Party Online Was So Different Then

Let's jump back to a time that most young folks today could scarcely conceive. A time before phones were portable and omnipresent.

Once upon a time, we didn't even have exclusive phones. You shared a "Party Line" with your neighbors. But, you may wonder, how did you know if the phone was ringing for your house or another? You each had a different ring pattern. 

Of course, this means that you couldn't use the phone if your neighbor was on the line. On the other hand, if you were bored it was easy to listen in on private conversations. In later decades, Party Lines became separate numbers that multiple parties could connect to simultaneously, allowing teen telephone parties. I think those are long gone now, too.

Today, let's jump back to 1946 to learn more via an Un-Comic from the Bell Telephone System teaching about the party lines -

I know it's a short one, but that's all for today. The system is up and running, and proper software is installed; now i need to pull the drive from the old system so i can transfer data. In theory, we're back on track. 

Stay tuned to see how theory and practical application collide...

page art from Bobby Gets Hep (1946)

E.C. With E.C. & C.C.

Making good progress with getting set up to work again. Everything looks good and ready to go - with one slight snag.
I have no clue what my son's password is to access the system, and he's off on long haul trucking runs. No telling when messages will catch up to him. And so we wait...

But, while we wait, let's get an early start. 

Xmas is coming, only ten days away. And only a week until the first night of Hanukkah this year. Maybe it's still a bit early to start doing holiday comics, but these guys got started in July!

Further fuel to the legend that Pat Adams was Ellis Chambers.

I'm gimping the prep work on this little laptop with the tiny screen - so that's all for now. 
My eyes hurt.

page art by Ellis Chambers(?) from Wotalife #11 (1947)

The Future Knows

The sparsity of new posts has been due more to internal shutdown than anything else. The all-too-usual system death killed forward momentum on things and i seem to have been cruising to a stop. Lately doing little more than zoning out to a mental dial tone (do they still have those?) when not watching old episodes of WKRP In Cincinnati or Futurama.

And then Matt hits me with this one -

Well, damn.

Guess i should be trying to get things working again...

screen from Futurama S03E03, of course (ca. 3000)

P&B's Harlequin

So, there's a new cartoon series for those who live in a world without heroes...

Since this country's definition of 'Hero' has been warped by movies like Rambo to mean 'the psychopath who kills people we don't like,' Harley Quinn makes the perfect hero.

Of course, for her to be the hero and to work as a series, it's going to have to be an ugly world. They establish this quickly in her introduction, along with a solid hint of the blood and violence to follow...

Oh, yeah...  did i mention the language? This isn't Batman The Animated Series (where Harley got her start).

There are stark differences...

...to wit...

By yon by - one of the delights of the show for me is hearing Diedrich Bader back in the role of Batman...

And we've got Alan Tudyk as Joker -

Add some lovely sets, including a B.S. inspired Joker's Lair...

Toss it all with a smattering of explosions and a bucket brigade of blood filled dark humor along with a side of personal revelation and by the end of the first episode...

Yeah, i think i might give the show a look and see what happens.

But i'm a twisted old f  k.

BTW - I personally find it interesting to note who gets a creator's credit -

Harley Quinn created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm. 
Oh, yeah - anybody who loved Batman The Animated Series and all that's flowed forth from it loves their work. (Actually, i've been a fan of Timm's work since Whisper)

...Batman created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger.
About damn time that the Kane family relented to allow a more truthful credit. They've been doing nothing but adding shame to the Kane family name for years.

...and Killer Croc? Interesting. Created by Gerry Conway and Don Newton.
Well, you know we love Don Newton around here. Somehow, despite a fairly amazing body of work as both writer and editor, we haven't visited with Conway as yet. (Even more surprising since i was a big Mack Bolan fan, too) I wonder if they got a creator's credit due to when Killer Croc was created, or if it was keyed to Conway's contract if he was editing at the time?

Either way, it's cool to see their names up there.

screens from Harley Quinn S01E01 (2019)

Moving Pictures

Still thoroughly degumptionated around here. I need to do some cleaning, clearing, rewiring and furnituring before i can put the alternate system into service.

Maybe today - we'll see.

Meanwhile, since there's nothing doing in these parts, let's step out and look somewhere else on the net.

Are you familiar with comic artist Kerry (or even Terry) Callen? We've seen his Super Antics here once previously, but have yet to get back to him. Every now and again, he likes to play with old covers. The results can be entertaining...

If you like those, you can find more of them, and some animated interiors as well, available on Kerry's blog - along with a variety of other things, including unpublished artwork. He doesn't post often, but it can be entertaining.

And i like those covers.

Oddly enough, there's also a strong connection between Kerry and the artwork seen in the Maintainance Report <sic> a couple posts back. Maybe the ol' peripatetic brain will wander over that way...

cover art animated by Kerry Callen for Kerry Callen Does Stuff (2014, 2016)