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[The Australian Panther]

Just for a complete change of pace, I though I would highlight some works from our 'Odds and Ends' section.
I like the idea of using the Reading Group posts to draw attention to some of the more esoteric works to be found on CB+.
So,
Two Hundred Sketches, Humorous and Grotesque (by Gustave Doré )
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=84455

Stuff and Nonsense - A. B. Frost
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=82704

Spy Smasher Serial Pressbook
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=61679

Cheers!

[SuperScrounge]

Psst, Panther, it's Reading Group 320 not 220.

[The Australian Panther]

Danke!

[Robb_K]

Wow!!!  Inked drawings by Gustave Doré and A. B. Frost!!!  Expressive artwork doesn't get much better than that!  I'll enjoy flipping through those 2 books!  Great choices!

[SuperScrounge]

Two Hundred Sketches, Humorous and Grotesque

Interesting. Some very nice cartoons, cartoonoids, and proto-comic stories. The art was interesting to look at. One wonders how much was based on people the artist has seen and chosen to honor or mock with his art.

[SuperScrounge]

Stuff and Nonsense

Very nice. The illustrated limericks are cute, but the longer proto-comics are fun and well-drawn. One wonders if the modern comic style of multi-panels a page would have held him back (although some of the limerick illustrations show he could do it).

[Quirky Quokka]

Two Hundred Sketches, Humorous and Grotesque

Well this was an interesting collection. I've never heard of this fellow, but he was obviously an exceptional artist.  The first part of the book includes caricatures, with the oversized heads and exaggerated features, but there are also some more realistic-looking illustrations, though still with lots of interesting expressions and other features.

There is even a full story with 'Life in the Provinces: History of an Invitation into the Country' from pp. 17-22. Godinot is bored with his life in the country, so he sends a letter and invites his friend Berniquet to come for a visit. However, Berniquet doesn't enjoy his stay and ends up writing to his wife: 'I'm awfully bored: write and say you are dead.' When a return letter arrives to announce the 'death' of his wife, he is able to end his stay diplomatically. I liked the wry sense of humour, though did wonder how he will keep up the pretense for the rest of his life.

Another one that struck me was 'Consequences of the London Exhibition of 1862' from pp. 41-44. For example, the illustration on p. 42 with the caption 'The latest quotations fixed the price of the third part of a bed on the roof at 300 francs'. I assume that was expensive at the time, and it reminded me of the World Expo in my hometown of Brisbane in 1988. I bought a season pass and looked forward to 6 months of food and entertainment from around the world. However, a lot of unscrupulous landlords hiked their prices for the influx of visitors. Five of my Uni friends lived in a share house not far from the site and they had to move out when their rent was doubled. Interesting that Dore made these comments over 100 years earlier. I also liked the irony in the illustration underneath that one showing 'natives' reading papers, with the caption 'View of an uncivilized island whose precincts have been invaded by prospectuses of the Exhibition'. Yes, I'm sure they'll be hopping in their canoes to check out the latest gizmos in London.

I like his use of tongue-in-cheek humour, sarcasm, and subtle (and not so subtle) political and societal comment throughout. An interesting choice, Panther.

Cheers

QQ

[Robb_K]

Gustave Doré's highly-detailed, distorted figures with the humongous heads, remind me of the main characters in "Alice in Wonderland" and "Through The Looking Glass" in a heavily-illustrated version from the 1910s that my grandparents had bought for my mother and aunt.  Did Doré ever illustrate a deluxe edition of those stories?
That book may be where I first encountered his name.  I know that the most famous Victorian book illustrator of those stories, john Tenniel,  also gave the key figures grotesquely large heads.  So. I may have been remembering Tenniel's version.  Perhaps Doré was influenced by Tenniel's work?  Or, maybe the giant head size was standard in those days for use in ironic parodies and characatures of famous celebrities and traditional characters?

[crashryan]

200 Sketches

This is a wonderful collection!

Gustave Dore was a prodigious talent who was world famous in his day. He drew many cartoons and text comics for French humor magazines. That makes him an early comics pioneer! He was best known for his illustrations to the Bible, the Divine Comedy, Don Quixlote, and many more. He also was a successful gallery painter and even made sculptures.

Though Dore worked in many genres, it was his fantasy drawings that had the greatest impact. They continue to inspire to this day. His Wikipedia entry has a nice selection of his work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Dor%C3%A9

[SuperScrounge]

Spy Smasher Serial Pressbook

Interesting. I tried to read all the text, but given it was basically tiny and sales hype I gave up on some of it. Still interesting to see the things available for theatre owners to hype the serial and bring in customers.

I do wonder how many Spy Smasher comics got distributed because of theaters and this movie serial?

My dad watched the serial on YouTube a few months back and didn't think too much of it. I haven't made time to sit and watch it yet.

[The Australian Panther]

Robb said,

Or, maybe the giant head size was standard in those days for use in ironic parodies and caricatures of famous celebrities and traditional characters?

I suspect that was the case.
It was also a standard procedure in the one panel political editorial cartoons in newspapers, even when I was a child. Those kinds of cartoons, now I think about it, were part of my visual and political education. 

[SuperScrounge]

Probably inspired by the expression 'swelled head' and similar.

[Morgus]

Hey, thanks Panther, this set was a real learning experience.
I knew Dore from his illustrations of stuff like THE RIME OF THE ANCIENT MARINER or THE BIBLE or (as Crash mentions) THE DIVINE COMEDY or DON QUIXOTE. I never knew or forgot he did the comedy human interest stuff..Part of the fun for me was to block out the caption and see what he came up with as opposed to what I did. We were neck and neck.
By the way, first heard of Dore from a Steve Ditko story illustrated in CREEPY way back when. COLLECTORS’ EDITION. The story concerned sinister books and Dore and Beardsley were also mentioned along the fictional one the protagonist was after.
A.B. Frost had totally sipped my mind, I had forgotten that A.B. Frost was the illustrator for Uncle Remus as well. I might be one of the last folks to see SONG OF THE SOUTH on the big screen. (Double bill with THE ARISTOCATS...)
THE SPYSMASHER was way cool. Wish I had one.
All in all this was a great glimpse of what’s around the site. I usually carve out time to read the stuff we have on hand for the two weeks and rarely get a chance to see the depth of the thing, this was a great peek at its potential.

[The Australian Panther]

Two Hundred Sketches, Humorous and Grotesque (by Gustave Doré )
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=84455

This book was donated by Lyons. In my opinion  Lyon's contributions have enriched the Database immeasurably and he continues to do so.
The material Lyons uploads can not always be defined as comic books as the genre is generally understood, but they are always entertaining and informative as to the origins of comic books and the influences involved.

Going to wing it here, so If I get it wrong, please feel free to correct me.
The kinds of caricature Dore presents us with here, go back to the beginnings of art, but they really took off with the revolution that was printing.
With a printing press you have mass visual production, a broadsheet could be copied and be all over Europe in no time at all.
Eventually braodsheets became a vehicle for criticise those in Authority, eventually visuals were added and characature became a mainstay of social commentary. 
I note that the cover of the book calls Dore a 'Graphic Designer'. Makes me wonder When that term was first coined. He was definitely that.
Grotesque
Cambridge>  "strange and unpleasant, especially in a silly or slightly frightening way"
Merriam-Webster >  a style of decorative art characterized by fanciful or fantastic human and animal forms often interwoven with foliage or similar figures that may distort the natural into absurdity, ugliness, or caricature.
So, yes, these works are a superior example of that. But always for purpose, not just to mock.
The Hallmark is exaggeration.
Look at the frontispiece. Exaggeration of Heads, Bodies, Hats.
It occurs to me that Dore's work is the ancestor of Will Elder and Harvey Kurtzman's work and maybe I should have chosen this one for the Reading Group.
Goodman Goes Playboy
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=87963
I didn't, because I though it was too close to  home, too contemporary.
Also, of course, the 'Underground' comics of the 60's and 70's.
And there are narratives here, proto Comic books.   
'Life in the provinces - history of an invitation to the country' for example.
Apart from the high standard of the art, it's clear that Dore is a critical observer of behaviors and a visual observer of whatever he sees and has the ability to put those elements together in a context that underlies his narrative intent.
Also, I'm struck with how many of his observations are still applicable today!
Human Nature doesn't change much.
cheers!

[The Australian Panther]

Stuff and Nonsense - A. B. Frost
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=82704

The Jester on the frontispiece tells the reader exactly what to expect.
On the next page, the painter is creating a word, so we get the playfulness from the start.
[move well back and look again]
A tale of a Cat is definitely a comic. In 1884. So experiments with Narrative art were definitely a thing already.
Quite sophisticated in that there is no dialogue, and the one drawing to a page heightens the effect. Putting them all in panels on the same page would have weakened it considerably.
We and the Cat get a tour through the house. You can imagine the sound effects!
Comic strip? No this is an early animated cartoon!
I love the visual energy of Frost's work. Page 33 for example.
Visually striking work. 

[The Australian Panther]

Spy Smasher Serial Pressbook
https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=61679
There are several of these on CB+.
I chose this one because it is one of the most visual.
It's not always realized that Movie Theatre chains are owned by different businessmen than those who own the Studios. And there was competition between the studios to get their product shown, Hence, these Pressbooks.
Not a lot of these things survive today.   
As our NOTES says,

Many comic covers and interesting information about Fawcett's role in promoting the adaptation of their second most popular character.

   
Was Spysmasher really their second-most popular character?
I also note that in the 'Credits' it says,
"Suggested by the Character 'Spy Smasher' appearing in Whiz comics magazine copyright for Fawcett productions. "
They assumed that theater operators wouldn't be familiar with all comic characters. Also, it implies that there is a ready-made audience of comic readers already out there, who will attend and also get the word out.
Hollywood doesn't seem to realize that today.  And it shows.
The publicity pages are ready-made newspaper articles. So, Journalists were used that way even then.
And then Fawcett will aid the campaign "Presold to millions"!
I've just seen this kind of advertising blitz multiplied on the occasion of Taylor Swift's visit to Australia.
Couldn't get away from her! 
Some Actors graduated from the serials and went on to greater careers. But I don't recognize any of this cast.
I note, " SPY SMASHER DIME ACTION COMIC BOOKS - 192 pages ..... Yours for a fraction of the selling cost.
$ 0.3 a copy." [Mark-up of $ 0.2?]
Were there other titles and have any of these survived? 
Cheers all!
Monday, something new from QQ.       

[SuperScrounge]

Was Spysmasher really their second-most popular character?

Fawcett sales in 1942
Captain Marvel Adventures - 6,447,715
Bulletman - 1,544,298
Spy Smasher - 1,186,155

Looks to me like he was really third place rather than second.

The publicity pages are ready-made newspaper articles. So, Journalists were used that way even then.

You seem surprised.

It's funny that even after the term Yellow Journalism, Journalist has somehow survived the tarnishment to still give the illusion of purity. And at the same time we even had respected gossip columnists like Hedda Hopper and others.

I guess the number one job of journalists is to prop up the myth that journalism is an honorable profession, even when they are all acting like urinalists.

I've just seen this kind of advertising blitz multiplied on the occasion of Taylor Swift's visit to Australia.
Couldn't get away from her!

Doesn't she have something to do with American football? 

I note, " SPY SMASHER DIME ACTION COMIC BOOKS - 192 pages ..... Yours for a fraction of the selling cost.
$ 0.3 a copy." [Mark-up of $ 0.2?]
Were there other titles and have any of these survived?

Sounds like rebound comics.

Couldn't find a listing at the GCD, unless they had a different indicia name.

[The Australian Panther]

Superscrounge said,

You seem surprised.

 
Nope!
I remember the anecdote I read decades ago about the man who, when asked by his son, what he did for a living, told him he was a piano player in a whorehouse, rather than admit he was a journalist. And that anecdote was told by a fairly respectable journalist.

[Quirky Quokka]

Spy Smasher Serial Pressbook

I enjoyed having a flick through this book. As Panther and SuperScrounge have noted, this kind of publicity is nothing new. A lot of websites for authors, celebrities etc have a media kit you can download. However, I didn't realise this was such a thing with comic books. When I was a kid, I would have loved seeing a movie and then buying the tie-in comic book on my way out. By the time I was going to movies, they usually showed a cartoon and a short before the main feature, but never a serial. I didn't see one until many years later when they used to show classic movies once a month in my town and I saw a couple of episodes of a Captain Marvel serial. And a few years back, I managed to pick up a DVD of a Phantom serial that would have been shown in cinemas back in the day. By the time I was a teenager and in my twenties, it was common to have movie books for sale at the cinema and I would always buy one, but not comics.

But back to Spy Smasher. I can see how this would have helped theatre owners decide which serials to run. The synopsis of the 12 episodes would have been handy. Also, the first newsy item 'Keen censorship practised on all serials put out' would have allayed any fears of theatre owners, parents and teachers. I'm sure it would have been reassuring to know that Spy Smasher provided 'good, healthy excitement for the younger generation without putting any wrong ideas into their heads'.  I suppose it also helped that America was at war and that Spy Smasher was beating the Nazis. I've always been a movie buff, so I would have been interested in all the snippets about the stars too.

Thanks Panther. An interesting choice.

Cheers

QQ