A DESPOP TUESDAYS 85th anniversary tribute to the Golden Age theatrical shorts… By DES TAYLOR As you know, I’m a massive Superman fan: Reeve, Fleischer, and Byrne, in that order, shaped my passion for the Man of Steel. One morning, back in the summer of 2019 before COVID, designer Alan Fisher approached me to devise Mezco’s Superman: The Mechanical Monsters Deluxe Boxed Set of action figures, based on the 1941 animated theatrical short that premiered 85 years ago this month, on Sept. 26, 1941. Initially, I didn’t want to do it. I was swamped with work. My exact words: “Apologies for my late reply but I’ve been stewing on this all weekend, trying to think with my head rather than my heart. You know I’m a massive Superman fan. Would LOVE to do this but I’m up to my eyeballs in work at the moment and technically won’t be free until July at the earliest. If you could give me a bit more information about how many background pieces and the sort of scenes you may be looking for I might be able to figure it all out.’ When I learned it was based on The Mechanical Monsters, one of my favourite episodes, I gave in and found the time, working late nights to recreate the classic cartoon style. One major part that was omitted from the final design was the skyline, which was placed on top of the playset — something that took me a week to replicate. So, here’s a peek at what that could have looked like: All in all, the final product looked amazing and has a special place in my collection. I was very proud of the outcome. — Want more DESPOP TUESDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? Buy prints? Buy Des’ comics? Check out his Despop Art website! — MORE — Visiting One of the World’s Great Pop-Culture Meccas — in DUBAI. Click here. — Little Known Fact: MISTY KNIGHT Has Great Taste In Hamburgers. Click here. — DES TAYLOR is the man behind creator-owned comic properties Scarlett Couture, The Vesha Valentine Story, The Trouble With Katie Rogers and a new property in the works The Blue Lotus Strikes. His client list includes DC Comics, La Perla, FHM, Cosmopolitan, Universal Music, ITV Studios America and many more. When he’s not working on his own properties or churning out commissions,...
MORRISON MONDAYS! By BILL MORRISON If you’re a fan of The Simpsons and there’s a Jack in the Box restaurant within driving distance, you’re undoubtedly aware of the promotion currently running with the fast food chain, known as the Munchie Meal of Horror. The promo generated a tsunami of excitement from Simpsons fans who took to social media to chronicle their trips to Jack in the Box, and show their unboxing videos of all the cool items that came with the meal. I was aware of the collab several months before fans knew anything about it, because I got to draw all the art for the promotion, and it was not an easy secret to keep. While working on the graphics for the meal box, burger wrappers, plastic cups, etc., I had a sense that Simpsons fans were going to go crazy over these items, but I had no idea just how much. And neither did Jack in the Box. Within a few weeks of launching the promotion, they sold out of the collectible cups and the company had to issue a letter to customers from their mascot, Jack, apologizing for the gaffe and offering a voucher that fans could redeem when the cups were available again. I’ve since heard that some of the restaurants have also run out of the meal boxes and other packaging items. With all the hoopla surrounding this Munchie Meal mania, I thought it would be fun to show some of the drawings that ended up on these cool collectibles. Consider this my Simpsons/Jack in the Box Munchie Meal Sketch Book… OF HORROR: — Want more MORRISON MONDAYS? Come back next week! Want a commission? See below! — MORE — My Dinner With WILL ELDER… and LITTLE ANNIE FANNY. Click here. — MMMMM, HOAGIES: Celebrate National EAT A HOAGIE DAY With HOMER SIMPSON. Click here. — Eisner winner BILL MORRISON has been working in comics and publishing since 1993 when he co-founded Bongo Entertainment with Matt Groening, Cindy Vance and Steve Vance. At Bongo, and later as Executive Editor of Mad Magazine, he parodied the comics images he loved as a kid every chance he got. Not much has changed. Bill is on Instagram (@atomicbattery) and Facebook (Bill Morrison/Atomic Battery Studios), and regularly takes commissions and sells published art through 4C...
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