Rest in peace, Little Jimmy Dickens.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcb6REtkhug
Small House of Everything
Saturday, January 3, 2015
MYRA NORTH. SPECIAL NURSE
Far from being a romantic or medical comic strip as the name might imply, Myra North, Special Nurse put the emphasis on "special" as the gutsy young nurse solves murders, uncovers medical malpractice, and spans the globe foiling would-be world conquerors and other master villains.
Myra began life as a daily strip on February 10, 1936 as the creation of Ray Thompson and Charles Cobb. Thompson (who wrote the strip) had a background as a commercial artist and had written a number of radio scripts and had ghost written for the comics before creating Myra. (Later on, he would create "The Fleer Double-Bubble Kids" as a direct response to Fleer's commercial rival Bazooka and their "Bazooka Joe.") Cobb who drew the strip also had a background in commercial art and, in the Forties he worked on many comic books for a number of studios, including the Binder studio which was run by Jack Binder (brother of Otto and Earl).
Of course, Myra has a boyfriend and (of course) he's a cop -- Detective Sergeant Jack Lane.
n many ways, Myra North reminds me of the Mignon G. Eberhart characters Nurse Susan Dare and Nurse Sara (Sally) Keate, both of whom had been created a few years earlier. An influence, perhaps?
Myra's run as a daily strip ended on March 25, 1939. The Sunday strip, which began on December 6, 1936, carried on until August 31, 1941. Thompson and Cobb worked on the strip until the end. Myra North, Special Nurse appeared in 466 newspapers.
Before the comic strip ended, Myra appeared in a Big Little book, and (much later) appeared over forty times as a feature in several Dell comic books.
The following links take you many of the daily strips.
Enjoy.
From 1936:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=55725
From 1937:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=55724
From 1938:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=26460
From 1939:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=26460
Myra began life as a daily strip on February 10, 1936 as the creation of Ray Thompson and Charles Cobb. Thompson (who wrote the strip) had a background as a commercial artist and had written a number of radio scripts and had ghost written for the comics before creating Myra. (Later on, he would create "The Fleer Double-Bubble Kids" as a direct response to Fleer's commercial rival Bazooka and their "Bazooka Joe.") Cobb who drew the strip also had a background in commercial art and, in the Forties he worked on many comic books for a number of studios, including the Binder studio which was run by Jack Binder (brother of Otto and Earl).
Of course, Myra has a boyfriend and (of course) he's a cop -- Detective Sergeant Jack Lane.
n many ways, Myra North reminds me of the Mignon G. Eberhart characters Nurse Susan Dare and Nurse Sara (Sally) Keate, both of whom had been created a few years earlier. An influence, perhaps?
Myra's run as a daily strip ended on March 25, 1939. The Sunday strip, which began on December 6, 1936, carried on until August 31, 1941. Thompson and Cobb worked on the strip until the end. Myra North, Special Nurse appeared in 466 newspapers.
Before the comic strip ended, Myra appeared in a Big Little book, and (much later) appeared over forty times as a feature in several Dell comic books.
The following links take you many of the daily strips.
Enjoy.
From 1936:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=55725
From 1937:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=55724
From 1938:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=26460
From 1939:
http://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=26460
Friday, January 2, 2015
FORGOTTEN BOOK: I AM LEGEND
Richard Matheson's I Am Legend adapted by Steve Niles and illustrated by Elman Brown (1991)
Matheson's I Am Legend certainly is not a Forgotten Book. It has gone through many printings and three movies (or two movies and one atrocity or one movie and two atrocities, depending on your point of view) since its original release as a Gold Medal paperback in 1954. Like much of Matheson's work, it has imbedded itself into the American consciousness. The simple tale of Robert Neville, the last man in a world of vampires, and his struggle to survive. It's been over fifty years since I read the novel but much of it remains in my mind.
Anyway, my Forgotten Book for this Friday is the graphic novel version of I Am Legend. Unlike many graphic novel adaptations, this one is a full-blown ambitious work with 240 pages of tightly written prose and intricate art. Both Niles and Brown capture the claustrophobic nature of the story perfectly. Brown's artwork and intricate cross-hatching emphasizes the dark greyness of Neville's world. Niles' script reads like a novel in itself. Together they have achieved an almost prefect complement to Matheson's book.
Graphic novel fans and Matheson fans shouldn't miss this one!
Matheson's I Am Legend certainly is not a Forgotten Book. It has gone through many printings and three movies (or two movies and one atrocity or one movie and two atrocities, depending on your point of view) since its original release as a Gold Medal paperback in 1954. Like much of Matheson's work, it has imbedded itself into the American consciousness. The simple tale of Robert Neville, the last man in a world of vampires, and his struggle to survive. It's been over fifty years since I read the novel but much of it remains in my mind.
Anyway, my Forgotten Book for this Friday is the graphic novel version of I Am Legend. Unlike many graphic novel adaptations, this one is a full-blown ambitious work with 240 pages of tightly written prose and intricate art. Both Niles and Brown capture the claustrophobic nature of the story perfectly. Brown's artwork and intricate cross-hatching emphasizes the dark greyness of Neville's world. Niles' script reads like a novel in itself. Together they have achieved an almost prefect complement to Matheson's book.
Graphic novel fans and Matheson fans shouldn't miss this one!
Thursday, January 1, 2015
TARZAN AND THE DIAMOND OF ASHER
From 1934, a radio serial in 39 parts of 12 to 14 minutes each.
Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher was based on a three-page outline by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The actual writing and plotting was done by Robert W. Thompson. ERB's involvement beyond the outline was to read the finished scripts and make suggestions. In 1937, Burroughs used the plot for his novel Tarzan and the Forbidden City which was published in book form in 1938. Also in the same year, Burroughs adapted the radio show into a comic strip which was illustrated by Rex Mason and was published in 1938. (It was later adapted for a 1947 Dell comic book, adapted again for a comic strip in 1948-49, and finally adapted for a two-part Gold Key comic published in 1970.) Before book publication of the novel, Burroughs sent the manuscript to Argosy magazine where someone at the magazine considerably rewrote the work, which was published as "The Red Star of Tarzan." (Burroughs used his original manuscript for the novel publication.) Interestingly, when Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher was rebroadcast in 1940, Burroughs wrote a brief introduction to the series in which he claimed the radio serial was based on Tarzan and the Forbidden City, rather than the other way around.
The show began on May 14, 1934, airing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through June 22. It was produced by American Radio Features, directed by Fred Shields, and narrated by John MacIntye.
Carson KaDell played Tarzan since Burroughs' son-in-law James Pierce refused of the role. (Joan Burroughs Pierce, his wife, was to play Jane but had bowed out because of a pregnancy; Pierce did not want to play Tarzan without his wife as Jane. The Jane character was then eliminated from the outline.)
The rest of the cast included Ralph Scott as D'Arnot, Karena Shields as Helen, George Turner as Gregory, Jeanette Nolan (who was John MacIntire's wife; they both would go on to prominent careers) as Magra, Cy Kendall as Atan Thome, Don Wilson (best known as Jack Benny's announcer) as Lal Taask, Victor Rodman as Wolf, Victor Potel as Larson, and Fred Harrington as Mitchell..
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/details/TarzanAndTheDiamondOfAsher
Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher was based on a three-page outline by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The actual writing and plotting was done by Robert W. Thompson. ERB's involvement beyond the outline was to read the finished scripts and make suggestions. In 1937, Burroughs used the plot for his novel Tarzan and the Forbidden City which was published in book form in 1938. Also in the same year, Burroughs adapted the radio show into a comic strip which was illustrated by Rex Mason and was published in 1938. (It was later adapted for a 1947 Dell comic book, adapted again for a comic strip in 1948-49, and finally adapted for a two-part Gold Key comic published in 1970.) Before book publication of the novel, Burroughs sent the manuscript to Argosy magazine where someone at the magazine considerably rewrote the work, which was published as "The Red Star of Tarzan." (Burroughs used his original manuscript for the novel publication.) Interestingly, when Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher was rebroadcast in 1940, Burroughs wrote a brief introduction to the series in which he claimed the radio serial was based on Tarzan and the Forbidden City, rather than the other way around.
The show began on May 14, 1934, airing Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays through June 22. It was produced by American Radio Features, directed by Fred Shields, and narrated by John MacIntye.
Carson KaDell played Tarzan since Burroughs' son-in-law James Pierce refused of the role. (Joan Burroughs Pierce, his wife, was to play Jane but had bowed out because of a pregnancy; Pierce did not want to play Tarzan without his wife as Jane. The Jane character was then eliminated from the outline.)
The rest of the cast included Ralph Scott as D'Arnot, Karena Shields as Helen, George Turner as Gregory, Jeanette Nolan (who was John MacIntire's wife; they both would go on to prominent careers) as Magra, Cy Kendall as Atan Thome, Don Wilson (best known as Jack Benny's announcer) as Lal Taask, Victor Rodman as Wolf, Victor Potel as Larson, and Fred Harrington as Mitchell..
Enjoy.
https://archive.org/details/TarzanAndTheDiamondOfAsher
2014 READING REPORT
For the first time in many years I tried to keep track of the book I read throughout the year. For 2014, it's an amazing 353! Almost a book a day. How the hell did I manage to do that?
My criteria was books. So graphic novels and art books all count, as do novellas released as a single volume, but multi-novel omnibuses counted as only one book. If I had read only one novel from an omnibus (I didn't this year), that would also count as one book. I didn't count any of the books I started and, for one reason or another, did not finish.
Also please understand that I am a computer klutz. I kept my list on a Word file and may well have accidently deleted some books, but I don't think I did. At least, when I reviewed the list there were no glaring omissions that came to mind.
So, 353. That's a ridiculously large number. I doubt I'll even come close to that in 2015, but it's something to aim for.
My criteria was books. So graphic novels and art books all count, as do novellas released as a single volume, but multi-novel omnibuses counted as only one book. If I had read only one novel from an omnibus (I didn't this year), that would also count as one book. I didn't count any of the books I started and, for one reason or another, did not finish.
Also please understand that I am a computer klutz. I kept my list on a Word file and may well have accidently deleted some books, but I don't think I did. At least, when I reviewed the list there were no glaring omissions that came to mind.
So, 353. That's a ridiculously large number. I doubt I'll even come close to that in 2015, but it's something to aim for.
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