Saturday, October 6, 2012

THE BLONDE BOMBSHELL

Millie the Model ran for an impressive 207 issues from Winter 1945
to December 1973.  The first issue was drawn by Ruth Atkinson and
some sources say she created the character while others say Millie
was a co-creation of Atkinson and editor/writer Stan Lee.  I don’t
give credence to the Wikipedia-reported claim of Alden Getz that he
created the character while working at Timely since I could find no
credits for him at either the Grand Comics Database or Who’s Who of
American Comic Books 1928-1999.

Millie the Model #33 [March 1952] hit the newsstands in the month
of my birth, which, as we all know by now, was December 1951.  Of
all the birth month comics I’ve posted in this blog, this issue is
among the ones I would most like to own.  For ten years, Millie’s
adventures and misadventures were created by Lee and Dan DeCarlo.
Lee’s writing was honestly amusing and no one drew more animated or
beautiful babes than DeCarlo.  If Marvel ever put together a book
collecting some of their Millie stories, I’d order it so fast that
my credit card would smoke.

The contents of this issue are typical for the era.  Short Millie
stories of four or five pages.  Short stories of supporting players
like Chili and Daisy. A smattering of single-page gag strips and a
fashion page. One of those text stories I wouldn’t read if I owned
this comic.  All of the comics by Lee and DeCarlo. Now that’s one
heck of a comic book.

Keep watching this bloggy thing for more vintage comic-book covers.
Because I dig them, Daddy-o!

******************************

POLITICS ALERT

Early voting has started in Ohio and I’ll be going to the election
board offices to cast my ballot next week.  The Republicans in my
state have tried to limit early voting and to disenfranchise voters
not likely to vote for their candidates, but, thanks to a recent
judicial ruling, there will be no bumps on my personal road to the
ballot box.

I vote early to avoid an elderly Republican poll worker who always
tries to pick up a fight with me on Election Day.  He’s a nasty old
man who makes loud comments about how this or that person shouldn’t
be allowed to vote.  Everyone knows he does this, but Medina being
a Republican town, no one does anything about him.  I’m not going
to chance that this is the year he manages to push the right button
and find my hands around his wrinkled throat.  My vote is much too
important to trade for that satisfaction.

Whiny Republicans will, as they always do, take issue with what I
write here.  I have never seen such sensitive souls.  It’s almost
as if they haven’t spent the past decades trying to turn “liberal”
into a curse word, as if they haven’t engaged in voter suppression
on a nationwide scale, as if they hadn’t obstructed every effort to
improve the economy, as if they haven’t proven themselves time and
time again to be the party of bigotry and racism, as if they don’t
seek to make the already obscenely wealthy and powerful even more
so at the expense of the rest of us. Poor babies.

You can probably guess how I’m voting.

Earlier this year, I thought I would write a series of blogs that
discussed important political and social issues and how I saw them.
But, let’s face it, most of us have already made up our minds how
we’re going to vote.  I can preach to the choir and make myself a
target for the Republican Tea Party crazies...or I can write about
comics and related subjects.  I suspect both sides of the political
divide would prefer I do the latter.

Oh, there may be the occasional political comment and/or wisecrack
here.  It’s hard to resist the low-hanging fruit of a local paper’s
“Civility Index” which takes points away from anyone who accurately
points out that a candidate is lying.  Apparently, facts must now
be considered bad manners.  How gauche of me.

Going forward after I cast my ballot, I’ll try to resist adding to
the political noise.  I certainly hope President Obama wins big in
November and that Democrats do well in general because I sincerely
believe they are better for our country than the Republicans, but,
beyond making a few more small donations, I don’t figure on doing
much of a political nature.  Maybe a lawn sign or three.  Since I
have a big lawn, I can space them out so they don’t become too much
of an eyesore.

When I get live calls from Republicans, I’ll continue to give them
two terse commands, the nicer being that they never call me again.
They don’t obey those commands, but saying them out loud makes me
feel better as I contemplate the enormous amount of money they are
spending on these live calls and the constant robocalls.  If only
that money were used for good...

After the election, I may write the occasional blog about what you
might see from a Tony Isabella presidency.  Just because I prefer
Obama and the Democrats to Romney and the Republicans doesn’t mean
I’m wholly satisfied with my party of choice.  Not even close.  I
just recognize which of the two parties is more likely to help and
not hurt my country. 

Spoiler alert for an Isabella presidency: I would probably declare
DC Nation to be a terrorist state.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more stuff.

© 2012 Tony Isabella

15 comments:

  1. Tony-

    You're dead right!

    I have almost 5,000 FB friends, many on the left side (with me). I see every kind of political rant, but those on the right seem SO angry, desperate, and mean. Photoshopped pics of Obama next to Hitler. Taking him to task for using the USA flag colors for his logo (but being OK with the logos for Captain America, Pepsi, and --ugh--Bank of America), etc...

    The blasts from the left? Some can be very angry, but most are claims backed up with linked-to facts and figures. No criticizing over looks, race, background...

    Very odd...

    Al Bigley

    ReplyDelete
  2. Here are the questions I would like BOTH sides to answer:

    1- When did Americans get so damned stupid that we needed multiple instructions on how to vote? Ads/ articles in the paper and online, television commercials, etc. I see Americans as smart people that can at least read and follow instructions in the voting booth!!

    2- Why do we need so freaking long to vote? Used to be Election DAY. I get the absentee ballots for the elderly, military folks, and the ill/housebound and those that work on election day (like myself, a registered nurse). But why not go to election DAY with more poling places to accomodate large numbers of voters??

    3- By the next Presidential Election, I could go for ID to vote. You need ID to drive, buy certain beverages, obtain permits for hunting and on and on and on. So why not voting?

    Again, these are just honest questions.

    Signed a person that votes 'D', 'R' and 'I'.

    -Tom Hunter

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1. Look at how the Republicans in Pennsylvania are wording their "informational" ads to obscure the fact that the court threw out their voter suppression law.

    2. I listed one reason I vote early, others would include that my health sometimes prevents me from leaving the house. The longer voting period assures me of being able to vote.

    More polling places would cost more money.

    The people who find it difficult to vote on what is usually a workday benefit from early voting, weekend voting, and after work voting. Shouldn't we make every effort to give them their say in the process?

    I like voting in person. It affirms my essential belief in the system, despite the way the right-wing has tried to game it over and over again.

    3. Voter photo ID laws target those most likely to vote other than Republican, so they are biased from the get-go. In this state, we have Republicans trying to remove even the requirement for a photo ID to buy guns, which I think are a bigger threat to me and mine than the exceedingly rare case of voter fraud. I think any valid ID - social security card, student ID, mail addressed to voter, paychecks, etc. - should be sufficient. The photo ID laws are intended to suppress voters, but they are poorly disguised as the fix to a menace - voter fraud - that doesn't exist.

    For the record, I'm going to be very strict in approving comments to this blog. Tom expressed himself well. Some others haven't. I get to be snarky because it's my blog. The rest of you don't, at least not here.

    Tony

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tony,
    Would you clarify your comment about "DC Nation"? When I see that term I think of the one-hour block on Cartoon Network on Saturday mornings which features "Green Lantern" and "Young Justice" (plus some shorts).
    Thanks,
    Darci

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Don't overthink the jokes, Darci.

      Delete
    2. Apparently you've carried out your attack on DC Nation, because it's disappeared from the Cartoon Network. Reports say it may return in January, but there's no word on what happened.

      Delete
  5. I appreciate your honest reply.

    Back to point three - I would agree that IF there is going to be required ID, there should be a variety of options. Perhaps two non-photo like, as you had listed, paycheck stubs, SS card, I would even take utility bills with name and address.

    Again, appreciate your reply. My first post was not meant for anything beyond information gathering.

    ---Tom Hunter

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tony--

    As president, would you authorize missile strikes on the DC Nation? Or perhaps just an economic boycott?

    BobRo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm not a big fan of missile strikes or even drones because of the collateral damage. However, for reasons of national security, I probably would water board Dan DiDio.

      Delete
  7. I'd love to see a real autobiography from Stan Lee before it's too late. If he could put aside the hype and relate his 50 plus years in the industry as he remembers it, it would be an entertaining read, especially for the Timely and Atlas years. Unfortunately, I fear that his inner-showman has colored those memories so much that it would be difficult for him to sort out what really happened.

    Early voting starts in Washington State in just a few weeks. I look forward to filling out my ballot at home and sending it in, and not having to deal with scrambling to get to a polling place after work on election day.

    Maybe I'm going blind, but I find the text I have to enter in order to post increasingly frustrating. Four attempts to decipher the characters and I still can't post. I suspect it is a plot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel your pain. I hate those things. But I also don't want to have to deal with tons of spam.

      Delete
  8. Michael Kelly Schurman, aging lonely socialist deep in the heart of TexasOctober 6, 2012 at 2:41 PM

    Tony, do you find it as ironic as I do that the very people (Republicans) who have always denied need for a national i.d. on the grounds of individual liberty now want to use photo i.d.'s as a harrasment tool?

    Our voter i.d. law, too, was struck down, or at least stalled, by the courts. Ours said you could use a gun permit but not a student i.d. Jeez!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Ohio, there are Republican state senators who want to make it easier to buy a gun than to vote.

      Delete
  9. I don't have anything to actually say. But while reading the second half of the post, I was pumping my fist in the air and cheering. And Tony Isabella moved up a space on my "favorite comic book writers" list and knocked Peter David down a peg. (PAD wrote a wretched blog post about the first debate.)

    http://www.peterdavid.net/2012/10/05/obama-wrote-me-i-wrote-back/comment-page-1/#comment-780212

    ReplyDelete
  10. Early voting has started in Iowa so I took care of it last Monday. Why chance a long wait in line, travel on a potentially much colder, if not snowy day and lousy parking when it can be done sooner.
    Tony, did you happen to watch the Jon Stewart/ Bill O'Riley debate tonight? If not, it was an entertaining 90 minutes of both guys saying what you would expect with FoxNews' morning blonde acting as moderator. It was almost over before O'Riley started plugging his books.

    ReplyDelete