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)!
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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.