Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today, and for the next few posts, the Big Blog will be highlighting a wonderful Golden Books painter, Norman McGary. I could find out very little biographical information regarding Mr. McGary – virtually nothing, in fact. He and his work are listed in several art gallery online sources as an “illustrator of children’s books” or as an illustrator of Hannah-Barbera and Disney characters (as here). And other than a birth/death date (Born October 20, 1930; Died February 10, 2012 – he passed away in California) not much was found. Mr. McGa ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have two brief but excellent examples of the action-friendly work of Milt Stein, animator and comic-book artist best known for his drawing Supermouse and other characters for Standard Comics in the 1950s. Many legendary cartoonist drew Supie, (Al Hubbard and Jack Bradbury among others) but my favorite was Milt Stein. No one put the zap and zing into Supermouse action panels quite like Milt Stein. His work was always so full of vigorous motion and joy. Looking at these stories, one can see why animator, John Kricfalusi (Ren &am ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have the tried-and-true work of Mr. Bud Sagendorf, the assistant for Popeye creator E.C. Segar. Mr. Sagendorf went to work for Mr. Segar as a teenager, working for $50 a week on Thimble Theater and Sappo. Following Segar's death in 1938, Sagendorf moved to New York City and went to work for King Features developing marketing materials while also developing Popeye toys and games. From 1948 until 1967, Mr. Sagendorf was the sole artist-writer if the ongoing Popeye comic book across three different publisher (Dell, Gold Key, and ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have an older Harvey title, Rags Rabbit, a character introduced to compete with the Sheldon Mayer's Bo Bunny and (of course) the most famous bunny of them all, Bugs! Rags was created by Marty Taras, whose classic, happy Harvey work we see here. Marty Taras was (like so many artists in comics in the 40s and 50s) both a cartoonist and animator. He worked for Paramount's Famous Studios in the late 1930s, animating Popeye and Little Lulu shorts. For Harvey he animated many Casper and Baby Huey cartoons (Mr. Taras is also usually c ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! It is that time of the year again, kids! I will always think of it as my favorite time of the year. So, let's keep it short but sweet. Season's Greetings and love to all! These beautiful pages are from Frisky Fables No. 10 (January 1948) done up in joyful, holiday style by kids' comics legend, Al Fago! So, here's hoping your holiday season is full of love, hope, and kindness.Coming up next, let's go back to 1954 and post some stories from an early character from Harvey Comics, the all-but-forgotten Rags Rabbit via the wonderful ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! It’s Playful Little Audrey day at the Bog Blog! Audrey has always been one of my favorite Harvey Comics characters largely because of her supporting cast of neighborhood friends. First, naturally, was Audrey’s oft-times nemesis, Melvin; closely followed by Echo, Lucritia, and Tiny. In today’s stories we find all four. These were all strong characters with distinct personalities, all well-drawn, charming, and very real. They acted so much like a gang of kids – sometimes mean and petty, often scheming, yet all underwritten with a pitch-p ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today, let’s go for a long multi-chapter romp with Harvey master, Warren Kremer! Unlike so many comic book artists, Warren Kremer did not have a long and varied resume. After studying at the School of Industrial Arts in New York City, he worked briefly in pulp magazines and as a cartoonist for Ace Publications. After WWII, his friend Steve Muffati brought him to Harvey Comics, where he worked steadily for 35 years, establishing the Harvey house-style and himself as a legend in the process Let’s enjoy this Casper adventure wherein our f ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today, let’s go for a hayride with the Brownies, curtesy of artist, Don Gunn! The Brownies, in case anyone was wondering, where characters (imaginary little sprites) created by Canadian artist, Palmer Cox in 1887. Dell Comics picked up the theme, and Mr. Don Gunn was the principal artist (among others) that handled their stories throughout the fifties. His work on this title was always wonderful and was influenced by the great Walt Kelly. Mr. Gunn’s work here is appropriately rich and lush ala Kelly. Don Gunn was one of the great Four ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have a companion piece to the Big Blog's last post which highlighted the work of the mysterious Holly Chambers. Why was he mysterious? Have a look at the previous post for the sad and fascinating details of Mr. Chamber's life (what little of it is known). Today we come to another story from Cosmo Cat #2 (September-October 1946) featuring a story by Pat Parrish.But who was Pat Parrish? I had not previously heard of Pat Parrish and, after finding this story in Cosmo Cat and doing days of research, I can find less about Mr. Parri ..read more

Good afternoon, Kids! So nice to visit with you all again! Today we have some rare work from the Golden Age of comics, Mr. Ellis Holly Chambers (both cover and story).I have not been able to find even a shred of biographic information regarding Mr. Chambers. There seems no information to be found regarding year of birth or death, birthplace, family . . . nothing. The only scrap that has been passed down that I've been able to find comes third-hand from the great Harvey artist, Howie Post; who apparently shared a studio with the artist in the ‘40s in New York City.This interesting if distrubing ..read more