| Comments |
| |
| I wonder why Gleason is drawn with a super-thick line around him while everyone else is inked normally. Looks weird. |
|
| Now that you mention it, it DOES look weird. Maybe Gleason insisted that something be done to make his characters "stand out."
Another interesting thing is that Ed Norton's face is never clearly shown: I guess they didn't want to pay Art Carney and figured if they drew him to NOT look like Art Carney, people wouldn't like it (although this doesn't seem to have bothered them with the women characters). |
|
| There must have been some seriously weird rights situation going on when they made this comic. In the first issue not only was Norton hidden (his face was bandaged throughout the story), but Alice also got the no-face treatment. Norton's face was finally shown in the final issue, #4, and he was just some guy.
I get the odd feeling that St John's handling of the situation was partly an "up yours" move: told they couldn't use Norton's likeness the editor had Mike Roy go out of his way to call attention to the fact. That's just speculation, but stranger things have happened. |
|
| It is nice to see stories featuring some of the other characters Gleason created in addition to the Honeymooners. Great memories |
|
| GDC states this, - 'Evidently, only Jackie Gleason gave permission for his likeness to be used in this comic; Norton (Art Carney) is seen with his face covered with bandages while Alice (Audrey Meadows) is shown only from the back. (The indicia states, "No similarity between any of the names, characters, persons and/or institutions, other than Jackie Gleason, appearing in this magazine and those of any living or dead person or institution is intended and any similarity which may exist is purely coincidental.")
What is more likely is that Gleason signed a contract for this book that excluded all the other actors in the show. The fact that the cover of #1 shows all the characters that he played in his own show would support this hypothesis.
The most interesting thing about these books is the portraits on the inside front covers. Three of them are credited to 'Frank Ryan' They are excellent. I thnk that these were images Gleason used to sign autographs on. I can't find anything on this guy in searches owing to the fact that 'Frank Ryan' seems a rather common name. I like Gleason's work, he was a genius, but he was also a master of self-promotion and his motto apparently was, as the song says. ' Don't you ever let a chance go by'. |
|
| | |
| Additional Information |
| |
| Publication | October 1955 | Price: 0.10 USD | Pages: 1 | Frequency: Monthly |
| |
| |
| Illustration | Jackie Gleason Pinup (1 page) |
| Credits | Pencils:? (photograph) | Inks:? (photograph) |
| Notes | In black and white on inside front cover. |
| |
| Featuring | Jackie Gleason |
| Content | Genre: Humor |
| |
| Featuring | The Poor Soul |
| Content | Genre: Humor |
| |
| Featuring | Reggie Van Gleason the III |
| Content | Genre: Humor |
| |
| Featuring | The Poor Soul |
| Content | Genre: Humor |
| |
| Comic Story | Every Office Has It's Wallflower (7 pages) |
| Featuring | Charlie Bratton the Loudmouth |
| Content | Genre: Humor |
| |
| Featuring | The Poor Soul |
| Content | Genre: Humor |
| |
| Featuring | Fenwick Babbit |
| Content | Genre: Humor |
| |
| Illustration | Jackie Gleason Pinup (1 page) |
| Credits | Pencils:? (photograph) | Inks:? (photograph) |
| Notes | In black and white on inside back cover. |
| |
| Featuring | Cracker Jack |
| Credits | Letters:?; typeset |
| Notes | Back cover. |
| |
| The data in the additional content section is courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under a
Creative Commons Attribution License.
More details about this comic may be available in their page here |
