Li'l Abner -- pitchman!

It's a testament to the popularity of Al Capp's comic strip, Li'l Abner, that clients must've been falling all over themselves to use Abner as pitchman for their products.  Have a look at the variety of ads shown here.  As always, click on the images for larger versions.

 Abner and family want us to buy Fruit of the Loom underwear -- Abner seems to prefer boxers, while the next generation is sporting briefs. 

Abner is knocking back Kraft caramels in this ad.  A previous blogpost on comic ads featured the Daisy Mae version of this advertisement.

Abner hawks laundry soap, while urging you to name this Shmoo!  Heck, I'll name a Shmoo for 20 grand!

Abner plugs the Bob Hope movie, That Certain Feeling -- which, not so coincidentally, features a cameo by Al Capp!

And now we come to the cream of the crop -- literally!  Cream of Wheat ran an ad campaign featuring Li'l Abner for over a decade -- from the early '40s into the '50s. The two full page ads directly below are not typical of the campaign.  Most of the ads were of the comic strip variety -- keep scrolling down to see three examples of those.

The first comic strip ad is an early one -- from 1941.  Early examples all have this "long shot" look to them, but it wasn't long before someone figured out the format allowed for a big top panel - and that panel could feature a big sexy shot of Daisy Mae (or Wolf Gal, on a few occasions) -- and the strips started looking more graphically pleasing (in more ways than one).   Ads usually ran in black and white or two color -- I've only seen a very few full color examples.  I have dozens of these -- and if you folks like them, I'll scan and post more -- just ask.

Alas, all good things come to an end.  After a decade of  selling their product with comic strips featuring a lunkheaded hillbilly and (more importantly) his gorgeous backwoods gal, Cream of Wheat retired the Li'l Abner campaign and brought in a rambunctious kid to pitch their cereal.  Here's Dennis the Menace taking Abner's place.  Dennis' mom is kinda cute -- but I must admit -- she's no Daisy Mae.
Now before anyone takes me to task for forgetting the Fearless Fosdick Wildroot Cream Oil ads -- I do have a few -- and will scan and post them soon.  In the meantime, please let me know if you'd like to see more of these comic strip ads!

 

George Tuska 1916-2009

Cartoonist George Tuska, probably best known for his run on Marvel's Iron Man in the '60s, passed away recently.  This prompted me to go to my files and pull out these pencil drawings he sent me in October of 2000.  I'd written him a fan letter, and asked if he had any drawing advice he'd pass on to aspiring cartoonists.  I wasn't teaching at MCAD yet, but had taught a few cartooning classes at schools and museums in the Quad Cities area, so thought it a question worth asking.  George responded with this lovely pencil drawing of Iron Man -- and a page of notes on inking.  The sideways comment reads: " Years ago working with Will Eisner, Will's pencils were very sketchy.  He knew how to ink The Spirit. I couldn't ink it!"

Pumpkin... GOOOOOD!!!!

A Happy Halloween to all the readers of my blog!  Here's the "Frank O'Lantern" I carved this afternoon.  We're getting ready for Trick or Treaters, and will be giving out back issues of various Batman comics that I've inked along with the traditional candy.

Halloween is on the way!

Our great migration is done.  We are out of the old place and in the new.  There is still much to unpack -- but my studio is 90% together and I'm back to work.  To celebrate that -- and the upcoming holiday -- here are some cool Halloween images.  For your viewing pleasure -- some vintage Halloween decorations and some Wheaties cereal box masks  -- artists unknown.

More commissions!

Okay, I know I said I wasn't doing any more of these for a while -- but I didn't count on having a little down time in between sections of Return to Perdition.  So, I did these two in between pencilling the first eighteen pages of that project and starting to ink them -- and just before getting ready for FallCon. The show is tomorrow and Sunday -- I'm sorting through art and comics to bring to the show tonight, so I'll present these with a brief description and get back to the sorting.  

First up is a B&W pin-up drawing of Ava Gardner.  This is based on a combination of elements from several different reference photos, and was a real treat to do.  It's a mixed media piece -- ink on paper with shading and dress details in acrylic.

Below Ava is another Huntress team-up image for a client who is obviously a big Huntress fan!  This time she is ready to fight crime with the Robin of Earth 2.

That's it.  See you at FallCon!!!!!!

FallCon, moving -- and indigestion posing as a heart attack

It's going to be a busy week and a half around the Beatty household.  

I lost a little work time this week due to an unexpected overnight hospital stay.  I'm OK, as it turned out to be not nearly as serious a thing as it first seemed (gastric troubles masquerading as a heart attack -- all the classic symptoms!) -- and I'm grateful for the wonderful care I received at Fairview Southdale.   I'm also grateful for the insurance coverage supplied by my wife's employer! 

I am annoyed that I had to walk out on the TOY STORY 3-D double feature only ten minutes in -- but as much as I love 3-D, when you think you're having a heart attack (even if you're not), it's best to get yourself to the emergency room!

So I'm running a little behind on the two commissions I wedged into my schedule this week  -- but I'll catch up.  One is already about 90% pencilled and looking good. 

Coming up this weekend, we have FallCon, the local two day comic book show.  Guests include Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Gerry Conway, Peter Bagge and my old pal, MR. MONSTER's own Michael T. Gilbert.  The show is Saturday and Sunday at the grandstand in the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul.  Details at the link above. Many of my former MCAD students will be there as well, with their latest comics projects.  If you're anywhere near the Twin Cities, please make plans to stop by!  Bring a jacket or sweater -- it'll be a little cool in there if the weather reports are accurate.

And starting Monday and finishing up over the next weekend, we're going to be moving our household and my studio into new digs.  We're simply moving to a larger place in our current townhouse complex -- but it still means boxing everything up and hauling it down the walk and across the parking lot -- and I have a LOT of books to move.  Any of our Twin Cities friends who'd like to help lug stuff over with us -- or watch Kirby while we do so, are very welcome to come help.  Contact me for details if you're able to volunteer.  I'll thank you with the gift of a page of original Batman art, if that helps sway you any...!

It'll be a very busy time, so I'll likely not post much to the blog for a while.  We may be off-line for a little bit, as we'll have to get our service switched to the new place.  Once we're in, I'll get back to posting "cool stuff" here -- including pics of the new studio set up, once it's all put together.

Wish us luck!

October Update

Kirby battles with Rat Fink!

Hey folks -- I've been absent for a little while here.  Work on Return to Perdition -- and taking care of Kirby (see above) while Erika is at her 9 to 5 -- is keeping me busy, so I haven't had time to post to the blog.  I'll make up for that eventually, and won't let things go too long without sharing some more cool stuff with you.

Erika, Kirby and I are getting ready to move soon -- not out of state, out of town -- or even out of our neighborhood -- but just down the walk, across the parking lot, and into a new place in the same apartment complex we're in now!  If you think that's crazy, it's not nearly as weird as the time I moved from a downstairs apartment in a duplex to the upstairs, while the upstairs tenant moved downstairs (or the move in Muscatine that essentially involved trading houses). 

We just need more room for our son Kirby -- so we're transferring to a bigger unit.  One of the results for me will be a larger in-home studio space.  Packing and moving all my books, model kits and art stuff will be a massive pain, but in the long run, I know it'll be worth it, so I'll suffer through. (Moving help from our Twin Cities friends will be gladly accepted -- even just to watch Kirby while we pack stuff up!)

In other news, I'm looking forward to attending FallCon, the local comic book show, on Oct. 10 and 11.  There's a great guest list this year -- Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Gerry Conway, Michael T. Gilbert and many more -- including many of my former MCAD students, who are turning out some great work.  For more info click HERE.

I'm crossing my fingers for good weather for the show.  In the past we've at times had pouring rain, freezing cold and worst of all, a heat wave (in October!) -- a nice, cool Fall day would work just fine.  If you attend, please stop by my table and say hello.

The Urban Legends and Shock Stories trading card sets I drew for Monsterwax are starting to appear in comic shops --  check your local shop to see if they ordered a box or two.  Boxes (which include a full set of each) can be ordered directly from Monsterwax if you don't want to buy individual packs from your local shop.

I've inked a few issues of Batman: Brave & Bold for DC recently -- and an issue of Super Friends (which has already been collected in a trade paperback!) -- and am waiting for some more Batman to come my way. If all goes as planned, this will reunite me with Joe Staton.  Joe and I worked together on the Eisner Award winning World's Finest graphic novel, as well as The P.I.'s at First Comics -- and assorted issues of the various animated-style Batman comic book series.  I'll also be drawing a story for the new Bela Lugosi's Tales from the Grave comic, from a script by my pal Martin Powell.  

So if you've been wondering why I haven't posted any new cool stuff since the Lawson Wood post -- I hope I've cleared that mystery up for you.  Now I've got to run -- comic pages must be drawn and Kirby needs some attention.  See you in the funny papers -- and here too -- as soon as my schedule allows.