MORRISON MONDAYS! By BILL MORRISON We live in a timeline in which there are lots of made-up holidays and observances for every day of the year, and though many of them are ridiculous and contrived, I really like one of the observances for today, November 9. It’s National Go to an Art Museum Day! I think as a society we tend to take art museums for granted. So, a day that reminds us that they exist, and urges us to visit and support them because they contain incredible artworks that we can see in person? That’s a worthwhile thing. I once drew a cover for a Simpsons poster book, pretentiously titled The Simpsons Masterpiece Gallery, that I think serves nicely as an image to promote this special day. It’s also an homage to Norman Rockwell’s painting for the January 13, 1962, edition of The Saturday Evening Post, titled “The Connoisseur.”) The oversize book is out of print, but for Simpsons fans in need of wall décor, it’s well worth the hunt. It’s full of Bongo Comics covers and other splashy art, presented without logos or any kind of trade dress, and suitable for framing. To further inspire a visit to your local art museum, I’ll share a story from my art school days. I attended college at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit, which is now the College for Creative Studies, where I’m currently an adjunct professor. The Detroit Institute of Arts, a world-class museum that contains important works, such as “Self Portrait With Straw Hat” by Vincent Van Gogh, “The Wedding Dance” by Pieter Bruegel, and several Diego Rivera murals, is located very conveniently right across the street from the school. As a young art student, the close proximity of the museum to the school made it possible for me to visit the DIA at will. One day, while roaming the museum galleries on my lunch hour, I saw a large group of people circled around a very tall man who was speaking and gesturing toward a painting. The man was obviously conducting a guided tour, but he didn’t seem like a typical tour guide. I had the sense that he was an art historian of some sort who had brought a group to the museum to show them around and talk about some of the notable...
SUNDAY FUNNIES WITH KERRY CALLEN! By KERRY CALLEN One of my very favorite cartoons that aired while I was a kid was the 1967 DC superheroes show by Filmation (formally the Superman/Aquaman Hour of Adventure). Not only does the show do justice to the DC characters, but it also contains one of the most nefarious weapons ever created! It appears in a Green Lantern episode, Sirena, Empress of Evil. Sirena fires the magnificent Magno-Beam, which is somehow “attuned to Green Lantern’s brain waves.” Oh! It also contains a bird. The bird follows the fired beam directly to Green Lantern’s head… Knocking them both unconscious! Devastating! I’m a little sad this didn’t appear in the recent Lanterns TV series. — Want more SUNDAY FUNNIES WITH KERRY CALLEN? Come back next week! Want a commission? Send an email to KerryCallenArt@gmail.com. You can also find other work at linktr.ee/kerrycallen. — MORE — What if AMAZING FANTASY Continued With SPIDER-MAN Facing Monsters? Click here. — THE JOKER’s Latest Dastardly McPlot! Click here. — KERRY CALLEN spent much of his career as an artist and art director, developing product for Hallmark, but has also dabbled in comics for many years. As a freelancer, he creates work for a range of needs, spanning from Mad Magazine to children illustrations. He has two graphic novels available on Amazon worldwide, Halo and Sprocket: The Definitive Collection, as well as Dirtnap: Mystic...
An ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL…
Artist Sean Chen brings out the kid in all of us…
