• Artzybasheff Friday

    Another 1940s advertisement by Boris Artzybasheff (1899-1965). I guess it’s called anthropomorphism.

  • Horror Time

    As I’ve previously discussed, a censorship movement emerged in the early 1950s to “clean up” comics’ bad influence on their young readership. Personally, I never found any of their concerns bothersome. At worst, they were just perverse or ugly, but I’ve always accepted the ugly and perverse of the world. This cover is Menace #1,…

  • Capitalize on Betty Boop

    Recognizing the popularity of Betty Boop, the Fleischer Studios expanded from cartoons to merch. According to this notice, they were offering Betty products such as swimming suits, napkins, children’s hose, radio sets, marbles, candy, soap, scarves, and others. Today, there are dozens and dozens of products based on Betty Boop. She is still a world-recognized…

  • Shredded Wheat

    Shredded Wheat has been with us since 1890. Here’s an ad from August, 1937. Betcha go out and buy a box tomorrow.

  • Tom Seidmann-Freud

    Martha Gertrud Freud (1892-1930) was a niece of Sigmund Freud. Artistically gifted, she studied to be an artist. But, facing a world that did not favor females, she changed her name to Tom, hoping to avoid sexism in the arts. Tom studied art in London and Berlin, before moving to Munich in 1918, where she…

  • Benjamin Rabier

    Due to either my ignorance or the fact that he worked exclusively in France, I have not encountered the art of Benjamin Rabier (1864-1939). Now, that I’ve discovered him, I’m catching up fast. He was a prolific French illustrator/cartoonist who influenced many, such as Herge and Calvo. In today’s world when you pick up a…

  • Puzzle Time

    It’s been a while since the last installment of Puzzle Time. I hope you filled them all in and got them all right. I’m watching, you know. Here’s a bunch more to keep you up at night.

  • W.Heath Robinson

    W.Heath Robinson (1872-1944) was a succesful artist/cartoonist who achieved fame for his wacky machines, essentially becoming the British Rube Goldberg. From Wikipedia: “William Heath Robinson was born in Hornsey Rise, London, on 31 May 1872 into a family of artists in Stroud Green, Finsbury Park, North London. His grandfather Thomas, his father Thomas Robinson (1838–1902)…

  • Title Page Collection: Bert and Sue

    Here’s a pip from November, 1948. It’s Bert and Sue, from Super Mystery Comics. The work is unsigned, and I am unsure who the artist is, but it could be journeyman Ken Battefield. Many who labored during those years worked in anonymity. Comic books were considered the bottom of the literary field. These cartoonists hoped…

  • Film Fun Comics

    Back in the first quarter of the 1900s, there was a movie magazine called Film Fun, which offered loads of photos of actors and actresses, mostly dressed in stylish outfits. As it moved into the 1930s it featured fewer actor photos and more actresses, with fewer stylish outfits. Less outfits, at all. Mostly bathing suits,…