MetaFilter posts by marxchivist.
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The Art and History of Lettering Comics is available free on letterer Todd Klein's blog. Originally planned as a print book, he's posted the whole thing online. From the early 1900s to today, Todd covers the evolution of word balloons, special effects lettering and comic book and newspaper comic letterers known and unknown and much more.
posted on Mar-5-24 at 10:34 AM
The 1980 Floor Show was a rock musical featuring David Bowie, held at the Marquee Club in London, on October 18–20, 1973. It was broadcast in the United States by NBC on November 16, 1973, as part of the series The Midnight Special, and presented the last performance of Bowie as his character Ziggy Stardust. Here's eight hours of unedited footage from the show. Includes rehearsals and multiple takes.
posted on Mar-8-23 at 7:38 AM
Neal Adams, a hugely influential comic book artist has died at age 80. In the late 1960s, he was instrumental in reviving Batman as the "Dark Detective" in the wake of the campy Adam West television series. With writer Denny O'Neill in 1970, he sparked a trend in socially relevant comics with Green Lantern & Green Arrow's road trip across America. Adams gave many budding artists their start in the business and was a champion of creator's rights.
posted on Apr-29-22 at 11:45 AM
The Mary Worth comment board is unhinged and, frankly, a little frightening. “Honestly, the fervency of their devotion to this comic strip is impressive, and we should all wish for this kind of action.”
posted on Jan-15-22 at 6:37 PM
In the 1960's and 1970's, Jay Kay Klein photographed the goings on at science fiction conventions. The photographs are now online at Calisphere, an online consortium of California universities. These photos document events such as Discon 1, BayCon, and other events. There's shots of parties, dealer rooms, stacks of pulps, boxes of comic books and art shows. Also some famous faces like Anne McCaffrey, Gregory Benford, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Alicia Austin, Isaac Asimov, and Forry Ackerman. If you're into this sort of thing, be prepared to spend some time here.
posted on Dec-20-18 at 9:47 AM
"Pop" Hollinger was arguably the first comic book store owner. In the late 1930's, he quit his full time job and concentrated on selling used comic books and used paperbacks. Part of his business plan included "rebuilding" the comics by gluing brown paper to the spines and edges of his comics. Pop ran a comic book mail order service, for 25 or 30 cents you could receive 5 to 10 golden age comics in the mail. Many of his comics still circulate among collectors. More information and pictures of his comics at the bottom of this page.
posted on Mar-15-17 at 7:01 PM
I grabbed it by its tail, and it came down on, starting literally up by my shoulder, like a drill press it landed on my arm, and every bite was breaking flesh. It was literally like an unsewing machine. It was literally unsewing my arm coming down, and I was pouring blood. The testimony of someone who actually bought one of those little monkeys advertised in the back of comic books.
posted on Jan-5-17 at 11:15 AM
Jack Davis, born in 1924 and still with us, is the last living artist who contributed to the legendary EC Comics horror titles. [much more inside]
posted on Apr-25-16 at 12:20 PM
Murphy Anderson, long time artist for DC Comics has died at age 89. Anderson began his career at Fiction House in 1944 and then drew the daily Buck Rogers newspaper strip for two years. He began his long career at DC comics around 1950, he drew covers and stories for their science fiction and superhero comics and enjoyed stints on drawing costumed heroes like The Spectre and Hawkman. He was greatly admired as half of the "Swanderson" team when he inked Curt Swan's pencils on Superman.
posted on Oct-23-15 at 7:18 PM
Pictures of a massive Gallipoli diorama at The Great War Exhibition. These are photos of the diorama of the Battle of Chunuk Bair which opened on May 4 at The Great War Exhibition in Wellington, New Zealand. The brainchild of movie director Peter Jackson, the diorama contains 5,000 54mm (about 2 1/4" inches tall) figures. The figures were sculpted by Alan and Michael Perry and painted by volunteers from New Zealand wargaming clubs. This picture gives an idea of the massive scale of the diorama. Detail shots here and here.
posted on May-18-15 at 5:51 AM
The 1000 Most Bizarre Batman Images EVER! The title says 1000 images, but I think there's just 100. I haven't counted. (some images nsfw)
posted on May-6-15 at 8:56 AM
Would you believe that the artist who designed in engraved Roman letters the slogan, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…” atop New York City’s main post office at Penn Station is the same man who designed the famous, iconic Superman comic book logo? Both are the works of Ira Schnapp (1892-1969), a descendant of stonecutters, calligrapher and hand-letterer who defined the “house style” of DC Comics for over 30 years...
Ira Schnapp, DC Comics Sr. VP for Advertising, and logo designer extraordinaire, is the subject of an exhibit and lecture at the Type Director's Club of New York. Read a ten-part comprehensive bio with lots of examples of Schnapp's work at Dial B for Blog starting here. And if that's not enough, here are the first three parts of an ongoing five-part series on Schnapp based on Arlen Schumer's upcoming lecture at the Type Director's Club.
posted on May-5-15 at 8:18 AM
Herb Trimpe, long time artist on The Incredible Hulk, died yesterday at the age of 75. In addition to his seven year run on the Hulk, Trimpe drew the first issues of Marvel's G.I. Joe comic and was the artist on the first appearance of Wolverine. Trimpe attended the School of Visual Arts and began his career inking backgrounds for Dell Comics. After serving in the United State Air Force, Trimpe began his long career with Marvel Comics in 1967 making his debut in Kid Colt Outlaw #134. He penciled The Incredible Hulk in a nearly unbroken run from 1968 - 1972. In May 2014, the original art page by Trimpe featuring the first appearance of Wolverine sold for a record $657,250.00.
posted on Apr-14-15 at 11:51 AM
Watch The Previously Untold True Story Of David Bowie, Brian Eno, and Tony Visconti Recording “Warszawa” A humorous cartoon documenting the recording of David Bowie's 1977 song Warszawa.
posted on Sep-16-14 at 8:52 PM
Peter's War is the story of an outdoor war game that artist Peter Shulman has been playing for more than sixty years. It has some very unusual aspects to it that make it totally unique. It is in fact a huge installation type work of art. At the present time the war contains over 60,000 hand sculpted soldiers and more than 4,800 scale models, vehicles in 1/35 and 1/32 scale aircraft in 1/48 scale that cover over 30 acres. The Story. The War in Pictures.
posted on Jan-7-14 at 10:34 AM
The New(er) South, a 2013 essay by Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers reexamines the questions and contradictions of the American south originally explored in their 2001 album Southern Rock Opera.
posted on Aug-20-13 at 8:11 AM
"I think about what has kept me here at the National Archives for all this time. It couldn’t be the bone-wearying monotony of shuffling heavy cartons of records from here to there...No, there’s something else that gets me in the door every morning. Fasteners." A brief survey of various paper clips and their ilk encountered by employees at the National Archives.
posted on Jun-6-13 at 9:48 AM
Comic book legend Carmine Infantino has died at the age of 87. Beginning his career in the early 1940's, Infantino created or co-created stalwart DC characters such The Flash, Batgirl, Black Canary, and Deadman. He also served as editorial director at DC, and added artists and writers like Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Denny O'Neill and Bernie Wrightson to the company's roster.
posted on Apr-4-13 at 3:37 PM
If anyone has heard of artist Bill Stout, it is probably because of his paintings of prehistoric life, or perhaps you recognize some of his movie poster art. Early in his career, Stout produced cover art for bootleg records issued by the Trademark of Quality label. The artist recently published a three-part interview about his work for that label. It has lots of wonderful anecdotes, but most importantly, lots of great art. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.
posted on Mar-19-13 at 9:17 AM
Of Ministers and Merchants, Sinners and Saints. The writer moved from Manhattan to same street in Brooklyn where his grandmother grew up. This prompts him to delve into his family history, where he discovers a cast of characters that includes Ulpianus Van Sinderen, a Dutch Reformed Minister who came to Brooklyn in 1747, prosperous merchants, tenant housing reformer Alfred Tredway White, and an embezzler. Brief appearances by Jacob Riis and Truman Capote.
posted on Feb-28-13 at 9:08 AM
A poster showing the evolution of Superman, 1938 - 2013. It covers the big guy's appearance in comic books, live-action, animation, Elseworlds and other comic book variations, and marketing and promo images.
posted on Feb-19-13 at 7:31 AM
Your Daily Tarzan.
posted on Feb-13-13 at 1:01 PM
Dreams of Space. A blog featuring art from non-fiction children's space flight books 1945-1975. Lots of great graphics, from the realistic to the now fanciful. I must also point out the wonderful Czech pop-up book and A Trip to Outer Space With Santa.
posted on Feb-6-13 at 1:12 PM
Google circa 1960.
posted on Dec-11-12 at 7:33 AM
Jack Kirby Double-Page Spreads. A flickr set of double-splash-page spreads by the King of Comics.
posted on Nov-28-12 at 10:42 AM
Travel: My Father’s Color Images of Southern California in the 1940′s. Pretty much what it says on the tin. Some nice color snaps. The main reason I posted this is I can't stop looking at this shot of the Universal Studios' back lot.
posted on Oct-2-12 at 9:50 AM
Common Types of Barflyze by Basil Wolverton.
posted on Aug-9-12 at 5:03 AM
Louder Than Love: The Grande Ballroom Story. While not as famous as Bill Graham's Fillmore Theaters, from 1966 to 1970, Detroit's Grande Ballroom hosted national acts such as Cream, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, and Pink Floyd. The brainchild of Russ Gibb, with help from activist John Sinclair, the Grande provided a stage for local bands like The MC5, SRC, The Rationals, The Amboy Dukes, The Frost and the The Stooges. The Grande had it's own psychedelic poster artists Gary Grimshaw and Carl Lundgren. Leni Sinclair took pictures. Local boys from the Grande that went on to national prominence included The Bob Seger System, Alice Cooper, and Grand Funk Railroad.
posted on Jun-20-12 at 5:33 AM
17 Vintage Comic Book Covers Where Superman is a Complete Sociopath.
posted on Mar-23-12 at 5:57 AM
Wally Wood is most acclaimed for his comical comic books, mainly his acclaimed work for Mad back in its original, pre-magazine, 1950s incarnation. But his personal life was a drama verging on tragedy and culminating with his suicide in 1981. Only now, three decades later, is his story heading toward a happy ending, with a burst of renewed interest in his work.
A graphics heavy interview with J. David Spurlock, newly named director of the Wood estate, on the renewed interest in the artist and his work. [via]
posted on Mar-2-12 at 11:46 AM
Joe Simon , who along with Jack Kirby created Captain America, died today at the age of 98.
posted on Dec-15-11 at 3:18 PM
Jerry Robinson , Batman artist and creator of the Dark Knight's arch-nemesis The Joker, died yesterday in his sleep at the age of 89.
posted on Dec-8-11 at 1:09 PM
Penny Postcards From All 50 States.
posted on Oct-18-11 at 5:56 AM
Round Barns and Covered Bridges.
posted on Aug-8-11 at 4:25 AM
Stitches From the Soul: Elizabeth Parker's Confession. Elizabeth Parker's cross-stitch sampler reveals the story of a young woman, who when employed as a housemaid for a cruel employer, was thrown down the stairs when she spurned his sexual advances. She later attempted suicide: "I acknowledge being guilty of that great sin of self-destruction." Her story is meticulously recorded in the circa 1830 sampler, part of the sampler collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
posted on Jul-26-11 at 6:35 AM
A Geek's Journal - 1976. What if there had been blogs in 1976? I would most definitely have had one and this might well have been it. This blog is based on my actual journal kept in 1976. Activities of a Geek in 1976 included: getting that week's comic books, going to the movies, attending a Paul McCartney and Wings concert, school pictures, and those freaks in Algebra class.
posted on Jul-15-11 at 3:48 AM
The Ray Harryhausen Creature List A video compilation of all Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animated creatures.
posted on Jun-30-11 at 3:40 PM
Comic book artist Gene Colan died on June 23, 2011. Colan began his comic book career in 1944, and after service in WWII went on to illustrate a wide range of comic book characters for both Marvel and DC. The artist might be best known for his 70 issue run in Marvel's Tomb of Dracula in the 1970's. Colan's lush moody style was also well-suited to Batman, as evidenced by his work on Batman and Detective Comics in the 1980's. Other titles and characters associated with Colan include Howard the Duck, Daredevil (including an 81 issue run from 1966-1973), Doctor Strange, and Captain America.
posted on Jun-24-11 at 10:44 AM
Jeff Jones, comic book artist, science fiction and fantasy artist, and former member of The Studio, died today of emphysema and bronchitis.
posted on May-19-11 at 6:38 PM
For Sale: One Shunned House. The house at 135 Benefit Street, Providence RI is for sale. This house was the inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Shunned House. Even without the Lovecraft connection, the house has an eerie history. It can be yours for $925,000.
posted on Apr-22-11 at 8:24 PM
Conflict History: a Timeline of War and Conflict Across the Globe You can browse the timeline to find information about wars from a long time ago up to the present. A map shows the conflicts spread across the globe. You can search for specific wars: we got your War of Jenkins' Ear and your Battle of Gqokli Hill.
posted on Apr-7-11 at 4:10 AM
Bid 'Em In. An animated video to accompany the late, great Oscar Brown Jr.'s song "Bid 'Em In." via
posted on Feb-22-11 at 6:58 PM
Sherman's March and America is a digital representation of historian Anne Sarah Rubin's project on how Americans have remembered General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea in 1864. The funnest part are the interactive maps. Clicking on the yellow-highlighted pins opens up a video exploring the significance of that spot on the map. Each map represents a different genre of memories of the march (civilian, soldiers, fiction, etc). My favorite is the narrative of the events in Milledgeville, Georgia on the Soldiers Map, featuring plastic toy soldiers and burning cardboard buildings.
posted on Dec-21-10 at 10:34 AM
Women Running From Houses. A celebration of 1960's - 1970's gothic romance paperbacks. via
posted on Nov-7-10 at 7:31 PM
The Three Stooges Breakdancing (slyt)
posted on Sep-28-10 at 8:01 PM
Manly Wade Wellman is probably best known for his eerie tales of Silver John, stories of a traveling balladeer and the weirdness he encountered in the southern Appalachians. Wellman was also an avid student of southern folklore and mountain music. His associations with Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Obray Ramsey served as inspirations for the Silver John character. In addition to his macabre tales of the American South, Wellman was an award-winning mystery author (beating William Faulkner for the prize) and ghost wrote Will Eisner's The Spirit while Eisner was in the army.
posted on Sep-18-10 at 4:04 PM
Classic Chicago Tribune Cartoonists, 1931. Leapin' lizards! We're in the movies! Excerpt from the documentary From Trees to Tribunes. You can get the whole documentary here at archive.org. Classic comic artists at their drawing boards.
posted on Sep-4-10 at 6:24 PM
Tin Soldiers. Lead Soldiers. Plastic Army Men. But if you like your toy soldiers not so harmful to the environment and a little more do-it-yourself, you can get paper soldiers. Here are some Print-fantry soldiers you can download for free.
posted on Aug-31-10 at 8:40 PM
King Kong Remade by '70's Kids SLYT [via]
posted on Aug-7-10 at 6:41 AM
MaCab Films is producing a documentary on artist Jeffrey Catherine Jones. Trailers for the film here and here. Jones is known for her comic book work, fantasy and science-fiction cover paintings, and romantic paintings, usually of women. Some links may be NSFW if your work has problems with impressionistic and artistic paintings of unclothed women.
posted on Aug-6-10 at 6:37 AM
posted on Mar-5-24 at 10:34 AM
The 1980 Floor Show was a rock musical featuring David Bowie, held at the Marquee Club in London, on October 18–20, 1973. It was broadcast in the United States by NBC on November 16, 1973, as part of the series The Midnight Special, and presented the last performance of Bowie as his character Ziggy Stardust. Here's eight hours of unedited footage from the show. Includes rehearsals and multiple takes.
posted on Mar-8-23 at 7:38 AM
Neal Adams, a hugely influential comic book artist has died at age 80. In the late 1960s, he was instrumental in reviving Batman as the "Dark Detective" in the wake of the campy Adam West television series. With writer Denny O'Neill in 1970, he sparked a trend in socially relevant comics with Green Lantern & Green Arrow's road trip across America. Adams gave many budding artists their start in the business and was a champion of creator's rights.
posted on Apr-29-22 at 11:45 AM
The Mary Worth comment board is unhinged and, frankly, a little frightening. “Honestly, the fervency of their devotion to this comic strip is impressive, and we should all wish for this kind of action.”
posted on Jan-15-22 at 6:37 PM
In the 1960's and 1970's, Jay Kay Klein photographed the goings on at science fiction conventions. The photographs are now online at Calisphere, an online consortium of California universities. These photos document events such as Discon 1, BayCon, and other events. There's shots of parties, dealer rooms, stacks of pulps, boxes of comic books and art shows. Also some famous faces like Anne McCaffrey, Gregory Benford, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Alicia Austin, Isaac Asimov, and Forry Ackerman. If you're into this sort of thing, be prepared to spend some time here.
posted on Dec-20-18 at 9:47 AM
"Pop" Hollinger was arguably the first comic book store owner. In the late 1930's, he quit his full time job and concentrated on selling used comic books and used paperbacks. Part of his business plan included "rebuilding" the comics by gluing brown paper to the spines and edges of his comics. Pop ran a comic book mail order service, for 25 or 30 cents you could receive 5 to 10 golden age comics in the mail. Many of his comics still circulate among collectors. More information and pictures of his comics at the bottom of this page.
posted on Mar-15-17 at 7:01 PM
I grabbed it by its tail, and it came down on, starting literally up by my shoulder, like a drill press it landed on my arm, and every bite was breaking flesh. It was literally like an unsewing machine. It was literally unsewing my arm coming down, and I was pouring blood. The testimony of someone who actually bought one of those little monkeys advertised in the back of comic books.
posted on Jan-5-17 at 11:15 AM
Jack Davis, born in 1924 and still with us, is the last living artist who contributed to the legendary EC Comics horror titles. [much more inside]
posted on Apr-25-16 at 12:20 PM
Murphy Anderson, long time artist for DC Comics has died at age 89. Anderson began his career at Fiction House in 1944 and then drew the daily Buck Rogers newspaper strip for two years. He began his long career at DC comics around 1950, he drew covers and stories for their science fiction and superhero comics and enjoyed stints on drawing costumed heroes like The Spectre and Hawkman. He was greatly admired as half of the "Swanderson" team when he inked Curt Swan's pencils on Superman.
posted on Oct-23-15 at 7:18 PM
Pictures of a massive Gallipoli diorama at The Great War Exhibition. These are photos of the diorama of the Battle of Chunuk Bair which opened on May 4 at The Great War Exhibition in Wellington, New Zealand. The brainchild of movie director Peter Jackson, the diorama contains 5,000 54mm (about 2 1/4" inches tall) figures. The figures were sculpted by Alan and Michael Perry and painted by volunteers from New Zealand wargaming clubs. This picture gives an idea of the massive scale of the diorama. Detail shots here and here.
posted on May-18-15 at 5:51 AM
The 1000 Most Bizarre Batman Images EVER! The title says 1000 images, but I think there's just 100. I haven't counted. (some images nsfw)
posted on May-6-15 at 8:56 AM
Would you believe that the artist who designed in engraved Roman letters the slogan, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night…” atop New York City’s main post office at Penn Station is the same man who designed the famous, iconic Superman comic book logo? Both are the works of Ira Schnapp (1892-1969), a descendant of stonecutters, calligrapher and hand-letterer who defined the “house style” of DC Comics for over 30 years...
Ira Schnapp, DC Comics Sr. VP for Advertising, and logo designer extraordinaire, is the subject of an exhibit and lecture at the Type Director's Club of New York. Read a ten-part comprehensive bio with lots of examples of Schnapp's work at Dial B for Blog starting here. And if that's not enough, here are the first three parts of an ongoing five-part series on Schnapp based on Arlen Schumer's upcoming lecture at the Type Director's Club.
posted on May-5-15 at 8:18 AM
Herb Trimpe, long time artist on The Incredible Hulk, died yesterday at the age of 75. In addition to his seven year run on the Hulk, Trimpe drew the first issues of Marvel's G.I. Joe comic and was the artist on the first appearance of Wolverine. Trimpe attended the School of Visual Arts and began his career inking backgrounds for Dell Comics. After serving in the United State Air Force, Trimpe began his long career with Marvel Comics in 1967 making his debut in Kid Colt Outlaw #134. He penciled The Incredible Hulk in a nearly unbroken run from 1968 - 1972. In May 2014, the original art page by Trimpe featuring the first appearance of Wolverine sold for a record $657,250.00.
posted on Apr-14-15 at 11:51 AM
Watch The Previously Untold True Story Of David Bowie, Brian Eno, and Tony Visconti Recording “Warszawa” A humorous cartoon documenting the recording of David Bowie's 1977 song Warszawa.
posted on Sep-16-14 at 8:52 PM
Peter's War is the story of an outdoor war game that artist Peter Shulman has been playing for more than sixty years. It has some very unusual aspects to it that make it totally unique. It is in fact a huge installation type work of art. At the present time the war contains over 60,000 hand sculpted soldiers and more than 4,800 scale models, vehicles in 1/35 and 1/32 scale aircraft in 1/48 scale that cover over 30 acres. The Story. The War in Pictures.
posted on Jan-7-14 at 10:34 AM
The New(er) South, a 2013 essay by Patterson Hood of the Drive-By Truckers reexamines the questions and contradictions of the American south originally explored in their 2001 album Southern Rock Opera.
posted on Aug-20-13 at 8:11 AM
"I think about what has kept me here at the National Archives for all this time. It couldn’t be the bone-wearying monotony of shuffling heavy cartons of records from here to there...No, there’s something else that gets me in the door every morning. Fasteners." A brief survey of various paper clips and their ilk encountered by employees at the National Archives.
posted on Jun-6-13 at 9:48 AM
Comic book legend Carmine Infantino has died at the age of 87. Beginning his career in the early 1940's, Infantino created or co-created stalwart DC characters such The Flash, Batgirl, Black Canary, and Deadman. He also served as editorial director at DC, and added artists and writers like Jack Kirby, Neal Adams, Denny O'Neill and Bernie Wrightson to the company's roster.
posted on Apr-4-13 at 3:37 PM
If anyone has heard of artist Bill Stout, it is probably because of his paintings of prehistoric life, or perhaps you recognize some of his movie poster art. Early in his career, Stout produced cover art for bootleg records issued by the Trademark of Quality label. The artist recently published a three-part interview about his work for that label. It has lots of wonderful anecdotes, but most importantly, lots of great art. Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.
posted on Mar-19-13 at 9:17 AM
Of Ministers and Merchants, Sinners and Saints. The writer moved from Manhattan to same street in Brooklyn where his grandmother grew up. This prompts him to delve into his family history, where he discovers a cast of characters that includes Ulpianus Van Sinderen, a Dutch Reformed Minister who came to Brooklyn in 1747, prosperous merchants, tenant housing reformer Alfred Tredway White, and an embezzler. Brief appearances by Jacob Riis and Truman Capote.
posted on Feb-28-13 at 9:08 AM
A poster showing the evolution of Superman, 1938 - 2013. It covers the big guy's appearance in comic books, live-action, animation, Elseworlds and other comic book variations, and marketing and promo images.
posted on Feb-19-13 at 7:31 AM
Your Daily Tarzan.
posted on Feb-13-13 at 1:01 PM
Dreams of Space. A blog featuring art from non-fiction children's space flight books 1945-1975. Lots of great graphics, from the realistic to the now fanciful. I must also point out the wonderful Czech pop-up book and A Trip to Outer Space With Santa.
posted on Feb-6-13 at 1:12 PM
Google circa 1960.
posted on Dec-11-12 at 7:33 AM
Jack Kirby Double-Page Spreads. A flickr set of double-splash-page spreads by the King of Comics.
posted on Nov-28-12 at 10:42 AM
Travel: My Father’s Color Images of Southern California in the 1940′s. Pretty much what it says on the tin. Some nice color snaps. The main reason I posted this is I can't stop looking at this shot of the Universal Studios' back lot.
posted on Oct-2-12 at 9:50 AM
Common Types of Barflyze by Basil Wolverton.
posted on Aug-9-12 at 5:03 AM
Louder Than Love: The Grande Ballroom Story. While not as famous as Bill Graham's Fillmore Theaters, from 1966 to 1970, Detroit's Grande Ballroom hosted national acts such as Cream, The Who, Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Jeff Beck, and Pink Floyd. The brainchild of Russ Gibb, with help from activist John Sinclair, the Grande provided a stage for local bands like The MC5, SRC, The Rationals, The Amboy Dukes, The Frost and the The Stooges. The Grande had it's own psychedelic poster artists Gary Grimshaw and Carl Lundgren. Leni Sinclair took pictures. Local boys from the Grande that went on to national prominence included The Bob Seger System, Alice Cooper, and Grand Funk Railroad.
posted on Jun-20-12 at 5:33 AM
17 Vintage Comic Book Covers Where Superman is a Complete Sociopath.
posted on Mar-23-12 at 5:57 AM
Wally Wood is most acclaimed for his comical comic books, mainly his acclaimed work for Mad back in its original, pre-magazine, 1950s incarnation. But his personal life was a drama verging on tragedy and culminating with his suicide in 1981. Only now, three decades later, is his story heading toward a happy ending, with a burst of renewed interest in his work.
A graphics heavy interview with J. David Spurlock, newly named director of the Wood estate, on the renewed interest in the artist and his work. [via]
posted on Mar-2-12 at 11:46 AM
Joe Simon , who along with Jack Kirby created Captain America, died today at the age of 98.
posted on Dec-15-11 at 3:18 PM
Jerry Robinson , Batman artist and creator of the Dark Knight's arch-nemesis The Joker, died yesterday in his sleep at the age of 89.
posted on Dec-8-11 at 1:09 PM
Penny Postcards From All 50 States.
posted on Oct-18-11 at 5:56 AM
Round Barns and Covered Bridges.
posted on Aug-8-11 at 4:25 AM
Stitches From the Soul: Elizabeth Parker's Confession. Elizabeth Parker's cross-stitch sampler reveals the story of a young woman, who when employed as a housemaid for a cruel employer, was thrown down the stairs when she spurned his sexual advances. She later attempted suicide: "I acknowledge being guilty of that great sin of self-destruction." Her story is meticulously recorded in the circa 1830 sampler, part of the sampler collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
posted on Jul-26-11 at 6:35 AM
A Geek's Journal - 1976. What if there had been blogs in 1976? I would most definitely have had one and this might well have been it. This blog is based on my actual journal kept in 1976. Activities of a Geek in 1976 included: getting that week's comic books, going to the movies, attending a Paul McCartney and Wings concert, school pictures, and those freaks in Algebra class.
posted on Jul-15-11 at 3:48 AM
The Ray Harryhausen Creature List A video compilation of all Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animated creatures.
posted on Jun-30-11 at 3:40 PM
Comic book artist Gene Colan died on June 23, 2011. Colan began his comic book career in 1944, and after service in WWII went on to illustrate a wide range of comic book characters for both Marvel and DC. The artist might be best known for his 70 issue run in Marvel's Tomb of Dracula in the 1970's. Colan's lush moody style was also well-suited to Batman, as evidenced by his work on Batman and Detective Comics in the 1980's. Other titles and characters associated with Colan include Howard the Duck, Daredevil (including an 81 issue run from 1966-1973), Doctor Strange, and Captain America.
posted on Jun-24-11 at 10:44 AM
Jeff Jones, comic book artist, science fiction and fantasy artist, and former member of The Studio, died today of emphysema and bronchitis.
posted on May-19-11 at 6:38 PM
For Sale: One Shunned House. The house at 135 Benefit Street, Providence RI is for sale. This house was the inspiration for H.P. Lovecraft's short story The Shunned House. Even without the Lovecraft connection, the house has an eerie history. It can be yours for $925,000.
posted on Apr-22-11 at 8:24 PM
Conflict History: a Timeline of War and Conflict Across the Globe You can browse the timeline to find information about wars from a long time ago up to the present. A map shows the conflicts spread across the globe. You can search for specific wars: we got your War of Jenkins' Ear and your Battle of Gqokli Hill.
posted on Apr-7-11 at 4:10 AM
Bid 'Em In. An animated video to accompany the late, great Oscar Brown Jr.'s song "Bid 'Em In." via
posted on Feb-22-11 at 6:58 PM
Sherman's March and America is a digital representation of historian Anne Sarah Rubin's project on how Americans have remembered General William Tecumseh Sherman's March to the Sea in 1864. The funnest part are the interactive maps. Clicking on the yellow-highlighted pins opens up a video exploring the significance of that spot on the map. Each map represents a different genre of memories of the march (civilian, soldiers, fiction, etc). My favorite is the narrative of the events in Milledgeville, Georgia on the Soldiers Map, featuring plastic toy soldiers and burning cardboard buildings.
posted on Dec-21-10 at 10:34 AM
Women Running From Houses. A celebration of 1960's - 1970's gothic romance paperbacks. via
posted on Nov-7-10 at 7:31 PM
The Three Stooges Breakdancing (slyt)
posted on Sep-28-10 at 8:01 PM
Manly Wade Wellman is probably best known for his eerie tales of Silver John, stories of a traveling balladeer and the weirdness he encountered in the southern Appalachians. Wellman was also an avid student of southern folklore and mountain music. His associations with Bascom Lamar Lunsford and Obray Ramsey served as inspirations for the Silver John character. In addition to his macabre tales of the American South, Wellman was an award-winning mystery author (beating William Faulkner for the prize) and ghost wrote Will Eisner's The Spirit while Eisner was in the army.
posted on Sep-18-10 at 4:04 PM
Classic Chicago Tribune Cartoonists, 1931. Leapin' lizards! We're in the movies! Excerpt from the documentary From Trees to Tribunes. You can get the whole documentary here at archive.org. Classic comic artists at their drawing boards.
posted on Sep-4-10 at 6:24 PM
Tin Soldiers. Lead Soldiers. Plastic Army Men. But if you like your toy soldiers not so harmful to the environment and a little more do-it-yourself, you can get paper soldiers. Here are some Print-fantry soldiers you can download for free.
posted on Aug-31-10 at 8:40 PM
King Kong Remade by '70's Kids SLYT [via]
posted on Aug-7-10 at 6:41 AM
MaCab Films is producing a documentary on artist Jeffrey Catherine Jones. Trailers for the film here and here. Jones is known for her comic book work, fantasy and science-fiction cover paintings, and romantic paintings, usually of women. Some links may be NSFW if your work has problems with impressionistic and artistic paintings of unclothed women.
posted on Aug-6-10 at 6:37 AM