We’ve received word that former Comico publisher, Phil Lasorda, passed away yesterday. In addition to running the company which published such titles as MAGE and THE ELEMENTALS, Lasorda was a creator himself, with the book AZ. No further details are available at this time.
A terribly sad announcement from Aspen has gone out announcing the death of artist Michael Turner, who had been battling bone cancer for the last 8 years. Turner was best known as the artist of WITCHBLADE, but in recent years had been a much sought after cover artist. In 2002 he founded his own publishing company, Aspen Comics.
Unfortunately it’s with great sadness that I must inform everyone that Michael Turner tragically passed away last night, June 27th at approximately 10:42 pm in Santa Monica, Ca. Turner had been dealing with recent health complications arisen in the past few weeks. More details concerning Turner’s passing, and services, will be given shortly.
Anyone wishing to send their condolences to Michael Turner’s family is encouraged to send to:
Aspen MLT, Inc.
C/O Michael Turner
5855 Green Valley Circle, Suite 111
Culver City, CA, 90230
Aspen also encourages anyone wishing to make a charitable donation to please send to Michael Turner’s requested charities:
Or
When saying that Turner battled cancer, it is impossible not to add “heroically.” Despite years of setbacks and tremendous physical pain, he remained upbeat, friendly and productive, making the most of the time he had left. It’s a lesson that many could learn. Newsarama has more:
Despite his illness, Turner was one of the most upbeat people at conventions and in the industry. He always radiated a sense of humility and gratitude to his fans, and always had time for a quick chat or a smile. In an industry that can and has beat the happiness out of many creators, Mike was resistant to it, and was ever happy to work and talk to his fans, and even talk to the press. From the first moment you met him, you were his friend, and he treated you like he’d known you all his life.
Our condolences to Turner’s family and many friends.
Everyone may have Post-Convention blahs (or more accurately, Tired of Reading Internet Rumor blahs), but it would be bad to not take a moment and reflect of the loss of the greatest stand-up comedians of all time, George Carlin.
Carlin, who died Sunday at age 71 from heart failure, saw his career go through a number of phases: from clean-cut comedian to counter-culture thinker to kid’s show sidekick, arguably belongs on the Mount Rushmore of Comedians. Your mileage may vary, but let’s say the other three were Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby and Bob Newhart (with Eddie Murphy being oh-so-close to making the list).
You may not remember, but Carlin was the first guest host of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. He also had a great gimmick for the longest time of only appearing in one movie a decade, which stopped in the 90s, thanks largely to Kevin Smith, who used him to wondeful effect in DOGMA and JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK.
I first discovered Carlin in the early 1980s, in what people call his “observational humor” phase, where he did classic bits like “Baseball and Football” and “Ice Box Man.” One of the benefits of getting cable in the late 80s and early 90s was getting to see the Yearly Carlin HBO special. And then, he got really great when he became the “angry, ranting comedian” years before Lewis Black did it on the Daily Show. I was so effected by Carlin’s “shell shock” routine during the Gulf War that I typed out the whole bit and posted it on my college dorm room door.
Thankfully, after five or six years ago, I got to see Carlin perform live. Since I rarely go to concerts and such, I often have regrets about never seeing Performer X or Band Y perform, after they have broken up or passed away. But I was not going to miss Carlin, my favorite comedian of all-time. And the show was wonderful. I don’t remember any of the bits, but it was just so great seeing him in person.
Goodbye to the Hippy Dippy Weatherman. Goodbye to the Man who made the Seven Dirty Words remembered forever.
Posted by Mark Coale
We didn’t have time to memorialize the late, great Stan Winston, but we couldn’t let Cyd Charisse no unnoticed:
§ Comic Relief, which will continue under long-time manager Todd Martinez, has a “Memories” page up to remember founder Rory Root.
§ Tom has a fantastic obituary up with many more memorials from comics luminaries whose lives Rory touched.
One of Root’s most important endeavors was to cultivate relationships with and facilitate sales to libraries and other, similar, secondary markets for comics, doing so as soon as the early 1990s. When by the late 1990s and early into the 2000s this started to became a major market for comics sellers, Root dispensed informal advice and made appearances at professional gatherings to speak on these sorts of possibilities for the comics market. He exhibited at some of these shows in partnership with Diamond and then later on his own. Root’s advice wasn’t just a boon to comics shops that might forge such relationships but also provided librarians and other groups with a valuable service by letting them know what was out there for purchase so that they might enhance their offerings and attract readers. He was a featured speaker at the 2003 Book Expo America’s comics programming track.
§ And Beau Smith has also posted his memories:
Rory was unselfish with his knowledge of not only comics, but more importantly his knowledge of people. Rory never forgot what it was like to be that person looking for something entertaining to read. He could relate to the child, the teenager, the college student, the collector and the adult seeking to regain a small piece of their childhood. Rory may have forgotten that he had worn the same shirt a couple of days in a row, but he never forgot the mug in his hand and a friend. With Rory Root, you always had a friend, not only in comics, but in life as well.
Comics has lost one its great souls in Rory Root. The man seemed timeless and immortal, despite all his health issues, and also ageless, but many people are reporting he was 50. The web is filled with outpourings of grief testifying to his endless supply of generosity, wisdom and support. Words like “trust” and “help” keep coming up, from customers from cartoonists, from friends. You did trust Rory because he did help. In an often fractious business he was always level-headed and far seeing.
His store, Comic Relief, was a model of the future, long ahead of its time. I remember visiting it for the first time back in the early 90s and Rory showing off, with justified pride, the handsome fixtures and the track lighting which made it not just an android’s dungeon but an attractive shop where people felt comfortable and enlightened shopping. He supported graphic novels long before everyone else figured out the were the future of the business, and knew his stock like no one else. Whenever I was writing a story about any business aspect of comics, Rory was on my short list of people to call, and our conversations were always full of information, humor and wisdom.
A few years ago Rory and I were both staying at the US Grant for San Diego and we shared a few cab rides home. He praised the hotel’s bunch and we agreed to meet on the Monday after the con for breakfast. In my brain dead state I couldn’t have imagined more pleasant company, or a better friend to share a meal with. I also remember him saving me a copy of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which I was happy to purchase from him during the show.
Everyone will have tons of Rory stories, but he was such a fixture everywhere — standing outside with his hat, and the stainless steel coffee mug seemingly grafted to his hand, always with good advice for those who wished to follow it. Like another retailer sadly taken too soon, Bill Liebowitz, Rory exemplified the comics retailer who made a difference. People pick on retailers as a group, but men like Bill and Rory showed how important and vital this end of the business is. That they were so boundlessly generous with their time and knowledge was their real gift and legacy.
I want to quote some of the things being said about Rory because everyone needs to know how one person can make a difference:
(more…)
Numerous sources are telling us that Rory Root has passed away this evening.
Our sincere condolences to his family and his friends. We’ll have more later.
Journalista is reporting the death of legendary MAD artist Will Elder at age 86. The Bronx-born Elder went to school at the Manhattan High School of Music and Art where he met the young Harvey Kurtzman. The two went on to work at EC, where Elder inked John Severin. Later, when Kurtzman created Mad, Elder become a mainstay with his dense, joke-packed work. The two created Goodman Beaver for Help! and Little Annie Fanny later on for Playboy.
Elder worked extensively in advertising, as well, and his style, cartoony yet solid, was a huge influence on the underground comics to come. He was inducted into the Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2003.
Elder’s funeral will be held Sunday in New Jersey.
Related: Excerpts from a Gary Groth interview with Elder.
ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD archive of Little Annie Fanny art.
Legendary Abstract Expressionist Robert Rauschenberg has died at age 82.
A painter, photographer, printmaker, choreographer, onstage performer, set designer and, in later years, even a composer, Mr. Rauschenberg defied the traditional idea that an artist stick to one medium or style. He pushed, prodded and sometimes reconceived all the mediums in which he worked.
Building on the legacies of Marcel Duchamp, Kurt Schwitters, Joseph Cornell and others, he helped obscure the lines between painting and sculpture, painting and photography, photography and printmaking, sculpture and photography, sculpture and dance, sculpture and technology, technology and performance art — not to mention between art and life.
We were lucky enough to see the Guggenheim retrospective of his work ten years ago, and to our eye, no artist so encompassed multi media with such authority, building sheer nonsense to pure beauty. In particular, we often think of his installation “Soundings”:
Soundings is a 36 foot long sculpture made up of three layers of Plexiglas. The front layer would be partially mirrorized and behind are two layers of Plexiglas with images of a wooden chair on them. Different lights behind the sheets of Plexiglas would vary in intensity based upon the amount of sound in the room and backlight the images so they would be visible through the mirror.
Viewers would stomp and shout as fleeting images of the chairs flashed and danced. It sounds like complete twaddle, we know, but as you became part of the art with your own motions and sounds, something even more amazing emerged. He was a fantasist, a visionary, and whatever this post modern world is, he’s a big part of the good in it.
Mark Evanier reports the death of Danton Burroughs, longtime caretaker of Edgar Rice Burrough’s estate:
Danton Burroughs — the grandson of Edgar Rice Burroughs and a major force in keeping that man’s work alive — left us Wednesday evening at the age of 64. He had been suffering from Parkinson’s Disease for some time and died at his home in Tarzana, a suburb named for his grandfather’s legendary creation. He was the son of John Coleman Burroughs, who was himself distinguished in the arts as a photographer and illustrator.
I didn’t know Burroughs, but once, while following up yet another rumor on the John Carter of Mars front, I decided to just call the office number on the ERB website, and ended up speaking to him a bit. Even in a brief conversation, it was quite evident he was much the character, but for me it was a thrill to talk to ERB’s grandson and hear him talk about the Tarzan musical and so on. John Carter is now landed at Pixar, so let’s hope all of Danton’s hard work and dedication pays off some day.
Ollie Johnston, the last of Disney “nine Old Men” animators, and one half of the famed “Frank ‘n’ Ollie” duo has died, taking with him another piece of history.
The “Nine Old Men” were Les Clark, Wolfgang Reitherman, John Lounsbery, Marc Davis, Milt Kahl, Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. As animators and directors they worked on all the significant Disney films from Snow White on to The Rescuers and gave life to such characters as Malificient, Shere Khan, Cruella de Vil, Peter Pan, Captain Hook, Brer Rabbit and so on.
Johnston was the last surviving member, and with his frequent partner Thomas authored several classic book on aniation, including The Illusion of Life.
Mark Evanier has some remembrances here and Jim Hill here. Although Hill attempts to remember the train-loving Johnston as a real person and not just the symbol of an end of an era…well…it is the end of an era. The Disney animated film classics stand as one one of the most prolonged achievements of 20th century imagination and are arguably the greatest single achievement of corporate creativity ever. Johnston was an integral part of that and you’ll be seeing lots of tributes to this consummate craftsman, artist and teacher over the next few days. Cartoon Brew has many many links including a tribute from John Canemaker:
Ollie was a survivor, a wonderful combination of inner strength and outer gentleness. He could be practical, thoughtful and tough in making life decisions, such as buying property or cutting down a favorite old tree when it loomed dangerously. But he was also a passionate man, full of emotions that found the perfect outlet in his soft, blue pencil lines that, as Glen Keane said, “coaxed into being” the most sensitive of character relationships. “I seem to have a kind of reservoir of feelings about how people felt in certain situations,” Ollie once explained.
ComicMix reports the death of writer Rob Maisch:
Rob Maisch, the extraordinary raconteur who wrote 1995’s Harvey and Eisner nominated “Confessions of a Cereal Eater,” published by NBM and illustrated by Rob’s friends, Bo Hampton and Scott Hampton, Rand Holmes and Sandy Plunkett, died this week unexpectedly of cardiac problems in Copley, Ohio.
According to his long-time friends, the Hamptons, his hilarious stories, energetic teasing, and love of life will keep him vividly alive for them forever.
The unparalleled star of epic film has died.
The Ten Commandments
Touch of Evil
Ben Hur
Planet of the Apes
Omega Man
Soylent Green
And one more…
Veteran comics artist Jim Mooney died over the weekend. He was born in 1919 and enjoyed a very long career that included most of the history of comics, as Mark Evanier summarizes:
Reared in Los Angeles, Mooney moved to New York in 1940 and was a part of the comic book industry almost from its inception. His first job was probably drawing The Moth, a Batman imitation for Fox Publication’s Mystery Men, and he worked for the legendary Eisner-Iger shop which he soon left, he said, because he was intimidated by how good all the other artists there were. He next worked for Fiction House and began freelancing for Stan Lee at Timely Comics (later Marvel), starting an association that lasted on and off for the next half-century. At first, he drew funny animal strips but Lee soon found that Mooney, along with being very dependable, was kind of a utility infielder who could do a little of everything. He was especially good at drawing cute ladies and a lot of his assignments were chosen with that in mind. (Asked how he drew such beautiful women, he usually pointed out that his sister had been a Ziegfeld Girl so he often found himself around lovely ladies.)
There’s an excerpt of an interview with Mooney from Comic Book Artist online
Are there any anecdotes, anything interesting with different personalities you’d like to go into?
JIM: Well, I think I mentioned earlier on it was such a pleasure to go into that. I used to dread going into the offices at DC, but I looked forward to going into Marvel, and I think one of the real nice pleasant things, and a lot of the guys who have great memories say the same thing. You’d come in, and Flo Steinberg would be there, and she would say (in her marvelous enthusiastic voice), “Stan, Jim Mooney’s here,” and that would just make me feel great, as if I were very important. Then I realized everybody else got that same treatment, which was darn nice. I’d occasionally hang out in the bullpen and shoot the breeze, but I don’t have too many bullpen anecdotes, because I really wasn’t there all that much. The one thing I really liked, and I haven’t had that experience before with Stan when we collaborated on the funny animal stuff, we’d get together for a story conference in the early ’70s, and Stan would act these things out, and I’d think, “This is amazing, I’ve known this guy for years, I’ve never seen anything like this!” He’d jump up on the desk, and go through the motions, the actions that he expected either from the Green Goblin or whatever the heck it was we were doing, and he was having such a great time with it, it was contagious. I’d begin to think, “Hey, this is kind of fun, I’m enjoying this.”
Mooney was what might be called a journeyman, but his work elevates that term. Not as dynamic or flamboyant as Kirby, Kane or Romita, his work was still exceptional, graceful and put the stories across with a directness that any artist would envy. His work is probably what most people think of when they think “comic book.”
As several obituaries noted, Mooney worked with the late Steve Gerber on some of his greatest Man-Thing stories and the entirety of the original run of Omega the Unknown. His strong, steady work there is as important an element as the complicated script by Gerber and Mary Skrenes, and definitely helped make it the mindbomb that it was.hot movies sapphicblowjob movie freesex teen movievideos free free movies gay gaymovies free porn bigmovies gay videos gay free freesoftware editing movieporn movies free Map
Belgian comics publisher Raymond LeBlanc (above left, with Hergé) died on March 21 at age 92. Best known as the publisher who gave Tintin a home after World War II, he was also a real life hero, if such a phrase can have any meaning. A member of the Resistance during the war, he later persuaded the demoralized Hergé to begin publishing Tintin in the new Tintin Magazine. The move changed the history of comics. In later years, LeBlanc developed Lombard into a publishing powerhouse, and at 2003’s Angouleme won the first ever Honorary Alph Art award for an editor.
Tom has more, but
Forbidden Planet’s translation of an interview with LeBlanc as good a place as any to learn about this seminal figure in world comics history.
Sixty years ago Raymond Leblanc founded the Magazine Tintin, he produced six Belgian animated features and, when the final history of the Belgian comic is ever written, he will have one of the leading parts. In his glory days Leblanc seemed to lead nine different lives at once. We present you an exclusive and especially frank interview with a living legend of 92 years.
The man sitting in front of me folds his hands and holds them under his chin, the elbows full of self-confidence on his desk. “Tell me”, he says, “How may I be of service?” We are sitting in a cosy, warm and luxurious office on the eighth floor of the Lombard Publishers building near the Gare du Midi in Brussels. The man in front of me is 92 years old, but shows no signs of getting old. “You will have to speak up, though. I have a little problem hearing”. Other than that, Raymond Leblanc is as lucid as the next guy. He remembers things that happened sixty years ago as if they were yesterday. He answers to the point and without hesitation. Even at 92, Leblanc will not be silenced in what he says will be his last interview.
Visionary and science fiction giant Arthur C. Clarke has died at age 90.
The British-born Clarke, who lived in Colombo, Sri Lanka, for decades, died early today after experiencing breathing problems, an aide, Rohan De Silva, told the Associated Press.
Clarke, a former farm boy who was knighted for his contributions to literature, wrote more than 80 fiction and nonfiction books (some in collaboration) and more than 100 short stories — as well as hundreds of articles and essays.
Among his best-known science-fiction novels are “Childhood’s End,” “Rendezvous With Rama,” “Imperial Earth” and, most famously, “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
While reading the NYT today, I was struck by the obit of Pearl Cornioley, a resistance fighter during WWII, who died a few weeks ago in France.
She was the inspiration for the novel and later film CHARLOTTE GRAY, which starred Cate Blanchett.
But…given that her code name was Marie, it made me wonder. Was she also the inspiration for the 1950s DC WWII character Mlle. Marie, who was a French resistance fighter and sometimes paramour of Sgt. Rock?
A cursory skimming around of the net didn’t reveal any answers and the connection may be dubious (Marie was a French peasant girl, Cornioley was British by birth, but raised French).
Still, it’s worth a moment to stop and honor a remarkable woman and all she did 60 years ago.
Posted by Mark Coale
I’ve just received word that Dave Stevens, the creator of the Rocketeer, died yesterday at age 52. Stevens had dropped out of sight for the most part in recent years and had been battling leukemia, a fact which he kept as private as possible.
Stevens was known for his meticulous artwork, reminiscent of the greatest illustrators of the past and the whiz bang pulpishness of the 30s and 40s. He was, of course, also obsessed with model Bettie Page. These came together in The Rocketeer, which was published by Eclipse, Pacific, Comico and Dark Horse in its various incarnations. In 1991 it was turned into a Disney film starring Billy Campbell and a young Jennifer Connelly. The film underperformed at the time but has become very fondly remembered.
In recent years “What ever happened to Dave Stevens?” became a frequent message board topic. He had always been a notoriously slow artist, and in recent years lived off of commissions for the pin-up art he excelled at.
Dave was the last artist of an innocent era when showing less and teasing more was the way to eroticism. He was much more than that, of course. His artwork burst with the heroic innocence and determination of an America that existed fully only on the printed page and the movie screen. Even when drawing some bondage or spanking scene, his art was human, lively, caring.
Like the man. I have so many memories of Dave. Cat Yronwode once told me that Dave was unique among cartoonists because he wore clothes that fit him, which sounds like a sorry compliment, but Dave did stand out among the cartoonists of that time for paying a lot of attention to his appearance — Cliff Secord, the hero of the Rocketeer, was obviously based visually on Dave. It didn’t come off as vanity, but wanting to give an appearance that went with the art. It was part of his esthetic. Once he gave me a ride to a Golden Apple party in what I called “Old Betsy” his beloved vintage Ford. (I had no car when I first moved to LA and was always dependent on the kindness of friends.) Arriving in such a vehicle with a dashing, handsome man like Dave was the kind of thing that a girl writes about in her diary that night.
The above picture was taken at 2002’s Comic-Con. As usual Dave was surrounded by artwork and beautiful women, his twin passions. Dave was always a gentleman, kind, respectful, insightful, with a love of art and beauty that truly was, more than almost any artist I can think of, his entire life.
I’m really, really going to miss him.
UPDATE: Mark Evanier has a wonderful remembrance here.
Dave was truly one of the nicest people I have ever met in my life…and the most gifted. Our first encounter was at Jack Kirby’s house around 1971 when he came to visit and show Jack some of his work. As I said, Kirby was very encouraging and he urged Dave not to try and draw like anyone else but to follow his own passions. This was advice Dave took to heart, which probably explains why he took so long with every drawing. They were rarely just jobs to Dave. Most of the time, what emerged from his drawing board or easel was a deeply personal effort. He was truly in love with every beautiful woman he drew, at least insofar as the paper versions were concerned.
British artist and colorist Steve Whitaker, perhaps best known here for coloring V FOR VENDETTA died suddenly last Friday at age 52. D’Israeli has a remembrance and links to several more heartfelt tributes.
Anyone who was around the London comics scene in the 80’s and early 90’s will remember Steve; at 6ft 4in he was hard to miss in his trademark long dark overcoat. He was a world-class colourist who will probably be remembered professionally for his work on the DC Comics edition of V for Vendetta, but he was far more than that; a brilliant draughtsman, painter, teacher and historian of comics, raconteur and ace punster. He was also my best mate.
You can see Whitaker’s painting work at his Flickr account.
French colorist Stephane Peru, who worked on a variety of books for Marvel and DC has died at age 26, of a heart attack, Newsarama reported yesterday:
Jean Wacquet, editor-in-chief of French comics publisher Soleil, has informed Newsarama.com that artist/colorist Stéphane Peru, best known for his work as a colorist on Marvel’s Ultimate X-Men, Incredible Hercules, Annihilation: Conquest and Annihilation: Conquest – Quasar, Avengers: The Initiative, Civil War: X-Men, and DC’s Teen Titans: Year One, 52, The Flash: The Fastest Man Alive and All Flash, has passed away on Monday, February 11th. His work will also be seen in several upcoming projects such as the just-announced The Invincible Iron Man and Young X-Men. He was only 26.
Calling it a “tragedy,” Wacquet said that “Everybody here [at Soleil] is so sad. Our friend and partner Stéphane Peru passed away yesterday afternoon.”
Writer Steve Gerber passed away on February 10th. He was 60 and had been hospitalized for the past few weeks due to pulmonary fibrosis. He was on the list for a lung transplant, but had developed an infection which greatly weakened his condition. Gerber had been blogging from his hospital bed about his illness.
Gerber was one of a handful of writers who significantly expanded the comics medium. He created or co-created Omega the Unknown and his best known creation, Howard the Duck and made Man-Thing the character that he is best known as. During his 70s marvel run he was also well known for a long-run on the Defenders, and wrote the first appearance of KISS in comics form.
Howard The Duck, introduced as a throwaway character in an issue of Man-Thing, was perhaps the first mainstream Marvel character to introduce the anti-establishment humor of the underground comics of the time. Howard, a sarcastic duck from Cleveland, battled such satirical foes as the Kidney Lady and Doctor Bong, romanced the beautiful human Beverly Switzer, and even ran for President.
Howard would later become one of the symbols of the failings of mainstream comics: Gerber unsuccessfully sued for ownership of the character, a benefit book, Destroyer Duck was created, and Gerber created a follow-up, Stewart the Rat, also for Eclipse.
Gerber went on to work on various projects in animation, TV and comics. His mini-series HARD TIMES for DC was one of his most recent writing highlights. At the time of his death he was working on a Dr. Fate mini-series for DC. His recent
Mark Evanier has more:
What I feel the need to tell you is just what a great guy he was. In the seventies, when New York comic professionals were banding together to find ways to elevate the stature of the field and the living standards of its practitioners, Steve was at the nexus of so many of those efforts. When Steve was involved in his lawsuit with Marvel, many fellow professionals rallied around him with loans and gifts of cash and some of us put together a benefit comic book, Destroyer Duck, to raise money. People did that because they knew, first of all, that Steve was fighting not just for his own financial reasons but for matters of principle relating to how the comic book industry treated its creators. That some of the more pernicious business practices soon went away had a lot to do with Steve taking the stand he did. Also, those who knew Steve knew that when you were in need, he would do anything to help. He was, in every sense of the word, a friend.
I’ll have a longer memorial to Gerber in a bit. Right now I am in serious mourning – it’s no exaggeration to say that no writer has had a greater influence on my life and I would not be the same person without the work of Steve Gerber. My condolences to his friends and family.
Gerber’s wikipedia page lists the characters he created or co-created.
• A. Bizarro
• All-Night Party
• Angar the Screamer
• Princess Ariel
• Baphomet (comics)
• Cybernary
• Death-Stalker
• Destiny
• Destroyer Duck
• Doctor Bong
• Doctor Fate (Kent V. Nelson) (Replacement version)
• Exiles (Malibu Comics)
• Foolkiller
• Hard Time
• Headmen
• Howard the Duck
• Amber Hunt
• Hydro-Base
• Hydro-Men
• Ikthalon
• Jennifer Kale
• Kamuu
• KISS (Marvel Universe versions)
• Korrek
• Korvac
• Lord Pumpkin
• Mandrill
• Montesi
• N’Kantu, the Living Mummy
• Nekra
• Nevada
• Nikki
• Aleta Ogord
• Omega the Unknown
• Ookla the Mok
• Phantom Blonde
• Poison
• Red Guardian (later known as Starlight)
• Ruby Thursday
• Richard Rory
• Shanna the She-Devil
• Silver Samurai
• Sludge
• Starhawk
• Stewart the Rat
• Therea
• Thog
• Thundarr the Barbarian
• Void Indigo
• Wundarr the Aquarian
UPDATE: Tom has a much better obit than anything I’ll ever write here.
Gus Arriola, creator of the comic strip Gordo, has died at age 90. The strip, which began in 1941, was one of the first to highlight Mexican culture on the comics page, although Arriola changed the character from a bandit to a bean farmer after some complaints.
In an interview with The Chronicle several years after he retired, Arriola said he drew the comic strip for an audience that knew little about Mexico or its culture.
“My main goal was to maintain a positive awareness of Mexico through all the years, every day, without being political,” he said in 1989. “When I started, words like ‘burrito’ were unknown in the United States.”
Oscar nominated actor Heath Ledger, who plays the Joker in this summer’s THE DARK KNIGHT was found dead in his Soho apartment this afternoon, multiple sources are reporting.
According to the NY Times, a masseuse arriving for an appointment found the actor dead in his bedroom. Pills were found near his body.
Ledger’s Joker character was the subject of an ongoing viral marketing campaign for the new Batman film. These plans will undoubtedly be reassessed in the wake of Ledger’s death.
The SF Chronicle reports that cartoonist Martha Arguello - better known as Marty Links — died on Sunday at age 90. As Links, Arguello was the creator of Bobby Sox, which ran for 35 years, although it later changed its name to Emmy Lou. The panel inspired a short-lived TV show, but more than that was a looking glass for society, capturing the moods and fashions of teen-aged girls through the 40s and 50s. Arguello raised three children while working on the strip and turned to making greeting cards and ceramics when she retired.
Like some other successful women cartoonists of the day, used a male name, Don Markstein writes:
By the way, if you happen to be confused by the the given name of the cartoonist, you’re not alone. So, apparently, was The National Cartoonists’ Society, of which she was one of the first female members. Correspondence from the Society was addressed to “Mr. Marty Links” even after she’d given birth to her first child. She offered to send them her bust size.
Arguello is survived by two daughters. There will be a reception in her honor at the Cartoon Art Museum 655 Mission St., San Francisco, from 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday. The family suggests donations in her name to Canine Companions for Independence, 2965 Dutton Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95402.
Word is going around that long time comics fan Paul “Zeus” Grant passed away last month. Grant was a popular and big-hearted poster on the early days of Compuserve’s Comics and Animation forum, and I’d run into him at conventions, usually with his son Phillip at his side, and we’d always share a laugh or an observation. He also wrote for the early days of Wizard magazine. John Ostrander has a lovely remembrance and more details at ComicMix, and Mark Evanier also remembers “Zeus.”.
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