Out of the Alley!
Hogan's Alley
http://groups.google.com/group/hogans-alley-newsletter?lnk=srg
Dear fellow comics fan:
Now that we've shipped Hogan's Alley #15 to the printer, we wanted to
touch base with you again and talk about comics and, naturally, your
favorite magazine about comics. Hogan's Alley #15 is clocking in as
our biggest issue yet, with 160 pages. (We've put the cover online at
http://www.cagle.com/hogan/images/cover%20files/ha15cover.jpg.)
EVERYTHING'S COMING UP SIMPSONS: As it turns out, rumors of the demise
of theatrically successful 2-D animation have been greatly
exaggerated. Simpsons fans defied box-office predictions and made the
movie one of the summer's biggest hits. To no one's surprise, the
movie is also excellent. We caught up with the movie's director, David
Silverman, to ask him about life after the movie's release:
HA: What's it like to have free time to chat?
DS: It kind of sucks. I no longer have the "too busy" excuse to
disguise the fact I have nothing to say.
HA: Haven't you gotten the memo? 2-D animation is dead. No one makes
money off of it anymore.
DS: I did get the memo. But it was a really long memo. I started
reading it, but I got bored. So I went outside and played in the
sprinkler. (Hot day.) I came back in, started reading it again, but
then it was time to watch cartoons! Then I took a nap. When I woke up,
the movie was out and had made money. So, I don't think I'll ever
finish reading that memo.
HA: How did you react when the opening weekend box office came in?
Where were you when you heard?
DS: I reacted by yelling and swerving in traffic, scaring my folks. I
was driving to the San Diego Comic-Con at the time, and my folks were
with me. But they went to La Jolla. No sense inflicting ComicCon on
them.
HA: What part of the movie posed the biggest directorial challenge for
you?
DS: All that yellow make-up. Keeping it consistent from scene to
scene. Especially under the hot lights. What a pain. Don't make me
relive those moments!
HA: What's that smell? It smells like...sequel!
DS: That smell? Oh, actually I accidentally left the gas on. Thanks
for telling me!
Then David laughed, lit a cigar with a $100 bill and walked away. If
you haven't read our interview with David, you can do so by visiting
http://www.cagle.com/hogan/interviews/silverman.asp .
COMING SOON: One strip we're excited about is Richard Thompson's "Cul
de Sac," which debuts from Universal Press Syndicate on September 10.
The strip is a daily version of the comics work he's done at the
Washington Post for the past few years. We asked Thompson to share
some behind-the-scenes goodies from the strip, and you can see them at
http://www.cagle.com/hogan/newsletter_extras/culdesac_extras/culdesac_extras.asp
. We'll also have an interview with Thompson in Hogan's Alley #16.
KANE USED A CRUTCH: Longtime Hogan's Alley readers know that we can't
resist discovering one artist swiping from another. So while it's
widely known that Batman creator Bob Kane used ghost artists, we were
intrigued by some evidence posted online that he resorted to swipes in
some of his early Batman artwork. On a site devoted to the work of
commercial illustrator Henry Vallely, a diligent blogger posted these
panels: http://henryvallely.blogspot.com/2006/05/gang-busters-secret-origins-of-batman.html
and http://henryvallely.blogspot.com/2006/06/secret-origins-of-batman-part-2.html.
As a certain Boy Wonder might say, Holy line-for-line, Batman!
TRIVIA TIME
We've made no secret that one of our favorite new strips is Mark
Tatulli's "Lio," which follows in the noble tradition of pantomime
strips, which naturally makes us think of other strips that require no
reading. To answer this challenge, place these pantomime strips in
chronological order of their debuts:
A. Henry
B. The Little King
C. Ferd'nand
D. Benny
E. Bozo
QUICK HITS: Snarkfest site Gawker.com has been hosting a contest for
the best fake New Yorker cartoon. Most of them are pretty dismal, but
it's fun to see what contributors think passes for magazine
cartooning: http://gawker.com/news/cartooning/. . . While it's not
cartooning, artist Mark Longmire has been having cheeky fun with the
art of the romance novel. Check out his work at
http://www.worldoflongmire.com/features/romance_novels/. . . If you've
always wanted to dress like a Peanuts character but didn't know where
to obtain the proper garments, your troubles are over:
http://www.fashionweekdaily.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=449345&iNewsCat=%3CCAT%3E&itype=8486.
(We hear that the zigzag stripe has a slimming effect on the wearer.)
SUBSCRIBE TO HOGAN, WIN ORIGINAL ART: Once again next issue, we will
be randomly inserting pieces of original comic art into subscriber
copies of Hogan's Alley #15. Marcus Hamilton, artist on the daily
"Dennis the Menace" panel, has graciously agreed to donate a couple
dozen rough drawings he develops before executing the final inked
drawings. Each one is a lovely, one-of-a-kind work of art in itself,
and all you have to do to have a chance to win one is subscribe to
Hogan's Alley. (We've put one example online at
http://www.cagle.com/hogan/newsletter_extras/DTMsketches/DTMsketches.asp).
Please remember that the only way you can be certain to receive
Hogan's Alley #15 is to subscribe, which you can do at
http://www.cagle.com/hogan/subscribe.asp. (If you've purchased past
issues of Hogan's Alley at Tower Records, be sure to find somewhere
else that sells it, as Tower has gone bankrupt.)
ANSWERS TO TRIVIA TIME:
E. "Bozo" by F.X. Reardon appeared in the mid-1920s in one paper--the
Richmond Times-Dispatch--and was later syndicated into the mid-1950s
by Field Enterprises.
D. "Benny" by J. Carver Pusey first appeared in 1929.
B. Otto Soglow's "The Little King" first wielded power in 1931.
A. "Henry"--also a subject in Hogan's Alley #15--began in 1932.
C. Mik's Everyman "Ferd'nand" is this group's new kid on the block,
having first appeared in 1937.
What's that? You're not familiar with F.X. Reardon's "Bozo"? Well, few
are, but he's been an underappreciated favorite of ours and will
receive some overdue attention in a future issue. For now, you can
view samples of his strip at http://www.cagle.com/hogan/newsletter_extras/bozo/bozo_extras.asp.
Thank you for reading. We encourage you to forward this e-mail to
anyone who might enjoy it. To unsubscribe to this newsletter (or if
you are receiving duplicate transmissions), e-mail us at
hoga...@gmail.com or visit http://groups.google.com/group/hogans-alley-newsletter?lnk=srg.
Please visit our Web site at http://www.hoganmag.com and our shop
featuring classic comics characters at http://www.hoganshops.com.