Christmas Season Bun Toons! YAY!

Hurry up with the kissing, I ain’t waiting all day.

This is a Christmas story my father told me when I was young.

You can see where I get my spirit of the holiday from…

Ty the Guy OUT!

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Here are a couple of the Christmas Covers I’ve done over the years…

Because it’s the Phantom Stranger, it’s possible those decorations are the living souls of the Justice League. AAAAAHHHH!!

My cover for the DC Christmas anthology from a couple of years ago.  This is the unpublished version of the cover…points for anyone who has the published version, who can tell the difference!

A cover I laid out, drawn by Stephen DeStephano I believe…

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For last week’s bun toon, click here.

For the Bun Toon Archive, click here

Quantum and Woody, behind the scenes DVD extra!

I’ve been having a blast working on the Quantum and Woody webcomic microseries. Two week’s ago, I got to indulge myself in making up silly Hollywood blockbusters we could imagine that the guys had starred in. They were only a small part of the page, not the focus of the script, and teeny tiny to see on the digital version, so I thought I’d post them here as I was pretty pleased with them.

The cast lists, the producers names, etc….I obviously grabbed from existing movie posters to make ’em look authentic (they’re too small to read in the printed versions, thus we’re safe from litigious shysters), so don’t go expecting Jerry Seinfeld to be playing Woody any time soon…but I think Ryan Gosling has signed on.  He’s having a bad year.

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TY THE GUY OUT!

 

Today’s Bonus is a tricky one:  Click HERE to get it.

 

Bandwagon Bun Toons!

Can I hop on the trend?

Okay.  So the MAN OF STEEL movie is making serious bank.  Obviously, there’s a public out there hungry for a cynical, terrifying Superman.

No one’s stupid enough to ignore that audience.  So…

Of course, we need David S. Goyer and a production company to make the money off these ideas…but there’s gold in there, Jerry!  GOLD!

And I think I want that Family Circus panel as a T-Shirt.

By the way, just so there’s no confusion.  I actually liked the MAN OF STEEL movie…

Ty the Guy OUT!

DC Comics is already ahead of the trend of the parent company.  This is from a recent World’s Finest, apparently.

Next: Aquaman drowns Wonder Woman.  COOL.

Optimism and honour in our heroes is SO 20th Century.

Discuss.

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For last week’s Bun Toon, a Tribute to Kim Thompson, click the happy ‘coon.

For the Bun Toon archive, click here.

For the Man Of Steel Bun Toon Review, click here

Sharp Political Satire Bun Toons! YAY!

The bunny-phoenix, I arise-- from last week's Easter Toon demise.

It’s well over a year before the USA has another national election, but your exciting neighbors to the North are having one right now!   I can explain it all in just a few minutes with…

We don’t have a Tea Party, but we have religious lunatics and policy wonk dullards, just like you guys!  And this election IS THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE EVER!! Or so, I’m told.

At least North Americans everywhere agree that Trump is a goon.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now,  your bonus Canadian Political Comic Book by Chester Brown:

Americans: If you've never heard of Louis Riel, it's okay. He's one of ours.

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For Last Week's Bun Toon, click the image, and watch the Easter Bunny DIE!

Or click here to browse every Bun Toon EVER!

Hoverboy and Hitler Cigarettes!

Today I’m skull-explodingly excited to talk to you about a lost piece of Hoverboy TV that hasn’t been seen in nearly sixty years.   Episodes of Hoverboy’s “Gay Cavalcade” puppet show from the fifties ( often misspelled as “Gay Cavelcade”) have been found by a former puppeteer for the series, named Ross Gurch.   Gurch was recently featured on an episode of the A&E show “Hoarders”, and kinescopes of  Gay Cavalcade episodes were found buried in Gurch’s house amongst jars of his urine.

Ross Gurch at the height of his career, holding his famous alter ego.

Marcus Moore, curator of the Hoverboy Museum online, is paying out-of-pocket to get the episodes digitized and put online.   This Hover-fan is giddy.

Of the the three Hoverboy puppet shows,  Gay Cavalcade was certainly in the top two.  It featured host “Uncle Orval”, a Hoverboy puppet, and a fairly racist portrait of a Native American puppet named “Chief”.  These three would get into crazy misadventures that usually taught Hoverboy a lesson about being a good citizen or whether or not it’s okay to play-wrestle with your cousin if she’s wearing a sweater.  The shows were broadcast primarily in the American Southwest with stations carrying the show in Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado and Hawaii.  Mildly popular for a while, the Cavalcade even put out a Christmas Album in 1954 – which I actually own a copy of:

“REPENT SINNERS, LEST YE BE DAMNED” is a surprisingly catchy Christmas ditty.

The BEST (and shortest) clip in the kinescopes that Gurch found in his house is an ad for Tareyton Cigarettes done by the Cavalcade cast during a broadcast.

Back in the Fifties, you were allowed to advertise cigarettes to children.

People might remember Tareyton Cigarettes as the brand that went bankrupt due to an urban legend back in the 60’s.  A  rumor convinced people that the Tareyton company was a front for Adolph Hitler, who was living in Argentina and running a tobacco empire to finance an army to re-take Europe.   The only evidence for this was the unfortunate design of  their company mascot, “Wagner” seen on the cigarette packs themselves, but it was enough to destroy sales when the gossip got around.

Admittedly, the design choices are unfortunate.

Before the company coughed up its last lung in 1962, it was one of the main sponsors of Hoverboy’s Gay Cavalcade, and the cast dutifully did commercials for the product, just as other shows did at the same time.

This was a KID'S SHOW! Seriously!

The Flintstones did it.  Everybody did it.  It was a different era.

Go here to see this bizarre moment of children’s advertising from the fifties:  Hoverboy shilling cigarettes to kids.  Stunning, just stunning.

 

Of just press the image above to launch the video at youtube...I can't embed video on this blog, yet.

And we all thought Joe Camel was evil.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your Hoverboy Cigarettes Comic Book Moment:

The smoking zombie in the lower right of this cover caused a Senate sub-committee to label Hoverboy #3 as "subversive" and "leading to juvenile delinquency" in 1953, but the TV version of Hoverboy was ADVERTISING cigarette products without complaint at the same time. It's a crazy world, huh?

 

Happy New Year! Best of Bun Toons for 2010 FINAL!

Hey Folks  – I hope you’re all getting over your hangover and enjoying the bright vistas of the future.  This is the year we all get flying cars, I saw it in a magazine.   But before we step off into our new horizon, it’s one last look back on the best of the year for Bun Toons.    When this toon first went up, we had twenty thousand readers in just two days.   People like fat guys getting jiggy with scientist chicks, what can I say?

Put your mouse overtop and push it, it will get bigger….that’s what she said.

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Here now, another Bun Toon with Batman in it…because Batman is popular, and I’m a shameless whore.

This was the FIRST of the Bun Toons officially launched back in March.  It’s been a fun first year (eight months actually) of web-comic-ing, and I ain’t going anywhere in 2011.

By that I mean I shall continue to do Bun Toons, not that my life has come to a standstill this year.    Sheesh!  Stop making fun of me.

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your end of the year, out-of-date- comic book moment of zen:

Bun Toons Countdown 2010 Part IV! Star Trek in Four Panels!

Today we offend the Trekkies.  When this first ran in November, thousands read it, and thousands objected.  Mostly Riker fans, but who really cares about them?

This got reblogged on Wil Wheaton’s site…I’m still getting a tons of hits from this one a month later.  FULL DISCLOSURE:  I’m a Trekkie…I’ve written a Star Trek Graphic Novel for IDW, and I’ve not only got discs for all 30 seasons of the shows, I’ve got all the Power Record Read Along comics…so no harm done, okay?

There’s so much you can do in just four panels.  First the world of Star Trek…and now…

Coming Soon:  Quantum Physics All in Four Panels…easy as pie.

See you tomorrow, on New Year’s Day for the most popular Bun Toon of the year…tens of thousands of hits, just because it’s all about SEX!

Ty the Guy OUT!

Here now, your New Year’s Eve Comic Book Moment of Zen:

Darn, this is the last day of 2010 that I can promote this issue of Mad Magazine:

World Wide Hoverboy Friday

 

Because the calendar never lies

 

We’ve been getting some emails from Hoverboy fans around the world, asking if we can identify various overseas versions of the character…why this toy was released, or who drew that issue, etc.    But every now and then, even we get stumped, so we’re turning to you guys for help.  Here are some examples of Hoverboy mania from around the world, we can’t really identify.  Any and all foreign fans who’ve know their stuff, fill US in as to the history of these things, and we’ll pass it along to the original posters.

Well, this first one, we DO know a little about.  It was produced by the American Hoverboy team at Vigilance Comics, to be sold exclusively in Mexico.  It sold quite poorly as every page was filled with racist Mexican stereotypes that the creators believed were complimentary, such as a talking chihuahua as mayor, and everyone eating tacos during conversation and action scenes.   The question we can’t answer, however, is how many issues were produced of this series, and are there any other cover scans available?  We’ve only seen the first two issues (and issue one cannot be reproduced on a family website, trust me).  Any other Mexican Hoverboy fans with scans of issue #3?

This was sent in by a Belgian fan who speaks only Dutch and wonders if we could translate the cover for him.  I’m afraid my French is so bad, it’s one of the reasons Quebec wants to separate from Canada, so I’m not the one to give it a try.  Anyone recognize this comic?  And who the hell are the ducks?  They look vaguely Nazi…?

This was sent in by someone who claims they found it on a cruise ship in the garbage, so it could have come from ANYWHERE on Earth.  My guess is that it’s from Australia, or New Zealand, since they seem to be worried about Japanese robots attacking, and they’re speaking English.  Perhaps it’s from Malaysia, or the Phillipines?  Any guesses?  The art is gorgeous, and the price tag suggests it’s fairly recent.

This was sent to us by a Hover-Fan who lives in Rome, Italy.  He claims it’s painted on the side of a building about a block from his house, a building that faces a rubble strewn courtyard, long abandoned.  Our fan wants to know if this was intended as an advertisement, and when is it from?  Damned if I know, is my answer.

This is likely from France, or Belgium.  The French writing gives it away.  Also, the photo was sent to us by snail mail from an American living in Paris, who says he stole this bottle from a quaint bed and breakfast in the Alsace region of Eastern France, and wonders what year it’s from, and whether there was a shampoo that went with it.   He says he ransacked the whole house and couldn’t find the shampoo, and it has driven him crazy ever since.

Well, I hope we can find some answers, I know there are at least four or five fans waiting breathlessly to know.  Any help would be helpful.  And we’ll believe anything you tell us, we’re gullible that way.

TY THE GUY OUT!

Here now, your Hoverboy Moment of Zen

 

Vigilance Novelties Hoverboy Button Artwork, circa 1966

 

Saturday Morning Cartoons

WHO is responsible for the calendar, as I’m certain Saturday wasn’t due for at least three or four more days….?  But it’s here, and so is BUN TOONS, as regular as a bran-filled man in his mid-thirties.

I thought folks might enjoy a gentle gag about the Catholic Church that doesn't mention the criminal cover-up-of-rapists angle. Which I've just blown by mentioning in this caption...whoops.

NOW:  A  special HOVERBOY version of BUN TOONS this week.

All the beloved SPACE COWS  of THE LAST ROUND-UP will return next week, with more Bovine SF adventures. But now, we’re continuing with HOVERBOY WEEK with a NEVER BEFORE SEEN ONLINE COMPLETE HOVERBOY STORY. (All in service of the HOVERBOY “WIN SOME ORIGINAL ART BY TY” contest…go HERE and HERE for contest details)

FIRST:  Here’s the latest HOVERBOY vs. NAZI ROBOTS strips.

YELLOW PERIL MYSTERY FUNNIES #1

Unlike other superheroes of the second world war, Hoverboy spent the duration fighting only on the American homefront.  It might have been because co-creator C.L. “Charlie” Nutt had been classified 4-F-C (a rare designation that meant UNFIT FOR MILITARY SERVICE because of BIOLOGICAL COWARDICE), but the reason most often given in interviews with Nutt was that “…Johnny Stay-At-Home goldbricks deserved a super-hero, too!  We can’t all serve our country or our God, and folks like to look up to someone who’s not serving, just like them!”

This premiere issue of YELLOW PERIL MYSTERY FUNNIES featured five stories, all of which focus on a theme of distrusting people of Asian descent, a subject which was acceptable during the war years, when the phrase “Yellow Peril” (coined by beloved Pre-Nazi Kaiser Wilhelm II, reknowned racist and inventor of the concept of “World War”) was actively promoted by the Hearst Papers.

The “Yellow Peril” title was Hoverboy’s best selling comic in 1942, and the series remained quite popular until the 1950s, a fact often covered up by modern comic historians who like to gloss over the overt racism of the times.  This issue in particular is extremely rare to find intact, as most copies, when discovered, are instantly burned by people with a conscience.

ONE LAST NOTE:  The final line of the story “Night of the Terror” is something we considered editing out, but to serve historical accuracy, we decided to leave it in…with the caveat that it offends us more than it does you, believe me.

AND NOW:  YELLOW PERIL MYSTERY FUNNIES 1942

NIGHT OF THE TERRORS!

Wow.  Just awful, but that was America in 1942, fighting what is now considered the “Last Good War” by the “Greatest Generation”….there’s a reason why it’s called “White-washing” history to pretend this stuff didn’t happen.

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And one last image of SPACE COWS, as I cannot resist their allure:

Admit it…the concept is hypnotic to behold.

See you next week, with the TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF STAVROS AND LANA, and other stuff I find funny.

TY THE GUY OUT!

Hoverboy |

To share post:

HOVERBOY CONTEST ENTRIES POUR IN!

We’ve gotten some entries, and we’re getting more every day! And since some of them are wonderful (and some of them are simply vile and hateful, you know who you are, vile entrants) we’re going to share these delightful Hoverboy memories with you Bucket People!

In terms of early animation from the twenties, this Li'l Bucketboy short is about as "limited" as it gets, with a total of only 38 different frames, repeated in a loop for seven minutes.

But first, it’s been pointed out to me by a friend, that today marks the LONGEST period of time since Hoverboy’s original creation we’ve ever seen, and tomorrow will be even LONGER! But there’s no time like the present to head back to the past and examine the origins of everyone’s favorite bucket wearing hero…or at least he’s in everyone’s top three.

Our research has suggested Hoverboy was first created as a tribute to Peter Nutt, the famous circus freak known as The Amazing Head, and father of Hoverboy co-creator Charlie Nutt. Our research has also suggested he was created as a flat out steal from this character, “Li’l Bucketboy”, who appeared in a 1932 animated film.

It's probably best if you don't mention the character is wearing a spitoon for a diaper.

One of the first animated characters to truly fail at the box office, Li’l Bucketboy was banned in 29 states , according to the New York Times, May 23rd edition of that year, for “…truly poor craftsmanship and racism even our Klan dominated era cannot abide”.

Our research has also led us to discover that science fiction legend HUGO GERNSBACK was involved, perhaps even earlier, as this edition of his 1912 magazine MODERN ELECTRONICS suggests.

At this point, did anyone truly CREATE Hoverboy, or is he part of the Jungian subconscious?

In an interview with  Rob Goodwin, official publisher of NASA Mission Reports (and very serious science fiction historian) told us,

“…when he [Hugo Gernsback] came to America in 1904, the first thing he did was he spent $30 of his first $100 on buying a bucket.”

This is Rob Godwin. You can trust him. He works for NASA, and he's a friend of Buzz Aldrin's. Really.

“Buying a bucket” was a term used in conjunction with the “Slopping” industry of the early 1900’s. In the crowded, dirty streets of New York at the turn of the century, slopping was a booming industry. Animal feed, water, milk, and feces all needed to be transported quickly and cheaply. “Sloppers” were really the bicycle couriers of their day.

“By “Buying a Bucket”, you bought not only a physical bucket, but the slopping rights to a particular piece of territory, which turned out to be the beginning of the road to success for Gernsback, father of modern Science Fiction.”

A delightful, if quick, interview on film with Rob can be seen HERE.

There will be more on the history of the Hovering Hero as we  uncover these important facts.

Can't you feel the patriotism just oozing from this image?

AND NOW:  Some of the entries in our WORLD SPANNING HOVERBOY CONTEST, open to all members of the HOVERBOY FACEBOOK FANPAGE.

THE CONTEST:  Drop us an email over at the fanpage, and tell us your FAVORITE Hoverboy villain from the past…one that we have NOT featured in this column or at the online Hoverboy Museum yet, and at the end of the month of May, we’ll pick the winning entry out of a bucket and send the winner a STUNNING recreation of the original art for the cover, drawn by Ty Templeton himself!   We promise, the recreation will be so line for line perfect, you’d SWEAR it was the original. <

SOME ENTIRES:

“The Procrastinator, who technically remains undefeated by Hoverboy because he’s been rescheduling their final showdown for 14 years and counting. He gained his powers when a dying time-traveler gave him his damaged chrono-ring, allowing him to put off until tomorrow any event he’d rather not do today.”  –Ray Yelle

“Greco-Roman Steve: With a physique that rivals Hoverboy, Greco-Roman Steve wins any battle that starts in the wresting ring and often creates elaborate plots that force Hoverboy into submissive positions.”  –Adam Borg

“Time is the enemy, the enemy of us all, but especially Hoverboy.  An eons-old curmudgeon trapped in the cherub-body of baby new year. The piss, vile and vinegar that comes with old age spewing from the two-toothed mouth of the insane mastermind know as Mr. Time.”  –Dana Moreshead (former head of creative services at Marvel Comics, and Hoverboy Fan Club member #00015)

8

“The Forgotten, who didn’t care enough to show up for any meetings of the Apathy Three. Potentially the most fearsome member of this uber-alliance of enemies. Maybe. I think. Meh.”   –Ray Yelle

8

“I think that HARDCOVER, the literary-based villain and former librarian who has turned to a life of crime after the untimely murder of his beloved Grammar, was my favorite.”  –Ken Turner

“The MOP is the ultimate Hoverboy nemesis! He absorbs all liquids, and since the human body is 60% water, he leaves his victims seriously incapacitated, not to mention dehydrated! And he has never seen a bucket he could resist!” –Movie Seals

“Mein Sweeper, the dastardly pewter-age villain who murdered Duck and Cover Boy in cold mud still gives me chills.”  – Rob Pincombe (story editor for the very popular animated TV show “KID vs. KAT” ).

This is just a small sampling of the floating memories we’ve uncovered during this contest, and your memory is needed as well…even if your memory is faulty and prone to imagination, we’re HAPPY TO HEAR FROM YOU!  Don’t let major industry professionals like Dana Moreshead and Rob Pincombe beat you to the Bucket Punch!  Enter today!

TOMORROW:  For FREE WEBCOMICS SATURDAY, we continue Hoverboy Week, with the latest Strips, and a COMPLETE Hoverboy story from WW2, never before seen online!  You better bring oxygen, cause we plan to take your breath away.

Ty the Guy, OUT!