Stingray

Deb and I just picked up Gerry Anderson's "Stingray". If you love Gerry Anderson's "Thunderbirds" but don't know "Stingray, you're in for a treat.  I love "Thunderbirds", and sure,  it is Gerry Anderson's masterpiece, but "Stingray" is my favorite. It's light, it's corny, and it's tongue-in-cheek. Plus it's got a classic theme song--in the tradition of '50's pop crooning in the Jerry Vale/ Eddy Fisher mold--that you can't get out of your head. 

(Fireball XL5 has it's own classic theme song--a great, early 60's pop-tune that could've come straight from the Fabian songbook. check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ed0jsVgIHu8)

"Stingray" features Troy Tempest, of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP). his shipmate "Phones" and love interests Atlanta Shore and Marina, a refugee from the Underwater worlds Stingray patrols. It's completely ridiculous, totally unbelievable, absurd and sexist in an early '60's way, but it never takes itself seriously for a second. The stories are silly fun, and the villains knowingly comic. Unlike Gerry Anderson's later programs, Captain Scarlet or Joe 90, the puppets look like puppets--instead of Barbie Dolls. Their heads are big and their movements awkward, like puppets should be! Anderson and crew don't try to hide the characters "puppet-ness", and they seem all the more believable for it. So if you're a fan of "Thunderbirds" but don't know Gerry Anderson's earlier work--check out "Stingray". You won't be sorry!

UPA

I've been watching a lot of the original UPA cartoons lately--over and over again. It's driving my wife bananas. (You may know UPA  for Mr. Magoo. While Magoo remains their most popular work, the UPA studio was responsible for much, much more.)
I picked up the "UPA Jolly Frolics" DVD set. I suppose it'd be redundant to say I'm enjoying it. They've done a great job with it--the color restorations are wonderful--and these are cartoons wherein color is everything-so if the color is murky( as on the UPA cartoons you'll find on Youtube), you're missing half the story. It's a joy to see them as intended. 

The classic UPA cartoon that set the style for which the studio is justly revered is Gerald McBoing Boing (1950), a lovely Dr. Seuss tale directed by Bobe Cannon, animated by Bill Melendez( of A Charlie Brown Christmas fame) and beautifully designed by Bill Hurtz and the great Jules Engel.  I've watched it over and over again and still marvel at the fluidity of its movement, the seamless transitions and the emotionally charged modernist design. Watch the scene when Gerald approaches his father in the bathroom, and dejectedly climbs the stairs. Or when he climbs out the bedroom window and chases after the train. It's wonderful in its economy. 
These qualities are repeated, with varying degrees of success, in many of the animated shorts included in this DVD. There are three more Gerald McBoing Boing cartoons, none of which repeat the magic of the first film, but which are enjoyable nonetheless. My particular favorites are John Hubley's "Rooty Toot Toot", "Madeline"( yes, that Madeline), "The Unicorn in the Garden" ( by way of James Thurber) and "The Tell-Tale Heart" brilliantly adapted from Poe's famous story and featuring the paintings of Paul Julian and the voice talent of the great James Mason, whose extraordinary performance propels the narrative to its shocking climax.

 I hope this little taste of UPA's animated magic will send you to the DVD store or elsewhere to pick up the UPA Jolly Frolics collection. Classic Animation  from the 1950's with an eye to modernist graphic design.

This Blog

Okay--so this blog is all things "Jetpack Jr."--and will feature whatever little bits of backstage info on the comic strip that might be of interest,etc. (to whom, I don't know! )--but I'm looking forward to writing about a few other interests--specifically comic strips, animation and '60s ,'70s pop music. Nothing ground-breaking, nothing that's gonna set the world on fire; just things an old guy( me) enjoys.  I'm a Beatles freak, a McCartney fan, love Power Pop and all kinds of sixties music--so my focus will be there, but I love classical music, jazz standards, be-bop, Philip Glass, experimental stuff too. Besides The Beatles, comics and animation are my passion--specifically, classic comic strips and classic animation, so when I come across something I love, I'll share it. 
So this will be a meandering blog, hardly something serious. If you're after something deep, serious, intellectual--this ain't the place. I like to think about things,sure.  I love a good discussion among friends, but I don't take myself that seriously and I'm way over trying to impress anyone with my smarts.  While that's cool for some people, I'm not into that.  I'd rather be making stuff than trying to prove a point.

So here's a little known Power Pop fact; back in November 2011, in my one and only foray into music journalism, I interviewed Power Pop legend Dwight Twilley for MWE3.com, on the occasion of his extraordinary  2011 album, "Soundtrack". 
 Here's the link: http://www.mwe3.com/

Scroll down the home page and look for "Dwight Twilley; May 2012".
I really enjoyed talking to Dwight; I've been a huge fan since his first record; "I'm on Fire" way back in '74 or '75--and I was really nervous speaking with him--but he was so great, so cool and willing to talk--that he made it easy. We had a nice conversation--and I'm proud of myself for actually having the chutzpah to talk to one of my heroes without throwing up. 

Hope you enjoy it--and if you do, order the album, directly from Dwight:

http://www.dwighttwilley.com/candy-store/soundtrack/

*here's my review of "Soundtrack":
http://pulpink.blogspot.com/2011/10/dwight-twilleys-soundtrack.html

New Beginnings

Jetpack Jr. ©GeoffGrogan

 Let's face it, the title sucked. More than one person told me "Plastic Babyheads from Outer Space"  turned them off before they ever read the comic, and well--it certainly didn't attract readers to the strip.  I have a theory that titles ending with  "...from Outer Space" (post 1950's ) are doomed to ignominy.  For years I've avoided watching Killer Clowns from Outer Space-- just because. I've tried recalling any film, book, comic, pop-culture relic post 1960 with "..from Outer Space" in the title. Nothing comes to mind.( nothing good, anyway)  It seems a sure-fire path to the cultural trash-can. 
Well, it's a theory, anyway. Maybe it was the "Babyheads" bit. I've got to admit, the image is just a wee bit...uhm... bothersome. Particularly if you have a soft spot for babies. (and who doesn't?) One way or another, the title was a bomb.
So, I thought--what the hey-let's change it up a bit.  I've got nothing to lose. 
And thus, this week-- Jetpack Jr. begins on GoComics.com  and Plastic Babyheads comes to a close--sort of.  It continues, albeit in slightly altered fashion.(Thanks to everyone at GoComics.com for supporting the change.)
All things in time and it took time for
Jetpack to arrive. You might say it was a protracted gestation period. Three years as Plastic Babyheads from Outer Space before the characters began to emerge from the crowd. Where did the time go? What took so long?  
I'm not one for forcing the issue, I suppose. Hey, I stumbled into the strip--came at backwards-and in those rocky beginnings, never thought it would last.  But the strip has its own momentum and it's pulled me along in its wake. And as time went on, certain voices spoke louder than others. It really is true, the characters tend to find their own direction. And so, this is the path Jetpack Jr., Hank and Marsha, Rensselaer, Kramden, Bella Dilemma and a few old friends(as yet to reappear) were determined to follow. I am excited about it--and if you're reading this, I hope you are too. Where they want to go, they haven't told me--yet. We'll find out together. Meanwhile, this blog will be a place for me to let what's left of my hair down-a bit--put up some stuff on process and inspiration, or just talk about stuff I'm looking at, reading, listening to, stuff that I like. A casual affair. Hope you'll drop by often.