Saturday, March 17, 2012

St. Patrick's Day: Darby O'Gill and the #009900 People

'Tis the only comic book personally endorsed by Denis Leary AND Lucky the Lucky Charms Leprechaun.'

For your St. Patrick's Day pleasure (because I can't email you a corned beef and cabbage dinner or ask the Pogues to personally appear in your living room), here's several panels from Dell's comic book adaptation of the 1959 Walt Disney film Darby O'Gill and the Little People, starring Albert Sharpe, Janet Munro, and that most Irish of actors, Sean Connery. And to allow you to get to get back more quickly to your choruses of "Haul Away Joe" and your perfectly poured pint of delicious, creamy, black-as-the-grave Guinness, I'll abridge it by only posting the panels that are overwhelmingly green. (And as always, hover over the images for some alt-text that will no doubt have me a the defendant in a suit by the Irish Anti-Stereotype League.)

It's a well-documented fact* in comic publishing history that this book used up so much green ink that Dell had to cancel their long-running Green Hornet and Tales of the Green Beret series. I hereby proudly bring you, in all its Alex Toth-pencilled, evergreen emerald elegance...

In VistaVision! Which means, Disney owns it.

In VistaVision! Which means, Disney owns it.

'I still can't get over how Clint Eastwood made us paint all the townspeople green.'

Brian Cox the physicist is a LEPRECHAUN? Oh, wait, Brian CONNER. Nevermind.

'An' the first one is, make me stop doin' these shadow puppets!'

'I knew no good would come out of answering that O'Craigslist ad!'

Father Murphy appears courtesy of 'Little House on the Prairie.'

'Tis no Michael McAnybody...'tis JAMES BOND himself!' 'They're onto me! Quick, Q, inflate the eschape pod!'

'Faith an' begorrah! 'Tis surely Vince McColletta who's erased our backgrounds!'

'WOOF!' 'What's that, Lassie? Darby O'Gill has fallen down the well?' 'WOOF!'

'I'll take his wallet and you get his watch!'

The Disney Corporation has never released the outtake footage of Albert Sharpe purposefully stomping on dozens of leprechaun extras.

And now, 'Lotte Reiniger's Darby O'Gill and the Little People.'

King Brian of the Leprechauns should have worn his yellow waistcoat...doesn't he know Darby's power ring won't work on the color yellow?

'A foin dinner of these delicious Lucky Charms!'

They only call him Pony because he likes carrots and apples.

And this is how Sean Connery's drinking problem began.

Good to see Wayland Flowers and Madame are still getting some work.

Suddenly it's the Irish version of Wuthering Heights!

'Well, she's no fun; she fell right over.'

Just think how much cooler this would have been with the Black Racer.

'Now, please exit to the right, and do not forget to pick up souvenirs in our tiny gift shop!'

from Four Color #1024 [Darby O'Gill and the Little People] (August 1959), pencils and inks by Alex Toth
I can not tell a lie: t'was my little stuffed self who tinted that Dell Pledge to Parents a lovely shade of green, but the rest of the overwhelmingly-verdant comic book panels I've posted were as kelly as the day they were published. And in the spirit of O'Photoshoppery, I've also tinted this inside front-cover photosummary with that most lovely of shades as well. Never let it be said that Ted Turner has a monopoly on colorizing movies!

Next up from Disney...something starring Fred MacMurray and/or Dean Jones!

Next up from Disney...something starring Fred MacMurray and/or Dean Jones!

I've left the most delightful part for last: a lovely back cover pin-up of that comely Colleen, the ever-radiant Janet Munro.

In this famous image, Janet Munro auditions for the lead role in 'Home Alone.'

In this famous image, Janet Munro auditions for the lead role in 'Home Alone.'

'Tis true as far as Disney heroines go that Janet Munro is no Hayley Mills, but I've proudly and unabashedly ruined the value of my copy of ~~One~~ Four Color #1024 by cutting the pin-up out and hanging it on my wall. Happy St., Patrick's Day, Miss Munro! Happy St. Patrick's Day, Sean Connery! Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!

*No it isn't.

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 77

On the right we can see Alfred in his moonlighting job as a Time/Life operator.

Alfred Pennyworth's "Who's Who in the DC Universe" page from Batman Annual #15 (1989), pencils by Joe James, inks by Denis Rodier

St. Patrick's Day: A barrel O'Laughs

It's that time of year again! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Then, they hit each other with custard pies and spray seltzer down each other's pants!

"Maw Green" from Four Color #206 [Little Orphan Annie] (Dell, December 1948), script, pencils, and inks by Harold Gray
I don't know why this is colored in red instead of green!

Today in Comics History, March 17, 1978: Time Machine Arriving Too Late to Send a Birthday Card

Well, it's a good thing the comic scripter reminded us it's Bob Haney's birthd...HEY!

from World's Finest Comics #251 (DC, June 1978), script by Bob Haney, pencils by George Tuska, inks by Vince Colletta, colors by Jerry Serpe, letters by Ben Oda
(It was on March 15!)

Friday, March 16, 2012

Darkseid Does Some Dumb Stuff

Sure, he's noble and regal and dangerous and deadly. But sometimes Darkseid does some dumb stuff. (Hence, the title of the post.)

Darkseid trips and falls flat on his face!

Panels from Superman/Batman #38 (September 2007), script by Alan Burnett, pencils by Dustin Nguyen, inks by Derek Fridolfs, colors by Randy Mayor, letters by Rob Leigh

Darkseid drinks needlessly expensive designer coffee!

'Hmmm. Darkseid never has a second cup of coffee at home!'

Panels from Sovereign Seven #1 (July 1995), script by Chris Claremont, pencils and inks by Dwayne Turner, colors by Gloria Vasquez, separations by Olyoptics, letters by Tom Orzechowski

Darkseid Breaks and Enters!

'And I brought home our special guest star, Miniature Cesar Romero! I hope you didn't burn the roast again!' 'Awwwwwwwwwwww.'

'He helped himself to my stash of Billy Beer!'

Panels from Action Comics #593 (October 1987), script, pencils, and figure inks by John Byrne, background inks by Keith Williams, colors by Tom Ziuko, letters by John Costanza

Darkseid doesn't have an escape plan!

Panels from JLA: Another Nail #1 (May 2004), script and pencils by Alan Davis, inks by Mark Farmer, colors by John Kalisz, letters by Patricia Prentice

Darkseid breaks into a secondhand clothing shop!

'I sure hope Batman doesn't catch me doing this.'

Page from Super Powers v.3 #3 (November 1986), script by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Carmine Infantino, inks by Pablo Marcos, colors by Joe Orlando, letters by Albert DeGuzman

...and then he gets mugged!

He's cosplaying as The Thing from Fantastic Four #1.

Not to mention all of these.

'There's a Darkseid on the landing. I don't know who keeps puttin' 'em here!'

That's how he worked his way through Evil College.

This is the beginning of the credits for his new sitcom.

'Ambush Bug #4, Death: Darkseid. Mint price: $20,000.

Panels from Ambush Bug #1-4 (June-September 1985), plot and pencils by Keith Giffen, script by Robert Fleming, inks by Bob Oksner, colors by Tony Tollin, letters by John Costanza

Yes, occasionally...Darkseid Does Some Dumb Stuff.

Caption from Superman/Batman Annual #1 (December 2006), script by Joe Kelly, colors by Guy Major, letters by Rob Leigh.

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 76

'Well, that solves the Mystery of the Chair That Went into Outer Space!'

Panel from Batman v.1 #31 (October-November 1945), script by Don Cameron or Joe Samachson (?), pencils and inks by Jerry Robinson, letters by Ira Schnapp

Thursday, March 15, 2012

We would just like to point out

LEX LUTHOR

Luthor can't see it because it's facing away from him, but his TARDIS is going 'Aieeeeeee!'

BUILT A TARDIS

Panel from The New Adventures of Superboy #50 (February 1984), script by Paul Kupperberg, pencils by Kurt Schaffenberger, inks by Dave Hunt, colors by Jerry Serpe, letters by John Costanza

366 Days with Alfred Pennyworth, Day 75

Hey, it's the Beatles Vultures from The Jungle Book!

Which inspires this exchange between Dick and Barbara:

'Sure. He's the one that confiscated those magazines Koriand'r was in.'

Panels from Detective Comics #872 (January 2011), script by Scott Snyder, pencils and inks by Jock, colors by David Baron, letters by Jared K. Fletcher

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Now these are my heroes.

The rest of the issue is Kal-El making fun of Brainiac's font choice.

Panels from Action Comics v.2 #7 (May 2012), script by Grant Morrison, pencilled by Rag Morales, inked by Rick Bryant, colored by Brad Anderson, lettered by Patrick Brouseau

A strong contender in the 'Imitate the Ninth Doctor' contest...

A strong contender in the 'Imitate the Ninth Doctor' contest...

Panels from Amazing Spider-Man #681 (May 2012), script by Dan Slott and Chris Yost, pencilled by Giuseppe Camuncoli, inked by Klaus Janson, colored by Frank D'Armata, lettered by Joe Caramagna

This is what my heroes do. And succeed. Is it any coincidence these stories are written by some of the best creators in the business today?