Monthly Archives: October 2022

Al Kilgore (1927-1983) was a great cartoonist who is well known to fans of vintage movies for his caricatures of stars, and for his co-founding of the Laurel & Hardy appreciation society, The Sons of the Desert. He also drew the Rocky & Bullwinkle newspaper strip that ran from 1962 to 1965 in not-nearly-enough newspapers. Most fans of Moose and Squirrel agree that it did a superb job of capturing the spirit and humor of the TV cartoons. It has been hard however to locate samples of this strip…

…until now. Someone — I know not who — has assembled what appears to be a complete collection of the daily strip (there was never a Sunday page) and has published them in two paperback volumes which are now available for purchase on Amazon.

Some of the strips in the book have been printed off scans of original art, probably mostly scans that Heritage Auctions did recently when they sold a whole lotta Kilgore art. Some have been printed from newspapers and in some cases, they have been restored adequately with touch-ups. The fellow (I'm assuming it's a fellow) who put the books together made a font of Kilgore's distinctive lettering in order to reletter strips where the lettering was in need of repair. He also wrote a personal essay about the strip and his love for it.

In fact, he put in everything but his name. There's a copyright notice but it doesn't say who is claiming that copyright…which makes one wonder how legitimate this whole enterprise is. I might not have been so quick to order these volumes if I'd known this…and I should also say that I think the books are way overpriced for what you get. So I'm not telling you to buy them, just that they're there and that the strip was wonderful. Because I feel a little weird about these books, I've configured the following Amazon links so I don't get a cut if you order Volume 1 or Volume 2 through this site.

While we're on the subject of Al Kilgore, I want to clear up something that probably bugs me more than it should. A number of Rocky & Bullwinkle comic books were published in the sixties by Western Publishing Company, appearing at first under the Dell logo and later under the Gold Key colophon. (If you don't understand what happened there, read this.)

None of this work was signed or credited and a lot of folks — including some selling the old comics or the art from them — are crediting it to Al Kilgore when, in fact, he did very little of it. Take a look at this little graphic I assembled. The drawing of Bullwinkle on the right was inarguably drawn and inked by Al Kilgore…

The other four drawings were lifted from issues of Dell and Gold Key comics which some credit to Kilgore.  Just look at Bullwinkle's head shape and the design of his antlers.  Does anyone think those were drawn by the same person?  This is, as Alex Jones would put it, my Perry Mason Moment.

Kilgore drew some promotional comics of Jay Ward characters (including our old pals Quisp and Quake) that came with cereal or were for other purposes.  But for the Dell and Gold Key comic books, I only see Kilgore in the first issue of Rocky and His Fiendish Friends (October, 1962) — a comic I remember very fondly from my childhood. It may or may not have been the first comic Western put out with the Gold Key logo, but it was the first I saw on a rack of the new comics…and of course, avidly purchased.

It has an inside front cover by Kilgore and then there's a Rocky & Bullwinkle story serialized throughout the issue that I'm fairly sure he penciled but did not ink.  He did not draw the other stories in that issue or the ones that followed and I doubt he did any covers.

And there's no evidence that he did or didn't write anything in these comics. Alter Ego magazine recently ran an interview with one of the editors at Western in those days and he got all sorts of things wrong and on this topic, he said Kilgore wrote and drew most of those books.  As you can see above, he definitely did not draw most or even much. The editor also said Kilgore did their Hoppity Hooper comic book. I guess it's possible Kilgore wrote and/or drew one that wound up on a shelf somewhere but Western never published a Hoppity Hooper comic book.

Some have speculated that those Dell and Gold Key comics were done by others who worked for Jay Ward then. I sure doubt it. A few of the writers who worked for Jay Ward did work for Western Publishing, especially Lloyd Turner and (briefly) Bill Scott but both did all their work for Western's Los Angeles office which had nothing to do with the the comics in question. They were done out of Western's office in New York City, far from the Jay Ward Studios.

I believe all the comics we're talking about here were done by East Coast talent. Al Kilgore lived and worked in New York as did Mel Crawford, who drew some covers and maybe some insides. So did Fred Fredericks, who was best known for drawing the Mandrake the Magician newspaper strip. So did (reportedly) Jerry Robinson. Also, Dave Berg (yes, the guy from MAD) said he wrote a few stories but I don't know which ones. The only crossover would be Jack Mendelsohn, who lived in New York and worked for Western on all sorts of comics, including Rocky and His Fiendish Friends and Bullwinkle, before moving out to L.A. He worked for Ward on the George of the Jungle show and then for a lot of other TV producers.

For years now, folks who don't know who drew certain Disney, Warner Brothers or other funny animal comics from Western have just automatically credited the art to Pete Alvarado. Occasionally, they're right because Pete was very prolific but there were more than forty other guys drawing those comics. And once in a rare while, art for a Rocky & Bullwinkle comic credited to Al Kilgore was actually drawn by Al Kilgore. But that happened rarely, not most of the time as too many people insist.

Well, actually he's in the Washington Post today. Big article on my co-conspirator. And don't miss reading the comments section. Whole lotta love there.

In the seventies, ladies who were foolish enough to go out with me would often be treated to a repast at Madame Wu's Garden, a lovely place to dine on Wilshire Boulevard in Santa Monica. It closed down in 1998 and there's now a Whole Foods Market where it used to be. Eventually, something owned by Jeff Bezos will replace everything in our world.

There were cheaper places to get good Chinese Food but the ambience was nice, the staff was oh-so-courteous and friendly, and Madame Sylvia Wu herself might just stop by your table and make you feel especially welcome. She was famous for her cookbooks and was delighted one time when I ordered a copy of one "to go," autographed to my mother. My mother loved going there too and at her request, I took her there for a last Madame Wu meal just before the place closed in '98. (Madame Wu later opened another restaurant but it never caught on.)

Her Garden was a lovely place with a celebrity clientele and food which must have been healthier than I imagined. Because Madame Wu just died this past Thursday at the age of 106.

Here's another batch of cereal commercials produced for the Quaker Oats company by Jay Ward's company.  Most are for Quisp and Quake but there are two in there for another cereal, King Vitaman, and the king's voice is Joe Flynn, best known as Captain Binghamton on the McHale's Navy TV show.  Also in these, you'll meet Quake's arch-enemy, Simon LeGreedy, whose voice was supplied by Hans Conried.

Daws Butler is Quisp and a few supporting characters.  William Conrad is Quake, who is remodeled into a slimmer character in these spots.  June Foray is all the ladies and the little boy.  Bill Scott and Paul Frees handle the other roles. Once again, they hired more actors than they absolutely had to…

Several of you have called to my attention the fact that Samantha Bee's show on TBS has been canceled.  I missed the news.  Thank you, Roger Green, for that link.  Does this mean she's in the running for the host job on The Daily Show?  I dunno.  Except in the news business, TV networks don't usually like to pick up a show or star that's just been dropped by the competition but there have been exceptions.  Will Ms. Bee be one?  I have no idea.  I also wasn't predicting that it will be Jordan Klepper.  I just think it should be.

Remember that no one predicted Trevor Noah to succeed Jon Stewart just as no one predicted James Corden to replace Craig Ferguson…or Craig Ferguson to replace Craig Kilborn…or Conan O'Brien to replace David Letterman or Jimmy Fallon to replace Conan O'Brien…

The last part of the Blackhawk article will probably be up here on Monday.  Spoiler Alert: The book gets canceled.

My wise pal Paul Harris tells a story that illustrates a principle that I wish I'd learned earlier in life: There's very little point in arguing over some policy or rule with people who do not have the power to change that policy or rule. Paul's tale is about a poker player at a casino who was outraged by a casino policy…and, of course, argued about it with someone who had zero power to change it.

It's fine, and perhaps even a good idea, to register your displeasure with something. If enough people do, their collective disapproval might (might!) lead to the policy or rule being changed by those with the power to do so.  And I've found that being reasonable and polite is way more effective than having the kind of tantrum that causes a cell phone video of you to be uploaded to YouTube with "Karen" in the title.  Don't berate the employee who's just doing what their employer ordered them to…or in some cases, what the law tells them to do.

Paul's post reminded me of the story of the Superstar Performer who was once playing Blackjack in Las Vegas. Because he was so famous, a crowd gathered to watch him play…which in this case meant watching him lose hand after hand after hand. It was apparently entertaining to see the headliner forfeiting large chunks of the money he was making by performing in the casino's showroom. Losing streaks happen to even the best players but not only was he dropping thousands of bucks on each hand but — worse — he felt he was being humiliated. Lots of folks were watching which meant lots o' stories would get around.

The dealer, a young woman, was dealing the cards out of a six-deck shoe. Dealers are supposed to be like friendly robots. They make no decisions. They just deal the cards and enforce the rules they did not make. And in case you don't know what a "shoe" is in this context, they look like this — though the ones in casinos are rarely, if ever, transparent…

That was how it was done at every Blackjack table in this casino and most tables in the state of Nevada. Desperate for something to change his luck — like this would make any sort of difference — the Superstar Performer told the dealer to take the cards out of the shoe and deal the next hand by hand. She said something like, "I'm sorry, Mr. Superstar Performer. We're not allowed to do that."

That should have been the end of it but…well, there are people in this world who go through life with the attitude of "The rules don't apply to me."  They like the idea of norms being waived for them and that when they yell, others will do anything to appease them.  There's a technical term for such people and I believe it starts with "ass" and ends with "hole."

The Superstar Performer used one or two misogynistic terms and told the dealer, "I said 'Take the cards out of the shoe and deal them by hand.'"  There was an "…or else" clearly implied in his tone.

As the story is told, the dealer began to cry…and why wouldn't she cry?  She was in big trouble no matter what she did.  If she did as ordered, she would be fired and might even lose her license to deal Blackjack; i.e., her entire livelihood.  If she didn't…well, she knew the casino couldn't afford to piss off the Superstar Performer who packed their showroom every night with high-rolling, big-betting customers. She would be a small, acceptable sacrifice to placate him.

All dealers in a casino are supervised by suit-wearing staffers called Casino Hosts or sometimes, Pit Bosses. They have no power to change the rules either but they can give out comps and settle disputes between the player and the dealer when any arise. The one for this table stepped in and tried to pacify the Superstar Performer.

This mostly consisted of fawning over him and trying to divert S.P.'s rage away from the trembling dealer. A Casino Host once told me — while telling me this story, in fact — "What I usually try to do, what most of us would do, is get the angry customer to direct that anger at us instead of at the dealer. We're better equipped to deal with it." The Casino Host trying to placate the S.P. sent the dealer to the equivalent of the Dealers' Locker Room and called for a replacement. Once she was gone, he promised the Superstar Performer that she'd be fired for disobedience or rudeness or not properly kissing the butt of a Superstar Performer…or something.

The cards were not removed from the shoe and dealt by hand. That might even have endangered the casino's gaming license. But the Superstar Performer could walk away from the table acting like he'd won. And the fired dealer was not exactly fired. They just felt it would be bad if the S.P. ever saw her dealing Blackjack there again so they transferred her to a different casino owned by the same corporation.

That's that story and I should mention one more thing about it: I have no idea if it's true or not. It sounds true to me but so do a lot of things, like certain friends who are definitely going to pay back the money you owe me but never quite do. I heard the story about the Superstar Performer in my earlier days of hanging out with Vegas people. I met a lot of them backstage or in other informal settings.

As I said, a Casino Host told it to me. This was at the Imperial Palace. One of the longtime hosts at the Flamingo told it to me. A comedian who performed in the lounge at The Mint told it to me. An off-duty Casino Host at Caesars told it to me. The straight man in the Minsky's Burlesque Revue at the Hacienda told it to me. I probably heard it from a dozen Vegas-based people and while the identity of the Superstar Performer rotated between three men, all deceased, the details and reported assholishness did not.

Paul's story reminded me of it and so did scenes I witnessed a few years ago when I was spending a lot of time at hospitals because my mother, and later my lady friend, were patients. I was there to make sure my loved one was receiving proper care and I saw a lot of other people who were there to help out their loved ones.

There always seemed to be someone screaming at one or more nurses because of a hospital policy or even an actual law. They were screaming despite the fact that the target of their fury — and I don't mean to raise my voice here but I must put this in boldface — did not make the rule and did not have the power to change or ignore it.

Pardon me for yelling there but they were yelling then. Often, it was because their loved one was in pain and the nurse was not allowed to give them medication for that pain. I think I did my best for my mother and for Carolyn by understanding what the nurses could and could not do and occasionally saying to them — in a peaceful and understanding way, I hoped — something like, "I understand you're not allowed to do what she needs but can you point me towards the person who can solve this problem?"

And one time, I said to a guy who was screaming at a nurse, "If you're not going to stop yelling at her because you're waking up all these patients who need their sleep, how about not yelling at someone who's just doing her job because it isn't going to do any good?"

"It doesn't work" is an excellent reason to not do something. Yelling at the dealer in that club in Vegas did not stop the Superstar Performer from losing all that money in front of onlookers. It didn't even stop them all from telling stories, which are repeated to this day, about what a jerk he was.

• I don't know if there's an afterlife but if there is, mine will still include daily, unstoppable text messages from my local CVS Pharmacy offering to refill my prescription for that drug I stopped taking three years ago.