The Inbetweeners

For the past two months or so Bill Peckmann has been sending me a series of gags called "The Inbetweeners". Here's what he has to say about it: "Back in the '80's, while working with two of the best assistant animators that I had ever worked with, (As was our want, studio gags always flew back and forth, hot and heavy, it is amazing that we ever got any real work done.), I made this collection of Eddy (A huge Disney fan.) and Mike (A huge fan of life.)."
With Bill's permission here are some of my favorite gags!
Enjoy!

Roy Nelson original art!

Finally!
The Roy Nelson artwork has arrived. :)
Check it out!
And for your viewing pleasure, some close-ups.



You can find references to the prohibition with speakeasies and smugglers. And there's a talkie and a pole sitter. This would date the artwork to ca 1930. I bet there are some famous actors portrayed here. Any guess?

Anyone who knows where it was published? I'd love to have the printed magazine. The back of the illustration says "G-#5 12/18". Any bells ringing?

Sketchbook site

There's a new site devoted to artists sketchbooks.
Both in print and as apps.
It's called --- drumroll ---
Artists Sketchbooks!
Go check it out!

Floyd Gottfredson 1942

Another watercolor by Floyd Gottfredson has just surfaced! Appearing in the William Randolph Hearst 1942 Birthday Book along with other artwork by KFS artists, this might be the oldest one of them all.


You want it? It will be up for auction at Heritage Auction Galleries soon.
If no one else bids it can be yours for $4000.
The catalog can be downloaded HERE.
There are plenty of nice items to bid on, if you got a few thousand bucks to spare.

Wheaties Disney Comics & ads

Don't know what kind of mask to wear on Halloween? This ad will make you wish you had a time machine. Then you could go back in time to get this frightening Donald Duck mask from Wheaties.

Scary, eh? I wonder if it was meant for kids to wear, or parents to scare the kids from reading comics...

Here are two more Wheaties ads. I think I found these photos on eBay earlier this year. And while the comic books can easily be found (If you have the money) I bet these ads are pretty rare.


While googling for more on these Wheaties I found a nice set with the original envelope HERE at mycomicshop.com. [Click to enlarge.]



They also have three other sets for those of you who are rich and/or have lot's o' cash to spend. ;)

Even more Disney/Wheaties rare stuff can be found here: theimaginaryworld.com

Now, can we please have a complete book with all of the rare Wheaties and Cheerios Disney giveaways (Including the 3D books.) in facsimile? With bonusmaterial.
Thanks! :)

Update - Alfapojken

Back in May I showed a glimpse of the project I and Hedvig were working on. (And we still are, just trying to squeze in a page every now and then in our busy scedules.)
Now it can be told what it is.
It's a chapter in Daniel Ahlgren's next SH3 book! And here are a few pages from that story as a teaser:

Besides me and Hedvig there are a few other artists on board this project. Lars Krantz and Jimmy Wallin will also do one story each and Daniel will illustrate one chapter himself.

The story I and Hedvig are working on (Alfapojken wich is Alfaboy in english.) will be released as a single issue in the spring.

Duck Tales pencils.

Thanks to Gerben Valkema; Here's Daan Jippes pencils to the Duck Tales poster I posted last week. Enjoy!

Frightful Frankenstein Friday!

To celebrate the release of Craig Yoe's new book
"Dick Briefer's Frankenstein" it's:
Frightful Frankenstein Friday!

Today a number of bloggers will bring you samples from the new book.
I've chosen the story "Mananimals" and after you've read the story you can follow the links to read even more. Or buy the book! :)
Enjoy!

And Everything Else Too

Blog of Frankenstein

Cartoon Snap!

Comicrazys

Four-Color Shadows

Frankensteinia: The Frankenstein Blog

Magic Carpet Burn

Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine

Random Acts of Geekery

Sequential Crush

Stephen Bissette’s Myrant

The Big Blog of Kids Comics

The Comic Book Bin

The Fabuleous Fifties

The Horrors of It All

The ITCH Blog

Bonus:
This video of Craig being interviewed about the Frankenstein book at the NY Comic Con was just posted on YouTube.


Extra bonus:
A fan pic of editor Craig Yoe!

Two Mickeys by Gottfredson

It's been a long time since I posted any "new" Gottfredson watercolor artwork. Since last time two more pieces has turned up. Both small portraits of Mickey and pretty similar. Enjoy!


[If you are aware of any Gottfredson watercolor not featured on this blog or in Willits book, please let me know as I'd love to see them.]

Wolverton's Bingbang Buster & Hedy

Any Basil Wolverton fans out there?
Bill Peckmann has just sent me an odd story by him. And here's what Bill has to say about it.

"Here's a curiosity piece if any one's interested. (I finally dug out my collection of favorite western comics.),
In 1949 Basil Wolverton introduced his character Bingbang Buster and his horse Hedy in Black Diamond Western #16. To me, it is a real precursor to Mad comics, just loved this insert feature as a kid. Remember this is almost 3 years before Mad, note the Bill Elder type signs.
Thought you'd like to see it since Black Diamond seems to fly under everyone's radar."

Now, Enjoy! :)

Floyd Gottfredson Library vol 1

Some great news: The first volume of the Floyd Gottfredson Library, or Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse: "Race to Death Valley" (Vol. 1) as it seems to be titled, is now available for pre-order at Amazon.
260 pages and a release date in May 2011.
While the cover design leaves a lot to be desired it sure looks better than the old Gemstone version. But I guess that what we see is a work-in-progress dummy. I'm sure this will be a great book and I'm looking forward to it, and the following volumes!

Original E. Simms Campbell art and more

Earlier this week I got a mail from a John Bender telling me he had an original E. Simms Campbell illustration for sale. Here's what he wrote: "My wife's mother has had this illustration in the attic since 1945. It was painted by E. Simms Campbell and Louis Priscilla. Campbell was apparently the first African-American cartoonist / illustrator to be syndicated in American magazines. This painting, about 2' X 3', represents what GI's thought they would find and what they actually found in various parts of the world. It was published in Look Magazine in July, 1945, as a centerfold."

John also included a few snapshots that I'm happy to share with you.
First we have the cover of Look Magazine and the printed version of the centerfold

Then the original art ...
... and a close up of the signatures.

If you have been looking for one of Simms Campbell's Good Girl Art illustrations this might be something for you. :)
If you are interested in this piece, just drop John a mail at darthjab at gmail.com

And speaking of E. Simms Campbell, I just got a mail from Ariel S. Winter who writes:
"I'm writing to let you know about a series of recent blog posts I did on E. Simms Campbell. One is an overview of Campbell work with quotes from an interview Campbell gave in 1945, and the other is on his illustrations for Langston Hughes and Arna Bontemps's novel Popo and Fifina."

If you are interested in Campbell you ought to check them out!

Laugh-O-Grams - Lost and found!

Thought most of Disney's early Laugh-O-Gram cartoons were lost? Not so anymore. Go check out David Gerstein's Ramapith blog for more info!