Lazy Saturday Post
by Dash Shaw
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Pope/Ware collage
Just a lazy Saturday post here. Frank came up to Brooklyn to hang out. We spent a couple hours at the great Time Machine yesterday and dug up some fun books. I really wanted to get a beautiful Planet of the Apes coloring book I saw there. They’re all archived online as PDFs here. Of course it’s better with the faded, toothy yellow paper, though.
I picked up this 1990 Anime Shower special issue, from the publisher of Protoculture Addicts. As the introduction explains:
The Summer is over. The weather is not fine enough anymore to see our favorite heroes and characters in swim suit. Then why not dare to meet them in the intimacy of their shower/bath? Here is a unique occasion.
Each page is a collage of manga frames and anime screen captures of different shower scenes. Check out the Akira panel!
It also has essays about violence vs. nudity in American cinema and a loving essay on shower scenes: “And don’t you think that such an obvious concern with personal hygiene is sending a positive message to today’s youth?”
Also got a comic called The Protectors, published by New York Comics, 1986, that has a running text section at the bottom of each page about how the comic was made and their troubles with their former publisher, Solson. It’s a story of youthful ambition, financial woes, re-inked pages, etc.
It’s a classic ’80s comics publishing cautionary tale… “NOT PRINTED BY SOLSCUM”!!
Okay. We may now return to the regular CC comics criticism and reportage…
Labels: manga, New York Comics, publishing stories, Roger's Time Machine
Good choices! Forgive the hyperbole, but Roger’s Time Machine is the greatest comic store of all time.
beautiful
ZOMG! Those Planet of the Apes books really take me back. I never had an ‘Apes themed book, but I had plenty of those “cut and color” variety. More than one Richard Scarry book occupied me for weeks, diligently working through all the dioramas, games, and mini paper TVs. Finger Puppets! I played with those things for hours. Made up stories. Damn!
Thanks for this dose of nostalgia. Carry on.
“The Protectors” saga is truly one for the ages. They drew the first issue to the wrong scale so there was a “gutter” on the bottom of the page. They filled that space on each page with a breathless tale of youthful idealism – it’s the narrative of how the book came into being and how they got Solson (Rich Buckler) to publish their book. Then in issue two the authors crucify Buckler and Solson for ripping them off. It is truly THE document of the “Black and White” explosion of the 80’s in the Direct Market. (The bridge is over).
also: Dash’s collage is a newsprint mash up of Pope and Ware. Color match. I was telling him to do a mashup blog Pope and Ware and call it “Pope Ware”… maybe it’ll convert alt comics readers into mainstream ones or vice versa, haha.
Man, I like that Time machine- I got deep into Savage sword magazines because of that place.
I really like the pages in the back of that Anime shower special with pin ups for comics I never saw. (i might be thinking of #2 ) Was it the 90’s that killed that type of thing –the summer special? Did 90’s comics love the summer special/ swimsuit issue too much and drove it away.
I’ve been thinking about the 90’s like it was a great comic book war that left the current generation without comic book fathers. and without summer special/shower/pinup issues.
If only Fantagraphics resurected the Amazing Heroes Swimsuit Special for another issue.
Then we could really see if Chris Ware ever feels sexy…
Cold Heat special #19 The Bikini Babe Pinup issue.