Nick Cardy

If you’re a youngun, you might not know the career of Nick Cardy.  He was one of the very few Golden Agers comic artists still with us until this week, where he passed away at the age of 93.

Nick Cardy was a pillar of DC Comics during my childhood, and a great deal of my love of comics manifested itself while reading comics that he drew.  Especially comics he drew the covers of…

This is a couple of pages from the first DC Comic I ever read: Teen Titans #6.  I probably knew who Batman was from the TV show, but I had this comic because Robin was in it.  I was five years old, and Robin and the Teen Titans were HUGE in my life when I was very little.  This sequence, where Speedy shoots at his friends while BLINDFOLDED was incredibly exciting when I was five.   I still own this comic. It’s missing its cover and some of the pages are scribbled on, but I’ve never lost it.

This comic scared the HELL out of a year later.  Not only does Robin visit the GRAVES of his friends (complete with ghosts!), but for some bizarre reason, he takes off his costume and mask and spends half of the story in his underwear.  It’s such an odd sequence that it stuck in my head for years.

Then THIS Titans vs. a Giant Book cover came out.  Again, I’m about six years old when I saw this, but something weird happened when I did….I think I understood the difference between a striking and clever composition and regular old comics right then and there.  Cardy was doing something outstanding here and I could recognize it.   Look at that cover, who could MISS it?  I still own my copy of this one, but it has the damn cover.  It’s actually in pretty good shape.  The little kid in me didn’t want that cover harmed in any way.

In the 70s, when I was about twelve years old, I finally figured out I could subscribe to comic books and get them in the mail!  I think I subscribed to about twenty series, and constantly asked for subscriptions for birthdays and Christmases.  This issue of Superman (with that magnificent Cardy cover) was the first comic book that ever arrived in the mail at my house.  It was folded in half, which I didn’t like, but it was magical to get a new comic book or two at my front door about every other day.   Most of them had Cardy covers.

Speaking of Christmas, long time readers of this blog know my affection for this particular comic book.  I put this Nick Cardy cover up online for all to see every Christmas, and the tradition will likely continue for years to come.   This image is as close to joy in a line drawing as my nostalgic brain can wish for.

Nick Cardy covers were SO good, I bought Romance Comics and other icky girl titles if he did the cover.  I bought this at a convention when I was about fifteen, and my friend actually made fun of me.

This gorgeous cover lured me into a lifetime love of Bat Lash.  And he SAVED the West.  Trust me.  Cardy did the interiors on this series and I gobbled up every one.

At this point, I’m going to be quiet, and let you enjoy a treasury of the man’s work.  93 years old is a great run at this planet, and he left us SO much gorgeous comic art.  I envy you folks if you’re seeing any of it for the first time.

Thanks Nick.  You were an intimidating inspiration to this aspiring artist when I was growing up.  Every cover I ever draw, I’m conscious of wishing it was half as good as your stuff.

Ty the Guy OUT!

This issue of Teen Titans:

 

…was an impossible dream when I was a kid.  Neal Adams wrote the script, and did the layouts and Nick Cardy did the finished art.  Two of my favourite DC artists of all time, working together on the favourite series of my youth.

I own a couple of pages of the original artwork from this issue, given to me (because of a story too long to tell here) by the very generous Neal Adams.  So there’s a little Nick Cardy in my house this very moment, and there always will be.

And then there’s this:

The very first comic series I worked on professionally for DC featured the aliens introduced in (and not seen since) that issue of Teen Titans by Adams and Cardy.

Cool, huh?

 

Mystery Detective Bun Toons! YAY!

You're probably wondering why I've gathered you all here in the drawing room...

My teenager has been playing a lot of L.A. Noire lately, and I’m going to chalk it up to that.  Should I be pitching this at a network?  It’s both a cop show AND a medical drama.  Add a sassy girl with sharp wits and a smoking bod, and this is a no-brainer for HBO or AMC.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your bonus Bun Toons Detective Tale:

JOHNNY DESCARTES: EXISTENTIAL PRIVATE EYE!

My wife didn’t find this one funny this morning, so it never got out of the sketch phase.  But she laughs at coma patients, so I was safe with the Bun Toon I went with.

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For last week's Batman and Flash Bun Toon (written by my once-seven year old son) click the Dark Knight.

For Every Bun Toon ever, click the adorable rabbit illustration.

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One last note that’s unrelated to Bun Toons:  Family Circus creator Bil Keane passed away this week, and I wanted to say something about it.

It’s been a common right of passage for any young aspiring humorist to look at Keane’s work as a sort of anti-standard of comedy.  When I was in my early twenties, I resented the strip’s success and felt it was almost intentionally trying to irritate me, specifically because of its cloying middle-brow sentiment and lack of any real cleverness.  To my youthful brain, it certainly wasn’t funny.    For the last few months, my fifteen year old son, Taylor had become obsessed with clipping the Family Circus out of the paper and putting the panels on our kitchen fridge every single day – an ironic ritual of showing off what he thought was the ultimately least funny thing on our spinning blue ball in space.   I recognized the impulse, I’d done similar things when I was his age.

But you know what…?  The Family Circus was never meant for cynical, ironic and smart-alec young men to enjoy.   It was for people with families, for young kids and their parents, for sentimental older folks with grown children, and for whomever liked it.  It promised and delivered a gentle portrait of home life for over fifty years, and was read by MILLIONS of people, all of whom count.  That is an astounding achievement of endurance, perseverance and popularity in the mind-numblingly competitive field of cartooning.

You were a legitimate and touching artist, Bil Keane, and a heroic cartoonist.  Well done.

Ty the Guy.

Clement Sauvé 1977-2011

This is stunningly difficult to write.  Clement Sauvé, the brilliant Montreal comic book artist, has lost a brutal fight with cancer at the age of 33.

Clement and I worked together a while back, creating the HUMAN DEFENSE CORPS comic book for DC.  As a writer, I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful and faithful version of my scripts.  As each page came in, I was elated at the work, and a little jealous that Clement was so much better at drawing than I was.

A cover we produced together. Sketch by me, finished art by Clement.

I only found out Clement was sick about 48 hours ago, and was planning a wonderful tribute to him on Friday, to give him a nice shout out while he was in the hospital to lift his spirits.   But we didn’t have even that long.

 

Look at how GOOD this guy was at drawing hardware and soldiers. Amazing levels of detail and care.

I’m thrilled I got to work with Clement.  Equally thrilled I got to meet him and hang out at a Toronto convention a couple of years ago.   He recorded an interview for a Hoverboy documentary for me, and it was screamingly funny.  I’m going to pull out that footage soon and cry my eyes out.

33 years.  That’s just wrong.

Ty

To check out more of Clement’s work, click HERE for his Deviant Art page.

The Seven Best Reasons to Love Leslie Nielsen

Ah, Leslie, it’s sad to see you go from our world at the tender age of 84. Whether it was being a part of the funniest TV show in history ( Police Squad!) or being a part of the movie that proved Mel Brooks was no longer funny (Dracula: Dead and Loving it!), you were in there entertaining us, and so you get a send off from my blog.

Here now, the TOP SEVEN REASONS YOU SHOULD HAVE LOVED LESLIE NIELSEN.

Eight, if you count this photo.

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#7  He was Canadian, God damn it.

Or should I politely say “Gosh Darn it.” ?  Leslie was so damn Canadian his father was an actual Mountie and his brother was the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada in the mid-Eighties.  Seriously, look it up.

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#6  He was obsessed with his digital farting machine.

 

I'm not certain of Leslie's model of choice, but this is close enough.

Brought it with him on talk shows, and used it as a prop wherever anyone might be annoyed by it.  It was classy from moment one, and it stayed classy every time he let go with one.  Here’s an easily found clip of Leslie “farting” on a British talk show.

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#5 Leslie was an essential part of the great Canadian Conspiracy.

Back in 1985, CBC filmmaker Robert Boyd uncovered an astounding plot to overthrow the USA, secretly run by Lorne Greene, Lorne Michaels, and Leslie Nielsen. It involved infiltrating American show biz with the likes of Bill Shatner,  Anne Murray,  John Candy,  and others..all of whom had to report back to this trio of evil Canadian masterminds.  According to Lorne Greene, there was a reason ex-pat Canadians needed a “Green Card” to work in the States.   One of the funniest documentaries ever made.

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#4  He got paid to mess around with Priscilla Presley in the naked gun movies.

Picking up where the KING left off.

When the King of Rock and Roll dies, and you end up with his woman?  You get to strut and crow, my friend.  You get to strut and crow.

But safety first. You're hooking up with everyone ELVIS hooked up with...

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#3   Dr. Rumack from Airplane!, got half of the best lines in the film.

“Come with me, there’s something wrong in the cockpit.”

“The cockpit?  What is it?”

“It’s the little room up front where they fly the plane.  But that’s not important right now…”

Now repeat.

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#2  Leslie Nielsen was Captain Kirk before Gene Roddenberry thought of it.

Get me a Vulcan and a cranky doctor and I'll kick some ass.

In FORBIDDEN PLANET, Leslie played  Commander J.J. Adams, who went to a distant world, made  time with a swell gal, fought a mysterious scientist and a mysterious monster, and hung out with a cool robot.  It’s proto-Kirk complete with the hand phaser.  And Nielsen did it all with his own hair.  Just a couple of years ahead of his time….sigh…

This movie is so cool, they named a bunch of comic book stores after it.

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#1-  leslie nielsen was the first person to publicly stick his ass into O.J.’s face.

Glory, glory, hallelujah.

I have no idea how often this is currently done to O.J. in prison, I haven’t seen the statistical weekly averages for this kind of behavior behind bars, or O.J.’s “free time” schedule, but the above Nielsen moment happened years before the idea of “assing” the once-beloved NFL star was popular.

Once again, Leslie was ahead of his time.

So for a lifetime of good memories, and for having an ass that was CLEARLY clairvoyant, Leslie Nielson, I SALUTE YOU.
With Love, from Ty the Guy.

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Here now, your Leslie Nielsen comic book moment of zen:

Commander Adams phasers the space tigers. DAMN cool.

(for more Ty’s Top Seven lists click HERE)

Sad to hear about Dick Giordano passing away.

Ah, damn it.  Who didn’t love Dick Giordano?   We lost him over the weekend.  Not unexpected, but still…

silly sexy fun

Both of this blog’s regular readers might have noticed

The "New" Joker

how often his name or his work has come up around here, which is notable, considering how rarely I mention any other cartoonists in this solipsistic e-rag.  He was part of those delightful Lois Lane covers from last week, he inked the issue of Batman (#251) which I consider one of the two most important comic books of my life, mentioned a months or so ago on Art Land.

But let’s talk about this.

This issue is a very close second for my favorite Batman story of all time, and once again, Denny O’Neil and Dick Giordano are on the creative team responsible for it.  The cover is gorgeous, and the art and story inside are great…a Twilight Zone style tale of Batman traveling to another dimension where he again witnesses the murder of his parents, and changes THAT Bruce’s destiny.  It’s been reprinted many times, most notably in THE GREATEST BATMAN STORIES EVER TOLD, so I’m not the only one who loves this issue.

The idea of the story stuck in my head my entire life, and when I was asked to write a “try-out” issue of Batman Adventures all those years ago, the first

Not the same story, but the same idea.

thing that occurred to me was “What if I could make Batman re-live the murder of his parents, and change the destiny of another child…?”  The story I wrote is not at all the same to Denny and Dick’s masterpiece, but I certainly drew water out of the same inspirational spring as the above issue, and my script was well enough received that I’ve been writing comics for a living ever since.

But, what really blew my head into brain chunks about Detective #457 was that it showed me how much Dick Giordano was responsible for the greatness of those Neal Adams comics that I thought Dick had been “just inking”.  This was a comic drawn with beautiful realism, perfect line work, dramatic lighting, phenomenally beautiful women, and all the things that made those Neal comics wonderful, only Neal wasn’t around for this issue.  It turned out DICK WAS THE GUY who had been doing much of that all along.  And there was a subtle difference in the storytelling.  It was somehow more accessible, more “readable”, more directly told, than I was used to from this familiar style, and in many ways I LIKED IT BETTER!

THE most beautiful versions of the women of DC in the 70s

As a kid, I copied the images from ‘Tec #457 over and over.  I traced a copy of the cover so I could see it without the logo covering up the ears (hated that!).  There’s a panel inside of Batman swinging over the city, that I hand-copied as a three foot high poster that hung on the back of my bedroom door for years.  From this issue on, as far as I was concerned, Dick Giordano was one of the greats, the gods, the Beatles of DC comics.  I know, I know… he’d been great all along, but this is when I discovered it.

In the delightful Neal Adams cover above (for the magnificent Adams/Giordano Superman vs. Muhammad Ali giant comic) the crowd is filled with “real” people.  Jimmy Carter, Sinatra, Wolfman Jack, Raquel Welch, and so many others.  There’s a map on the inside cover to tell you who everyone is, but when I got it, I tried to see how many I could figure out on my own.  Up in the crowd, about eight or nine rows back, was a couple of people I assume to be Warren Beatty and Clark Cable, and some kids nearby.

amongst the Jackson Five, George Carlin and Lt. Columbo, this is NOT Clark Gable and Warren Beatty

It turned out to be Neal Adams and Dick Giordano and family.  I thought Neal had drawn he and his partner a lot more handsome than they probably were…and it was pretty cool to discover that they really did look like that when I met them a year or so later at conventions.

I got to know Dick just a little, over the years I worked at DC, and the  two things I remember most about him, was that he always looked great, (he could wear a suit and a mustache like a pro)…and that he loved talking the craft and comics with anyone who wanted to start up the conversation.  In those days, when Dick was our fearless leader, it was inspiring to see him in the DC  hallway, and to know he was still producing top flight penciling and inking work at home, after a full day at the office.

When you're great, you never stop being great.

And talk about inspiring,  he was still producing it, right up until the end.  The March issue of Jonah Hex, 2010, was the work of the one and only Mr. Giordano, head into your local comic store and pick one up, and enjoy the last work of a creator who inspired more than one generation.

Ty the Guy

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