TODAY’S FEATURED ITEMS:

Another heap of fun comics reading…

I’m happy to report a lot of blogs seem to be having a Harvey Kurtzman binge right now… I’m rereading Kurtzman’s Jungle Book right now, myself. Kurtzman’s notoriety comes primarily from being the inventor of Mad Magazine, and he is usually very funny. Although he worked with a lot of other artists, writing for their drawings (most notably Will Elder), I like Kurtzman best when he is drawing himself. He is one of the most expressive cartoonists of all time…

Those Fabuleous Fifties brings us some rare Kurtzman strips from Madison Avenue Magazine…

And some from Esquire…

Comicrazys brings us a Kurtzman pre-Mad funny animal comic called Pigtales from 1946…

And John K gives us a nice appreciation of Kurtzman…

John Adcock at Yesterday’s Papers brings us a number of examples of the notoriously racy WWII comic strip Jane by Norman Pett… Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

The official Pogo Possum website is serializing the Pogo paperback Go Fizzickle Pogo…

Potrzebie points us to Basil Wolverton art galore his days working at the religious magazine The Plain Truth… a huge archive of many of Plain Truth founder Herbert W. Armstrong’s numerous publications online, which are often fantastically illustrated by Wolverton. Among many other publications, the archive includes most or all issues of the Plain Truth, where Wolverton’s amazing Bible Story was originally serialized… the versions in the magazine (and in alternate publishings of the book versions of The Bible Story) contain different material, so I imagine there is a whole lot of stuff in here that was never reprinted in book form. It is a lot of crap to wade through, but there is a real treasure trove here. The below image was pulled from a random one of the hundreds of issues on the site.

Last but far from least, Walrus Magazine points us to a new Chester Brown tale from the Yummy Fur universe called Zombies Take Toronto… the image quality sucks, but it is a great read.

Note that the esteemed Mr. Brown is currently running for office, which, regardless of what you think of his politics, is a tragic waste of his enormous cartooning talents. The early issues of Yummy Fur (the recently reprinted in pamphlet form Ed the Happy Clown saga… which hopefully will soon be a book, considering some previous book versions of it are going for over 200 bucks on Amazon) are some of the most wonderfully surreal and creepy comics ever made.

Note also that the final installment of the Zombies strip also reveals that there is a Yummy Fur movie in the works to be directed by Bruce MacDonald… hopefully this means Mr. Brown will be deeply involved in its translation to the screen. Adapting Yummy Fur to the screen and getting distribution should be quite challenging, I imagine… it will, of course, have to be xxx to be a good adaptation, considering all the miserable penises with starring roles in the comic.

A lot more great stuff below…

• The Walrus Blogs » Chester Brown’s Zombie Romance…
  from walrusmagazine.com
• The most random panel in comic book history.
  from Mightygodking.com
• You’re Going Sadly Unrecognized In Certain Quarters, Charlie Brown
  from Mightygodking.com
• Freckles – 02/17/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• Spidey Super Stories #11: “The Show-Stopper Strikes!”
  from scans_daily: Bringing the crack since December 2
• Hayseeds by Harry Hargreaves
  from Beautiful Balloons with Maggie Thompson
• Firehair
  from Fortress Of Fortitude
• Number 384 Zakka’s Debt
  from Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine
• Who put the Mad in Madison?
  from Those Fabuleous Fifties
• Obscurity of the Day: Batman
  from Stripper’s Guide
• VIP’s Wild, Wild Women
  from Hairy Green Eyeball
• Go, Look: The Attack Of The Flowerman By Jeremy Eaton (from 1975)
  from CR Briefings
• The Story of Jane III
  from Yesterday’s Papers
• FALL!
  from cul de sac
• Les Callan
  from Punch in Canada
• FOLIAGE!
  from cul de sac
• Little Nemo 1913-08-10
  from Comic Strip Library News
• Jeff Hawke by Sydney Jordan
  from Beautiful Balloons with Maggie Thompson
• Lance by Warren Tufts
  from Beautiful Balloons with Maggie Thompson
• Dennis the Menace gets what he deserves.
  from scans_daily: Bringing the crack since December 2
• Beehive Bedlam: Woody Woodpecker #59
  from Uncle Ernie’s Creature Ink
• Kitchen Sink
  from Top Shelf 2.0 Webcomics
• The Space Lorelei
  from Nedor-A-Day
• It Floats in Space / Unharmed
  from THE HORRORS OF IT ALL
• Blowing Up
  from Introspective Comics
• Comic Interlude.
  from FLOG! Entries
• I love Coogy’s Tuesday Newspaper Strip Day.
  from Those Fabuleous Fifties
• BEFORE THE AFTERTHOUGHT
  from The Woodring Monitor
• The Story of Jane II
  from Yesterday’s Papers
• Freckles – 02/16/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• “An unexpected legacy”
  from THE BEAT
• Alex Toth Gallery
  from Drawn! The Illustration and Cartooning Blog
• G.O. Fizzickle Pogo
  from pogopossum.com
• Wood Chips 4
  from Potrzebie
• Bill O’Malley cartoons from Extension Magazine (1946-47)
  from I’m Learning To Share!
• Kurtzman Bonanza
  from John K Stuff
• Weekend wonders : Fearless Fosdick
  from The Ephemerist
• Weekend Wonders : Winchester !
  from The Ephemerist
• Fall indeed
  from The Ephemerist
• each fallen robin
  from Doot Doot Garden Blog
• My First Rejected Comic Strip Gag
  from CR Briefings
• The Story of Jane II
  from Yesterday’s Papers
• Go, Read: The Japanese Ratty Line
  from CR Briefings
• Missed It: The History Of Doug
  from CR Briefings
• Flat-Top in “Sno Foolin” (Harvey Comics)
  from The Comic Book Catacombs
• Little Nemo 1913-08-03
  from Comic Strip Library News
• Infinite Kung Fu, part 4
  from Top Shelf 2.0 Webcomics
• Don’t Kill Me Twice!
  from THE HORRORS OF IT ALL
• Pigtales: Krazy Komics #25 1946 – Harvey Kurtzman
  from Comicrazys
• “The Vicar’s not pulling his weight!”
  from Bear Alley
• Death Over Washington
  from Fortress Of Fortitude
• Mod Squad
  from Hairy Green Eyeball
• News of Yore: Hershfeld Plays Second Fiddle to his Creation
  from Stripper’s Guide
• Quick Draw McGraw: Big Golden Book 1961
  from Comicrazys
• The Story of Jane I
  from Yesterday’s Papers
• Fearless Fosdick (Courtesy of THOIA)
  from The Comic Book Catacombs
• More Kurtzmania Monday cartoon Day
  from Those Fabuleous Fifties
• Examining the Weird Bizarro World of Mr. and Mrs. J. Evil Scientist
  from I’m Learning To Share!
• Re-Run: Life With Snarky Parker, No. 1
  from Geeklog Site
• Freckles – 02/15/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• Kyle Baker Mutant Extravaganza part 2!
  from scans_daily: Bringing the crack since December 2
• Obscurity of the Day: Phil
  from Stripper’s Guide
• Inspiration.
  from FLOG! Entries
• How I Had (and Lost) a Pet Dinosaur
  from THE HORRORS OF IT ALL
• Sappo of Saturn in “The Beauty Contest”
  from Nedor-A-Day
• The Cosmic Terror
  from Nedor-A-Day
• Sunday Pin-Up
  from Fortress Of Fortitude
• Spooks- the Spencer Years Sunday leftover day.
  from Those Fabuleous Fifties
• Number 382 I took eight bullets out of him
  from Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine
• Jack Davis goes on record…
  from Hairy Green Eyeball
• Jim Ivey’s Sunday Comics
  from Stripper’s Guide
• Freckles – 02/14/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• A post of convenience: “Andy Panda,” from “New Funnies” #125
  from Stanley Stories
• Canuck Cartoonists at War
  from Punch in Canada
• Au Revoir from Jane!
  from Yesterday’s Papers
• Alex Toth Gallery
  from scans_daily: Bringing the crack since December 2
• Space Mouse: Walter Lantz
  from Uncle Ernie’s Creature Ink
• Toddler’s Roundtable
  from cul de sac
• The Undertaker
  from THE HORRORS OF IT ALL
• The Fighting Yank: The Precarious Life of a Miner
  from Nedor-A-Day
• Little Nemo 1913-07-27
  from Comic Strip Library News
• Number 383 Pepe y Pepito Paul Murry
  from Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine
• My husband keeps telling me to go to hell…Part 2
  from Hairy Green Eyeball
• J. Campbell Cory not at Work
  from Yesterday’s Papers
• What Just Happened?
  from Introspective Comics
• St. Paul Cartoonist Conspiracy Jam Comic – September 2008
  from CONSPIRE!
• Kanary Kid sneak peek!
  from tim sievert’s virtual news log
• Freckles – 02/06/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• Freckles – 02/07/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• Freckles – 02/08/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• Freckles – 02/09/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• Freckles – 02/10/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• Freckles – 02/12/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• The Bravest Niño #2, part 2
  from Top Shelf 2.0 Webcomics
• Little Nemo 1913-07-13
  from Comic Strip Library News
• Best of the Best!
  from Mark Kausler’s CatBlog
• The Monster and the Statue
  from THE HORRORS OF IT ALL
• Captain Future Vs. The Black Dragon Society
  from Nedor-A-Day
• Some more Spector Speculation Saturday Leftover Day
  from Those Fabuleous Fifties
• Herriman Saturday
  from Stripper’s Guide
• Freckles – 02/13/1945
  from I Love Comix – Freckles and Friends
• Fontanelle, the Imperiled Infant
  from cul de sac
• Little Nemo 1913-07-20
  from Comic Strip Library News
• Sir Bagby’s Dragon
  from Beautiful Balloons with Maggie Thompson
• “Jimmy Olsen, Editor-In-Chief!”
  from scans_daily: Bringing the crack since December 2
• Do you think Uncle Walt used to sample Welsh Rarebit or what?
  from scans_daily: Bringing the crack since December 2
• Jack Davis’ Beauregard!
  from Potrzebie
• Hour of the Wolverton
  from Potrzebie
• Gahan Wilson’s Diner (1992)
  from Potrzebie