REVEALED! The Brave Veterans Who Beat the REAL MARTIAN INVASION of 1938
A special Veterans Day MORRISON MONDAYS!
MORRISON MONDAYS! By BILL MORRISON In a few days we’ll welcome the year 2025, and for me that particular milestone brings three things to mind: sleeping in past 7 a.m., Twilight Zone marathons, and fresh new wall calendars! I only mention the first two things because of the literary rule of threes, so let’s forget those and talk about calendars! I’ve loved them ever since my first, which was the 1966 Peanuts Calendar! Another memorable one for me was the Mighty Marvel Calendar for 1975, which is not only featured in AbramsComicArts’ new Mighty Marvel Calendar Book: A Visual History, by fellow 13th Dimension contributor Chris Ryall, but has also been re-released because 1975 and 2025’s dates line up! (This plug is for a dear friend at Abrams! You know who you are!) I love the multi-functionality of wall calendars. They’re useful tools for keeping track of important dates and events throughout the year, but also serve as decorative art pieces, suitable for framing. When I was creative director at Bongo Entertainment we not only created comics and books for The Simpsons and Futurama, but calendars as well. I look back very fondly at some of the calendars we produced, because they almost always featured original, unrecycled art, and usually had a fun and interesting theme that took full advantage of the parody/satire nature of Matt Groening’s TV shows. As owner and publisher of Bongo, Matt always put a great deal of importance on giving our fans a lot of value for their money, and that was true of the calendars as well as the books and comics. He always wanted our calendars to feature all-original content that could be found nowhere else, with themes that ranged from great moments in history, to magazine cover parodies, to trips to exciting places around the world. A great deal of thought and creativity went into the calendars we produced, and because of that they are sought-after items by Simpsons and Futurama collectors today. So to kick off the new year, I’m presenting a look behind the scenes at one of my favorites, the Futurama 2009 Art Calendar! Included here are my original concept sketches, based on some of the most iconic works of art in history, along with as many of the finished pieces by the Bongo Bullpen as we can...
MORRISON MONDAYS meets TOYHEM — once more! — Welcome to MORRISON MONDAYS and welcome to TOYHEM! For the sixth straight holiday season, we’re bringing you a series of features and columns celebrating the toys of our youth, which often made for the best memories this time of year. And Bill’s here for the festivities! Click here to check out the complete index of stories — and have a Merry Christmas, a Happy Chanukah and Happy Holidays! — Dan — By BILL MORRISON Even the most casual Batman fan knows that the Dark Knight doesn’t use guns. Sure, he was shown packing a pistol a handful of times in his first year. But DC’s editorial director Whitney Ellsworth is said to have laid down the law and forbade the Caped Crusader from carrying and using a firearm after seeing Batman exclaim, “Much as I hate to take human life, I’m afraid this time it’s necessary!” and then firing a machine gun at a truck carrying one of Dr. Hugo Strange’s monsters in Batman #1. In Batman #4, this edict was officially delivered to readers in a caption box that declared “The Batman never carries or kills with a gun!” The rule was bent or broken a few times over the years, such as on the wartime cover of Batman #15, which shows the Dynamic Duo operating a military machine gun, but in general the no-gun decree was codified as early as 1941 and became an integral part of Batman’s character. By 1966 when Batmania gripped the world and licensees lined up to produce a bat-zillion bat-toys, you would think that toy guns would have been banned from DC’s list of approved merchandise for kids, right? Well, such was not the case. Whoever was in charge of approving the plans of licensees at DC seems to have missed the memo about Batman’s aversion to guns, and several toy guns hit the market over the years, seemingly with the Caped Crusader’s seal of approval. And I’m not referring to gun-like gadgets such as grappling guns, Batarang blasters, or sonic neutralizers. I’m talking about toys that resemble hand-held lethal weapons! My fascination for the fact that these contradictory toys were actually made is endless! I have a handful of them in my collection, and even if it means putting off our kitchen remodel, I’ll continue...
A special Veterans Day MORRISON MONDAYS!
