From the 1970s Recipe Cards of Mama Bull: Teenage Kitchen Fondue

Since I have always been six (which is a very good age to be), I have never been a teenager. And yet Mama Bull loves making us Teenage Kitchen Fondue. Which is weird, because I'm pretty sure our kitchen is not a teenager.


Fondue is all the rage in our home and we even have the special color-coded extendo-forks (I get the blue ones!). I'm pretty fond of cheese fondue, or cooking little meatballs inside a fondue cauldron of scalding peanut oil, but there is nothing quite on earth like Mock Cheese Fondue made but from Apple Juice. This is as opposed to Mock Apple Pie which is made from Ritz Crackers, so I'm guessing somewhere out there is at least one recipe for Mock Ritz Crackers made out of cheese.


Also, don't forget the Psychedelic Dessert Fondue, about which warnings have been given at Woodstock.

Most important, Mama Bull's recipe card has a Screen Actors Guild card of its own, because she lent the card to neighborhood friends Michael Diamond, Adam Yauch and Adam Horovitz. "Such nice boys they are," says Mama Bull, "but why is their music so loud?" Here we can see the recipe card in its starring role!


And now thanks to the magic of YouTube, you tube too can watch the guest appearance of Mama Bull's recipe card in this very same Beastie Boys music video!:


"Body Movin'" music video by The Beastie Boys (November 1998), directed by Adam Yauch
The video itself is a spoof of (and uses footage from) the groovy 1968 Italian action movie Danger: Diabolik, based on the even-groovier European comics series by Angela and Luciana Giussani. And the character inspired Grant Morrison's X-Men character Fantomex, so in terms of Six Degrees of Comics World Separation, that means my Mama is connected to Xorn in fewer connections than you might think! Also, she is connected to robot pals Crow and Tom Servo, because Danger: Diabolik was the film riffed on in the final episode* of Mystery Science Theater 3000! Watch it here now!



To sum up: Mama Bull's fondue recipe card is famous around the world for its starring role in a sexy Italian action movie. That's pretty much more than any of us can say, unless you are of course regular Comics Oughta Be Fun! reader and commenter Monica Vitti. Ciao, baby!



*Yes, yes, I know, Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders. I pfui on your Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders.

Today in Comics History, December 17: This day keeps popping up in the adult Schroeder's therapy sessions

Hey, remember yesterday? Beethoven's Birthday? Now that's something that Schroeder out of Peanuts would never forget, right? Well, in 1957...


Lucy, of course, is utterly sympathetic:


Yep, you can always count on Lucille van Pelt for subtlety and restraint. ... NOT!


If you've ever wondered what Lucy does every year on June 1...now you know!


Ah, Schroeder. The world was never made for one as beautiful as you.


Peanuts (United Feature Syndicate, December 17-21, 1957), by Charles Schulz

Today in Comics History, December 17, 2003: Space station is named after Clark Griswold

from Letter 44 #23 (Oni, February 2016), script by Charles Soule, pencils and inks by Alberto Jiménez Alburquerque, colors by Dan Jackson, letters by Crank!

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 352: That Christmas, Mrs. Weasley knitted Peter a sweater

Yesterday, we asked the musical question "Did Jonah actually double the five dollar Christmas bonuses for the Bugle staff as he promised?"


Panel from Marvel Team-Up (1972 series) #79 (March 1979), co-plot and script by Chris Claremont, co-plot and pencils by John Byrne, inks by Terry Austin, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by Tom Orzechowski
To quote Charles Dickens: he was better than his word. Or, maybe, just exactly the same as his word.

Tomorrow: More of the Twelve Christmas Bonuses of Jameson!

Today in Comics History, December 16: Happy birthday, Ludwig van Beethoven! (Also: tell Tchaikovsky the news.)

It's Beethoven's birthday! Let's check out some more info about Beethoven!

Camper Van Beethoven is an American rock band formed in Redlands, California in 1983 and later located in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk, alternative country, and world music. The band initially polarized audiences within the hardcore punk scene of California's Inland Empire before finding wider acceptance and, eventually, an international audience.

Oh, I've made another one of my silly mistakes. I mean the one born in 1770.


Peanuts (December 16, 1953), by Charles Schulz
Clearly this is a very important day for one member of the Peanuts gang, and I'm not talking about Charlotte Braun.


from "December 16th" in Peanuts (2012 series) #14 (Boom, December 2013), script by Caleb Moore, pencils by Vicki Scott, inks by Paige Braddock, colors by Donna Almendrala, letters by Alexis E. Fajardo
It's a day to celebrate the best way I know how: with cake.


Peanuts (December 16, 1954), by Charles Schulz
Did you know that many other famous people were born on December 16? Wow, that maternity hospital musta been crowded.


Still, there's no reason not to celebrate the works of this unforgettable man.


Peanuts (December 16, 1958), by Charles Schulz
So remember: when you celebrate the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, the whole world celebrates with you! Sing his popular hit along with me: Da da da DAHHHHH!

Today in Comics History, December 16, 1987: John Constantine discards sriracha french fry

from Psi-Force #18 (April 1988), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Ron Lim, inks by Romeo Tanghal, colors by Nel Yomtov, letters by Joe Rosen

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 351: Jonah's office wall is made of solid milk chocolate

Remember yesterday's actual documentation that the standard J. Jonah Jameson Christmas bonus was five bucks? Here's the later-in-the-story callback in which he promises to increase that bonus by a factor of two!


Panels from Marvel Team-Up #106 (June 1981), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Diana Albers
Will Jonah keep his made-under-Scorpion-duress Christmas promise? We shall see.

This Scene Does Not Appear in This Comic Book

cover of Crime Detective Comics v.1 #6 (Hillman, January-February 1949), pencils and inks by Dan Zolnerowich
I'm going ape about why this entire set-up doesn't appear in a single story at all of this comic book! And I say it oughta! And why would a gorilla have a safe anyway? That's bananas! (Please fill in your answers in the comments!)

Today in Comics History, December 15, 1987: "Chuck! Chuck, it's Lindsey. Your cousin, Lindsey Berry. You know that new sound you're looking for? Well, listen to this!"

from Psi-Force #18 (Marvel/New Universe, April 1988), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Ron Lim, inks by Romeo Tanghal, colors by Nel Yomtov, letters by Joe Rosen

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 350: Hey, look! There's a fiver.

Please take note of how much J. Jonah Grincheson gives out for Christmas bonuses: a whoppin' half-a-sawbuck. Don't forget this: there will be a test over the next few days!


Panels from Marvel Team-Up #106 (June 1981), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Herb Trimpe, inks by Mike Esposito, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by Diana Albers

Today in Comics History, December 15, 1987: Regis Philbin dragged kicking and screaming into Spider-Man story

from The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976 series) #136 (Marvel, March 1988), script by Peter David, pencils and inks by Sal Buscema, colors by Janet Jackson, letters by Rick Parker

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 349: They had better get me photos of Spider-Man, and increase the surplus circulation

Let's kick off the holiday season with a scene from the classic Spidey story "The Final Chapter!" C'mon, you know it...the one where Spider-Man lifts a big-ass piece of machinery off of himself to get medicine to Aunt May — one of the greatest sequences in early Marvel Universe history! Oh yeah, and there's this lovely scene, in which Peter Parker grows a backbone and, in keeping with our holiday theme through Christmas, compares J.J.J. to E.S....Ebenezer Scrooge, that is! (An allusion which'll prove to be more than merely symbolic as you'll see in a little about a week and a half!)


Panels from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #33 (February 1966); plot, pencils, and inks by Steve Ditko, script by Stan Lee, letters by Artie Simek
"Come off it, JJ! Compared to you, even Scrooge was a reckless, devil-may-care spendthrift!" You've got to hand it to Peter, who in less than three years has turned from a mousy bookworm to a guy who will stand up for himself. He has grown the proportionate spine of a spider!

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 348: To liven up your holiday party, just add Mary Jane

Panels from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #151 (December 1975); script by Len Wein; pencils by Ross Andru; inks by John Romita, Sr.; ink assists by Mike Esposito, Frank Giacoia, and Dave Hunt, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by John Costanza

Today in Comics History, December 12, 1987: John Constantine travels to Earth-148611

from Psi-Force #18 (Marvel/New Universe, April 1988), script by Fabian Nicieza, pencils by Ron Lim, inks by Romeo Tanghal, colors by Nel Yomtov, letters by Joe Rosen

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 347: Just the facts, Spider-Ma'an

Clip 'n' save 'em all: it's the 21st century version of the venerated old Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, the all-new all-different Marvel Fact Files! Only published in Britain — too bad Americans!



Pages from Marvel Fact Files #18 (Eaglemoss Publications Ltd, 2013)
Now with 100%* more Daily Bugle!




Pages from Marvel Fact Files #22 (Eaglemoss Publications Ltd, 2013)
*Actual percentage of Daily Bugle may vary due to shaking or settling of product.

Today in Comics History Future, December 12, 2056: The last issue of the long-delayed Secret Wars miniseries finally comes out

from Deadpool and the Mercs for Money (April 2016 miniseries) #1 (Marvel, April 2016), script by Cullen Bunn, pencils and inks by Salva Espin, colors by Guru-eFX, letters by Joe Sabino

366 Days with J. Jonah Jameson, Day 346: C'mon Get Happy

Panels from Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) #18 (November 1964); plot, script, and pencils by Steve Ditko, script by Stan Lee, colors by Stan Goldberg, letters by Sam Rosen

Today in Comics History, December 11, 2015: Midnighter regrets hooking up on Grindr with Red Hood

from Midnighter (2015 series) #7 (DC, February 2016), script by Steve Orlando, pencils and inks by Hugo Petrus, colors by Rómulo Fajardo Jr., letters by Tom Napolitano