Showing posts with label Bill Mauldin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bill Mauldin. Show all posts

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Quick holiday book recommendations - Mary Shelley, Bill Mauldin, and Wakanda Files

 by Mike Rhode

A few books that would make good gifts have come in -- well, a lot have, but I'm behind like everyone else these days. Part of my problem is that, as an editor, I assigned two of these to academic reviewers for the International Journal of Comic Art, and then I read those reviewers opinions... so I've linked to those reviews as well.

Mary: The Adventures of Mary Shelley's Great-Great-Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter, Brea Grant and Yishan Li, Six Foot Press, 1644420295, $19 

From the book's Amazon page, we learn - When angsty teenager Mary Shelley is not interested in carrying on her family’s celebrated legacy of being a great writer, but she soon discovers that she has the not-so-celebrated and super-secret Shelley power to heal monsters, just like her famous ancestor, and those monsters are not going to let her ignore her true calling anytime soon. Everyone expects sixteen-year-old Mary to be a great writer. After all, her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother are all successful writers (as they constantly remind her)―not to mention her famous namesake, the OG Mary Shelley, horror author extraordinaire. But Mary is pretty sure she’s not cut out for that life. She can’t even stay awake in class! Then one dark and rainy night, she’s confronted with a whole new destiny. Mary has the ability to heal monsters… and they’re not going to leave her alone until she does. 

I enjoyed this book thoroughly. I'm a big urban fantasy reader these days, especially of books written by women. It's a good choice for a young adult who likes manga, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It's funny, and well-drawn (by Li), with some minor family drama, but a lot of fun ideas. As an older white man, I'm not the target audience, but I'll be buying the rest of this series for myself as it comes out. Li's an artist I wasn't familiar with, but I'm going to look into more of her work (some of which is apparently not for this age group).

Drawing Fire: The Editorial Cartoons of Bill Mauldin, Todd DePastino (ed.), Chicago: Pritzker Military Museum & Library, 2020. 250 pages; $35.00. ISBN 9780998968940.

From the book's Amazon page, we learn - The first career-spanning volume of the work of two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin, featuring comic art from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and Operation Desert Storm, along with a half-century of graphic commentary on civil rights, free speech, the Cold War, and other issues. Army sergeant William Henry “Bill” Mauldin shot to fame during World War II with “Willie & Joe” cartoons, which gave readers of Stars & Stripes and hundreds of home-front newspapers a glimpse of the war from the foxholes of Europe. Lesser known are Mauldin’s second and even third acts as one of America’s premier political cartoonists from the last half of the twentieth century, when he traveled to Korea and Vietnam; Israel and Saudi Arabia; Oxford, Mississippi, and Washington, DC; covering war and peace, civil rights and the Great Society, Nixon and the Middle East. He especially kept close track of American military power, its use and abuse, and the men and women who served in uniform. Now, for the first time, his entire career is explored in this illustrated single volume, featuring selections from Chicago’s Pritzker Military Museum & Library. Edited by Mauldin’s biographer Todd DePastino and featuring 150 images, Drawing Fire: The Editorial Cartoons of Bill Mauldin includes illuminating essays exploring all facets of Mauldin’s career by Tom Brokaw, Denise Neil, Cord A. Scott, G. Kurt Piehler, Jean Schulz, and Christina Knopf, with a Preface by Tom Hanks.

This book is aimed at me - an older white male - except most of Mauldin's career took place before I was an adult. Never mind that ... he was an excellent cartoonist and a true proponent of a free and equal America with rights for all. After these past four years, we need to return to his values more than ever. While I got a review copy from the Pritzker, I would have gladly bought this is I saw it in a store first. Todd DePastino does an excellent job rounding up a diverse group of essays and providing the relevant grounding for cartoons that can be 70 years old now. IJOCA's review is here.

The Wakanda Files: A Technological Exploration of the Avengers and Beyond, Troy Benjamin, Epic Ink, 2020. 978-0760365441. $60.

From the book's Amazon page, we learn - An in-world book from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Wakanda Files—compiled by request of Shuri (Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War) as part of her quest to improve the future for all people—is a collection of papers, articles, blueprints, and notes amassed throughout history by Wakanda’s War Dogs. In a nod to Wakandan technology, the pages of the book have a printed layer of UV ink with content that is visible only under the accompanying Kimoyo bead–shaped UV light. Within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Wakanda has been on the forefront of what is technologically possible. Their ability to stay ahead of the rest of the world is second only to their ability to keep themselves hidden. As the architect behind many of Wakanda’s great advancements, Shuri is constantly seeking ways to improve what has come before. To aid in her search, she researches the past for context, reference, and inspiration by compiling The Wakanda Files. Organized into areas of study, including human enhancement, transportation, weapons, artificial intelligence, and more, The Wakanda Files trace the world’s technological achievements from the era of Howard Stark and early Hydra studies to modern discoveries in quantum tunneling and nanotechnology, weaving together the stories, personalities, and technology that are the fabric of the MCU.

This book is aimed at a young adult audience too, probably received as a gift, given the price. It must be popular this season as Amazon appears to be sold out. As a teenager, I would have loved this book. As an adult, I admire the cleverness of the packaging (especially that little uv light which is the middle detachable ball there on the right in the photo), and the conceit of being a set of spy reports from the MCU. There's not enough Black Panther in here, which makes sense because the book is a report to him, but that may disappoint people who expect to find him in a book with Wakanda in the title. In conclusion - a good grandparent's gift to a fan of Marvel movies, if not the comic books. IJOCA's review is here.

All 3 books were provided by the publisher's representatives. We don't receive anything but the books, and that includes advertising or link revenue. So buy them from your local store if you can.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Mauldin biography wins history prize

I helped out a miniscule amount on the collection of cartoons, and ComicsDC contributor Warren Bernard helped out more so we'll call this ComicsDC news - Todd DePastino Wins 2009 Sperber Prize for his Biography of World War II Cartoonist Bill Mauldin, Pittsburgh, PA (PRWEB) November 27, 2009. Both books are well worth reading.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veteran's day


In a few minutes (local time), we'll hit 11/11/11 or, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when World War 1 ended. This was known as Armistice Day until a second world war led to the change to Veteran's Day in the US. Following the lead of Charles Schulz, who often mentioned Bill Mauldin in Peanuts, we present a sketch the great soldier cartoonist did in a copy of his book The Brass Ring, many years after his World War 2 service.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Danziger updates Mauldin

My buddy Masteribid sends in this link where Jeff Danziger updates a classic Bill Mauldin cartoon. I've seen Danziger speak a couple of times in DC - he's usually fairly quiet, but he does make some strong points when he speaks up. I really like his style as well.

Doug reads comics too, and here's his review of the direct-to-video cartoon Superman: Doomsday.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Mauldin's Willie and Joe


Longtime readers may recall that last summer I was trying to help out Todd DePastino and Gary Groth with scanning images for Fantagraphics' reprint project on Mauldin's Willie & Joe: The WWII Years. In the end I didn't accomplish much, although I did find a picture of a meeting between Mauldin and Sad Sack's Baker that Todd had missed. Fantagraphics kindly gave me an acknowledgement (another 15 seconds of fame!) and sent me a comp copy of the book - which is just lovely. Raise a glass to Gary and Kim Thompson and Eric Reynolds and the rest of the Fantagraphics crew - the books they're doing with Peanuts money are astounding. And Todd's work on this and the biography of Mauldin that came out earlier is fantastic as well.

For a good review of the book, see "'Willie & Joe': Bill Mauldin's Wartime Classic: Ken Tucker cracks open this newly released two-volume compilation of landmark cartoons about WWII grunts," EW.com May 13 2008.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

Willie and Joe: The War Years by Mauldin out

This is the project that I went down to the Library of Congress a couple of times to try to make scans for. I don't think anything I got was ever used as the volumes were bound and a hand-scanner didn't work. K Stocker came with me and took photographs of some pages too, and we're both thanked in the acknowledgments as is Martha Kennedy of the Library who found the final image Fantagraphics needed. See Tom Spurgeon's review for more details and my buddy Charles Hatfield blogged about Mauldin and DePastino's biography of him today as well.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Secret History of Comics courtesy of Warren Bernard UPDATED

Here's two pieces in three images from Warren's collection that deal with forgotten works by famous cartoonists.


Percy Crosby for the January 1924 Telephone News from the Bell Telephone Company of Pennsylvania

A Bill Mauldin booklet.

The Mauldin booklet should be reproduced in one of the new Fantagraphics books, courtesy of Warren.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

OT: Mauldin / Feiffer exhibit in Chicago

this press release was sent to me and I've got a great deal of respect and admiration for the two cartoonists, so here it is:

Jean Albano Gallery
215 West Superior Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
312.440.0770 fax 312.440.3103
www.jeanalbanogallery.com

October 11, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The Jean Albano Gallery is pleased to announce an exhibition, History Revealed, featuring work by famed cartoonists BILL MAULDIN and JULES FEIFFER. The show opens on Friday, October 26, 2007, and will run through Saturday, January 6, 2008. The gallery will host an opening reception on Friday, October 26, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at 215 West Superior Street, Chicago. This exhibition will explore subtleties between the work of these two men, whose editorial cartoons continue to be socially and politically relevant. Original watercolor drawings, editorial cartoons, and Feiffer’s illustrations from The Long Chalkboard (2006) will be shown. In addition, new limited edition prints by Bill Mauldin will be featured, including a special limited edition printing of Mauldin’s iconic “Weeping Lincoln” image.

The late cartoonist BILL MAULDIN is remembered for his depiction of life in the trenches during World War II. Stationed in Europe during the war, Mauldin drew cartoons for the Stars and Strips featuring two infantrymen named Willie and Joe. In 1945, Mauldin won his first Pulitzer Prize, “for distinguished service as a cartoonist, as exemplified by the series entitled ‘Up Front with Mauldin.” Mauldin became staff cartoonist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in 1959. In the same year, he won his second Pulitzer for a cartoon entitled I won the Nobel Prize for Literature. What was your crime? In 1962, Mauldin moved to the Chicago Sun-Times, where he worked until his retirement in 1991. One of Mauldin’s most famous cartoons, depicting the statue of Abraham Lincoln at the Lincoln Memorial holding his head in his hands, appeared in the paper after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963. Mauldin passed away at the age of 81 in 2003.

JULES FEIFFER is a legendary, multi-dimensional personality whose talent is reflected in his many endeavors, including his beautifully composed and engaging artwork. In 2003, Feiffer was honored with a solo exhibition, Julz Rulz: Inside the Mind of Jules Feiffer, at the New York Historical Society. In addition, Feiffer’s most recent play, A Bad Friend, was commissioned by and performed at Lincoln Center, New York in summer, 2003. Jules Feiffer is known for his internationally syndicated cartoon strip, which ran for 40 years in The Village Voice and as a monthly feature in The New York Times. He is the author of over 35 books, including the children’s books By the Side of the Road, (2002) and I Lost My Bear (1998). He has written film scripts, among them Popeye (1980) and Carnal Knowledge (1971), and won an Academy Award for Munro (1960), an animated cartoon based on his story. Feiffer won the Obie and Outer Critics Circle Awards for his first full-length play, Little Murders, in 1969. He lives and works in New York City.

Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm, and Saturday from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm, or by appointment. For further information, please contact Sarah Kaliski or Lindsey Walton at 312.440.0770.


Also, this bit about Mauldin's Lincoln cartoon was included separately:

The “WEEPING LINCOLN,” by the great Bill Mauldin, is one of the most acclaimed and distinguished cartoons of the twentieth century. Drawn on November 23, 1963, the day of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, the cartoon ran in commemoration the following day as the back page of the Chicago Sun-Times.

The cartoon captured the immediate emotional response to the president’s death as felt by millions of people around the world. The image remains unequivocal; a powerful tribute to this historic occasion.

Mauldin gave the original drawing of the “Weeping Lincoln” to Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy, who later donated it to the Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.

Unknown to the world, the original metal plate used for printing was rescued from the refuse container by Mr. Ralph Otwell, Weekend News Editor for the Chicago Sun-Times, and has been on the wall of his study for over forty years. Mr. Otwell brought the plate to Jean Albano Gallery in 2006, during their first exhibition of Bill Mauldin’s cartoons. It was an amazing discovery.

The Estate of Bill Mauldin, in association with Jean Albano Gallery, is privileged to offer a limited edition print of the “WEEPING LINCOLN,” hand-pulled from the original plate. This special edition is limited to ONLY 650 prints.

The “Weeping Lincoln” will be featured as part of the exhibition History Revealed: Jules Feiffer and Bill Mauldin, on display at Jean Albano Gallery from October 26, 2007 through January 6, 2008.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Bill Mauldin collection to be coming out

Dave Astor is also reporting "Bill Mauldin's WWII Cartoons to Be Collected in Two-Volume Set." I actually have been attempting to help with this - scanning pages from Stars and Stripes at the Library of Congress, but the images haven't been coming out as well as they should because the newspapers are bound together and the end of the image is in the binding gutter. Work-arounds are being investigated and I'm really looking forward to Todd's books.