Castaway

The Voice of Her Generation

Your 2010 Album of the Year Grammy recipient:

She's not bad, but once again the Grammys pick a pretty lame record to bestow their top honor. But you know, she means no harm (unlike the Black Eyed Peas, also nominated) so I depicted her very small, fragile, with this oversized guitar, and big goofy expression she always has on like she's just happy to be doing her thing, and as it so happens, she's in the spotlight.

However, I do like this:

More Super-Men

As long as we're on the subject, here's a few more of my Pajama-wearing Superman sketches:

Just look at those macho, manly muscles.

LOOK AT THEM!

This man simply HATES crime.

What a Specimen!

My favorite Superman: the 1930's muscleman version from the early comics.

Here are the hallmarks, as I see them:

1. Very wide torso and slightly pudgy physique

2. Weathered, mildly aged look to face

3. Square, hard, manly chin

4. Very neat, greased down hairstyle

5. Details on outfit suggest sweatsuit-like material

6. Stiff, uncomfortable stance as a result of the briefs being worn outside the pants

7. Flat, un-dynamic look to the cape

8. Heartless attitude toward criminals:

(I couldn't find a direct example of this just now, so this is my own interpretation)

In 1938, Superman was supposed to be just that- a "Super Man"- the ideal of manly macho manliness all men would aspire to be, who would kick sand in the face of weaklings and walk off with the hottest girl. It wasn't until later when the creators added the backstory about Ma and Pa Kent, and his moral obligation to protect man.

Look at that Physical Marvel!

I enjoy this earlier version mostly because he's so of his time- a time when men were gruff and aggressive and worked out with medicine balls and punching bags. Anything less would be an utter disgrace:

Oh, Rush, You Old Blowhard!

I believe there is nothing this guy won't say to contradict the left. He literally has no limits.

I'm not going to get into any political discussion on this blog, though. I just wanted to show off some drawings of this clown.

15 Years? Really?

It's pretty hard to believe- it's been 15 years since Calvin & Hobbes stopped appearing in newspapers, eventually leading to the decline of sales and demise of print media in general. Bill Watterson tends to shun the spotlight and very rarely does interviews, but once every twenty years or so he emerges to address his fanbase. He just did an interview with his hometown paper:

Bill Watterson, creator of beloved 'Calvin and Hobbes' comic strip looks back with no regrets

Who knows why he chose to speak now. Maybe with the passing of JD Salinger he reexamined his status as a famous recluse... Probably not, though.

Bill Watterson

He’s probably right about what people would be saying if he kept doing it. It was the best comic strip ever but, like the Beatles, it now has an untarnished legacy. Until he passes away and Dreamworks produces a big-budget CGI Calvin and Hobbes monstrosity starring Renee Zellwigger as Hobbes.

Read some old Calvin and Hobbes here. It will absolutely brighten your day.

The Old Grey Hare

Hey everybody, here's a great cartoon:

A couple of thoughts: first of all, Elmer Fudd has to have the greatest cartoon voice of all time (provided by Arthur Q. Bryan, not Mel

Blanc as I always assumed). They always tried to work in lines that

sounded especially hilarious in his voice - like "My, that weawwy was a dewicious weg of wamb."

In this one he goes "What happened- I'm aaaalll winckled." And it's GREAT.

Bugs Bunny shows up as a rascally old coot, torments Elmer til he gets himself shot, and then, as always happens in situations like this, Elmer feels terrible and cries, "So wong, old fwiend!" There's so much good stuff in this cartoon.

Back in these days, they used full animation (as opposed to limited animation- an explanation can be found halfway down the page here) and drew so many details... and they happened so fast, you might miss them. With limited animation, the characters hold their poses so you have time to dwell on every nuance. These Golden Age characters keep moving. Like when God is talking to Elmer and he's looking around- and does this funny little twist to look behind him:

Or when Bugs is "dying" and says, "who turned out the lights?" and Elmer looks around to see what he's talking about, for some reason:

Look how horrifying this frame is! A demonic Bugs Bunny is strangling an old man!

I could go on but this cartoon speaks for itself. Maybe I'll do more of these at some point.

UPDATE: Aparently this cartoon was removed from Youtube due to a copyright violation from Warner Bros. I'm not going to bother searching for and re-posting right now, because I imagine it will just get taken down again, but if you can find it on Google video or anywhere, I highly recommend checking it out.