Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comics. Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2020

Richard Sala (1959-2020), friend of the Louise Brooks Society

With much sadness the Louise Brooks Society mourns the passing of Richard Sala (1959-2020), an acclaimed cartoonist, illustrator, and comic book creator and longtime friend to the LBS. Sala was found dead in his Berkeley, California home, having died on May 7th. He was only 61 years old.



One of Sala earliest comics was Night Drive, which he self-published in 1984. Soon afterword, he was "discovered" by Art Spiegelman and others, and he was published in RAW magazine in 1986. Sala's many admirers included his fellow cartoonists, such as Daniel Clowes, the author of Ghost World. Clowes  penned a moving tribute to Sala, a close friend, in Comics Journal. Other memorial pieces include those on Boing Boing, Comics Beat, and CBR.

Sala loved all manner of popular culture, where it was pulp illustration, silent movies, German expressionism, science fiction and horror, or mod music. I first became aware of Sala around the time he published Peculia (Fantagraphics, 2002), whose plucky heroine was loosely inspired by Louise Brooks. (Peculia is a mysterious girl whose name is a reference to a childhood misspelling of the Spanish word "pelicula," or "movie"). In a 2007 interview with Comics Reporter, Sala stated:
So, I sat down and began to create model sheets for characters -- the kind you see that are done for animation -- just so I'd have a guide to what my characters would look like from every angle. The more I drew women, the more they evolved into whatever it is they've become. I really like the way women were drawn in old comic strips and early "golden-age" comic books, so I was looking at those. I also referred to photos of silent movie actresses like Clara Bow and Louise Brooks -- women who were spunky and sexy and cute and strong and innocent and smart -- all at the same time. And I looked at vintage illustrations of flappers, which captured that same spirit -- often in drawn in what seems like a single graceful, gently curving line from head to foot. So that became the basic type for many of the female characters.
Around the time Peculia was published, I was managing an author event series in San Francisco. Enthused by Sala's new book, I begged his publishor for an event with the artist, but Sala wouldn't do it. I never understood why until later, when I learned of his crippling anxiety and agoraphobia. We exchanged a few emails back then (more senseless begging for an event by me, and chat about Louise Brooks), and a few years later, with the rise of Facebook, we connected once again, occasionally liking and commenting on each other's posts. It has been a long time, but I think I sent him a copy of my first book, the Louise Brooks edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl. I guess Louise Brooks is my Peculia.

For more about this singular talent, check out his Facebook page, or his blog/website titled HERE LIES RICHARD SALA. Though we never met, I consider you a friend, a kindred soul. Good passage Richard.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Another Louise Brooks Inspired Graphic Novel - The Baldazzinni Hollywoodland

The following is a Italian announcement (here Google translated) from Sergio Bonelli Editore about a Louise Brooks-related exhibit and publication.
"Hollywoodland" is the title of the graphic novel in which the designer Roberto Baldazzini is currently working, a story, scripted by Michele Masiero, whose tables in the works will be part of an exhibition in Vignola, near Modena.

From May 15 to 25 , in the spaces of Salotto di Vignola Muratori (Via Selmi 2), in the province of Modena, you can visit " Hollywoodland ", exhibition dedicated to the project on which Roberto Baldazzini is engaged in this period. The artist is working for our publishing house, displaying a graphic novel set in the Hollywood of the 20s, written by Michele Masiero . Of the story, you can admire inked plates, pencils, studies and pages of script, a tantalizing preview of what will soon be on sale ( click here to visit the Facebook album of the author, devoted to the work in progress of the volume).

The exhibition opening will take place in the presence of the same Baldazzini, Saturday, May 14 , at 17:30 . Later, you can visit the exhibition on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 to 12:30 and from 15:30 to 19:00. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday opening will be from 16:30 to 19:00. For information: www.baldazzini.it/hollywoodland/

Sunday, May 22 , in addition, Roberto Baldazzini will be playing the central role " Draw comics ", conducted by Stefano Ascari, which will be held at 21:00 , at the Teatro di Vignola Cantelli (Via Cantelli), an opportunity to meet the ' author and explore its long and diverse career in the drawn image world.



Thursday, May 12, 2016

New Graphic Novel on Silent Film Star Louise Brooks!

On May 18th, a new graphic novel about Louise Brooks will be published in France. I haven't yet received a copy, but expect to soon. Nevertheless, from what I've seen, it looks great!

The book, titled Louise, le venin du scorpion, features a scénario by Chantal Van den Heuvel and art by Joël Alessandra. Copies are available for purchase through the publisher's webpage, on amazon.fr, and elsewhere.

I found out about the book by coming across this just published interview with the author and artist, "Joël Alessandra avec Chantal Van Den Heuvel sur les traces de la mythique Louise Brooks," on the Ligne Flaire website. Be sure and check it out, and use your Chrome browser to translate if you don't read French.

More about the artist, Joël Alessandra, can be found on his website. More about the author, Chantal Van den Heuvel, can be found on her website, as well as on this Europe Comics webpage (in English).

The book is described as a "biography of an icon of the Roaring Twenties." This bit of poignant prose serves as a preface:
 Louise,

Tu étais la beauté, l'esprit, la grâce incarnés. Et ton jeu était sublime.
Pourtant, un seul film, Loulou, aura marqué ta carrière.
Hollywood, « l'inhumaine usine à films », t'a très vite blacklistée.
Parce que tu en refusais les règles ? Sans doutes...
Mais aussi, tu disais de toi-même : « Je suis le poignard de ma propre plaie ».

Pourquoi, Louise ? 

And here, courtesy of the the publisher's webpage, are a few pages from this new work. I encourage everyone to order a copy today!




Check this blog in two days for another BIG Louise Brooks graphic novel announcement!

Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Screen Snapshots

Here, for fun, are a few examples of "Screen Snapshots" by Hortense Schorr. Each tie in with a particular motion picture, and each date from the very early 1930s. They are something a little unusual which I came across. The films they tie into are Rain or Shine (1930), Sweethearts on Parade (1930), The Squealer (1930), and For the Love o' Lil (1930). Each are from Colombia.





Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Louise Brooks a la Valentina news stand in Rome

Gianluca Chiovelli sent this snapshot of a news stand in Rome which features an image of Valentina, the Italian comix character based on Louise Brooks.


Thursday, July 9, 2015

Interview with Rick Geary, author of Louise Brooks: Detective

Comic book author Rick Geary is a longtime fixture at Comic-Con International. Back in 1980, he took home their Inkpot Award given to individuals for their contributions to the world of comics. And this year, as it has in the past, his artwork (The Toucan) adorns the cover of the official events guide and "Reader" t-shirt.

Geary is at the 2015 Comic-Con International, which starts this week in San Diego. He is taking part in a panel, signing books, and celebrating the release of a new hardbound work, Louise Brooks: Detective (NBM Publishing). See some sample pages here.

This new comic is something of departure for Geary. Of the last number of years, he has been engaged in an ongoing non-fiction series, A Treasury of XXth Century Murder -- a follow up to his popular and well regarded A Treasury of Victorian Murder which launched 20 years ago with Jack the Ripper. Both series are true-to-life comic book accounts of sensational death.

Geary's new comic is a departure because its fiction, though it is based on the life of a real person, the iconic Kansas-born silent film star Louise Brooks.

The story centers on the actress' return to Wichita after quitting Hollywood. It was one of the low points of her life, though she was still just in her early thirties. Living at home, she becomes intrigued by a murder involving a new friend, her friend's shady beau, and a famous reclusive writer. Not before she gets herself into trouble will Brooks emerge with the solution the local police have failed to grasp. It's a taut page turner, and an intriguing story that might make for a clever screenplay.

Publishers Weekly calls Louise Brooks: Detective, "A fun, twisty mystery for both film buffs and crime fiction lovers.

Geary is an Eisner award-winning cartoonist and illustrator with a distinctive visual style. He is the author and illustrator of several books, and has worked for Marvel Entertainment Group, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and the revived Classics Illustrated series. For thirteen years, Geary was a contributor to National Lampoon. His work has also appeared in Heavy Metal magazine, MAD, Spy, Rolling Stone, and the New York Times Book Review. In 1994, the National Cartoonist Society awarded Geary its Magazine and Book Illustration Award.

Recently, Geary answered a few questions about the bobbed-hair actress and his new work, Louise Brooks: Detective.

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Thomas Gladysz: Your ongoing multi-volume true crime series, "A Treasury of Murder", is a great achievement in comic art. You done a number that center on historic mysteries, and few of which focus on old Hollywood. How did you come to write one about Louise Brooks?

Rick Geary: After about 25 years of producing true murder books, my publisher Terry Nantier of NBM Publishing, suggested I do a work of fiction. I had long had an idea in my head for a murder mystery set in Kansas in the 1930s, so from there I made the leap of casting Louise Brooks as the detective. It seemed just outrageous enough to work.

TG: In Louise Brooks: Detective, you take a little documented time in the actress' life -- after she quits Hollywood and returned home -- and imagine her getting involved in a murder. Was there room then in Brooks' real life story to "make something up"?
RG: By fortuitous coincidence, my idea of setting the story in Kansas fit in with Louise's return there in 1940, after her Hollywood career had dissolved away. She was definitely at loose ends and, it would seem, ripe for any new kind of adventure.

TG: I've heard that you're related to Louise Brooks? Is it true?

RG: Yes, Louise was my mother's second cousin, and they both hailed from the same area of southeastern Kansas. My mom's maiden name was Brooks and it's also my middle name.

TG: We've also heard that you are friends with Barry Paris, who wrote the biography of actress published in 1989.

RG: Yes, Barry and I go back a long way. We're both from Wichita, and we've worked on various projects together since our high school days.

TG: When and how did you first become aware of Brooks as an actress and silent film star?

RG: I had been dimly aware of her as an image and icon, but knew very little about her until the early 1980s. That's when I first found out that we were related. I read her memoir Lulu in Hollywood and began to seek out her movies and find as much information on her as I could.
TG: There is an impressive amount of detail, both in the text and in the images, which suggests you did your research. What you do to prepare?

RG: I envisioned the book as a kind of tribute to Wichita and the little town of Burden, where both my mother's and Louise's branches of the Brooks family converged. This involved many trips there and many photos taken. Luckily the buildings and other locations in both towns are still there.

TG: For example, you mention the philosopher Schopenhauer - a favorite of Brooks, her affair with Charlie Chaplin, that she scrubbed floors at home as a kind of repentance after quitting Hollywood, and, as well, the name of the building in which she opened a dance studio in Wichita. Your attention to detail is remarkable.

RG: I put to use many of the biographical details I had learned over the years, from Barry's biography and other sources, to fill in the details of this period in her life. I've always loved it that she was such a voracious reader.

TG: There is the matter of Brooks' hair. She is famous for her bobbed hair -- yet you chose to draw it a bit longer. Why so?

RG: I based her look on photos I had seen of her during this period in her life. The bangs were still there, but her hair had grown to shoulder-length.

TG: The crime at the center of the story seems quite real -- like it could have happened. It's complex, and believable. Was it based on an actual event?

RG: No, the crime is pretty much all made up.

TG: What about the writer Thurgood Ellis, a key character in the story. Was he real?

RG: Thurgood Ellis wasn't real, but I based him on the kind of writer, a la J.D. Salinger, who develops a dedicated following with groundbreaking work and then vanishes from the cultural landscape.

TG: There have been a handful of comic strips and graphic novels based on Brooks, going back all the way to the late 1920's. I am thinking of Dixie Dugan, which ran for decades in American newspapers, as well as Valentina -- the long-running Italian erotic comix by Guido Crepax that appeared in Heavy Metal magazine. There are other European works based on Brooks by Floc'h, Hugo Pratt, Marion Mousse and others. Kim Deitch has also drawn her. Brooks even appears in Dr. Who comic, and inspired a character in the Sandman series. Why do you think so many artists have drawn Brooks?

RG: I remember the Dixie Dugan strip, which ran in the Wichita paper for years. There's something about the eternal image of Louise Brooks that captures the imagination of artists worldwide.

TG: Were you aware of these earlier efforts? How does your work fit into theirs?

RG: I've been vaguely aware of those European versions of Louise, but I was never a regular follower. I'm not sure if my work fits in with theirs at all.

TG: Louise Brooks makes a great detective. And the final page suggests she might even write a mystery novel. Any chance she will return in your work?

RG: My hope is that she will return in a second volume someday.

More about Rick Geary and his work can be found on his website at www.rickgeary.com. As he has for many years, the artist and his wife will be manning their table at Comic-Con International, which is set to run Wednesday July 8th through Sunday, July 12th in San Diego, California.


Here is a link to another interview with Rick Geary about Louise Brooks: Detective, from the comicbookresource website.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Podcast with Rick Geary, author of Louise Brooks: Detective

Recently, Rick Geary was a guest on The Comics Alternative podcast. I am listening to it now - and would recommend any Louise Brooks or comic book fan give a listen. Geary is the author of the just published graphic novel, Louise Brooks: Detective (NBM), an 80-page fictional take on the actress' time in Kansas in the early 1940s.

Geary himself grew up in Kansas, and Geary's mother was Brooks' second cousin. Geary brings an insider perspective to telling this tale. He also brings a real appreciation for Brooks, of whom he says "she is one of the great images of the 20th century, one of the great faces."

Louise Brooks: Detective is "A fictional story centered on actress Louise Brooks, this graphic novel by Rick Geary is spun around her actual brief meteoric career as a smoldering film actress who popularized bangs. Geary fantasizes about her coming back to her home town of Wichita where she becomes intrigued by a murder involving a friend, a famous reclusive writer and a shady beau. Not before she gets herself in great danger will she emerge with the solution the police fail to grasp."

Rick Geary is an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator. He is the author and illustrator of several books, including the other titles in the Treasury of XXth Century Murder series. He has worked for Marvel Entertainment Group, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Heavy Metal magazine, and has contributed to National Lampoon and the New York Times Book Review. The book industry trade journal Publishers Weekly calls Louise Brooks: Detective "A fun, twisty mystery for both film buffs and crime fiction lovers, and the final revelation is satisfying."


Sunday, May 24, 2015

New Kickstarter graphic novel to include Louise Brooks

A new graphic novel currently featured on Kickstarter to includes a Louise Brooks character.  The Tommy Gun Dolls, a 72-page graphic novel by Daniel Cooney, describes itself as the story of "A cross-dressing grifter [who] leads a pack of bawdy burlesque girls to avenge the murder of their friend in the Jazz Era of prohibition." More information HERE.


"Inspired by a true story of San Francisco’s dark underworld, a group of Prohibition Era burlesque dancers pursue their friend’s murder by posing as masked bandits and knocking over the Mob’s speakeasies. The Tommy Gun Dolls is a sordid tale told in the classic Noir tradition, with roots in San Francisco’s historic Nob Hill Mansions of society’s elite class down to the seedy gang-filled streets of Chinatown, through the Tenderloin and neighboring North Beach.

Taking visual inspiration from illustrators such as Russell Patterson, Ethel Hays and Faith Burrows, who popularized the look and lifestyle of the 1920s flapper, and the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Dashiell Hammett, I've crafted a tale of mystery, suspense and burlesque at The Frisky Devil Speakeasy and Nightclub that's run by the mob."

According to the author, "The inspiration for the story's main character, Frankie Broadstreet, a grifter who rides a Penny Farthing bicycle and likes to wear men’s clothes, stems from a fusion of two real life women: Jeanne Bonnet (1841-1876), a bizarre character who founded one of California’s strangest criminal gangs composed entirely of women during the gold rush era; and Louise Brooks, an American dancer and actress, best known for popularizing the bobbed haircut and starred in the German feature film, Pandora’s Box."

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Rick Geary to debut LOUISE BROOKS: DETECTIVE at Denver Comic Con

For the past two decades, NBM Publishing has released Rick Geary's The Treasury of Victorian Murder and Treasury of XXth Century Murder series. And over the years he’s chronicled such iconic true crimes as Jack the Ripper, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln and the lives of Sacco and Vanzetti.

This weekend (May 23-25), Geary will attend the Denver Comic Con and will be premiering his latest 80 page book, Louise Brooks: Detective (NBM Publishing).


This new graphic novel (set for official release on June 1st) is a fictional story centered on Louise Brooks and is spun around her actual brief meteoric career as a smoldering film actress. Geary fantasizes about her coming back to her home town of Wichita where she becomes intrigued by a murder involving a friend, a famous reclusive writer and a shady beau. Not before she gets herself in great danger will she emerge with the solution the police fail to grasp.

"Stepping away for a bit from his growing and impressive body of work in the Treasury of Murder true crime series, Geary creates a fictional story around a favorite actress: Louise Brooks. Spun around her actual brief meteoric career as a smoldering film actress who popularized bangs, Geary fantasizes about her coming back to her home town of Wichita where she becomes intrigued by a murder involving a friend, a famous reclusive writer and a shady beau. Not before she gets herself in great danger will she emerge with the solution the police fail to grasp!"

Be sure to check out the book and meet Rick Geary, who will be exhibiting at TABLE H-32.

Rick Geary is an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator. He is the author and illustrator of several books, including the other titles in the Treasury of XXth Century Murder series. He has worked for Marvel Entertainment Group, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Heavy Metal magazine, and has contributed to National Lampoon and the New York Times Book Review. He lives in Carrizozo, New Mexico.

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Louise Brooks by Rick Geary

Comix great Rick Geary posted this drawing of Louise Brooks to my Facebook page, and I wanted to share it with everyone. (Geary is actually a distant relation of Brooks.) I for one can hardly wait for his new book, Louise Brooks, Detective (NBM Publishing - June 1, 2015) to be released in a few months.

Here is the publisher description of Louise Brooks, Detective: "A fictional story centered on actress Louise Brooks, this graphic novel by Rick Geary is spun around her actual brief meteoric career as a smoldering film actress who popularized bangs. Geary fantasizes about her coming back to her home town of Wichita where she becomes intrigued by a murder involving a friend, a famous reclusive writer and a shady beau. Not before she gets herself in great danger will she emerge with the solution the police fail to grasp."


Another of Rick Geary's earlier books is of related interest and also well worth checking out. Famous Players: The Mysterious Death of William Desmond Taylor (NBM Publishing) was published in 2009. Check it out.

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Louise Brooks: Detective coming June 2015

From the publisher: "A fictional story centered on actress Louise Brooks, this graphic novel by Rick Geary is spun around her actual brief meteoric career as a smoldering film actress who popularized bangs. Geary fantasizes about her coming back to her home town of Wichita where she becomes intrigued by a murder involving a friend, a famous reclusive writer and a shady beau. Not before she gets herself in great danger will she emerge with the solution the police fail to grasp."

Rick Geary is an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator. He is the author and illustrator of several books, including the other titles in the Treasury of XXth Century Murder series. He has worked for Marvel Entertainment Group, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Heavy Metal magazine, and has contributed to National Lampoon and the New York Times Book Review. He lives in Carrizozo, New Mexico and is distantly related to Louise Brooks.

Monday, January 19, 2015

A new version of Lulu by Nicolas Mahler

There is a new graphic novel version of the Lulu story, Lulu und das schwarze Quadrat: Frei nach Frank Wedekind, by Nicolas Mahler. The book was published in Germany in October, 2014. The legs on the front belong to Louise Brooks, while the drawn character of Lulu found in the book bears the Brooks' bob.

The author is a prolific and critically acclaimed graphic artist whose work is oftenbased on literary sources. He contributes to Austrian, German and Swiss newspapers and magazines. His earlier work includes a pieces related to Franz Kafka, as well as Alice in Sussex (based on Alice in Wonderland) and The Man Without Qualities (based on the novel by Robert Musil). More about the artist can be found at his website at www.mahlermuseum.at/

According to his Wikipedia page: "Mahler's style is characterized by an extremely reduced stroke with which he captures quirky characters." In the award statement for the 2006 Max and Moritz Prize, it was noted that "The figures of Nicolas Mahler have no eyes, no ears, no mouths - but they certainly have character. Always succeeds Mahler, bringing with minimalist drawings and marginal humor his few strokes to the point. He commutes between virtuoso banal, absurd and Kafkaesque."

From the publisher "In seiner brillanten neuen Graphic Novel »Lulu und das schwarze Quadrat« entschlackt Nicolas Mahler Frank Wedekinds Tragödien »Erdgeist« und »Die Büchse der Pandora« zu einer schwarzen Komödie über weibliche Körperlichkeit, männliches Besitzdenken und Kasimir Malewitschs Schwarzem Quadrat."

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Early environmental cartoon features Mother Earth with a Louise Brooks' bob

This early environmental cartoon, from November 20, 1926 features Mother Earth with a Louise Brooks' bob!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Comic book character modeled after Louise Brooks

The Comic Book Resources website ran an interview with Denis St. John, creator of the Amelie comic book. And in the interview, the artist was asked:


You mentioned that you wanted Amelia to look like a femme fatale or silent film star, and I kept thinking of Louise Brooks.

Yeah, Louise Brooks or Theda Bara. She starts off the book looking more like a normal person than when it ends. There's a physical and mental transformation that happens when you're around these objects. For some, you become a Nosferatu. Amelia starts the book wearing a hoodie and looking like a person you would interact with in the normal world, and she ends as a vamp.

This homage to Louise Brooks represents one of a number of comic book nods to the actress going all the way back to the 1920s.

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Mentions of Beggars of Life

A while back, I came across this cartoon history of James Cagney. I noticed it because it  mentions Beggars of Life. Cagney starred in the stage production of Jim Tully's book which played in New York City in 1925. Louise Brooks, together with Charlie Chaplin, attended a performance.

I noticed this piece as well because it also mentions Beggars of Life. Tully's book was well known in the 1920's

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Dixie Dugan - reader of books

Here is a multi-panel Dixie Dugan Sunday strip from 1932. (By comparison, the daily strip was usually three or four panels.) By this time in the evolution of the Dixie Dugan comic strip, Dixie's hair had evolved away from the Brooks-influenced shingled bob depicted in the 1929 / 1930 strips to something a little longer and more Thirties style. I like this particular strip because it suggests Dixie/Louise was something more than just a "dumb showgirl" = she read books!

Sunday, June 29, 2014

Another rare Louise Brooks related comic

This rare 1930 cartoon featuring the "life story" of Thomas Meighan also mentions the 1927 Louise Brooks film, The City Gone Wild. I have other examples of this strip featuring other Brooks' co-stars like Richard Arlen, James Hall, Neil Hamilton, Esther Ralston, and Carole Lombard.


Thursday, June 26, 2014

Posing Regretted by Louise Brooks, Erstwhile "Friend" of Charlie Chaplin

As promised, here is one of the rarest bits of Brooksiana and Chapliniana you are likely to see . . . . the four panel comic strip "history" of the summer long affair between the then little known showgirl Louise Brooks and international film star Charlie Chaplin. Tongues were wagging in 1925.



Gossip made the news. The related feature photo below was syndicated across the country. I have found many instances of this captioned image in newspapers from across the United States.


Wednesday, June 4, 2014

An amusing 1926 cartoon strip



An amusing cartoon strip found while doing research. It dates from 1926, and is by Rube Goldberg.

Monday, August 5, 2013

Vintage Hollywood comic books, including Dixie Dugan and Buck Jones, at Digital Comics Museum

The Digital Comics Museum is a wonderful online resource. The site says it is "the best site for downloading FREE public domain Golden Age Comics," and it may well be true. To start downloading, register an account and enjoy reading a great assortment of vintage comic books. The Digital Comics Museum does not charge per download, with the stated goal of the project to archive these comic books online and make them widely available.

There are comic books dating, mostly, from the late 1930s through the early 1960s. Among them are a couple associated with the career of Louise Brooks, as well as many others relating to Hollywood and the movies.

The Digital Comics Museum has a couple of issues of the Dixie Dugan comic book. As fans of Brooks will recall, the actress was the inspiration for this long-running comic strip / comic book character. The early incarnation of the strip, circa 1930, featured a look-alike character, scenes set in the entertainment world, and even a few panels lifted directly from film stills. Follow this link to see these later-day Dixie Dugan comics - http://www.digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=244

The Digital Comics Museum also includes a half-dozen issues of a Buck Jones comic book. As fans of Brooks will also recall, Brooks was featured in Empty Saddles, a 1936 Western starring Jones. He started in the silent era, a remained major star throughout the 1930s. Sadly, Jones was one of the 492 victims of the 1942 Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston, Massachusetts, dying two days after the November 28th blaze. For years, legend held that Jones's fatal injuries were the result of his going back into the burning building to save victims, but it is now known that he was one of many trapped in the fire. Follow this link to see the Buck Jones comics, which date from the early 1950s, a number of years after Jones' death - http://www.digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?cid=632

And speaking of Western films featuring Louise Brooks, the Digital Comics Museum also has issues of John Wayne Adventure Comics. As fans of the actress will recall, Brooks was featured in an early John Wayne film, Overland Stage Raiders (1938). These comics date, I think, from the early 1950s.

The Digital Comics Museum has numerous other Hollywood-related comic books from the 1940s and 1950s, some of which harken back to the silent and early sound era.

They have runs of Johhny Mack Brown, Bill Boyd Western, Motion Picture Comics, Tom Mix Western, Hollywood Diary, Hollywood Secrets, Abbott and Costello Comics, Three Stooges, Famous Stars, and others. And of course there are many non movie or celebrity related comics.

But wait, there is more! The Digital Comics Museum also has very early issues of Little Nemo (circa 1906 - the year Brooks was born) and Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang (from the early 1920s). As fans of the actress will also recall, Brooks appeared in the cover of this humor journal in the late 1920s.

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