Gil Kane vs. Burne Hogarth


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Friday, October 22, 2010


Neglected Masterpiece?

Last Saturday at APE I mercilessly grilled Dan Clowes on Don Martin, Curt Swan, Wally Wood, and other pressing topics. No summary can do justice to the gravity and seriousness of this discussion. Clowes was wily and wise and took the day. Evidence is here:

mp3

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4 Responses to “Gil Kane vs. Burne Hogarth”
  1. Here’s my baseball theory for Wilson that I sent to Mr. Clowes.

    Wison notes

    -a no hitter? perfect game? definitely a complete game.

    -9 innings – 70 pages – 8 pitches per inning – average.

    -Clowes is pitcher – controls game, pace. He keeps the hitter (reader)
    off balance. Keeps him guessing. What pitch? Guess fastball and get
    hung up on a change.

    -fastball, change, sinker, slider, curve – who’s to say which pitch is
    a “humor” style and which pitch is a “serious” style? I could guess
    but that’s the point – I’m guessing as a reader…

    -narrative OUTS. 70 pages – 9 innings – eight pitches (pages) per
    inning – every eight pages I count three “narrative outs” – a sequence
    of pitches that once revealed are “outs” or story points. For example
    in the first seven pages we find out who Wilson is (Out number 1) –
    where he lives – that his mom is dead (Out #2) and that he had an
    ex-wife (Out #3) – see inning breakdown below for whole game (the box
    score) – these outs are debatable but when listed they provide a
    fairly complete synopsis of the story.

    -It’s a game – every eight pages – three outs are recorded. (could be
    seen as hits or runs too but I’m sticking with the baseball pitcher
    cartoonist metaphor) Clowes will record an OUT like with “Out of the
    blue” (pitch #29) or “Long distance” (pitch #30)-which is the out?
    unnecessary to determine – incidental – the story point is still made
    known – we understand he’s found Pippi – and then as Author / Pitcher
    he will blow a high and tight fastball by the Reader / Hitter with
    “Taxicab” and “Dark Knight” because he is a”ahead of the count” – and
    force the reader “off the plate” – of the narrative.

    Narrative OUTS

    1st inning pgs 7-14
    1. Where he lives
    2. Mom dead
    3. Pippi revealed

    2nd inning pgs 15-22
    1. Dad alive
    2. Agent of Change
    3. Dad sick

    3rd inning pgs 23-30
    1. dad dies
    2. in laws
    3. Finds out about ex wife

    4th inning pgs 31-38
    1. finds ex-wife
    2. sleeps with ex-wife
    3. learns he has daughter

    5th inning pgs 39-46
    1. fatherhood
    2. finds daughter
    3. Family life lived

    6th inning pgs 47-54
    1. visits in laws
    2. pippi admits defeat
    3. jail

    7th inning pgs 55-62
    1. released from jail
    2. dog dead
    3. all alone

    8th inning pgs 63-70
    1. eulogy
    2. new wife
    3. admits he has daughter to new wife

    9th inning pgs 71-77
    1. haircut
    2. daughter rejects him from coming to alaska – distance
    3. wakes up (return to ocean/ icicle)

    also 6th inning is turning point – which it often is in a baseball
    game – starting pitcher expected to last 6 full innings. Clowes makes
    it thru the 6th with the lead. 7th, 8th and 9th innings are “1,2,3” as
    they say. He “shut the door”.

  2. Marc Bell says:

    Whatever happened to Fester Bestertester?

    I might be mistaken but think there was a long-ish narrative of Fester and his pal (I forget his name)? I remember them being stuck in the desert. I like that Martin Fester era of real squiggly-ness in the drawing.

    (wish I still had my Don Martin paperbacks).

  3. GMS says:

    That story regarding Ditko is just fantastic.

  4. eric says:

    Very fun interview – thanks for sharing it!

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