Author: Mike Gold

The work of two of America’s most significant cartoonists, Bill Mauldin and Jules Feiffer, will be the subject of a major exhibit at Chicago’s Jean Albano Gallery.

Feiffer is the former weekly editorial cartoonist for the Village Voice and Universal Press Syndicate. One-time writer of Will Eisner’s Spirit (and Eisner’s long-time assistant), Feiffer’s cartoons appeared in Playboy magazine and The New Republic. A noted playright and movie scribe Carnal Knowledge, Popeye, Oh! Calcutta!, and my favorite, Little Murders), his most recent novel is A Room With A Zoo, published by Hyperion. His earlier work is being reprinted by Fantagraphics.

The late Bill Mauldin was the long-time nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist headquartered at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Chicago Sun-Times. Perhaps best known for his World War II panels featuring Willie and Joe (to be reprinted in their entirety by Fantagraphics early next year), Mauldin also had a career as an actor, appearing in the movie The Red Badge of Courage, among others.

The exhibit, History Revealed: Jules Feiffer and Bill Mauldin, will run at the Jean Albano Gallery, 215 W. Superior in Chicago from October 26, 2007 to January 6, 2007.

Archie Comics president and co-publisher Richard H. Goldwater died from cancer, according to a press release from Archie Comics. He was 71.

Richard shared top duties at Archie with chairman and co-publisher Michael Silberkleit. He was the son of John Goldwater, Michael is the son of Louis Silberkleit. Together, John and Louis partnered with Maurice Coyne to form the pulp magazine publishing company that evolved into the golden age’s MLJ Comics, birthplace to Archie Andrews 65 years ago. Together, Michael and Richard steered the company for the past several decades, keeping Archie a household name while adding Josie and the Pussycats and Sabrina The Teen-Aged Witch to the short list of American comic book icons.

While other major comics companies were sold to big conglomerates, Goldwater and Silberkleit kept Archie Comic Publications family owned, establishing values that were well reflected in their publishing output.

(Pictured left-to-right: Archie managing editor Victor Gorelick and co-publishers Michael Silberkleit and Richard Goldwater. Copyright Vanity Fair, All Rights Reserved.)

Phase II is one week old, although I hasten to point out that tweaks and additions and improvements are being made literally every day. That sort of thing never ends, I’m told. Now that each of our weekly series are up here available for your perusal and entertainment – our second week installments begin tomorrow – there are a lot of people to thank. The “without whom” lists, each in alphabetical order, which I certainly hope are complete but know in my heart of hearts there will be people who are hiding in the recesses of my mind. To them, my embarrassed thanks and gratitude. We appreciate you all.

First and literally foremost, I want to thank my partners Brian Alvey and Glenn Hauman and our v-p Martha Thomases for service well above the call of duty: the 25 hour work days (which continue), the sacrifice of personal time (which continues), the “do-this-immediately” hysteria, and, most of all, for putting up with a psychotic E-I-C. You’re the best.

Next, our staff, columnists and contributors, including Mike Baron, Hilary Barta, Rick Burchett, Chris Burnham, Kai Connolly, Michael Davis, Joanna Estep, Ian Gibson, Mike Grell, Robert Greenberger, Bo Hampton, Marc Hempel, Lovern Kindzierski, Alan Kistler, Linda Lessman, William Messner-Loebs, Ric Meyers, Mary Mitchell, Adriane Nash, Dennis O’Neil, John Ostrander, Andrew Pepoy, Bob Pinaha, Michael H. Price, Bill Reinhold, Matt Raub, Mike Raub, Elayne Riggs, Nick Runge, Mark Ryan, Larry Shell, Joe Staton, Lisa Sullivan, Arthur Tebbel, John Tebbel, Robert Tinnell, Timothy Truman, Trevor Von Eeden, Mark Evan Walker, Shannon Weaver, Matt Webb, Mark Wheatley, Andrew Wheeler, Skip Williamson, and John Workman. We couldn’t ask for a better bunch of associates.

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Here’s a comic book so big it makes those old tabloid editions (Superman Vs. Muhammad Ali, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer) look like a Jughead Digest. It measures 16" by 21.25", but even if it’s not the biggest comic book ever published, it certainly is one of the best.

On November 24, 1918, a new newspaper comic strip debuted named Gasoline Alley.  It’s still around today, making it the longest continuously published continuity strip – an incredible achievement, as continuity strips have been anathema in the newspaper world for decades. Revolving around the adventures of nonagenarian Walt Wallet and his family and their friends, Gasoline Alley actually didn’t become a continuity strip until Valentine’s Day 1921, when Walt discovered baby Skeezix abandoned at his doorstep. The child wasn’t from Krypton.

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