Thrillmer!

what are you still doing here?

2004-09-03T01:11:00.000-05:00

The party has moved to a cooler spot. What do you mean no one told you? The hot new place to be is http://www.thrillmer.com!

In current rotation:

Greener Pastures

2004-08-16T10:55:00.000-05:00

Don't worry, mom, Buz will show up soon, I promise. Just not here, which brings me to my big announcement.

Thrilling Adventures is moving! Please join me for more thrills at my new home: http://www.thrillmer.com

There may be some bumps in the road as I make some adjustments here and there, but I hope you'll stick with me. Anyone kind enough to refer to this page, it will be greatly appreciated if you could find a moment or two in the near future to update the link. I plan to stay for a long time, so this will (hopefully) be the last time I ask this of you!

See you at thrillmer.com

The End is Near

2004-08-15T22:49:00.000-05:00

Come tomorrow it all changes...

Buz Sawyer Sunday 042163

2004-08-15T00:11:00.000-05:00

Uncle Lucky's back in today's color Buz.

From April 21, 1963.

Buz Sawyer 111343

2004-08-14T23:09:00.000-05:00

From Nov 13, 1943.

Buz Sawyer 111243

2004-08-13T11:41:00.000-05:00

Hey Thrilling Adventures fans, there are some big changes coming in the next few days. Stay tuned for information regarding the new launch.

For now, take to the skies with Buz!

From Nov 12, 1943.

Buz Sawyer 111143

2004-08-12T10:00:00.000-05:00

I hope you like dogfights, cause it's gonna be like this for a few days.

From Nov 11, 1943.

Buz Sawyer 111043

2004-08-11T09:49:00.000-05:00

back to the action

From Nov 10, 1943.

book quiz

2004-08-10T11:54:00.000-05:00

I'm so happy I came out a Vonnegut! I have read a number of his novels, but I haven't read this one. I should probably get on that...

You're Mother Night!

by Kurt Vonnegut

Nobody knows what to believe about you, and you know least of all. You
spent most of your time convinced that the ends justify the means, but your means were,
well, downright mean! And the end is nigh. Meanwhile all you want is to travel back in
time, if not to change, then to just delight in the way it used to be. You are who you
pretend to be. Oh yes, you're the great pretender.

Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Buz Sawyer 110943

2004-08-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

Acey-Deucy is a fast-paced game of backgammon. Growing up, around my house we played chess and checkers and even Chinese checkers, but not backgammon for whatever reason. I had a board, but I've only played a couple times in my life; I can't even remember the rules. I'd be in over my head if I tried to explain the differences between a regular game and this variant.

From Nov 9, 1943.

Buz Sawyer 110843

2004-08-09T10:19:00.000-05:00

You know the saying, a blogger is only as good as the source material he swipes from. Okay, maybe that only applies to me...sorry I don't have a better copy of this one.

From Nov 8, 1943.

Buz Sawyer 032463

2004-08-08T08:05:00.000-05:00

It's Sunday, so here's your Buz Sawyer in living, breathing color. This one is interesting because not only does Buz not appear, Roscoe is nowhere to be seen either! Uncle Lucky is Roscoe's uncle, so there is a connection. I guess Buz Sawyer featuring his pal Roscoe Sweeney's crazy Uncle Lucky would be a little too long for the title.

Not sure if this family is headed by Roscoe's brother or cousin or what. I'll admit I'm not the expert I pretend to be. Anyone with info on the Sweeney family tree, please feel free to comment!

And P.S. to my sister: Erinn, this strip is for you. rawr!

From March 24, 1963.

Buz Sawyer 110643

2004-08-07T10:15:00.000-05:00

My father used to use term "geetus," how funny. Haven't heard him say that for a while, but I'd never heard, nor seen it in print anywhere else before.

From Nov 6, 1943.

the fun is here

2004-08-06T11:20:00.000-05:00

My copy of Big Fun finally arrived today. With only a quick look so far (I am at work, you know) I can honestly say there is nothing I dislike about this magazine. This is a job well done, Mark! I look forward to buying future issues...

Buz 110543

2004-08-06T11:09:00.000-05:00

Okay, that's more like it.

Look out, Buz!

From Nov 5, 1943.

Buz 110443

2004-08-05T23:06:00.000-05:00

Oh, how the time gets away from me. Here's the next installment of Buz in the South Pacific.

From Nov 4, 1943.

Buz begins here

2004-08-04T10:14:00.000-05:00

When Roy Crane left Wash Tubbs to do Buz Sawyer I wonder if anyone expected the new strip to be so full of energy. The first few years of Buz Sawyer show such excitement, such renewed vigor, it's easy to forget that this was coming from a guy who had already proven himself to be a master of the adventure strip.

So to celebrate the strip and Roy Crane himself, I'm posting a copy of the first three strips starting from Monday, November 1, 1943 onward. Enjoy!

From Nov 1-3, 1943.

insert bottom dollar joke here

2004-08-03T22:45:00.000-05:00

So I took Captain Easy and Buz Sawyer to task for their spank first, ask questions later behavior, but who would have thunk that I'd see that pluckly little orphan resort to the same tactics? Oh, that Annie, she's a scrappy li'l girl...

from early 1927

gags

2004-08-03T22:14:00.000-05:00

This weekend I picked up a well weathered copy of The Pocket Book of Cartoons at the Newberry Library book fair. What a fantastic book! After reading the caption on the back, I had to publicly apologize as it clearly touts Peter Arno as "the undoubted king of cartoonists." Other notables are Charles Addams, "dabbler in the macabre" and James Thurber, "proponent of merry madness." So there you have it. I should learn just to keep my mouth shut.

The always entertaining Holmes is posting the work of another of the artists found in the book, Whitney Darrow, Jr., who is just incredible. Check it out.

Just for fun, here's a James Thurber cartoon for my pal Steven. Merry madness, indeed.

Buz Sawyer 013055

2004-08-01T00:25:00.000-05:00

Maybe there's a greater storyline that has a payoff, there's not much of a joke here. As for Buz Sawyer, I ran a stretch of dailies recently, but realized that it probably would have been best to start earlier. Some important backstory information was completely overlooked. The more I think about it, I'd like to just start at the very beginning, I wasn't very far into the run anyway. I'd like to have maybe two different adventure strip storylines running here throughout the week, though that may be too ambitious for now. I'm running out of Web space too...but I'll get around that. Be patient, we'll be celebrating the greatness of Buz Sawyer before you know it.

The wayback machine was set to Jan. 30, 1955 for this one.

the future

2004-07-31T23:34:00.000-05:00

You know, maybe if I keep eating my Spicy Ma Po Tofu I'll make it there. But I'm betting I'll be too old to enjoy it...

monster rally

2004-07-29T21:19:00.000-05:00

When my wife and I recently visited New York City for the first time, I naturally dragged her to the New York Public Library. If you should find yourself there someday, make sure to check out the small exhibit of Charles Addams' artwork near the men's washroom. I snapped a photo of this one, I'm not sure when it was created or how it was ultimately used. I like it, that's enough for me for now.

fun times

2004-07-28T23:59:00.000-05:00

Word on the street is Big Fun number 1 came out today. I hope my copy is speeding through the postal system as I type this. For as big a Wash Tubbs/Captain Easy fan that I am, I haven't read much Leslie Turner at all and am excited to check this out. Likewise for Scorchy Smith, that's a big hole in my adventure strip experience that needs filling ASAP...

Skippy the movie?!

2004-07-27T22:09:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe this is another for the "thrillmer must live under a rock" file, but I had absolutely no idea there was a Skippy movie made back in 1931. Or a sequel, Sooky! Here I am this morning waxing peotic about Skippy falling into obscurity, and I had no idea his fame at one point stretched onto the silver screen. Jackie Cooper was nominated for his role as the titular character. Director Norman Taurog won best director that year for crying out loud! Why has the world turned its back on you, Skippy?

One of my favorite sites, the Internet Movie Database has quite a rundown on this film and its sequel. Worth a look...especially for the Sooky lobby card.

*sigh* I really want to see these now.

skippy's workout plan

2004-07-27T10:01:00.000-05:00

Another post for the bb72 fan. I'll be getting back to some thrilling adventures soon.

Here's an odd piece of Skippy memorabilia. Looks like it has Percy Crosby's signature, and has copyright notices, so it was authorized. Seems weird to me that Skippy could at one time be popular enough to appear in cereal boxes, but fade to such obscurity that today the average person has no idea who he is. What a shame.

Originally included in Wheaties boxes in the thirties as part of a larger set of cards.

DeBeck the cartoonist

2004-07-27T00:01:00.000-05:00

Yep, I'm channeling Holmes tonight for all of you that have been missing him. I hain't heard from 'im myself, so I'm just guessing, his new set up must not have internet access yet. Or else he's dead tired from moving all week.

Here's a great DeBeck strip about the rigors of becoming a cartoonist.

originally published in Cartoons Magazine, Nov. 1917

Holmes, come home!

2004-07-26T21:44:00.000-05:00

My man Holmes has fallen off the face of the earth, and since I consider myself his sister site, I'm here to pick up the slack.

So Skippy fans, I'm not going to last long, but here's a funny one from 1936. Don't know if the big man himself has this one; if so, sorry I scooped you!

from Jan. 21, 1936

weekend update

2004-07-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

I'm happy to have this weekend behind me, only one more summer school session and I'll be a free man for three weeks or so until fall semester starts up. I had to miss out on some really fun things like moving Holmes's heavy furniture up three flights of stairs, but I think I made the best of it. Hope your move went well, I'll try to make it to the next one!

And speaking of Holmes, he made the claim the other day that Peter Arno was the greatest single panel gag cartoonist ever. Now as much as I love Arno (and I do), Mr. Holmes seems to be glossing over another regular New Yorker contributor. Now I know his good name might be forever tarnished since MC Hammer rapped about his most famous ceation, but you cannot deny the genius that was Charles Addams! I submit the following for your inspection.

I do not have a date for this strip, other than the year 1955. It was lifted from the collection, Nightcrawlers, 1957.

Captain Easy 100172

2004-07-25T12:36:00.000-05:00

This is the first opportunity I've had to post today, in fact I'm still at school. My apologies to anyone who stopped by earlier for their Sunday fix. Today is a Crooks & Lawrence Captain Easy from 1972. I just love that one, Captain Easy's mailbox identifies him as such, and two, he just happens to live in the same building as a guy named E.Z. Kaplan. What a coincidence. I know I have problems with that T.H. Rillmer guy upstairs all the time...

from Oct. 1, 1972

the spank

2004-07-22T23:11:00.000-05:00

I know I put out the warning that I'd be a little busy in the coming weeks, but I really feel like I fell off the tracks. Wish I wasn't so tired. I'll be in class all weekend, so I don't know when this is going to get better. But for now, I'm posting another Roy Crane panel. Captain Easy's been at it again...

from Wash Tubbs Nov 1, 1932

Lucky 13

2004-07-21T00:02:00.000-05:00

I'm experimenting with post dating. Enjoy another Buz Sawyer strip while I'm at it.

from Dec. 15, 1943

I'm seeing double

2004-07-20T22:55:00.000-05:00

Boy, Capt. Easy and Buz sure had a way with the ladies...needless to say, I don't think you could pull this off today.

from June 8, 1941 and Oct. 6, 1944

Buz Sawyer 032573

2004-07-18T11:14:00.000-05:00

Truer words...

Sometime in the fifties Roscoe moved in with his sister, Lucille, and the Buz Sawyer sunday page mostly revolved around their domestic situation. This is obviously part of a larger story, but it's the only part I own. Enjoy.

from March 25, 1973

why not?

2004-07-17T00:34:00.000-05:00

Here's a little more Buz to keep you happy

from Dec. 13-15, 1943

the big news

2004-07-16T23:30:00.000-05:00

My place of employment made it official today, I am their new Head Librarian starting in August! I'm still working on finishing library school, I even have a paper due next week. I'm excited and nervous and maybe still a little in shock. I was on my way home the other night and literally had one foot in the elevator when my boss stepped around the corner and asked me if I could spare 5 minutes. Here I am wondering what the deal is, wondering if I had screwed something up, when she springs this big surprise on me. Long story short, I'm taking over for our current librarian who is resigning to take on a new challenge in the non-library world. So, of course, all of this means I'm going to be busier than ever. I'll try to keep up with the blog as best I can, but cut me some slack if I don't get here everyday...

I swear, I read some of the other blogs out there and wonder how y'all find the time to live such busy lives and keep so active in the blogosphere as well. I can barely find the time to scan a couple Buz Sawyer strips and throw them up here - and that's without the challenge of a new promotion. Ah, we'll get through this together, won't we? What am I worrying about?

Buz Sawyer is down!

2004-07-15T23:50:00.000-05:00

I don't have much time to post, so I'm giving you three more Buz Sawyer strips to enjoy. I tried scanning these larger, maybe they'll be even better than last time...

from Dec. 9-11, 1943

allow me to pander a bit...

2004-07-14T21:48:00.000-05:00

Let me say welcome to all my new visitors from the Toth fans site. And am I to believe that the guy who gave us the acclaimed graphic novel The Interman is wasting his time here?! The world has gone crazy, I think. Thanks for the plug, Jeff!

One other thing, did anyone buy this book when it was new back in 1988? I just got this in the mail today, and have yet to really sit down with it, but I can't for the life of me figure out where the Surprise 4 page Folio is supposed to be. Was it an insert or something???

Buz and the war

2004-07-12T23:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I posted a Buz Sunday page, which was fun, but may not have been the best Buz Sawyer intro for the uninitiated. Today I'm putting three daily strips from the war up for inspection. Roy Crane's talents are firing on all cylinders in these three strips from December 1943. Click now to join Buz and Sweeney on a bombing run.

from Dec. 6-8, 1943

Buz Sawyer 040873

2004-07-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Okay, here's my big announcement. It is my hope to post scans of Buz Sawyer or Captain Easy strips here every Sunday, in full color. So few of these Sundays have been reprinted in color, if you weren't following these in your local paper, the chances are pretty high that you've never seen them before. Today I have a strip from April 8, 1973. It's credited to Roy Crane, but that date seems awful late in his life...I'm no expert though. It could be Roy's work, or maybe that of his assistants, Edwin Granberry or Henry Schlensker.

For those of you unfamiliar with Buz, he and Roscoe Sweeney fought together in the Navy during WWII. The daily strips followed Buz's adventures, while the Sundays were dedicated to gags involving Roscoe. In fact, after the war, Buz hardly appeared in his own Sunday strip at all.

reprint books I wish I could own, part III

2004-07-09T23:38:00.000-05:00

(editor's note: turns out this book actually was published, go figure)

Alex Toth, Johnny Hazard, and Dragon Lady Press again. Would have been sweet. So we've seen a glimpse at what might have been for Johnny Hazard 4 & 5 and Buz Sawyer 5, so it stands to reason a cover must have been sketched out for Buz 4. Has anyone seen it? I don't have a ton of DLP titles, so maybe an ad appeared in one of the mags I lack. I'd like to see it if it exists...

And let me reiterate, if you're looking to unload any Johnny Hazard reprints, get in touch.

there is hope afterall

2004-07-09T23:16:00.000-05:00

I wanted to update on the St. Louis Post-Dispatch top five comics countdown I mentioned the other day. The people have spoken and For Better or For Worse was voted favorite strip, with Zits getting the number two spot. I like both of these, and if I had to make a top five list of current strips, For Better or For Worse would certainly be on it and near the top as well. But I have to ask, Post-Dispatch readers, where's Mutts??? It must not have been on the ballot...that's the only excuse.

mac and me

2004-07-09T10:34:00.000-05:00

Now I'm pretty new to the comics blogosphere, and I want to make a good impression. I want to build a readership. And lucky for me, I scored a couple plugs from some of my favorite comics bloggers, Steven Wintle and Mike Sterling. Not a bad start. So why the hell do I keep posting golf strips if I'm supposed to be all about adventure???

Well, as you can clearly see by clicking Mac's head above, the strip's lead-in promises, and I quote, "Here in a country club setting you will get a story of romance and adventure - plus golf lessons..." See? I'm not crazy, this strip was labelled as adventure from day one!

I'll be honest, when I first hit the old newspapers, the last thing in the world I expected to fall in love with was a strip dedicated to golf. But there's something undeniable, to me anyway, about the world of Mac Divot. The line work is excellent. The golf advice is sound. And the storylines are cheesy, but fun, in a way that doesn't really exist today. It will probably never be regarded as one of the all time greats, but if I have my way, it won't be completely forgotten either. Do you want to see more Mac in this blog? Let me know. I'll be collecting his adventures regardless, but if you want me to share, I certainly will.

the lead-in appeared on April 17, 1955 and is to my knowledge the only time Mac Divot enjoyed a spot in the color Sunday section (needless to say, I wish I had an original copy)

reprint books I wish I could own, part II

2004-07-08T14:05:00.000-05:00

A second Dragon Lady Press magazine that didn't make it to print. Alex Toth serves up another beautiful cover that would never see the light of day. Such a shame, as I'd really like to have this book. To say that your pal Thrillmer has much love for all things Roy Crane would be an understatement for sure. In fact, keep watching this space. I have some plans that involve Mr. Crane and his high-flying creation, Buz Sawyer...

reprint books I wish I could own, part I

2004-07-08T10:14:00.000-05:00

Alex Toth is truly one of the greats, I love the dinosaurs on this cover that never was. And that's taking nothing away from Frank Robbins, I'm certain the interior art for this would have been killer as well.

I only have a few Johnny Hazard books as it is, so if you want to donate some to my collection, get in touch!

who better?

2004-07-07T12:08:00.000-05:00

Steve Canyon 1949
One of my favorite purchases of the last week would have to be CheckerBPG's newest book of Steve Canyon reprints. I haven't had a chance to actually read the whole book yet, but I have perused it a little and can report that this volume is just as nice as the previous two. As you can see from some of the samples online, original artwork or proofs must have been used in compliling this, as Caniff's pencils often find their way outside of the panel borders. For anyone who missed out on the Kitchen Sink reprint series (like me) these books are a great way to experience Steve Canyon from the beginning.

As a special treat, I'm posting a sketch Caniff made for the 1983 National Cartoonists Society Convention. In this drawing he gives a clever critique of the state of the newspaper comics page. It almost looks like Steve is part of one of Joe Matt's early Peepshow layouts...

Comic Strip News
Yesterday I linked to an interview with Get Fuzzy's Darby Conley in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. What I neglected to do report is that it is part of a week long series of interviews with the top five creators, as voted by the readers. Seems they're cleaning house based on the votes. You never know how something like that might go, on one hand I certainly like the idea of letting the readership choose what they want to read. On the other hand, people seem to love crap...am I right folks? At any rate, Monday had a feature on Scott Adams and Today has Jerry Scott and Rick Kirman, the creators of Baby Blues. I'm interested to see who their top two cartoonists will be.

mac and the model

2004-07-06T10:48:00.000-05:00

I just read that Ron Goulart's examination of adventure strips from the 30's, The Adventurous Decade, is being reprinted. Wouldn't you know I just found a copy on ebay, but I got it on the cheap, so I can't really complain. Here's to the hope that it hasn't been revised and expanded, I don't want to be running out to buy it again so soon.

In other comic strip news, Ted Slampyak makes a plea to readers of Annie to contact their local paper. Get Fuzzy's Darby Conley answers some questions here. And Morrie Turner talks Wee Pals here.

In tribute to my hard working wife, Jillmer, I'm posting a couple early Mac Divots from 1955. She's out on a golf course this very moment running a charity event. I hope it doesn't rain this afternoon, honey!

My pal Holmes will be annoyed that once again I'm not posting complete continuities, and there's some merit to his complaints. That doesn't change the fact that I'm only putting two strips up here today. I'd like to actually start at the beginning and collect Mac in its entirety, but I'll probably do it in another forum, if I do it at all. At any rate, I think I like these 50's strips even more than I do the later Mac Divots that I've seen. The two here show Malcom Mac Divot taking on the tough job of spending time with his friend's wife, who just happens to be a fashion model. Looks like another rough day on the course for our pal Mac Divot...

from May 11 and 14, 1955.

the sun comes out today

2004-07-05T13:50:00.000-05:00

Don't forget to check out the new look of Annie today.

Marvelous Monday

2004-07-05T12:41:00.000-05:00

One last Spiderman item. While searching for the first week of strips, I discovered that the Chicago Tribune's run displaced another Stan Lee strip, Vera Valiant. This strip lasted only a couple years, and was illustrated by Frank Springer. Vera's fans in Chicago must have been upset, as this strip from January 1, 1977 leaves us on quite a cliff hanger.

When Monday rolled around, Vera's spot on the page was taken by everyone's favorite web-slinger.

While stumbling around the net, I came across an Incredible Hulk comic strip by Stan Lee and Larry Lieber. I knew about Spiderman when I was younger, but up to this point, I was not aware that Stan had a Hulk strip too. This one's from June 8, 1979, I believe.

The official Hulk strip only lasted a couple years as well. However, there is a new Hulk strip that thrives in the wonderful world of fan fiction. This fan-created strip takes off from the events in What IF #23, which features the Hulk battling his way through a barbaric world. Somehow that doesn't surprise me. The writing is a bit clunky, but I think the art captures the 70's Hulk vibe. Doctor Strange is a key player in the current storyline, if that sweetens it for you. Check it out here.

spidey week comes to a close...

2004-07-04T23:12:00.000-05:00

...by starting with the beginning. Click the panel below to see the enire first week of dailies. Once again, they're from microfilm, so try to enjoy them as much as you can without letting all the scratchy lines ruin the fun.

Hope everyone is having a happy--and safe--fourth. It sounds like a war zone out my window at the moment.

spidey saturday

2004-07-03T21:32:00.000-05:00

Well, Holmes and I went to see Spiderman 2 today, and it's safe to say that we both thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not going to add yet another review to the Web, just know that if you have any affection in your heart for the ol' wall-crawler, you need to see it. As well, I'd be remiss if I didn't give my pal Holmes a plug, as his site is now looking better than ever.

Now, if I had planned my Spidey tribute week better, I probably would have started with the above image, a teaser from Sunday, January 2, 1977. Or maybe the article below (assuming I ever got a decent copy of it). I have the first week of dailies scanned, and I'll be posting them tomorrow. Would have made sense to throw them up last Monday, but what can you do now? It's weird how most of the strips I posted this week actually correlate to scenes in the new film. Not that computer one, of course...

Guess that's it for now. Hope everybody had a happy Free Comic Day.

MJ

2004-07-02T09:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, we've seen plain ol' Peter Parker. We've seen him as Spiderman. We've even seen Doc Ock and Aunt May, but what about the gal that makes Peter Parker's world go 'round? Mary Jane's here today in a sequence from October 1986. Art supplied this time around by the legendary Dan Barry.

from Oct. 4 and 6-7, 1986

bring on the bad guy

2004-07-01T10:01:00.000-05:00

We've been having a grand ol' Spidey celebration this week in honor of the new movie. But what about the other half of the equation? A hero is only as good as his villain, we all know that. Let us honor Doctor Otto Octavius today with a strip from the early months of The Amazing Spiderman. How no one could tell he's hiding 4 giant metal tentacles under his coat is beyond me, but let's not think about that. Just soak in that beautiful Romita art. I apologize once again for the less-than-perfect source material.

from April 4, 1977

no one told me

2004-06-30T12:44:00.000-05:00

I'm betting I'm the last guy to the party on this, but just in case you haven't come across it yet...
I ran into this site while looking for information about the Spiderman strip. Apparently someone out there isn't content to just let the strip's silliness stand on its own, as all the dialogue has been rewritten. Some of the results are pretty damn funny, some not so much - just make sure to refresh your browser. And you might want to be careful if you're at work.

look out! he's got a computer!

2004-06-30T09:49:00.000-05:00

Step back to the 80s with me as the amazing Spiderman faces a foe with the awesome processing power of 64k at his fingertips. What's a web-slinger to do?

The artist this time around is Fred Kida, who was no Romita, but on the plus side he wasn't Stan's brother, Larry Lieber, either...

from July 1, 1983

Your friendly, neighborhood dumbass

2004-06-29T10:21:00.000-05:00

If you thought yesterday's strips showed Peter Parker to be short sighted, then you'll really enjoy these. Did he suddenly forget that he maintains a secret identity? Part of this storyline focuses on how Spidey is wanted by the law, so why not just climb up the side of a building in the middle of a crowded city in your street clothes? Keep in mind this story was written by Spiderman's creator, Stan Lee, who you'd think would know his character better than this...

this sequence from Jan 25-27, 1993

action 5 bucks is his reward

2004-06-28T10:27:00.000-05:00

I've been hearing all about this new Spiderman movie, but didn't he retire back in 1980? Like most people, I just stopped reading after this; I figured his story had been told. I haven't missed much have I?

Okay, I know that wasn't the end of the strip. I mean, Stan Lee's probably getting around to wrapping up this storyline about now...

from Jan 2 and 3, 1980.

Mac Divot 123070

2004-06-27T09:55:00.000-05:00

Golf pros are nice people, as shown in this strip from December 30, 1970.

Mac Divot 122970

2004-06-26T10:24:00.000-05:00

Oh, so that's what Mowry's been talking about...

Dec 29, 1970

Mac Divot 122870

2004-06-25T10:19:00.000-05:00

There he goes again - what is Mowry talking about?!

from my birthday (well, the day that would become my b-day a few years later, but you know what I mean)
Dec 28, 1970

Mac Divot 122670

2004-06-24T10:13:00.000-05:00

Oh no! How can this happen in his own strip? And just what does Mowry mean by that comment, anyway? Stay tuned...

from Dec 26, 1970

Mac Divot 122570

2004-06-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

It's day two of Mac Divot week. Can Sandy & Aly get back in this thing?
Christmas day, 1970.

Mac Divot 122470

2004-06-22T15:41:00.000-05:00

In the first of the 6 strips I'm putting up this week, we find Sandy and his partner near the finish of a big tournament. From Dec 24, 1970.

fore!!!

2004-06-22T10:20:00.000-05:00

It's Mac Divot week here at Thrilling Adventures!

I've been bemoaning the lack of sports comics in the paper, so I'm turning back the hands of time to give you a glimpse of one of the best, Mac Divot. I know, I know, you come here expecting thrills and chills and I give you golf??? Just take a look at the panel above; this wasn't just (yawn) golf, this was GOLF, baby!

Mac Divot was created by Mel Keefer and Jordan Lansky and ran from 1955 until the early 70s. Mel Keefer had worked previously on the Perry Mason daily strip. I love the look of his stuff, it reminds one of the advertising art of the day. It has that swinging 60s appeal, even if Sandy Mac Divot is just swinging golf clubs.

I'm going to post a six day sequence from 1970 in which Sandy teaches us all a little lesson about being a good person as opposed to just being a good golfer. My source material is microfilm, so I apologize in advance that the art is not as clean as I'd like it. But you'll still get the gist of it, I hope...stay tuned!

my bad

2004-06-21T12:24:00.000-05:00

Looks like I fouled one off in my Mr. Baseball post, as I see now that Thought Balloons had a blurb on the same story, with a link to Choi Hoon's MLB comics in the comments section. The example I linked to in the earlier post is obviously not correct, so click on the image above to check out the real deal. I wish I could understand them, they're definitely fun to look at...

Happy Father's Day

2004-06-20T22:37:00.000-05:00

It being Father's Day and all, I wanted to pay some sort of tribute to my own. Looking at our family from the outside, it might seem that the two of us have little in common. Especially when you consider the degree to which my dad dedicates his time to sports. My lord, if he's not playing them (and he's not letting his age keep him from that at all), he's watching them on television. It doesn't matter what it is. Baseball, football, basketball, tennis, golf, professional bull riding, hockey, you get the point. As long as it's competetive, he's loving it. Growing up, it was easy to see that my older brother was cut from a similar cloth. My poor father, each successive kid realized the law of diminishing returns...my brother was a superstar, good at any game he tried his hand at. Most notably basketball, but he could hold his own in any of them and make it look effortless. Me, I was good enough not to completely embarrass myself, though it seemed like it took a whole lot of hard work on my part to achieve even that. And my younger sister, well she was born without much athletic ability at all and has never really tried to disguise the fact.

My father is not all sports, though. He's an incredibly bright man, and spent his career working as an educator. Each of us kids were encouraged to think for ourselves and to be creative and to consider the learning process as something important. And it's easy to see his influence in our current lives. My brother is a high school teacher and coach, I'm a librarian and my sister works for a humanitarian organization.

But as I write this, it occurs to me that one obvious father-son bond I share with my father is right here, staring me in the face! My father is a big action adventure fan and I can remember sitting by his side as a wee boy soaking in James Bond movies. He was always game to talk superheroes with me, his all-time favorite being Superman. And he followed the trials and tribulations of Captain Easy, which we would discuss after my dad had some time to relax after reading the evening paper. I guess I assumed all dads read the funny pages and wanted to go over the story arcs with their boys. I still remember thinking he was crazy when he told me that Easy's pal Wash used to be the star of the strip--I mean, c'mon, that pip squeak couldn't handle himself in a fight. How on earth did he expect me to believe that?

So it is for my father that I present this Wash Tubbs strip from May 6, 1929, proving once and for all that my father was right on the money, and I was a fool to doubt him.

For those not in the know, this is the very first meeting of Wash and the man who would steal the show.

Happy Father's Day, dad!

not worthy...

2004-06-18T21:54:00.000-05:00

Hey this little old blog got a shout out from none other than Steven Wintle! Truly, I'm not worthy. In fact, I wonder why you're wasting your time here when you could be enoying Flat Earth! And don't stop there, keep the party going with Jenny Everywhere.

Thanks for the plug, Steven! Hopefully I'll have some actual thrilling content up soon...

a little more on Ted Rall

2004-06-18T14:25:00.000-05:00

Ted Rall just keeps popping up in the news. "No Resting in Peace for Rall" has an overview of the recent media frenzy and some biographical information as well.

Ted also has a Web site & blog, I probably should have linked to them in my previous post. Check out the blog for some of his recent hatemail. Yikes.

And for the sake of completeness here are links to the Pat Tillman strip and the Reagan rant. That should do it.

nice to see

2004-06-18T11:30:00.000-05:00

Experts kept saying how "surprised" everyone was about "the outpouring" for Reagan, but saying didn't make it so. The dirty little secret of the week: The outpouring didn't live up to its hype. "There was this kind of extraordinary outpouring not by the public but by reporters who should know better," as Morley Safer told Larry King.

The above is from a piece entitled "Hyperbole as Numbing as Muzak" by the New York Times' Frank Rich, which I found by way of The International Herald Tribune. The article name checks Ted Rall, who has been getting his share of hate lately.

Mr. Baseball

2004-06-17T18:35:00.000-05:00

From the Korea Times comes this story about Choi Hoon, who is knocking 'em dead with his baseball themed MLB Cartoon. This Korean blog may or may not showcase an example of the strip (if I could read it, I might be able to be a little more certain).

This whole phenomena makes me wonder why sport themed comics don't seem to make a splash over here. Choi Hoon is getting over 100,000 clicks a week, and his strip is based on American baseball players. I know there's Manga that sells over here like Slam Dunk, but I can't imagine either of the big two putting out sports comics anytime soon. Not when they can put out yet another X-book or Batman tie-in. And are there any sports comics left on the comics page these days? I guess there's Tank McNamara, but that doesn't exactly capture the thrill of victory, agony of defeat, etc. I know there used to be multiple sports strips in the paper, are those times gone for good?

bottom dollar

2004-06-16T23:22:00.000-05:00

Looks like Little Orphan Annie is getting a bit of an overhaul this July from Jazz Age Chronicles' Ted Slampyak. I'm going to avoid the obvious "they still print Annie???" joke, and point you in the direction of the news. And here's the story directly from the new artist.

Best of luck to you, Ted; breathing life into Annie seems like a sisyphian task...

cartoonist of the year

2004-06-16T12:00:00.000-05:00

The National Cartoonist Society recently gave out their 2003 Rueben Award. Greg Evans of Luann fame brought home top honors as Cartoonist of the Year. He joins quite a distinguished list of past winners.

If you're interested in learning more, there's a nice article about Greg and Luann here.

bar the windows

2004-06-15T14:05:00.000-05:00

Like I need another reason to stay indoors...

Rockford, IL, comics capital

2004-06-15T10:06:00.000-05:00

Rockford, Illinois is many places to me, but I've never thought of it as the city that loves comics. According to this Sun Times article about Dick Kulpa, all of that may be about to change.

Now, he is back in the Rockford area after a 15-year hiatus. His goal? Revive Cracked magazine and make Rockford the comic book capital of the world.

Sometimes I swear I must live under a rock. Maybe I just didn't pay attention because I've always considered myself more of a Mad kinda of a guy. Did you know that Cracked magazine almost went under due to an anthrax attack?! It's all in the article.

get the funk up!

2004-06-14T17:26:00.000-05:00

Michael Caine? Morgan Freeman? Liam Neeson? Gary Oldman? What a cast, and that's not even counting the competent Christian Bale or Katie Holmes. I mean, you pretty much had me at Christopher Nolan. I know it's early to start getting excited about Batman Begins, but if you're curious, Newsweek has a sneak peek here.

Big Fun

2004-06-13T00:10:00.000-05:00

I'd just like to say I'm pretty excited about the debut issue of Big Fun Comics Magazine.

I have my pre-order in already. Do you?