Steve Ditko is a mystery. And in view of the cosmic and ethereal manner of his comic book art style, from Spider-Man and Dr. Strange to the lesser-known Mr. A, that may be appropriate.
Blake Bell, whose interest as a fan of Ditko earns him the right to be called a “Ditko scholar, ” isn’t buying the mystery. In his new book, Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko -- just published by Fantagraphics -- Bell digs deeper and more thoroughly into the enigma that is Ditko and shares all that he has learned about the artist and the man.
In this beautifully illustrated coffee table book, Bell lays out his case for Ditko as a comics legend. And he does his best to get behind the myth and the man.
You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with BLAKE BELL by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
Hamburgers – okay, and French fries – are so much a part of American culture that it is no surprise that somebody like George Motz would attempt something as crazy as Hamburger America: One Man’s Cross- Country Odyssey to Find the Best Burgers in the Nation.
And it’s not just a book – Motz created includes a DVD that captures all the sizzle, steam and personality of some of the best burger joints in America.
What makes Motz an expert?
Who knows – who cares? Anybody who can point me to my next great burger is an expert to me.
You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with GEORGE MOTZ by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
"Ohmygod. You're not going to do this to me, are you? Tell me you're not going to do this. Oh come on! It's been such a long time. Hire somebody that knows enough that we don't to explain this again."
-- Gillian Anderson, co-star of The X-Files: I Want to Believe movie, responding to Newsweek writer Ramin Setoodeh saying he knows nothing about The X-Files and wonders "Why is it such a big deal?" (Setoodeh regularly engages in this type of Q&A tomfoolery with celebrities, suggesting it's either shtick or ignorance. My money is on shtick; Setoodeh also wrote this week's investigative cover story, "Murder in the 8th Grade, " which convinced me he arrives at assignments prepared.)
"It's your turn to be the Third World Country now."
-- Comedian Ricky Gervais, creator of the TV shows "The Office" and "Extras, " riffing on American life in the twilight of the Bush Administration. He made the comment during a limited appearance at WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City on July 13, 2008. Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!
"We're hoping he picks an idiot as vice president."
-- Mike Sweeney, head writer for Conan O’Brien on “Late Night, ” telling New York Times journalist Bill Carter his fondest wish for Barack Obama in "Want Obama in a Punch Line? First, Find a Joke."
Dennis Kucinich is a brave man. Whatever else you may think of the five-term Congressman from Ohio’s 10th district, only a fool would deny his courage in running for Cleveland City Council before he was 21, running and being elected mayor of that city when he was 31, and is perhaps best known nationally for taking a crack at running for president in the Democratic primaries this past year and running well.
Kucinich didn’t win a lot of votes, but he made an impression with his passion and forthrightness and, you might say, went so far as establish himself as a brand name of sorts, one that stands for the courage to speak your mind.
Not coincidentally, he’s written a book called The Courage to Survive, that fills the rest of us in on a life story that only the people of Cleveland knew of before.
In this interview, Kucinich discusses his book, why he introduced an Article of Impeachment against President George W. Bush this week, why he thinks the U.S. Government will pursue criminal charges against Bush and Dick Cheney when their term expires in January 2009, and what Barack Obama is really like.
You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with REP. DENNIS KUCINICH by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
If you were a dog soldier in World War II, there were probably days when the only thing you had to look forward to was the latest issue of Stars & Stripes and the single-panel cartoons of Bill Mauldin.
Mauldin’s adventures of "Willie & Joe" became legendary for the laughs they brought to America’s soldiers – and the contempt they generated in high ranking officers.
Mauldin was the first artist to make a reputation for himself in the military, always signing his name to his work. Soldiers pledged allegiance to the American flag, baseball, apple pie – and the cartoons of Bill Mauldin.
Todd DePastino brings us a triple-dose of Mauldin to the artists’ legion of fans this year, first with his biography, Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front from W.W. Norton, and second with Willie & Joe: The WWII Years, a collection of the beloved artist’s cartoons, published in a two-volume deluxe set by Fantagraphics.
You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with TODD DePASTINO by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
What if you could sleep with someone who wasn’t your spouse or significant other – and not only get away with it, but arrange things so that your husband, wife, boyfriend or girlfriend not only improved but endorsed such behavior?
I know, I know -- it’s not going to happen in my life any time soon, either.
But it’s an arrangement that worked so well for wife and mother Jenny Block that she has written a book describing and celebrating it. In Open: Love, Sex, and Life in an Open Marriage, the former English professor and current blogger for The Huffington Post takes readers on a wild ride through the world she created for herself. It’s not “Swingtown, ” but it’s close enough for daydreamers.
Lots of people talk about the impending End of Days, but how many actually tell you how to prepare for what may come after the end?
Oh, really? That many?
Hmmm.
Okay, how many make you laugh in the telling?
Gotcha there, didn’t I?
In his new book, Apocalypse How, Rob Kutner dishes out handy tips on everything from foraging for food to fooling around with mutants in a post-now world.
I’m not yet sure how Kutner comes by his encyclopedic, post-apocalyptic knowledge but the humor, he comes by honestly: he’s a four-time Emmy-award winning staff writer for Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” and a contributor to Stewart’s book, America (The Book).
He also is a former writer for "Dennis Miller Live" on HBO. And his wife, Sheryl Zohn, writes for "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" on Showtime.
You can LISTEN to the Mr. Media interview with ROB KUTNER by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
It is so easy to hate terrestrial radio these days. No matter how many stations you scan, AM or FM, it’s difficult to find one on which you can land without moments later wanting to take a sledgehammer to the radio.
The politics are angry and irrational -- left and right. The music hasn’t changed in 30 years and it seems to repeat every hour. Local news and talk is virtually non-existent. Ditto for humor.
The smartest radio guy of the last 20 years, Howard Stern, escaped more than two years ago and is better than ever in the unshackled environs of Sirius Satellite Radio.
Who screwed up radio?
Will today’s generation of young people even care in a few years, what with the glut of alternatives before them, from satellite and Internet radio to iPods and cell phone broadcasting?
I suspect these are just of the few issues I’ll be discussing today with my guest, Alec Foege, author of Right of the Dial: The Rise of Clear Channel and The Fall of Commercial Radio.
You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with ALEC FOEGE by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
Guys, here’s an offer you can’t refuse: a lesbian woman is going to give you tips on picking up a hottie.
I know, I know – the whole idea made me laugh, too. But then I read Robbie Lee’s book, The Straight Man’s Pocket Guide to Picking Up a Hottie: Written By a Woman Who Loves Woman, and I thought, “Why not?”
I’m not in the market for love, but I know an awful lot of guys who are and just don’t understand why some guys succeed and others fail.
Maybe you’ve just been going to the wrong source for answers.
You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with ROBBIE LEE by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
The only thing tougher than being a black man trying to hail a cab in Manhattan might be being a black man trying to sell a comic strip into a daily newspaper that already has a strip created by an African-American cartoonist.
Charlos Gary knows how tough it is – he’s the man behind two daily strips, the single panel “Working It Out” and the multi-panel “Café Con Leche.”
And he’s found an unusual twist: "Café Con Leche" is about the lives of young African-American man and his Latina wife. Sometimes it’s political, sometimes it's as everyday as Blondie. But it’s never dull and it’s always good for a laugh.
You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with CHARLOS GARY by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
"That scene was petrifying. Horrifying. I was buggin' out from the moment I knew I was going to have to do it, up to the second I had to drop the robe. I'm naturally critical when I have clothes on. When I have clothes off, it's like, no."
-- Josh Peck, star of Nickelodeon's popular 'tween sitcom "Drake & Josh, " reflecting on his first on-screen nude scene in the summer druggie movie, The Wackness. He was interviewed for Radar magazine by Willa Paskin.
-- From Marty Kaplan's June 20, 2008 blog on The Huffington Post. His post continues: "The least popular, most lawless president in American history took to the Rose Garden today to thank congressional Democrats for having unprotected political sex with him..."
Anybody who tells you that one comic book looks just like the next doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
It doesn’t take much effort to tell Jack Kirby’s blocky drawings from Steve Ditko’s otherworldly stylings, for example, or, in more modern terms, the dark, detailed pencils of Frank Miller from the brighter, livelier sketches of Jim Lee.
And few of those guys produce anything like the work of “Gentleman” Gene Colan.
Colan’s contribution to the industry date back to the 1940s, but he was one of the artists who, in the 1960s and ‘70s, defined Marvel Comics and characters such as Daredevil, Dracula, Iron Man, and even Howard the Duck. His richly drawn images looked like they took a lot longer to do and required much more care and patience than those of many of his contemporaries.
Put another way, you could escape into a Gene Colan 32-page comic for a lot longer than you could someone else’s books.
It is an honor and a pleasure to welcome Gene Colan to Mr. Media today.
You can LISTEN to this Mr. Media interview with legendary Marvel Comics artist Gene Colan by clicking the BlogTalkRadio.com audio player below!
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Copyright 2008 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!bob@andelman.com (Bob Andelman)
-- From Marty Kaplan's June 20, 2008 blog on The Huffington Post. His post continues: "The least popular, most lawless president in American history took to the Rose Garden today to thank congressional Democrats for having unprotected political sex with him..."
