keller, Roger McKenzie, Frank McLaughlin, Stephen Skeates, Mort Todd and Neil Vokes, featuring heroes, horror, hot rods and humor!
This 44 page blockbuster will be shipping in late June, but the first 300 people to order will get a FREE Joe Staton limited edition mini-poster featuring some Charlton Action Stars fated to appear in future issues, including E-Man! What an intense bargain for only $6.99 (plus s&h)!
See art from the comic and ordering info at http://morttodd.com/arrow2.htmlOrder NOW to guarantee a copy of the first printing and the cool Joe Staton print! Get the digital download for $1.99 athttp://www.indyplanet.com/front/?product=110359
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"Diagram for Delinquents," a documentary about anti-comics crusader Frederic Wertham and his book "Seduction of the Innocent" is now available for download and DVD. More info here.

Info:
In 1950, America was in a state of panic. Juvenile delinquency was destroying the very fabric of society. Ninety percent of all children were reading comic books. In 1954, psychiatrist Dr. Fredric Wertham wrote a scathing indictment of comics called Seduction of the Innocent. Its central premise: Comic books were the leading contributing factor to juvenile delinquency. That same year, Dr. Wertham testified at special hearings on comic books at the Senate Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency in the United States. Comics were on trial.
Diagram for Delinquents captures the zeitgeist of late 1940s and early 1950s America and investigates how the funny books found themselves on the fire. Using expert and comic book insider interviews, never seen before historical photographs and films, and animation, DIAGRAM goes further than any previous comic book documentary to explore and understand the controversial figure at the center of this American tale: Fredric Wertham.
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Via Open Culture: Hear Leonard Nimoy read stories by Ray Bradbury.


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