Monday, April 29, 2019

THE REVERSE DORIAN GRAY EFFECT

Everyone knows all about Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel, THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY and the principle involved therein.  To wit, Basil Hallward paints his portrait and Dorian declares that he would give his soul if he could always remain young and the painting instead would grow old.
The wish is granted and Dorian pursues a life of wild abandon full of amoral experiences while staying young; meanwhile, his portrait ages and captures every sin.
Well, I've discovered it is more terrifying the other way around!

Yes! It's even worse to see your picture staying young and fresh while you slowly deteriorate and fall apart piece by piece!

Thursday, April 25, 2019

STAN & OLLIE Blu-Ray is here!

I finally got my copy of Jon S. Baird's film STAN & OLLIE starring John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy and Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel.
The film has its faults, no doubt and relatives of Hal Roach may have some issues with it but all in all, it's a wonderful film, very entertaining and lovingly assembled by everyone associated with the production. Highly recommended, I will surely enjoy it repeatedly for years to come.

I posted my review a few months ago.
You can take a look here:
https://ferllera.blogspot.com/2019/02/stan-ollie-movie_16.html



And if you like this film, you'll love even more this other DVD set:
                                     
                                             Laurel-Hardy-Essential-Collection

Monday, March 25, 2019

WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?

                                                                The shadow knows!


(With a tip of the hat to Sergio Aragonés!)

Saturday, March 23, 2019

ANTONIO IS SEVEN!

Today is my grandson ANTONIO's 7th Birthday!
I can't believe it!
Time doesn't fly...it zooms by!


Friday, March 22, 2019

MORT DRUCKER!

Mort Drucker was born March 22,1929 in Brooklyn, New York.
His work and caricatures at MAD Magazine, beginning in 1956, soon became legendary.  Mort's artwork was the first thing that attracted me to Mad Magazine back in the Sixties, and I became an ardent fan of his drawings.  Mort Drucker's on-target depictions of celebrities were my inspiration to become a full time cartoonist.
Of course I never aspired to emulate him and my drawing style differs sharply from his, but he was the reason I kept buying Mad even into the 2000s even though I believed the rest of the magazine was going rapidly downhill.  When Mort ceased to submit his work to the magazine, I stopped buying it.
Anyway, happy 90th birthday to one of my heroes...the one and only MORT DRUCKER!










Sunday, March 17, 2019

You can celebrate ST. PATRICK'S DAY even if you're not Irish!

And of course there are many ways to remember St. Patrick's holiday which must include watching some great classic Irish-themed cartoons!
These two are my perennial favorites!

1951 - WEARING OF THE GRIN. Written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. The expressions on Porky's face make this, one of the funniest entries in the Merrie Melodies library!







 




1958 - DROOPY LEPRECHAUN - MGM-Hanna-Barbera Productions. Directed by Michael Lah.  Droopy's last theatrical cartoon is memorable for Spike, the Irish dog who's obsessed with catching a leprechaun! 








Opening scenes from DROOPY LEPRECHAUN:

Anyway, Happy St. Patrick's Day!


Monday, March 11, 2019

GIRLS! - (The Wonders of Photoshop)

                              This image may seem utterly ridiculous and impossible but...I can dream, can't I?

Friday, March 1, 2019

The LAUREL & HARDY Comic Book Collection

Being a Laurel and Hardy fan since my early childhood, I was pleasantly surprised back in 1962 when I discovered Dell Publishing's first Laurel and Hardy comic book and immediately began to look for all their following issues. The names of the writers and artists on these are sadly unavailable.
Unfortunately, only four issues were produced before the title was discontinued.    

                                                     

 Later on, Gold Key comics took another shot at it and published two more Laurel and Hardy issues, in 1967. 



Again, in 1972, DC Comics tried one more time to promote a Laurel and Hardy comic with so much luck, they only came out with one lone issue.   

 
Today, thanks to the internet, it's very easy to track down most of the Laurel and Hardy back issues, even dating to the St. John comics from the late forties.


It is even possible to locate some rare foreign editions like these from England, Spain and Mexico.