An early 20th century comic-book

 
One of the amazing things about copyright-free material on the internet, or material available under Creative Commons License to put it correctly, is what you stumble upon — the surprise factor. For instance, browsing through Internet Archive I came across an early 20th century comic-book series I’d neither heard of nor read before —  Smilin’ Ed’s Buster Brown Comics.

Tracing its origins on the internet, I found that Buster Brown was originally a comic strip character created in 1902 by renowned cartoonist Richard Felton Outcault, who was associated with the famous Brown Shoe Company. The comic strips revolved around Buster Brown, an impish young boy, his sister Mary Jane, and his American Pit Bull Terrier, Tige, a talking dog.

Later, Smilin’ Ed McConnell, the well-known host of the children's radio and television series, Smilin' Ed's Gang, and Buster Brown came together to launch Smilin' Ed's Buster Brown Gang on the airwaves. By then, the comic strip had faded from public memory and it wasn’t long before the character “was merely the trademark symbol for a shoe company.”

Incidentally, the Brown Shoe Company came into the picture much later though people associated its Brown Shoe with the Buster Brown character. The shoe company offered in-store Buster Brown comics that were written by Hobart Donavan, who wrote all the three stories in the comic-book featured here.

I might be sketchy with the history behind Buster Brown, the comic strip and the radio show, and so I invite readers with better knowledge to fill in the gaping blanks.

The three Smilin’ Ed’s Buster Brown Comics turned out to be a delightful set of stories with colour illustrations that resemble some of the early comic-books, notably Classics Illustrated. All the stories revolve around young lads who go on adventures to prove to their fathers and mentors that they are more men than boys, that they have grown up, and that they can stand shoulder to shoulder alongside adults.

 
The first story in the comic titled Pirate’s Gold is set in 1697 and is about Laddy Whickett, a small boy from London, who gets a job as a cabin boy on His Majesty’s Ship City of Calcutta. On board the ship, Captain Reddy (judging by the name, he would be an Indian from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh) places Laddy under the charge of his first mate Jamie Fitzroy. As the story unfolds, Laddy helps Fitzroy recapture the ship from pirates disguised as crewmen on the ship. His Majesty’s Navy rewards Laddy for "his courage, his wit and his nerve" by appointing him as midshipman in the navy. 

The second story, Little Rabbit’s Warpath, is about Little Rabbit, the son of a Sioux chief, who warns his village about an impending attack by the apaches that enables his father to launch a surprise assault on the enemy and defeat them. As a reward, he is given a new title — Little Fox. No more hunting rabbits for the little lad. In this story, too, Little Rabbit is mentored by Fighting Hawk, a young brave warrior from his village. 

In the third story, titled Cobra Man, Billy and Bunny, the young son and daughter of an American gentleman, help their father’s old friend, the Maharaja of Maripan, expose a plot by the cobra gang, led by the king’s stepbrother, to take over the kingdom. As in the previous stories, Billy and Bunny find a loyal friend in Maru, a big soldier and the king’s trusted lieutenant.

All in all, an entertaining comic-book.

Illustrations: Creative Commons License/www.archive.org

JUKE BOX

Billie Jean by Michael Jackson

Take the beat out of Michael Jackson's songs and there's very little left to listen to. But there's one Jackson song that has remained a favourite with me since his 1982 album Thriller introduced it  —  Billie Jean. I'm willing to ignore his voice for this particular number which has pretty good lyrics and music too. After all these years I still enjoy listening to Thriller and Beat It and I still marvel at how the crotch-grabbing pop sensation beat Elvis Presley's record — beat, beat, beat... 

Phantom battles prehistoric creatures

 
Phantom – the Ghost Who walks, Man Who Cannot Die and Guardian of the Eastern Dark – and Mandrake the Magician – who never reveals the secret of his magic because, well, magicians never tell – have fought all kinds of weird foes – man and animal, beast and alien. In these two covers, Phantom and Mandrake find themselves cornered by strange prehistoric creatures.

 
Phantom tames his Yeti-like foe and transports him to Eden, his very own island zoo where his other animals, both herbivores and carnivores, live in perfect harmony – the former feeding on grass and the latter feeding on fish. The prehistoric ape is called Hzz who later finds a mate named Hrz and they raise a family.

In another comic-book, Phantom captures and trains a stegosaurus and brings him to Eden where the creature takes an immediate liking to Hzz. Together, they guard the Phantom’s beautiful isle.

 
The Phantom of these stories belongs to our generation, the 20th century. Reality, step aside.

Three disaster flicks

It's Tuesday and it's time for yet another edition of Overlooked Films at Todd Mason's blog Sweet Freedom.

This week I don't have a review of an overlooked or forgotten film, because I didn't get the time to watch any over the weekend. Now that's not entirely true: I did see a major portion of The Rosary Murders (1987) where the 6'4" Canadian actor Donald Sutherland plays Father Robert Koesler, a priest who hears the confession of a serial killer with a penchant for killing priests and nuns, and can't go to the cops because he is bound by the seal of confession. The movie is based on the novel by William X. Kienzle and is written by Kienzle, Elmore Leonard, and Fred Walton.

Last Tuesday, I had to dig into memory to write about Irreconcilable Differences starring Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long and a little girl called Drew Barrymore.

This morning I dug again, with a pickaxe and a shovel, and managed to come up with three disaster movies I'd seen and liked in the early eighties. All three films were based on thriller novels, released in the seventies, had a fabulous cast, and were big hits. I have vague recollections of these films. Here they are...

In The Poseidon Adventure (1972), the ever-charming Gene Hackman plays Reverend Frank Scott who steers a motley group of people to safety after their passenger ship, way past its prime, is hit by a tidal wave and turns turtle.

"I said I was gonna get everybody out of here and goddamit I'm gonna do it!" the Reverend shouts.

In the end, I think, there are only six survivors but Reverend Scott is not one of them. I guess he wasn't counting himself.

My vague recollection of The Poseidon Adventure is the tidal wave as it approaches the ill-fated ship on a dark-and-grey night. On the bridge, the captain barks orders to turn the ship around but it's too late. It's not F1, you know.

The movie, based on a book by Paul Gallico and directed by Ronald Neame, also stars Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, Roddy McDowall, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, Pamela Sue Martin, and Leslie Nielsen. 

My second disaster movie is The Towering Inferno (1974) in which a 138-storey glitzy skyscraper in San Francisco erupts into flames on the night of its star-studded opening. The fire is apparently caused by faulty wiring. Fire chief Mike O'Hallorhan (Steve McQueen) and building architect Doug Roberts (Paul Newman) team up to save lives.

The memorable cast also includes William Holden, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire (can you believe that!), Susan Blakely, Richard Chamberlain, Jennifer Jones, O.J. Simpson (can you really believe that!), and the two Roberts, Vaughn and Wagner.

The only memory I have of this film is Newman's character which runs in and out of the building and up and down an elevator or something like that.

Directed by John Guillermin, The Towering Inferno is adapted from the novels of Richard Martin Stern (The Tower) and Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson (The Glass Inferno).

 
I now come to my last disaster flick, Airport 77, which was one of three films inspired by Arthur Hailey’s 1968 novel Airport. The other two were Airport 75 and The Concorde…Airport 79.

Directed by Jerry Jameson, Airport 77 is the story of a hijacked luxury airliner that lands under water, in the Bermuda Triangle. Where else? How to bring up the plane in one piece and rescue the passengers as a whole is the focal point of this movie.

The 747 is piloted by Capt. Don Gallagher (Jack Lemmon) and the rest of the cast includes Lee Grant, Olivia de Havilland (61 at the time, 96 now), Joseph Cotton, James Stewart (he was 69 then), George Kennedy, Christopher Lee, and Kathleen Quinlan.

Not much of a memory, I know.

How chess helps your brain

Chess players enjoy the game in a thermal spa in Budapest, Hungary.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Recently, I received an email from Larry Dignan of Online College Courses offering to share an article 10 Big Brain Benefits of Playing Chess published on his site on March 25, 2012, that "clicks with (the) tone of your site..." Ahem!

Being a chess buff and playing the greatest game ever conceived (I like to rub that in) since early childhood, I thought I'd write about the 64-square board game often in this space. It hasn't exactly gone that way.

Then along comes this informative article which is not about chess per se but the benefits of playing chess, on our rapidly ageing and fossilising brains, and things even out a little.

The 10 Big Brain Benefits of Playing Chess, then, are:

01. It can raise your IQ
02. It helps prevent Alzheimer's
03. It exercises both sides of the brain
04. It increases your creativity
05. It improves your memory
06. It increases problem-solving skills
07. It improves reading skills
08. It improves concentration
09. It grows dendrites
10. It teaches planning and foresight

You can read the rest of the article here.

Boys play chess on a street at Santiago de Cuba in Cuba.
The drain cover on the street mirrors the pattern of the chessboard.
Photo by Adam Jones/Wikimedia Commons

Now you know that chess is "A board game for two players who move their 16 pieces according to specific rules; the object is to checkmate the opponent's king."

But did you know that chess is also an "Annual plant native to Europe but widely distributed as a weed, especially in wheat." I didn't know till, nothing better to do, I looked up the word again — it's called Bromus secalinus. No, I don't think it's named after a Roman centurion in Asterix comics.

The Jackal wins the 2012 Diamond Dagger

© www.randomhouse.com.au

Last month, the Crime Writers' Association awarded its prestigious Diamond Dagger award for 2012 to thriller novelist Frederick Forsyth whose most famous work, The Day of the Jackal, revolved around a terrorist plot to assassinate Charles de Gaulle, the President of France.

"Frederick Forsyth is a hugely deserving recipient and The Day of the Jackal remains one of the greatest thrillers of our times. He has set a new standard of research-based authenticity with his writing, which has had a major influence both on my work and on many of my contemporaries in the crime and thriller field. We are very thrilled that he has accepted this award," CWA Chair Peter James said in a release.

The Diamond Dagger recipient is chosen each year by the CWA committee, from a shortlist nominated by the membership. Shortlisted authors must meet two essential criteria: first, their careers must be marked by sustained excellence, and second, they must have made a significant contribution to crime fiction published in the English language, whether originally or in translation. The award is made purely on merit without reference to age, gender or nationality.

The Diamond Dagger will be presented to Frederick Forsyth at an award ceremony later this year. Some of the earlier winners since the inception of the award were acclaimed writers Ed McBain, Colin Dexter, H.R.F. Keating, Reginald Hill, Ruth Rendell, Dick Francis, John le Carré, P.D. James, Sue Grafton, Elmore Leonard, Ian Rankin, and Lawrence Block. 

According to CWA, Frederick Forsyth, former RAF pilot and investigative journalist, defined the modern thriller when he wrote The Day of The Jackal, with its lightning-paced storytelling, effortlessly cool reality and unique insider information. He has written a total of fifteen bestselling novels, most recently, The Afghan (2006) and The Cobra (2010). Forsyth’s books are published by Transworld which maintains the official UK books website. He lives in Hertfordshire, England.

Frederick Forsyth was one of several popular fiction novelists I read some twenty years ago, along with Jack Higgins, Len Deighton, Arthur Hailey, Leon Uris, Sidney Sheldon, Robert Ludlum, Jeffrey Archer, Mario Puzo, Alistair MacLean, and Ken Follett. There were a few others whose names I don't remember now. From this lot the only thriller writer I continue to read is Higgins, a personal favourite. These ten authors have written some of the most entertaining and suspenseful novels of the second-half of the 20th century. Writers like Forsyth, Higgins and Archer are still active. We see more than a shade of these authors and their writing in modern-day thrillers. 

Read my previous post on this topic Bestsellers Indians love to read, October 3, 2011.

Blood on my hands

© Berkley Prime Crime

I bought nearly half the books in my collection by pure chance. That is to say, I stumbled upon them while running an errand or looking for something else or returning from work. Over the past three years, I bought just three new books from a proper bookstore. The rest all came from used and secondhand bookshops. 

For instance, I recently picked up all the books by Tom Sharpe, including his Wilt series, each in excellent condition.

Another prize catch was a hardbound edition of Reading Like a Writer: A Guide for People Who Love Books and for Those Who Want to Write Them by eminent author and lecturer Francine Prose, for Rs.100 or $2.

The reason I seldom buy new books is because I see no point in spending good money on books that I can get for one-tenth of the price. I am not particular about new releases and current bestsellers. There is enough to read, as it is.

The other day I was on my way to a Nokia outlet to have the charger port in my mobile phone repaired when my eyes popped at the sight of dozens of books strewn carelessly on the footpath. The novels were on sale for Rs.20 each (less than 50 cents). I glanced at the titles but since I was in a hurry I decided to have a closer look on my way back. Which I did and I was disappointed with what I saw – most of the books were romance, a genre I have never read.

A couple of promising titles peeped out from underneath a pile of paperbacks with dazzling covers of bare-chested men and scantily-clad women entwined in passion. While I skipped the first, a Star Trek novel, the second, an anthology of mystery stories, caught my eye. I wasted no time in reaching for my wallet.

For, peering at me from ground zero was Blood On Their Hands, a collection of 19 all-new stories edited by the Master of Mystery Stories, Lawrence Block. Presented by the Mystery Writers of America, this 2003 anthology “reveals what people will do when they are pushed to the limit – and see no way out. Get ready to meet ordinary men and women who have…blood on their hands.”

Now, you don’t think twice before buying a book with a tagline like that, do you?

Except for Lawrence Block I hadn’t heard of any of the nineteen writers that included Tom Savage, Stefanie Matteson, Rhys Bowen, G. Miki Hayden, Elizabeth Foxwell, Elaine Viets, and Charlotte Hinger. Back in office, I keyed in the names of most of the authors on the internet and, well, what can I say – I was shaken, excited, and raring to read the suspenseful short stories by some of the most versatile mystery writers.

Block has written a brief but brilliant introduction titled It all started with Poe. I wish I could tell you more but it wouldn’t be the right thing to do.

Since Blood On Their Hands is an anthology, I also read and enjoyed Lawrence Block’s description of anthologies on his website and was tempted to quote him here but, as I said, it wouldn't be the right thing to do.

I don’t want blood on my hands…