From the Pages of “Thrilling Journeys Into Blazing Romance” No. 122

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Like A Hand Rising From The Grave, So Too Does the Catalogue of Curiosities, That Is Rise From The Grave, Not So Much Like a Hand, But A Long Lost Friend That Hasn’t Been Around in a While But Has Now Returned in Zombie Form

Well, it has been a while, a long while since I posted anything. But, as they say, posting is like learning to ride a bike, you always land on your face. No, that wasn’t it. Maybe it’s like driving off a cliff on a bike with a rocket engine on it.  Anyhow, in the last few months I’ve been busy launching a new portfolio site, which you can find on Tumblr, The Art and Illustration of Scott Brothers. It’s all kinds of swanky, and has all my latest personal illustrations as well as work from my professional career in games. Who knew you could have a professional career in games? And I thought Pitfall was just some really cool game you could play on the Atari 5200. Stop by and look around, won’t you?

I’ve also joined multitude of amazingly talented artists over at Planet Pulp. If you’re not familiar with this particular blog, they host a new online gallery show every month revolving around an icon of popular culture. This month’s show is dedicated to non other than the Man of Steel himself, Dick Cavet! No actually, that’s Superman, the working man’s Dick Cavet. Deciding what to do was fairly easy, even though I realized I haven’t drawn Superman since I was a wee lad (yes, I just befeifly became an Irish street urchin from James Joyce’s The Dubliners). I love the various Superman spin-off series from the 50s and 60s, like Jimmy Olson and Lois Lane. The covers were always the most amazing part of the comic book, alluding to some ridiculous scenario inside that never really was as good as the cover. Below is my take on those spin-offs, with the little known Superman’s Beatnik Neighbor Daddy-O. I think it only ran for a few issues.

And in even cooler news, I’ll be apart of Planet Pulp’s gallery show called RED. It will be at the famed Hero Complex Gallery in LA opening July 5th. If you’re in La La Land during this time, drop by and take a look, there will be some amazing pieces on display. I’ll have more info on this as the show gets underway in a couple of weeks.

And finally here is a comic ad I did for the mobile game I was art lead on, Samurai vs. Zombies: Defense 2.

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More of Dan DeCarlo’s “My Friend Irma”

 

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Lots O’ Laffs!

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The Polling of America

 

1 out of 4 Americans believe something bad will happen to them if they sneeze.

4 out of 5 doctors recommend eating a diet low in carbs, high in bran and Styrofoam, extremely low in grass-roots organizing and middle of the range in tofu that resembles the President of the United States.

Percentage of Americans who favor the white candies in a box of Good ‘N Plenty over the pinks: 60%. Percentage who favor the pink over the whites: 30%. Percentage that have combined the pink and whites into one super candy in their basement laboratories: 10%.

According to 8 out of 10 marriage counselors, the best way to avoid loneliness is to marry someone who shares your fear of loneliness. Divorce is statically unavoidable in these situations, about 1.6 trillion to one, but at least you can say that you were married once.

Percentage of Americans who can engage in a meaningful conversation regarding the fact that the space/time continuum is currently caught in an endless loop: 7%. Percentage of Americans who can engage in a meaningful conversation regarding the fact that the space/time continuum is currently caught in an endless loop: 7%.

Rank of injuries―fork plunged into hand, hot coffee thrown in face, nagging feeling that you’ve “made a mistake” which over several years develops into a crippling feeling of regret―among those sustained after ending a long relationship with the following sentences: “I love you, I’m just not in love with you.”, “I guess I was never really in love with you after all, it was just bad indigestion.” and “I’ve been transferred to Siberia.” while sitting in a booth at a crowded Bob’s Big Boy: 1, 2, 3.

Number of scientists surveyed at the annual Science Extravaganza in Cannes, France who agree that dinosaurs did not die out 65 million years ago, but actually retired, migrated from the Earth in extra-large Winnebagos and are now living in spacious assisted living communities on Mars: 100 out of 100.

Half of all movie stars who make over five million dollars per picture report that they are not satisfied with their lives and believe that Llamas are happier, more productive individuals; except, of course, Julia Roberts, who recently announced in a press conference that she is in fact a Llama pretending to be a movie star.

At one time 85% of physicians in this country concurred that swimming on a full stomach was dangerous. This conclusion was then revised; 90% of physicians advising people to swim on a full stomach. More recently however, 79% of physicians strongly recommend that you eat a full meal, begin swimming and then induce vomiting while swimming, especially if you are in a pool belonging to a neighbor that you despise.

Nearly 57 % of all urban legends are completely untrue. The rest have some basis in fact. And, by the way, that phone call you received a couple of minutes ago advising you to “check on the children”, it was coming from inside your house! Get out, get out of there NOW!

Number of times that Dick Clark’s clone has hosted “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Years Eve” since Dick Clark’s death: 12

Approximately 1/2 of all Americans over the age of thirty still believe in the boogeyman, while 3/4 of American children under the age of 12 no longer believe that the Dollar can compete against the Yen.

9 out of 10 survival experts polled suggest that if you’re on a camping trip in the Pacific Northwest and are approached by Bigfoot, that you not run, or act erratically. Rather, you should remain calm and consume a standard automotive spark plug. If none are available, redirect your stated goals in life to include more interaction with those you loathe/pity/desire. Play hopscotch. Bathe in pickled herring. The latter options will also work in the event that you are approached by the Loch Ness Monster or any reality TV star.

96% of people surveyed agree that you should never look a gift horse in the mouth because they’re liable to bite your face off.

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Jack Davis At the Movies, Part One

Jack Davis, like the other Mad artists, was a jack of all trades. Not only did he produce a wealth of outstanding comic book material, but he also did quite a bit of other freelance work. Ads, album covers and probably most notable of all, movie posters. During the 60s and 70s, Jack Davis illustrated dozens of movie posters and his work is some of the most iconic, hilarious and visually stunning work in movie history. You can’t mistake a Jack Davis movie poster. Besides his signature style and caricature work, Davis designed posters that were overflowing with life, an anarchistic bent that made it impossible to take in all at once. Scenes and characters from the films filled the composition, pushing into the white boarders. The wackier the movie, the better reference for Davis. His poster for Stanley Kramer’s It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) might be his most famous: dozens of characters from the movie spilling forth from the cracked Earth globe, wrapping their way madly above the type face. It’s staggering to look at because, well, there is simply so much to look at. But it all works. The image may seem out of control, but the layout and composition isn’t. Another great example is Woody Allen’s Bananas (1971). Besides the dead-on caricature of Allen, Davis is able to sum up the entire film in a single illustration. Forget a trailer, I would rather have Jack Davis’ poster. Even when the film is utterly forgettable, Jack Davis’ art is not. It’s so fun and full of chaos, that sometimes the poster gives the film more credit than it deserves.

 Stay tuned for Part Two…

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Mad Men of Comics

Harvey Kurtzman knew funny. As a cartoonist he keenly deployed slapstick, parody and satire in ways that were not only hilarious, but groundbreaking as well. In addition, he was a gifted ringleader, someone who could harness the best talent from the grindhouse that was the comics industry at the time. With fellow artists, Will Elder, Jack Davis, Al Jaffe, Wally Wood and Arnold Roth. Kurtzman created some of the most innovative humor magazines of the last century: Mad, Humbug, Trump and Help! These artists were his bullpen, the cartoonists he went to again and again for various assignments over many years. Although, all of the latter magazines failed (except, of course, Mad) they were bold experiments indeed, their influence still felt today. Would there be a National Lampoon without Help!? Probably not.

Kurtzman also help “discover” countless other talented individuals, many of whom worked with him on his numerous publications over the years; Robert Crumb, Terry Gilliam and Gloria Steinem to name a few. Before they made a name for themselves they all worked under the tutelage of Kurtzman’s expert editorship. And there were still others, comedians and the like, who starred in his series of Fumentti stories for Help!; Woody Allen, John Cleese, Jackie Gleason and Henny Youngman.

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Lester Bester, the World’s Greatest Entertainer Part Two

Lester Bester was a comedian who had his own TV program in the late 1950’s early 60’s. It was a variety show called, “It’s the Show, With Lester Bester”. It followed the same tradition of “Your Show of Shows” etc.

He began his career as a  young kid working during the dying years of  theVaudeville, and continued honing his routine in dive bars and burlesque houses throughout the 40s and 50s.

Lester met Stubbs when he was finally lured out to Hollywood to pursue dreams of working in TV.

Lester is sort of a Woody Allen character crossed with Sid Ceasar, with a little dash of Jerry Stiller.

 

 

Lester’s sidekick was Stubbs the Cat, a woman-crazy, chain-smoking, hard-drinking alley cat in the tradition of Dean Martin. Stubbs is the “straight-man”.

 

Here are a couple pieces of memorabilia surrounding this comedy duo.

 

 Lester’s comedy album from 1958, “Shleping Over to Shmendrick” which was released two years before his TV variety show aired.

 

 

 A page from the “Stubbs the Cat” comic book.

 

 

 

 

Here’s an early version of Lester from last year:

 

 

Below are various sketches and designs focusing on the two main characters. There will be many more characters that work in an around the show. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Making Strangers Laugh

Paul Merrill, a buddy of mine and a nationally renowned comedian, will be headlining a show this Friday, March 21st. I did the poster. And although Paul doesn’t usually have a giant red nose like the one pictured above, he does however have one when he’s drunk, or when he has transformed into Jimmy Durante, or a WereHobo (it’s a creature, look it up) or sometimes a cross between all three, which is a real hoot, let me tell you! 

If you want all the details you should go to his MySpace page here, also you can go here, and if you are still interested then take a stroll over here. (That Paul is such a social butterfly, which is amazing because he hates everybody!)

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