Easter Is Coming

It's been some time since I've posted, and I'm aiming to do better. I'm now so entangled with online activities that it sometimes seems difficult to get anything else done. And then I duck out of handling this or that or the other aspect of my online life. In any case, as noted, aiming to do better. For example, I spent a chunk of this morning scanning a Walt Kelly story that appeared in Easter with Mother Goose (Dell Four-Color #103, copyright 1946 Oskar Lebeck, copyright not renewed) in order to post the complete story on the CBGXtra site. It wasn't till I looked at the copyright information that I realized that I must have bought my copy (which I used for scanning) when I was 3 and a half years old. I'd had no idea that my comic-book collecting began that young. All things considered (such as the year-after-year reading), it's in surprisingly good shape -- which is to say it's in "Poor" condition. Here's another page -- a stand-alone -- from that issue. (Easter comics are unusual in the field of comic-book publishing, but Kelly's contributions were outstanding.)

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Non-Cartoon Animation in Coraline

As seems to be the case with the rest of adult humanity (though I wouldn't extend a viewing to little kids), I had a wonderful time with the film version of Neil Gaiman's Coraline. I was initially hostile to references to the film that identified only the director and screenwriter (Henry Selick wearing two hats), I must admit. But Selick did morph the original, even as he morphed the characters, settings, and everything else in the project. Among the aspects that impressed me was that, as I watched the (2D version of the) film, I failed to recall that it was stop-motion animation, not CGI. I've heard some people say that they liked the slight "imperfections" that reminded them it was stop-motion; I never noticed them. And the fact that I had actually seen and photographed some of the figures (such as the one on the right) at last year's Comic-Con International: San Diego never occurred to me as I watched the film.

I think the nearest 3D showing is in Madison; I'm hoping it'll still be there by the time weather permits an excursion.

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Identifying Cartoonists

I was delighted to be able to purchase a cartoon that fits so nicely with the pop culture I love. But.

This cartoon, bought through a Heritage auction, is one I'm sure I've seen in the past -- almost certainly in a collection of magazine cartoons. Not only did it appeal to my affection for magazine cartoons in general, of course; it also touched that nerve of love for Old Time Radio shows -- and, for that matter, for Old Time Radio shows of the Mysterious Stranger type. You can see at once the challenge, though: Who the heck drew it? Frank, yes. But which Franks were active magazine cartoonists in the 1930s, 1940s, or 1950s? I consulted George Hagenauer, who put the probable age of the cartoon at earlier, rather than later. He initially guessed at Frank Beaven but then decided the art was better than most of what he's seen of Beaven's work. His guess at original publisher was Collier's, Liberty, or Saturday Evening Post.

Identifying cartoonists whose signature is not apparent has been an ongoing challenge in the field of original art, of course. Its most challenging current aspect is that of assigning credits on old comic-book stories. But that's not the only time it has me scratching my head.

Any guesses regarding credit for this cartoon?

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Regarding Rob Siegel, The Wrestler, and Entertainment Weekly

I just received Entertainment Weekly for January 23, 2009 -- and was delighted to read the following, in its Golden Globe coverage:

"Besties 4-Ever, Part 2: Mickey Rourke and His Dogs The best-actor-in-a-drama winner neglected to mention Wrestler screenwriter Robert Siegel -- but he did thank all his four-legged friends, dead and alive."

I've known Rob since his magnificent Onion-editing days in Madison, Wis., and I know The Wrestler has been a years-long project for him. Anyone who has followed the entertainment biz for a while knows that many of those responsible for massive successes are often ignored. Cheers to EW for not ignoring the creator fundamentally responsible for The Wrestler. Thanks, reporters Dave Karger and Lynette Rice!

(And we can all look forward to Rob's next project. Yay!)

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John Maddock Mad6 China

F+W Media decided to sell the corporate guest houses in Iola, and one of the final steps was emptying the Thorson House of its assortment of furnishings so that the new owners could move in. Over the weekend, employees bid on this and that, and I ended up with a slew of wine glasses (including matched sets of 14 small glasses and 7 larger ones; is "glasses" the term? goblets, maybe?), a slew of old china, and (yes! thinking ahead!) a slew of maroon towels. This morning, the beverage containers are on the mantel, and the china resides on kitchen surfaces. In the case of the china (for which I paid $85, more than the minimum bid), my first curiosity was what the pattern actually is. It's not a complete set, though there are lots of dishes. There's no gravy boat. There's no sugar-and-creamer set. So what if I wanted to add those? And these dishes have been in use for decades, so several pieces are chipped. So what if I wanted to replace them? (The set seems to have a base of 12 [though I bet it began as 14 before attrition hit].)

Kind Kim Frankenhoff came to the rescue, having been handed a saucer, and she came up with the following:

The set is (as identified on an assortment of dish bottoms) Royal Vitreous made by John Maddock & Sons. And (yay, Kim!) the pattern is officially known as Mad6. The startling information comes from an eBay search, where I find the Oval Covered Vegetable dish (above), for example, is priced at $245. And the Round Footed Soup Tureen is $375. On the other hand, the Round Covered Vegetable Dish is a mere $195. Ah, and a cup and saucer set (a couple above; I have 8) is $32 @.

This does not bode well for the goal of filling out the impulsively purchased set with a gravy boat. Mind you, people offering random pieces on eBay are probably not those who can even identify the pattern, so there'd be a posting something along the lines of "Old Gravy Boat RARE!" and I'm not about to spend the time. The prices in the preceding paragraph are those from online stores that specialize in identifying and selling this sort of thing, and I'm not about to spend the money for their expertise. So probably what I have is what I'll stick with, though I'm still curious as to when it was manufactured and what was in the "complete" set. (Old china can be weird; Valerie gave me a bunch of Haviland china a few years ago in what a friend identified as the "Apple Blossom" pattern -- and it included ramekins and strange dishes for fish bones. Heck, a cup and saucer set from that pattern is listed at $60 from Replacements Ltd.)

I love the idea of even having a Round Covered Vegetable Dish, and it's been used enough that I trust my dish is not truly worth the full $195. But this is a hobby in which I've probably dabbled to my limit already.

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