Brinton Turkle - The Elves and the Shoemaker 1

http://childrensatheneum.blogspot.ca/2009/06/illustrator-of-week-brinton-turkle.html

Popped my Cork

 

This is just a random clipping that  I fgured that I had better scan because I keep misplacing it - nice pen work - no idea who the artist is...

Harry Lucey Archie Comics Artist Cartoonist

 (Thanks to Jaime & Gilbert Hernandez - without whom I would never have known that Archie comics had good artists ;-))

Correction: Since this was written - happily, things have changed:
 http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=13726

Images copyright Archie Comics Publications Inc. used for purposes of artistic analysis.

Here's part 1:
http://skylark-.blogspot.ca/2008/12/harry-lucey.html

stuff -

Some nice Lucey art here -

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1722919/site_id/1#import
 

The Golden Fleecing - Uncle Scrooge - Carl Barks

'The Golden Fleecing' by Carl Barks from Uncle Scrooge #12 - a take on the Greek Argonautica myth - I don't know if this is considered a classic, although I checked the very well-documented fan sites and it's apparently quite popular - but it isn't quite the usual visit to exotic, mysterious ancient civilisation scenario -




Half of the story is spent in Duckburg with lots of cloak and dagger stuff - just setting up the intrigue - Despite the unusual plotting, page by page, Barks is in fine form - each panel is a model in storytelling efficiency, suspense, dynamics.


So instead of Harpies, we have Larkies (heh) - they sort of steal the show actually, possibly to the detriment of the story as a whole - Huey, Duey, and Louie are totally on the ball as usual, with their freaky Junior Woodchuck Handbook, they're unstoppable - they figure everything out. No comment really necessary, the thing is, the storytelling is so seamless, all you have to do is look at each panel, that says it all - notice how every panel has no more or no less than is necessary to keep the plot moving, and notice how every panel contains an element of suspense that leads to the next one.... (apologies for the small image samples).

Barks can get pretty wacky, surreal, and edgy at times - and he really goes to town with these Larkies - with this ten-page psycho cook-off from hell sequence - they take a fiendish delight in preparing the most nauseating dishes! Apparently his editor, referring to this sequence, asked him to 'tone it down'... heh... Notice the fairly subtle camera movement in the above sequence... superb.

So they do finally face the dragon guarding the Golden Fleece- really not much reference to the original story, but quite fun and clever - I don't think that this story has the depth and sense of nostalgia that some other Scrooge classics have, although you could argue that he does tap into to some of the Freudian psychological structures inherent in Greek mythology and fairy tales...


Images copyright the Walt Disney Company - used for purposes of didactic study

stuff -
see interesting article on this story:

https://arche-arc.blogspot.com/2016/03/mythcomics-golden-fleecing-uncle.html

Montreal Comicon!

It had a great lineup (Darwyn Cooke, Mike Mignola, Tim Sale, Ty Templeton, Matteo Scalera, Frank Cho, Dan Parent, and tons more...just crazy)

The legendary Jim Starlin. Warm, friendly, open, down-to-earth, generous, a true gentleman. Still going strong, he's actually got many new pots cookin' on the stove...

Becky Cloonan, doing her thing. She's super nice, and one of the top new talents today....

Lyonel Feininger Exhibition

 the Feininger exhibit here in Montreal - http://www.mmfa.qc.ca/media/feininger/index_new_en.sn
I know him from his cartoon work - the Kinder Kids and Wee Willie Winkie are awesome -  a major fine arts figure he was -

 Unfortunately, the security guards were exceptionally diligent that night - so I only managed a few furtive pictures before they pounced  - my apologizes for my lousy clandestine picture taking skills - this is the entrance - nice entrance

A blurred photo taken on the sly, below is a clearer shot -  Feininger carved these freaky wooden toys for his children, full of cartoony, art deco stuff - really interesting stuff-  best dad ever!

 They had about 10 big Sunday cartoon pages from the Chicago Tribune - beautiful stuff - no original pages unfortunately - but above is a sample of a few character designs from his strip work - originals in pen and ink and colored in crayon - nice stuff - they also featured quite a bit of work from his illustration period, mainly stuff from German humour magazines - great stuff -

puppet designs for an ancient greek play - Aristophanes 2

Hey, that's right - I have a blog - need to give some love to me blog - it's been a good year, though - I have been posting an acceptable quota - yay!

Movie review:
I watched Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - Great movie - directed by George Roy Hill. He's my favorite post-war American film director - just perfect directing - creative, dynamic, efficient shots - textbook stuff

puppet designs for an ancient greek play - Aristophanes 1

 please enjoy these fine examples of puppet designs for an ancient greek play - Aristophanes, I think.

Jack Davis - The Rawhide Kid Atlas 1963 - 8

Other Davis posts:
http://www.skylark-.blogspot.ca/search/label/Jack%20Davis

Postscript: Why not see the whole thing here:
http://westerncomix.blogspot.com/2010/06/tall-tales-and-short-story-rawhide-kid.html

John William Waterhouse Exhibition - Montreal Museum of Fine Arts

So yeah, the euro Waterhouse exhibit came to Montreal! A dream come true.... I can't even begin to say how amazing it was - about 50 pieces, mostly well-known - there were only missing about a dozen classic pieces...

Gift store display

Ginormous banner!