Kicking The Doors Open

It's Here!

You may have noticed a new graphic in the column to the right, similar to the one above.
The number of entries in the 1940sFunny Animalphabet has reached 500, and i'm calling it Good-To-Go.
The big difference between the new site and the previous blog posts, aside from nearly twice as many entries, is information to accompany the characters. Where known, Writers and Artists are listed, as well as where the character's First Appearance occurred and listing of Other Appearances in the 40s, so you know where to go looking for them.
Some entries still need data, but a strong majority of them are now as complete as current information allows, and work proceeds apace on filling in the rest while also gathering and sorting new entries.

Since this is an ongoing database, i had originally created a set of permanent pages that were linked to blog. However, Blogger's search function only includes blog posts, not the pages. So, those were scrapped and replaced by a set of 28 blog posts - one for each letter, plus and Introduction and Index. Each post contains a Navigation Menu to link the others, and there is a similar menu embedded in the side column of the blog. They function like separate pages while being a part of the blog. I kept it a very basic, text-based menu to keep things simple. Hopefully it works well for everyone. While other posts will be treated as normal, the 28 database posts will be continually updated and re-edited.

Anyway - if you're into 'em, stop by and check it out. I found a nice little Cosmo Cat poster signed by Ellis Chambers and L.B. Cole to kick things off.

logo by -3-, but none of the art (2018)

Blue Monday Calendar 2018 Week 33

Gil Elvgren starts us off on another week with Daisies Are Telling (Love Me, Love Me Not) from 1955-

art by Gil Elvgren, of course (1955)

3-Day Weekend Matinee - Robot Revolution

Since we're running the same features all weekend, it's obviously no surprise that we've got another tale from Look-In magazine's Buck Rogers comic, based on the Gil Gerard/Erin Gray tv show. But first, of course, we have our ongoing serial - the classic newspaper strip Twin Earths by Oskar Lebeck and Alden McWilliams -


Previously on Twin Earths: Vana, a defector from Terra - Earth's twin planet opposite Sol - has allied herself with the FBI and has helped them to design a detection system for the space based operations of her observers from her homeworld. Meanwhile, her FBI liaison, Garry Verth, has led a team investigating a piece of Terran technology - the telvisphone - a portable teleconferencing unit. With it, they contacted the Terran agents and learned that they were based in Washington DC. In the process, they have revealed their knowledge to the operatives from another world and a bomb exploded in their headquarters soon after...

Twin Earths - Chapter 14:

To Be Continued...

As with the previous two Buck Rogers entries, this tale - Robot Revolution - is written by Angus P. Allan and illustrated by Martin Asbury, his last in this sequence, though he returned to the strip by year's end...

art from Twin Earths newspaper strips (1952) and Look-In v11 #s 5-11 (1981)

3-Day Weekend Matinee - Full Colour Buck

Our weekend matinee continues, as one might surmise from the title. We're continuing with the same features all weekend, so let's keep the introduction to a minimum and head right into our stories. Our ongoing serial, Twin Earths, was created by Oskar Lebeck and Alden McWilliams, and today's Buck Rogers tale comes from Angus P. Allan and Martin Asbury. (I have no clue if he was doing his own colours, or if another artist was involved)

Previously on Twin Earths: FBI agent Garry Verth is liaison to Vana, the defector from Terra - another world orbiting the sun opposite the Earth. He and his team have just tested a telecommunications device captured from agents of Terra, and in the process they have discovered that the operatives from the Twin Earth are based in Washington DC!

Twin Earths - Chapter 13:

To Be Continued...

On to the first full colour episode of Look-In magazine's Buck Rogers comic -

art from Twin Earths newspaper strips (1952) and Look-In v10 #s 50-52, v11 #s 1-4 (1980-1981)

Saturday Solutions - Funny Animal Quizzing

Sorry we're late. Centurylink works very hard to live down to its reputation around here. (They got the contract to provide phone and internet after Qwest got destroyed by the federal government for refusing to comply with illegal demands for customer information. So you can figure how much we expect Centurylink to give the barest shit about us.) If regular posts don't appear, it's due to a continuing gross lack competence or care on the part of Centurylink. Never do business with them if you can avoid it. It's been years of crappy connections because they don't want to upgrade or repair their gear.

Anyway... here's the solutions to yesterday's Friday Fun & Games. (If i can post. The connection died again while typing.)

Hurray! After only 4 attempts, i got the images uploaded.
Quick! Post while i can!!

3-Day Weekend Matinee - Far Beyond My Time

As previously noted, excepting the original presentation which ran in Heavy Metal back in '79, i completely missed the Buck Rogers revival comic strip from Jim Lawrence and Gray Morrow. There was another Buck Rogers comic back then which i did catch, though most folks in the USA may have missed it - even though it was based on the US television series starring Gil Gerard and Erin Gray:

Look-In is a UK magazine which featured comic series often based on tv shows. The issue in which Buck debuted also featured comics starring Benny Hill, Charlie's Angels, The Smurfs, Mork & Mindy, and the now largely forgotten Sapphire & Steel. (And, no - I can't read those old Benny Hill strips without hearing Yackety Sax) These were typically serialized stories in short 2-page chapters.

Before we get to our main feature, of course, we have our ongoing serial - Twin Earths from Oskar Lebeck and Alden McWilliams.

Previously on Twin Earths: Vanna is a defector from Terra - Earth's more technologically advanced twin in the same orbital position hidden by the sun. Having allied herself with the FBI, she has been educating her liason, agent Garry Verth, and his team about her culture and science. After revealing the existance of "Space Islands," what we would call Space Stations, Vanna helps them to create a detection system. Meanwhile, the FBI has discovered a "telviphone" - a combination telephone and television - and is attempting to learn more about it and the technology involved...

Twin Earths - Chapter 12

To Be Continued...

Our Buck Rogers tale is written by Angus P. Allan, with artwork from Martin Asbury. Angus was the sole writer for the series, but there were three artists who rotated over the not-quite 2 1/2 years the series ran, with two of the three returning for a second engagement.
The story that kicked off the series: The Praxonian Conquest -

 

As noted above, the continuing adventures (and so the next two tales) were presented in full colour.
Here's the cover of the issue in which the series premiered:

Oh... If you were wondering about that title "Far Beyond My Time" - Buck Rogers, like M*A*S*H, was a tv show that used an instrumental theme song which had featured lyrics in the movie version. And, with both shows, i got a lot of weird looks when i sang along with the theme. (The lyrics to Suicide Is Painless certainly didn't help) The theme for Buck Rogers was titled Suspension, by Kipp Lennon. The lyrics -

Far beyond the world I've known, far beyond my time
What am I, who am I, what will I be?
Where am I going and what will I see?
Searching my mind for some truths to reveal
What thoughts are fantasy, what memories real?

Long before this life of mine, long before this time
What was there, who cared to make it begin?
Is it forever or will it all end?
Searching my past for the things that I've seen
Is it my life or just something I dreamed?

(Instrumental break)

Far beyond this world I've known, far beyond my time
What kind of world am I going to find?
Will it be real or just all in my mind?
What am I, who am I, what will I be?
Where am I going and what will I see?

art from Twin Earths newspaper strips (1952) and Look-In v10 #s 43-39 (1980)