Friends of THWAK - Anthony Owsley

I met Anthony Owsley when the THWAK comic book was being compiled back in 2000. I did recognize the name as it was to Anthony's "DRAWL", Atlanta's Comics Newspaper that I had my one of my 1st published pieces appear back in the mid '90's. (It so happened it was on Cannibalism, a theme that I would revisit many a time over the years).

DRAWL was everywhere during its run and really helped many new and underground artists have a voice and an audience within its pages. As a result of this Anthony's work has been quite prolific in the Atlanta area over the years. Anthony's work is quirky, ladened with pop culture references while still managing to comment on society with humor and intelligence.

Check out the above samples from THWAK, CRACKED, greeting cards and on line submissions. Enjoy - I sure do!

Frank Frazetta Record Album Artwork

Known more for his spectacular fantasy and Sci Fi imagery, Frank Frazetta also did a number of movie posters and record album covers. After is rendering of a doe eyed Ringo Starr on the back cover of MAD #90 from 1964 movie studios started to call impressed by his ability to caricature. Here are 2 soundtracks from the mid to late sixties.

Sergio Aragones record album artwork

Here's another couple of record album covers from 1968 by Mort Drucker (see if you can name all the celebrities in the second one). There is also a very rare (probably his only one) Sergio Aragones cover also from 1968. Currently still a regular contributor to MAD, Sergio is at present the most visible of the UGOI since he regularly appears in many comic books including "The Spirit" and of course his long running GROO series.

Mort Drucker Record album artwork

Another extremely prolific MAD magazine artist/illustrator is Mort Drucker (probably one of the caricaturists ever!). Just like Jack Davis, Mort Drucker also did plenty of advertising work. Although he did record album artwork, his output is fairly low compared to that of the afore- mentioned Jack Davis. Enjoy!

Jack Davis LP art

Jack Davis is undoubtedly the most prolific of all the super talented artists whose spectacular work graced the pages of MAD magazine. Jack Davis's action packed panels with characters jumping, running or even standing still signified that they were alive and motion bound. Because of this great exaggerated motion and the ability to capture hilarious likenesses Jack Davis was much sought after to illustrate for many industries and genres. His record LP album artwork is particularly impressive with a continuous stream of covers done from his first in 1957 with The Jazztone Mystery Band, then exploding with movie posters and their subsequent LP covers after "It's a MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD World" in 1963, which virtually established the direction for comedy movie posters from then on. Jack Davis has continued his output, although he has slowed down considerably over the last few years.

The above records were all part of my collection and are just a small sampling of the over at least 75 that he did. For a great reference on the album artwork of Jack Davis check out the magazine FANFARE #5 from 1983 which shows 57 record covers.

JOElanta 2010 exclusive uniform and figure set

We are really pleased to announce this special year's show exclusive. Custom made astronaut /spaceman blue jumpsuit with shoulder holster, cast ray gun, hat and boots. Each figure set will come in a special box and will also include random additional accessories. Two lucky collector's will also find that their Joe is either a vintage painted head or a vintage Adventure Team fuzz head. So what are you waiting for? Check out www.joelanta.com to sign up for your Commander's package and figure set!

JOElanta Gi Joe, Action Figure and General Toy Show - March 27th & 28th in Atlanta Ga.

What type of horse is this?

So my latest foray in collecting is that of MARX Johnny West as I have mentioned before. I realise that a number of head sculpts and figures were actually originally supposed to resemble licensed characters. One such example is the Captain Maddox head sculpt that bears a striking resemblance to Robert Conrad's character James West in Wild Wild West. I came across this poster for the movie "Broken Arrow" starring Jimmy Stewart and also noticed that one of the characters was Geronimo. What struck me was how similar Johnny West lanky frame is and how much it is very similar to that of Jimmy Stewart. Coincidence? I wonder?

As I continue to pick up more and more Marx and Johnny West figures I am starting to find some items that baffle me. One such item is this horse that was obviously taken from the MARX Thunderbolt mold, although this one does not have any Marx stamps and has a hairy main and tail?