Hairy Green Eyeball

We've moved!

2010-08-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

WE'VE MOVED!

We've run out of room on this site, so we've moved to:

http://hairygreeneyeball2.blogspot.com

You'll see our logo:

Look! It's more Hey Look!

2009-08-01T02:24:00.000-07:00

Hey Look! was a strip that MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman did for Stan Lee in the late 1940s. Random one-page strips appeared in many comics, and a collector could spend years collecting them all. Denis Kitchen solved the problem by publishing a major compilation of the strips in 1992. A couple of months ago I showed you a portfolio of 10 later Hey Look! strips, showing Kurtzman's progression as a cartoonist, but the strips I'm showing now are some of the earliest. Kurtzman had a true gift for humor, for cartooning and satire, yet over a period of just a couple of years, from the earliest Hey Look! strips to the last, he really came into his own as an artist.

HEY LOOK! By Harvey Kurtzman, Kitchen Sink Press, Publisher, 1992. All Hey Look material copyright © 1992 Harvey Kurtzman

Vip's Here We Go Again...again

2009-07-30T00:02:00.000-07:00

The second and final set of cartoons from Vip's 1951 book, HERE WE GO AGAIN.

The first set from the book is here.

Copyright © 1951 Virgil Franklin Partch

Time Tunnel

2009-07-28T01:40:00.000-07:00

THE TIME TUNNEL was an Irwin Allen production, one of his cheesy science fiction shows for television. It didn't last long, but over the years has attained some sort of cult status because of its association with its era, the 1960s, and Allen's other shows, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, LOST IN SPACE, and LAND OF THE GIANTS.

TIME TUNNEL, the comic book, lasted two issues. This is #1 from 1966. It's drawn by Tom Gill.

Copyright © 1966 Kent Productions, Inc., and Twentieth Century-Fox, Inc.

Bruce N. Duncan, R.I.P.

2009-07-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some cartoons and scans of work by cartoonist Bruce N. Duncan, provided by and with an explanation by David Miller:

Bruce Duncan died of cancer June 7, 2009, at the East Bay Hospital in Northern California.

Duncan (he hated to be called by his first name), was a regular figure on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley for many years. He set up shop in front of the now defunct Cody’s Book Store. His shop was an ironing board with copies of his publications for sale. Duncan self-published his cartoons using a Xerox machine and hand stapling or taping the pages together. His main efforts went into printing TELE-TIMES which ran for many years. It consisted mainly of letters, reviews and articles from others, including R. Crumb, who even drew a cover for one issue. It also printed cartoons from local artists, mainly other street people. TELE-TIMES also ran a cartoon series by Duncan called THE HOLE AND ITS DOUGHNUT, Featuring Ned Nelson, (a caricature of Duncan as a younger man).

Duncan reached national fame for a brief time with the publication of a calendar that he and fellow cartoonist, Ace Backwards, published. It was filled with photos of Berkeley street people. Dan Rather showed it on the air and helped to give Berkeley its reputation of being a home for weirdos.

It is nearly impossible to know how many different publications Duncan printed or contributed to. Some of his publications like SO BE IT or SEEKING VISION consisted of 50 or so total copies.

I first met Duncan at a cartoonist collective in Oakland in 1976. We both contributed to an underground comix titled, ORGASM REVIEW. I thought he drew the best Popeye I ever saw an amateur do.

His comics were raunchy and sexist, but naturally appealing and many times very funny. His lines were simple and bold. He could knock out a gag panel, a lengthy story or use his cartoons to get his personal philosophy of life across. He was a natural talent who always did things his own way, for better or worse.
In person he was a quiet and soft spoken man. His long beard and scraggly look put some people off, but Duncan was very well liked. --David Miller

The letter by Duncan to "Mr. Geerdes" was written to Clay Geerdes (1934-1997), who chronicled the underground comix scene from the vantage point of his home in Berkeley, CA. Geerdes was a strong proponent of self-publishing, and put his money where his mouth was by publishing dozens of young cartoonists in hundreds of mini-comix titles. His photos have been seen in several documentaries and books.

David Miller is the administrator of Geerdes' estate, including photographs and mini-comix. If you wish to contact Dave for information or for licensing you can write him at DMiller611@aol.com

WARNING: The following material is for adults only.

1966 Playboy

2009-07-24T04:49:00.000-07:00

Hilarious cartoons from 1966 issues of PLAYBOY.

Thanks to the anonymous person who scanned these. All I had to do was reset the captions for legibility.

Copyright © 1966 PLAYBOY

The Reptile

2009-07-22T00:02:00.000-07:00

A recent showing of a1966 Hammer Film, THE REPTILE, reminded me of this top-notch comics adaptation from the April, 1978 magazine, HOUSE OF HORROR #19.

Illustrations are by Brian Lewis, and the script is by Steve Moore.

HOUSE OF HORROR Copyright © 1978 Top Sellers, LTD.

Mark Twain meets Lynd Ward

2009-07-20T00:52:00.000-07:00

Lynd Ward was an illustrator with a variety of styles, all of them accomplished. He became famous in the 1920s with his novel in woodcuts, GOD'S MAN. He also illustrated many books written by his wife, May Mc Neer. These illustrations are from AMERICA'S MARK TWAIN, a biography of Twain illustrated by Ward using gray tones and full color gouache paintings. Interjected into the biographical material are these previews of some of Twain's most famous works, illustrated by Ward with a beautiful, free and loose pen style.

More illustrations by Ward can be found at the now defunct ILLUSTRATION STATION blog here and here.

AMERICA'S MARK TWAIN Copyright © 1962 May Mc Neer Ward and Lynd Ward

Pirates by Greg Irons

2009-07-18T00:06:00.000-07:00

My old friend David Miller has helped me again, this time supplying scans for the excellent 1985 Bellerophon Book, PIRATES, drawn by Greg Irons.

Dave has this observation:

When I saw the movie, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, the first one, I was immediately struck by how much the side characters looked like they were from this book. It is my personal observation, but I do want Irons to get some notice here. I really do think that they used his designs for the movie. It is not that much of a stretch and why go to all the work designing the look when a master has already done it.

I posted an underground comix-styled promotional comic book for Grunt Records, GRUNT COMIX #2 also drawn by Irons. Irons, who besides his work in underground comix had a career as a tattoo artist, died while visiting Bangkok, Thailand. He was hit by a bus and killed on November 14, 1984 at the young age of 37.

PIRATES Copyright © 1985 Bellerophon Books

Two artists named Jesse

2009-07-16T00:05:00.000-07:00

Brothers of the Spear was the long-running back up serial in Dell's TARZAN comics, beginning in issue #25, October 1951. Below are the scans of the initial episode from that issue. It's drawn by longtime Tarzan artist Jesse Marsh. Marsh died in 1966 at age 59.

In 1972 Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc., owner of the Tarzan character, licensed it to DC Comics. Brothers of the Spear was a property owned by Western Publishing, who published the Gold Key line of comics. BROTHERS OF THE SPEAR #1 was cover dated June 1972. Another Jesse, Jesse Santos, a Philippine artist born in 1928, picked up the pen to draw the feature. The comic lasted for 18 issues, but Santos was not the artist on the entire run.

The strip from TARZAN #25 is taken from an Internet download, and BROTHERS OF THE SPEAR #1 is scanned from my copy. A month ago I posted another Jesse Santos-illustrated comic, TRAGG AND THE SKY GODS #1.

Copyright © 1951, 1972 Western Publishing Company, Inc.

Pretty Pictures by O. Soglow

2009-07-14T00:22:00.000-07:00

Otto Soglow was a popular cartoonist for decades. He was born in 1900, and became a New Yorker cartoonist shortly after that magazine began, producing Little King cartoons. William Randolph Hearst hired him away to do the Little King for Hearst's King Features Syndicate, which Soglow did until his death in 1975.

These cartoons are from the book, PRETTY PICTURES, published in 1931 by Farrer & Rinehart. The scans are provided by David Miller. Thanks, Dave!

Copyright © 1931 Farrer & Rinehart

Vampi and Evily

2009-07-12T00:06:00.000-07:00

Here are four stories from the first three issues of VAMPIRELLA, 1969. Included are the first two Vampi stories from issue numbers 1 and 2, and both stories in the short-lived Evily series, from numbers 2 and 3. Evily was Vampi's cousin, but it's obvious the idea just didn't work and was quickly dropped. The second Vampi story features Vampi's blonde twin, Draculina, in her one and only appearance...obviously another idea that died. Still, these are stories for Vampirella fans to see.

It's also fun to see the caricatures of publisher Jim Warren and writer/FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND editor Forrest J. Ackerman in the second Vampi story.

Artwork is by Tom Sutton, Jerry Grandenetti, and Mike Royer.

VAMPIRELLA #1, #2, and #3 Copyright © 1969 Warren Publications.

20 Party Tricks

2009-07-10T00:41:00.000-07:00

Want to be popular? Want to thrill and delight people at parties? Want the admiration and envy of strong and powerful men, the attention and affection of beautiful women? Say no more. This book and its clever tricks, with practice, will help you turn the corner to a richer, more exciting social life.

Selections from 20 PARTY TRICKS TO AMUSE AND AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS By Sophie Blackall, published by Chronicle Books. Copyright © 1995 by The Watermark Press.

Ballyhoo

2009-07-08T01:35:00.000-07:00

BALLYHOO was a popular magazine of the 1930s, which set the precedent for MAD magazine twenty years later. BALLYHOO used fake ads and top cartoonists. It was published by George Delacorte, who founded Dell Publishing.

David Miller provided these scans. He didn't indicate what issues what cartoons and ad parodies came from, but said they are from 1931 and 1932. This is half of what he sent me, and I'll be showing the rest of them soon.

Thanks for your generosity, Dave! I hadn't seen any of these before, and I'm glad you shared them.

More grim goodies by Chas Addams

2009-07-07T02:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some more cartoons by the great Chas Addams. These come from THE NEW YORKER 1955-1965 ALBUM.

Copyright © 1965 The New Yorker

**********

Science fiction at midnight

2009-07-05T01:56:00.000-07:00

A science fiction issue of the supernatural comic book, WITCHING HOUR, features artist Neal Adams on the cover, and Jeff Jones, Stanley Pitt, and Al Williamson with Carlos Garzon drawing interior stories.

Pitt, an Australian artist, was influenced by Alex Raymond, something he shared with Al Williamson. Pitt died in 2002.

THE WITCHING HOUR #14, May-June 1971, Copyright © 1971 DC Comics.

Babysan's World, R.I.P. Bill Hume

2009-07-02T01:17:00.000-07:00

David Miller provided me with these sharp scans from Bill Hume's BABYSAN'S WORLD. Hume made these gently comic observations while in Japan during the occupation. Hume's love for the culture--and women--of Japan is evident.

Dave also told me that Hume died just days ago, on June 27, 2009, at the grand old age of 93. It makes posting these beautiful drawings especially poignant. Here's a website devoted to Hume.

BABYSAN'S WORLD Copyright © 1954 Charles Tuttle, Publisher.

The Compleat Mars Attacks

2009-06-30T02:01:00.000-07:00

In an email, reader Stevearino said, "Thanks for the links to those Flying Saucer Week postings from last year!!! You showed some of the MARS ATTACKS cards (and thanks for doing it!!), but do you have the rest of the cards you can post??"

Hi-ho, Stevearino, I do. Here's the set, including #55, the synopsis.

MARS ATTACKS Copyright © 1962 Topps

Tom and Jerry's Party

2009-06-28T01:04:00.000-07:00

A trip to a local thrift store yesterday yielded this Little Golden Book, a small treasure amongst the dross of people's giveaways and leavings. Finds like this, which were once common, are now more rare thanks to eBay, and book dealers who go through the bookshelves of thrift stores with an eye to resale. Luckily the dealers in my area often overlook children's books, and especially the ubiquitous Little Golden Books. I flip through stacks of them, and every once in a while come away with something like this, a book lovingly kept over 50 years, then finally surrendered to a charity so I could buy it for 25¢, and bring it to you.

Pencil artwork is by the great Harvey Eisenberg, painted by Samuel Armstrong.

TOM AND JERRY'S PARTY, Copyright © 1955 Loew's Incorporated.

The Price is right

2009-06-26T00:42:00.000-07:00

George Price was a superb line artist and gifted cartoonist who worked well into his eighties, providing cartoons for THE NEW YORKER magazine. This selection is from THE NEW YORKER ALBUM 1955-1965.

Price, who was born in 1901, died in 1995.

Copyright © 1965 THE NEW YORKER

Flying Saucers #1

2009-06-24T01:01:00.000-07:00

June 24 is the anniversary of the day that pilot Kenneth Arnold reported seeing a fleet of crescent-shaped craft flying over the Cascade mountains of Washington State. Sixty-two years ago that incident started the flying saucer flap that consumed a nation's attention.

In 1967, amidst another UFO flap, Dell Comics began publication of their FLYING SAUCERS COMICS. This is #1, with art by Chic Stone, Sam Glanzman, Frank Springer, Sal Trapani. The stories contain some contactee stories, including the Glanzman-drawn story of an alien medical exam, then currently in the news with the controversial story of Betty and Barney Hill from the 1966 bestseller by John G. Fuller, THE INTERRUPTED JOURNEY.

For an interesting article by John (THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES) Keel, with his take on the flying saucer mythos, read "The Man Who Invented Flying Saucers".

Also, check out the 2008 Hairy Green Eyeball FLYING SAUCER WEEK!

Day One

Day Two

Day Three

Day Four

Day Five

Day Six

Day Seven

Day Eight

FLYING SAUCERS #1, April 1967. Copyright © 1967 Dell Publishing Company, Inc.

Crime Illustrated

2009-06-21T04:37:00.001-07:00

CRIME ILLUSTRATED was an attempt by EC Comics publisher Bill Gaines to get around the new Comics Code authority by publishing comic books that weren't really comic books, but a hybrid of pulp and comics. The public didn't accept it, sales were poor and the magazine only lasted two issues. It used the EC Comics artists and they pulled out the stops on illustration techniques. Reed Crandall was given full credit for "Fall Guy For Murder" and it looks like his inking in places, but it also looks like Bernard Krigstein shared duties on the pencil art.

Alfred E. Neuman, moonlighting from his job as mascot at Gaines' one magazine success, MAD, is given writer's credit for the grimmest story of the bunch, "Mother's Day."

Copyright © 1955 L. L. Publishing, Inc.

Magnum Opus

2009-06-18T05:40:00.000-07:00

Mickey Schwaberow and Steve Kelez self published their amateur comic book, MAGNUM OPUS, in 1965. Despite some derivative artwork I looked forward to the next issue. I saw raw talent and energy in those pages. My thinking was, these guys can only get better. I never saw another issue, and if it was published I missed it. However, 12 years later I bought Mike Freidrich's "groundlevel" comic, STAR*REACH #9, and was happy to see a strip by Mickey Schwaberow. Apparently he had gotten a lot better in the time between my own artist spottings. The decorative pages of "Sariah and Damon" are done as stained glass windows. At the time Friedrich described Schwaberow as living on the Northern California coast, hand-making toys.

I never saw any more work by Mickey Schwaberow. I hope he found some means of creative expression.

MAGNUM OPUS Copyright © 1965 Mickey Schwaberow and Steven Kelez

"Sariah and Damon," from STAR*REACH #9, June 1977 Copyright © 1977 Mickey Schwaberow

More from Cartoon Humor

2009-06-16T00:57:00.000-07:00

Some jokes are timeless, which includes these sexy gag cartoons from CARTOON HUMOR magazine, 1952.

I have shown more from this and an earlier issue, here, here, and here.

Published and copyright © 1952 Better Publications, Inc.

"Hey, Look!"

2009-06-14T05:55:00.000-07:00

THE ART OF HARVEY KURTZMAN, THE MAD GENIUS OF COMICS by Denis Kitchen and Paul Buhle is finally out, and well worth the wait. I spent a pleasant afternoon and evening going through it. Every page held a surprise for me, and I've been a Kurtzman fan for five decades.

In 1966 comics historian John Benson published a small portfolio of ten Kurtzman Hey Look! pages. By today's standards it was very modest, but it was the first time many fans, including me, had seen them.

Introduction Copyright © 1966 John Benson

"Hey Look" pages Copyright © 1966 Harvey Kurtzman

Larry Todd's Paranoia

2009-06-13T04:38:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite underground cartoonists, Larry Todd, did the bulk of the comic, PARANOIA #1, in 1972 for publisher Co. and Sons. Here are all of his pages and covers for that issue.

Artwork Copyright © 1972 Larry Todd

Story "Passengers" Copyright © 1968 Robert Silverberg

More from I Paint What I See

2009-06-11T04:39:00.000-07:00

Here's another set of cartoons from the macabre and funny I PAINT WHAT I SEE by Gahan Wilson.

The first set of cartoons is here.

Copyright © 1971 Gahan Wilson

Vip's Here We Go Again

2009-06-09T00:57:00.000-07:00

In 1950 the communist government of North Korea invaded South Korea in an attempt at reunification by force. The United States and several other nations joined forces against the invaders. At one point before cessation of hostilities in 1953 the U.S. had over 300,000 troops in Korea. For the second time in less than a decade men were under arms in a shooting war.

Virgil (Vip) Partch, who wrote and drew HERE WE GO AGAIN in 1951, was drafted into the Army in 1944. He had a wicked sense of humor when it came to officers and non-coms, and from the Hairy Green Eyeball's opinion after his own experiences in the U.S. Army, Vip's satire was right on. I don't what kind of marksman Vip was, but when it came to his cartoons he hit a bullseye every time.

Partch, who was born in 1916, died in a car wreck in 1984.

HERE WE GO AGAIN by Virgil Franklin Partch, published by Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1951.

Copyright © 1951 Virgil Franklin Partch II

Tragg and the Sky Gods

2009-06-07T00:05:00.000-07:00

With his book CHARIOTS OF THE GODS (1968), Erich Von Däniken created a whole subgenre of Ufology. His claims that extraterrestrials had visited Earth thousands of years ago created controversy and skepticism, but man, did it sell books and movies. It was also the influence for several different comic book titles.

TRAGG AND THE SKY GODS was created in 1975 for Gold Key by writer/filmmaker Don Glut and artist Jesse Santos. The title went for 8 issues, ending in 1977. There was a #9 in 1982, a reprint of #1.

TRAGG AND THE SKY GODS #1, June 1975, Copyright © 1975 Western Publishing, Inc.

"So long, sucker!" More Talking Blob

2009-06-05T00:05:00.000-07:00

Here's a second grouping of stories from CRACKED BLOCKBUSTER, Summer 1988, featuring the inspired lunacy of Joe Catalano, writer, and John Severin, artist.

The first part of the Talking Blob series is here.

As a bonus, after the Talking Blob we have the Talking Wife! An obscure Severin and Elder collaboration from YOUNG LOVE #8, 1950.

If you want to see more Severin just type in John Severin in the search box in the upper left corner, and you'll get the listing of all the Severin Week postings I did in April. You'll also get Marie Severin, but that's pretty good, too.

CRACKED BLOCKBUSTER Copyright © 1988 Global Communications, Inc.

Yet more Cobean

2009-06-03T00:05:00.000-07:00

More funny Sam Cobean cartoons, originally published in THE NEW YORKER. Scanned from the book THE NAKED EYE, first editon, 1950.

You can find more Cobean cartoons here and here.

Copyright © 1950 Sam Cobean

**********