Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
•
Horrorthon Posts
The drawing above is the very first panel of the very first Mad magazine strip cartoon by Don Martin (1931-2000), “Mad‘s Maddest Artist.” For those of you who are familiar with Mad and with Martin, you’ll notice that the style of this image (from Mad‘s 29th issue, published September 1956) is noticeably different from the trademark “hinge-foot” formula he perfected much later on. In fact, the early Don Martin stuff is very, very strange compared to the toned-down work he ended up doing for the bulk of his career. It’s, well, evil. (There’s no other way to put it.) In fact, notwithstanding the beautifully-executed drawings and the fascinating early drafting style, it’s downright horrifying..which makes it a perfect topic for you guys.
Ten years ago I bought the CD-ROM collection of Mad Magazine (a 7-disc set that collects the entire run of the magazine through 1998 into a complete searchable library). Anyway, drawing on the thousands of pages in that collection, I’ve assembled a gallery of 32 of the early, extremely evil Don Martin cartoons from the 1950s, because I’m amazed at how beautiful and evil and nasty they are (compared to the toothless stuff he was doing later, in the ‘Seventies, when I first encountered his work). A lot of the way-early Mad stuff was collected into those ubiquitous paperbacks that were all over the place back then, and I remember seeing early Don Martin stuff that actually gave me nightmares. Anyway, enjoy! (My favorite’s “The Suicide.”)
http://www.jordanorlando.com/ns/donmartin
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
•
Horrorthon Posts
I’ve got two tickets for Star Trek The IMAX Experience, in Manhattan, at the Upper West Side IMAX, 7:45 on May 12th.
I’ve got to unload these tickets.
Can any New York-based ‘thonners help me out? If not you, maybe someone you know? It’s the Tuesday after the movie’s opening weekend.
Thanks!
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
•
Horrorthon Posts
Obviously I need to come up with a new name; suggestions are welcome. Anyway here’s the idea: I’m really into the movie The Shining (see above picture in which I am literally “really into” the movie). Since I just co-wrote a scary book I found myself watching The Shining over and over for various reasons that I won’t even mention because I’d have to type all day to get across the sublime nature of The Shining (one of Kubrick’s Michaelangelo-like monuments to the sublime).
And I realized, I’ve seen this damn thing so many times that I know everything they’re going to say in the movie before they say it. I can’t even remember the first time I saw it, and, at that time, I’d already read the book (which is very different), so I wasn’t coming at the story “fresh” (or “virginal”).
But maybe there’s somebody on Horrorthon who’s never seen The Shining! That would be great, because (assuming I could induce that person to watch and review it) I could get that particular fun insight into a favorite movie that comes from a friend checking it out and reporting back.
Then it occurred to me that there’s got to be some “crucial” movie of someone else’s that I haven’t seen. Ultimately we’re looking at a simple informational task that would end up with everybody knowing who is the “movie virgin” for their favorite horror movie (or regular movie), and then everyone checking out the movies and reporting back. Like I said, it needs a better name, and we don’t need to do anything that would make anyone feel tired or under pressure (as October Horrorthon stuff can). But, can you dig it? Like Secret Santas, kind of, without any secrets or gifts, but with movie reviews.
