Podcast appearances and mentions of Steve Ditko

What happens when a childhood dream refuses to let go? In this episode, I sit down with cartoonist and Lum and Abner historian Donnie Pitchford to explore how old-time radio, comic strips, and a love for storytelling shaped his life. Donnie shares how he grew up inspired by classic radio shows like Lum and Abner, pursued art despite setbacks, and eventually brought the beloved Pine Ridge characters back to life through a modern comic strip and audio adaptations. We talk about creativity, persistence, radio history, and why imagination still matters in a visual world. If you care about classic radio, cartooning, or staying true to your calling, I believe you will find this conversation both inspiring and practical. Highlights: 00:10 Discover how a childhood love of Lum and Abner sparked a lifelong dream of becoming a cartoonist. 08:00 Hear how college radio and classic broadcasts deepened a passion for old time radio storytelling. 14:33 Understand how years of teaching broadcast journalism built the skills that later fueled creative success. 23:17 Learn how the Lum and Abner comic strip was revived with family approval and brought to modern audiences. 30:07 Explore how two actors created an entire town through voice and imagination alone. 1:00:16 Hear the vision for keeping Lum and Abner alive for new generations through comics and audio. Top of Form Bottom of Form About the Guest: Donnie Pitchford of Texas is a graduate of Kilgore College, Art Instruction Schools, Stephen F. Austin State University and the University of Texas at Tyler. He has worked in the graphic arts industry and in education, teaching at Hawkins High School, Panola College, and Carthage High School at which he spent 25 years directing CHS-TV, where student teams earned state honors, including state championships, for 20 consecutive years. In 2010, Donnie returned to the endeavor he began at age five: being a cartoonist! The weekly “Lum and Abner" comic strip began in 2011. It is available online and in print and includes an audio production for the blind which features the talents of actors and musicians who donate their time. Donnie has created comic book stories and art for Argo Press of Austin, illustrated children's books, written scripts for the "Dick Tracy" newspaper strip, and produced the science fiction comedy strip "Tib the Rocket Frog." He has collaborated with award-winning writers and cartoonists George Wildman, Nicola Cuti, John Rose, Mike Curtis, Joe Staton, and others. In 2017, Donnie began assisting renowned sculptor Bob Harness and currently sculpts the portraits for the Texas Country Music Hall of Fame plaques. Awards include the 1978 Kilgore College "Who's Who" in Art, an Outstanding Educator Award from the East Texas Chapter of the Texas Society of CPAs in 1993, the CHS "Pine Burr" Dedicatee honor in 2010, and a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2018 from Spring Hill High School. In 2024, Donnie was inducted into the City of Carthage Main Street Arts Walk of Fame which included the placement of a bronze plaque in the sidewalk and the Key to the City. Donnie and his best friend/wife, Laura, are members of First Methodist Church Carthage, Texas. Donnie is a founding officer of the National Lum and Abner Society and a member of Texas Cartoonists, Ark-La-Tex Cartoonists, Christian Comic Arts Society, and the National Cartoonists Society. Ways to connect with Michaela**:** https://www.facebook.com/groups/220795254627542 https://lumandabnercomics.com/ About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson  00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson  01:21 Well, hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of unstoppable mindset. I've been looking forward to this one for a while. We have Donny Pitchford as our guest today. You're probably going, who's Donnie Pitchford? Well, let me tell you. So years ago, I started collecting old radio shows. And one of the first shows that I got was a half hour episode of a show called Lum and Abner, which is about a couple of characters, if you will, in Pine Ridge, Arkansas. And I had only heard the half hour show sponsored by frigid air. But then in 1971 when ksi, out here in Los Angeles, the 50,000 watt Clear Channel station, started celebrating its 50 year history, they started broadcasting as part of what they did, 15 minute episodes of lemon Abner. And I became very riveted to listening to lemon Abner every night, and that went on for quite a while. And so I've kept up with the boys, as it were. Well, a several years ago, some people formed a new Lum and Abner society, and Donnie Pitchford is part of that. I met Donnie through radio enthusiast of Puget Sound, and yesterday, USA. And so we clearly being interested in old radio and all that, had to have Donnie come on and and talk with us. So Donnie, or whatever character you're representing today, welcome to unstoppable mindset. Donnie Pitchford  02:58 Huh? I'm glad to be here. Michael Hingson  03:00 He does that very well, doesn't he? It's a Donnie Pitchford  03:04 little tough sometimes. Well, I'm really glad to be here. Thank you. Michael Hingson  03:10 Well, I appreciate the audio parts of lemon Abner that you you all create every week, and just the whole society. It's great to keep that whole thing going it's kind of fun. We're glad that that it is. But let's, let's talk about you a little bit. Why don't you start by telling us about the early Donnie, growing up and all that. I'm assuming you were born, and so we won't worry about that. But beyond that, think so, yeah. Well, there you are. Tell us about tell us about you and growing up and all that, and we'll go from there. Donnie Pitchford  03:42 Well, I was born in East Texas and left for a little while. We lived in my family lived in Memphis, Tennessee for about seven years, and then moved back to Texas in 1970 but ever since I was a kid this I hear this from cartoonists everywhere. Most of them say I wanted to be a cartoonist when I was five years old. So that's in fact, I had to do a speech for the Texas cartoonist chapter of the National Cartoonist Society. And that was my start. I was going to say the same thing, and the President said, Whatever you do, don't do that old bit about wanting to be a cartoonist at age five. Everybody does that, so I left that part out, but that's really what I wanted to do as a kid. And I would see animated cartoons. I would read the Sunday comics in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and then at some point, my dad would talk about radio, and my mother would talk about listening to radio. We would have the reruns of the Lone Ranger television show and things like Sky King and other programs along those lines, and my parents would all. Way say, Well, I used to listen to that on the radio, or I would hear Superman on the radio, or Amos and Andy or whatever was being rerun at that time, and that fascinated me. And I had these vague memories of hearing what I thought were television programs coming over the radio when I was about two years old. I remember gunshots. I remember, you know, like a woman crying and just these little oddball things. I was about two years old, and I kept thinking, Well, why are we picking up television programs on my mother's radio? Turns out it was the dying gasps of what we now call old time radio. And so at least I remembered that. But when I was about, I guess eight or nine we were, my dad took me to lunch at alums restaurant in Memphis, and I saw that name, and I thought, What in the world? So what kind of name is that? And my dad told me about London Abner, and he said it reminds me. It reminded him of the Andy Griffith Show or the Beverly Hillbillies. I said, I'd love to hear that. He said, Ah, you'll never hear it. He said, those were live they don't exist, but years later, I got to hear them. So yeah, but that's how I grew up wanting to be a cartoonist and coming up with my own characters and drawing all the time and writing stories and that sort of thing. Michael Hingson  06:24 So when did you move back from Memphis to Texas? Donnie Pitchford  06:28 July 2, 1970 I just happened to look that up the other day. How old were you then? I was 12 when we came back. All right, so got into, I was in junior high, and trying to, I was trying to find an audience for these comic strips I was drawing on notebook paper. And finally, you know, some of the kids got into them, and I just continued with that goal. And I just, I knew that soon as possible, you know, I was going to start drawing comics professionally. So I thought, but kept, you know, I kept trying. Michael Hingson  07:06 So you, you went on into college. What did you do in college? Donnie Pitchford  07:11 Well, more of the same. I started listening to some old time radio shows even as far back as as high school. And I was interested in that went to college, first at a college called Kill Gore College, here in East Texas, and then to Stephen F Austin State University. And I was majoring in, first commercial art, and then art education. And I thought, well, if I can't go right into comics, you know, maybe I can just teach for a while. I thought I'll do that for a couple of years. I thought it wouldn't be that long. But while I was at Stephen F Austin State University, the campus radio station, I was so pleased to find out ran old time radio shows. This was in 1980 there was a professor named Dr Joe Oliver, who had a nightly program called theater of the air. And I would hear this voice come over the radio. He would run, he Well, one of the first, the very first 15 minute lemon Abner show I ever heard was played by Dr Oliver. He played Jack Benny. He played the whistler suspense, just a variety of them that he got from a syndicated package. And I would hear this voice afterwards, come on and say, It's jazz time. I'm Joe Oliver. And I thought, Where have I heard that voice? It was, it's just a magnificent radio voice. Years later, I found out, well, I heard that voice in Memphis when I was about 10 years old on W, R, E, C, radio and television. He was working there. He lived in Memphis about the same time we did. Heard him on the campus station at Nacogdoches, Texas. Didn't meet him in person until the late 90s, and it was just an amazing collection of coincidences. And now, of course, we're good friends. Now he's now the announcer for our audio comic strip. So it's amazing how all that came about. Well, I Michael Hingson  09:16 I remember listening to sort of the last few years of oval radio. I think it was, I don't remember the date now, whether it's 57 or 50 I think it's 57 the Kingston Trio had come out with the song Tom Dooley, and one day I was listening to K and X radio in Los Angeles. We lived in Palmdale, and I heard something about a show called suspense that was going to play the story of Tom Dooley. And I went, sounds interesting, and I wanted to know more about it, so I listened. And that started a weekly tradition with me every Sunday, listening to yours truly Johnny dollar and suspense, and they had a little bit of the FBI and peace and war. Then it's went into half and that that went off and Have Gun Will Travel came on, and then at 630 was Gun Smoke. So I listened to radio for a couple of hours every week, not every Sunday night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. And so that's how I really started getting interested in it. Then after radio went off the air a few stations out in California and on the LA area started playing old radio shows somebody started doing because they got the syndicated versions of the shadow and Sherlock Holmes with Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson. And I still maintain to this day that John Gielgud is the best Sherlock Holmes. No matter what people say about Basil Rathbone and I still think Sir John Gielgud was the best Sherlock Holmes. He was very, very good. Yeah, he was and so listen to those. But you know, radio offers so much. And even with, with, with what the whole lemon Abner shows today. My only problem with the lemon Abner shows today is they don't last nearly long enough. But that's another story. Donnie Pitchford  11:11 Are you talking about the comic strip adaptation? Okay, you know how long, how much art I would have to 11:21 do every week. Michael Hingson  11:25 Oh, I know, but they're, they're fun, and, you know, we, we enjoy them, but so you So you met Joe, and as you said, He's the announcer. Now, which is, which is great, but what were you doing then when you met him? What kind of work were you doing at the time? Donnie Pitchford  11:45 Well, of course, there was a gap there of about, I guess, 15 years after college, before I met him. And what ended up happening my first teaching job was an art job, a teaching art and graphic arts at a small high school in Hawkins, Texas, and that was a disaster. Wasn't a wasn't a very good year for me. And so I left that, and I had worked in the printing industry, I went back to that, and that was all during the time that the National London Abner society was being formed. And so I printed their earliest newsletters, which came out every other month. And we started having conventions in MENA, Arkansas and in the real Pine Ridge and the my fellow ossifers As we we call ourselves, and you hear these guys every week on the lemon Abner comic strip. Sam Brown, who lives in Illinois, Tim Hollis, from Alabama. Tim is now quite a published author who would might be a good guest for you one day, sure. And just two great guys. We had a third officer early on named Rex riffle, who had to leave due to various illnesses about 1991 but we started having our conventions every year, starting in 1985 we had some great guests. We brought in everybody we could find who worked with lemon Abner or who knew lemon Abner. We had their their head writer, Roswell Rogers. We had actors, I'm sure you've heard of Clarence Hartzell. He was Ben withers, of course, on the Old Vic and Sade show. He was Uncle Fletcher. We had Willard Waterman, parley Bayer, some of their announcers, Wendell Niles. And my memory is going to start failing me, because there were so many, but we had Bob's, Watson, Louise curry, who were in their first two movies. We had Kay Lineker, who was in their third movie. The list goes on and on, but we had some amazing when did Chester lock pass away? He passed away? Well, Tuffy passed away first, 1978, 78 and Chet died in 1980 sad. Neither of them, yeah, we didn't get to media. Yeah, we didn't meet either one of them. I've met Mrs. Lock I've met all of chet's children, several grandchildren. We spoke to Mrs. Goff on the phone a time or two, and also, tuffy's got toughie's daughter didn't get to meet them in person, but we met as many of the family as we could. Michael Hingson  14:32 Still quite an accomplishment all the way around. And so you you taught. You didn't have success. You felt really much at first, but then what you taught for quite a while, though, Donnie Pitchford  14:45 didn't you? Yes, I went back to the printing industry for about a year, and in the summer of 85 about two weeks before school started, I had got a call that they needed someone to teach Broadcast Journalism at. Carthage High School, and we had a department called CHS TV. I ran that for 25 years. I taught classes. We produced a weekly television program, weekly radio program. We did all kinds of broadcasts for the school district and promotional video. And then in the last I think it was the last 10 years or so that I worked there, we started an old time radio show, and we were trying to come up with a title for it, and just as a temporary placeholder, we called it the golden age of radio. Finally, we said, well, let's just use that, and I think it's been used by other people since, but, but that was the title we came up with. I think in 19 I think it was in 93 or 9495 somewhere in there. We started out. We just ran Old Time Radio, and the students, I would have them research and introduce, like, maybe 45 minutes of songs, of music, you know, from the 30s, 40s, maybe early 50s, big band and Sinatra and Judy Garland and you name it. Then, when the classes would change, we would always start some type of radio program that was pre recorded that would fill that time, so the next class could come in and get in place and and everybody participated, and they went out live over our cable television channel, and we would just run a graphic of a radio and maybe have some announcements or listing of what we were playing. And we did that for several years, usually maybe two or three times a year. And then in I think it was 2004 or so, we had an offer from a low power FM station, which was another another county over, and we started doing a Sunday night, one hour program each week. And I think we ended up doing close to 300 of those before I left. And so we got old time radio in there, one way or the other. Michael Hingson  17:03 Well, I remember. I remember, for me, I went to UC Irvine in the fall of 1968 and by the spring the last quarter of my freshman year, I had started getting some old radio shows. So started playing shows, and then in the fall, I started doing a three hour show on Sunday night called the Radio Hall of Fame, and we did radio every night. And what I didn't know until, actually, fairly recently, was our mutual friend Walden Hughes actually listened to my show on Sunday, and so did the gas means actually, but, but we had a low power station as well, but it made it up, and so people listened to it. And I've always been proud of the fact that during the fact that during the time I ran the Radio Hall of Fame, I'd heard of this show called 60 minutes with a guy named Mike Wallace, but never got to see it. And then it was only much later that I actually ended up starting to watch 60 Minutes. Course, I always loved to say I would have loved to have met, met Mike Wallace and never got to do it, but I always said he had criminal tendencies. I mean, my gosh, what do you think he was the announcer on radio for the Green Hornet, a criminal show, right? Sky King, a lot of criminals. Clearly the guy. Anyway, I would have been fun to meet him, but, Donnie Pitchford  18:31 and his name was Myron. Myron Wallach at the time. Wallach, you're right. I think that's right. Michael Hingson  18:37 But it was, it was fun and and so I've actually got some Sky King shows and green Hornets with him. So it's, it's kind of cool, but Right? You know, I still really do believe that the value of radio is it makes you imagine more. I've seen some movies that I really like for that the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers with Kevin McCarthy back in 1955 I thought was such a good movie because they didn't show the plants taking over the humans. It was all left to your imagination, which was so cool, and they changed all that in the later remake of it with Leonard Nimoy, which I didn't think was nearly as good, not nearly as suspenseful. But anyway, that's just my opinion. But radio, for me was always a and continues to be a part of what I like to do. And so I've been collecting shows and and enjoying and, of course, listening to lemon Abner, So what made you decide to finally end teaching? Donnie Pitchford  19:38 Well, you know, I could only do that so long. I was getting I was getting very tired, getting kind of burned out, and I had to have a change. There's something had to change. And I was able to take a few years early and retire, and I still the whole time I had a. That it was like a haunting feeling. I, you know, I wanted to be a cartoonist. I would pray, you know, you know, Lord, is there some way can I, can I get out of this? And can I do what I really want to do? And I had some mentors that was finally able to meet people that I would write letters to as a kid, a cartoonist and comic book editor named George Wildman was one of them. He was nice enough to answer my letters when I was a kid, and I'd send him drawings, and he would encourage me, or he would send little corrections on there, you know. And another one was a gentleman named high Eisemann, who passed away recently at age 98 on his birthday, but men like this inspired me, and that it kept at me through the years. I finally met George in 1994 at a convention of the the international Popeye fan club. And I'm I'm at high the same way, and also a writer named Nicola Cuddy, who wrote some Popeye comics. I met him the same way, same event, we all became friends, and I had a good friend named Michael Ambrose of Austin, Texas, who published a magazine devoted to the Charlton Comics company. Sadly, he's deceased now, but Mike and I were talking before I retired, and finally I got out of it. And he said, now that you're out of that job, how would you like to do some art? I said, That's what I want to do. So he gave me the opportunity to do my first published work, which was a portrait of artist George Wildman. It was on the cover of a magazine called Charlton spotlight, then I did some work for Ben Omar, who is bear Manor media publisher for some books that he was doing. One was Mel Blanc biography that Noel blank wrote, did some illustrations for that. This was all happening in 2010 and after that. So I was getting it was getting rolling, doing the kind of work I really wanted to do. And there's a gentleman named Ethan nobles in Benton, Arkansas, who wanted to interview me. I'd gotten, I don't know how he I forgot how he got in touch with me. Maybe he heard me on yesterday USA could be wanted to interview me about London Abner. And so he was starting a website called first Arkansas news. And somewhere in early 2011 we were talking, and I said, you know, you want this to be an online newspaper, right? He said, Yes. I said, What about comics? He said, I hadn't thought about that. So I said, Well, you know, you're a big Lum and Abner fan. What if we could we do a Lum and Abner comic strip? He said, Well, who would Where would I get? Who would do? And I said, Me. So I drew up some proposals, I drew some model sheets, and we did about four weeks of strips, and got approval from Chester lock Jr, and he suggested there's some things he didn't like. He said, The lum looks too sinister. He looks mean. Well, he's mad. He said he's mad at Abner. This won't happen every week. He said, Okay, I don't want LOM to be I said, Well, you know, they get mad at each other. That's part of the that's the conflict and the comedy Michael Hingson  23:30 at each other. Yeah. Donnie Pitchford  23:33 So we, we ironed it all out, and we came up with a financial agreement, and had to pay royalties and one thing and another, and we started publishing online in June 2011, and about six weeks later, the MENA newspaper, the MENA star in MENA, Arkansas, which was the birthplace of Lyman, Abner, Chet Locke and Norris Goff, they picked it up, and then we had a few other newspapers pick it up. And you know, we're not, we're not worldwide, syndicated in print, but we're getting it out there. And of course, we're always online, but and the first Arkansas news went under three or four years later, and so now we have our own website, which is Lum and Abner comics.com so that's where you can find us Michael Hingson  24:24 online. So where's Pine Ridge? Donnie Pitchford  24:28 Pine Ridge is about 18 miles from Mena, Arkansas. MENA is in western Arkansas, and Pine Ridge is about 18 miles east, I believe I'm trying to picture it in my mind, but it's it's down the road, and it actually exists. It was a little community originally named for a postmaster. It was named waters, waters, Arkansas, and in 1936 the real. At cuddleston. He was a real person who owned a store there in waters, and was friends with the locks and the golfs with their parents, as well as Chet and Tuffy. But he proposed a publicity stunt and an actual change of name to name the community Pine Ridge. So that's how that happened. Michael Hingson  25:24 Now, in the original 15 minute episodes, who is the narrator? Donnie Pitchford  25:28 Well, it depends what era their first one trying to remember. Now, Gene Hamilton was an early announcer in the Ford days, which was the early 30s. We don't have anything recorded before that. Charles Lyon was one of the early announcers, possibly for for Quaker Oats. I don't have any notes on this in front of me. I'm just going on memory here. Memory at the end of a long week. Gene Hamilton was their Ford announcer. Carlton brickert announced the Horlicks malt and milk did the commercials when they 1934 to 38 or so. Lou Crosby took over when they were sponsored by General Foods, by post them, the post them commercials, and Lou stayed with them on into the Alka Seltzer era. And his daughter, the celebrity daughter, is Kathie Lee Crosby, you may remember, right, and she and her sister Linda, Lou were a couple of our guests at the National lemon Avenue society convention in 1996 I think let's see. Crosby was Gene Baker came after Crosby, and then in the 30 minute days, was Wendell Niles. Wendell Niles, yeah, in the CBS the 30 minute series and Wendell. We also had him in Mina, super nice guy when it came, when it got into the later ones, 1953 54 I don't remember that announcer's name. That's when they got into the habit of having Dick Huddleston do the opening narration, which is why we now have Sam Brown as Dick Huddleston doing that every week. Michael Hingson  27:27 So was it actually Dick Huddleston? No, it Donnie Pitchford  27:30 was North golf, tough. He always played the part of Dick Huddleston. Okay, the only, the only time that, as far as I know, the only time the real dick Huddleston was on network radio, was at that ceremony in Little Rock Arkansas, when they changed the name of the town that the real dick Huddleston spoke at that event. And we actually, we discovered a recording of that. I was just gonna ask if there's a recording of that there is. Yeah, it's on 12 inch, 78 RPM discs. Wow. And they were probably the personal discs of lock and golf, and they weren't even labeled. And I remember spinning that thing when Sam Brown and I after we found it, it was down in Houston, and we brought them a batch of discs back, and I remember spinning that thing and hearing the theme song being played, I said, this sounds like a high school band. And suddenly we both got chills because we had heard that. I don't know if it was the Little Rock High School band or something, but it's like, Can this be? Yes, it was. It was. We thought it was long lost, but it was that ceremony. Wow. So that was a great find. Michael Hingson  28:45 Well, hopefully you'll, you'll play that sometime, or love to get a copy, but, Donnie Pitchford  28:50 yeah, we've, we have we played it on yesterday, USA. Oh, okay, so it's out there. Michael Hingson  28:57 Well, that's cool. Well, yeah, I wondered if Dick Huddleston actually ever was directly involved, but, but I can, can appreciate that. As you said, Tuffy Goff was the person who played him, which was, that's still that was pretty cool. They were very talented. Go ahead, Donnie Pitchford  29:19 I was gonna say that's basically tough. He's natural speaking voice, yeah, when you hear him as Dick Huddleston, Michael Hingson  29:24 they're very talented people. They played so many characters on the show. They did and and if you really listen, you could tell, but mostly the voices sounded enough different that they really sounded like different people all the time. Donnie Pitchford  29:41 Well, the fun thing are the episodes where, and it's carefully written, but they will, they will do an episode where there may be seven or eight people in the room and they get into an argument, or they're trying to all talk at the same time, and you completely forget that it's only two guys, because they will overlap. Those voices are just so perfectly overlapped and so different, and then you stop and you listen. So wait a minute, I'm only hearing two people at a time, but the effect is tremendous, the fact that they were able to pull that off and fool the audience. Michael Hingson  30:15 I don't know whether I'd say fool, but certainly entertained. Well, yeah, but they also did have other characters come on the show. I remember, yes, Diogenes was that was a lot of fun listening to those. Oh yeah, yeah, that was Frank Graham. Frank Graham, right, right, but, but definitely a lot of fun. So you eventually left teaching. You decided you accepted jobs, starting to do cartoons. What were some of the other or what, well, what were some of the first and early characters that you cartooned, or cartoons that you created, Donnie Pitchford  30:50 just, you mean, by myself or Well, or with people, either way, I did some things that were not published, you know, just just personal characters that I came up with it would mean nothing to anybody, but a little bit later on, I did a little bit of I did a cover for a Popeye comic book. Maybe 10 years ago, I finally got a chance to work with George Wildman, who was the fellow I talked about earlier, and it was some of the last work he did, and this was with Michael Ambrose of Argo press out of Austin, Texas. And we did some early characters that had been published by Charlton Comics. They had, they had characters, they were, they were rip offs. Let's be honest. You know Harvey had Casper the Friendly Ghost. Well, Charlton had Timmy, the timid ghost. There, there was Mighty Mouse. Well, Charlton Comics had atomic mouse, so and there was an atomic rabbit. And Warner Brothers had Porky Pig. Charlton had pudgy pig, but that was some of George's earliest work in the 1950s was drawing these characters, and George was just he was a master Bigfoot cartoonist. I mean, he was outstanding. And so Mike said, let's bring those characters back. They're public domain. We can use them. So I wrote the scripts. George did the pencil art. Well, he inked the first few, but Mike had me do hand lettering, which I don't do that much. So it was that was a challenge. And my friend high Iseman taught lettering for years and years, and so I was thinking, high is going to see this? This has to be good. So I probably re lettered it three times to get it right, but we did the very last story we did was atomic rabbit and pudgy pig was a guest star, and then George's character named brother George, who was a little monk who didn't speak, who lived, lived in a monastery, and did good deeds and all that sort of thing. He was in there, and this was the last thing we did together. And George said, you know, since I've got these other projects, he said, Do you think you can, you can ink this? So that was a great honor to actually apply the inks over George's pencil work. And I also did digital color, but those were some things I worked on, and, oh, at one point we even had Lum and Abner in the Dick Tracy Sunday comic strip, and that was because of a gentleman named Mike Curtis, who was the writer who lived in Arkansas, was very familiar with Lum and Abner, and he got in touch with me and asked, this was in 2014 said, Would it be possible for me to use Lum and Abner in a Sunday cameo? So I contacted the locks. First thing they first thing Chet said was how much I said, I don't think they're going to pay us. I felt like, Cedric, we hunt, no mom, you know. And I felt like he was squire skimp at the time, yeah, but I said, it's just going to be really good publicity. So he finally went for it, and Lum and Abner had a cameo in a Sunday Dick Tracy comic strip, and about four years later, they honored me. This was Mike Curtis, the writer, and Joe Staton, the artist, who was another guy that I grew up reading from as a teenager, just a tremendous artist, asked if they could base a character on me. And I thought, what kind of murderer is he going to be? You know, it was going to be idiot face or what's his name, you know. So no, he was going to be a cartoonist, and the name was Peter pitchblende. Off, and he was, he said his job was to illustrate a comic strip about a pair of old comedians. So, I mean, who couldn't be honored by that? Yeah, so I don't remember how long that story lasted, but it was an honor. I mean, it was just great fun. And then then I had a chance to write two weeks of Dick Tracy, which was fun. I wrote the scripts for it and and then there's some other things. I was able to work with John rose, a tremendously nice guy who is the current artist on Barney Google and Snuffy Smith. We did a story, a comic book story, on Barney Google on Snuffy Smith in a magazine called Charleton spotlight, and I did the colors, digital coloring for that. So just these are just great honors to me to get to work with people like that. And Nick Cuddy, I did some inking, lettering coloring on some of his work. So just great experience, and Michael Hingson  36:02 great people, going back to atomic rabbit and pudgy pig, no one ever got in trouble with, from Warner Brothers with that, huh? Donnie Pitchford  36:09 Well, not, not on atomic rabbit, however, pudgy pig created a problem because George was doing some art, and I think somebody from Warner Brothers said he looks too much like Porky, so the editor at the time said, make one of his ears hang down, make him look a little different. But pudgy didn't last long. Pudgy was only around maybe two or three issues of the comic book, so, but yeah, that's George. Said they did have some trouble with that. Michael Hingson  36:44 Oh, people, what do you do? Yeah, well, I know you sent us a bunch of photos, and we have some of the Dick Tracy ones and others that people can go see. But what? What finally got you all to start the whole lemon Abner society. Donnie Pitchford  37:07 Oh, well, that goes back to 1983 right, and I'll go back even farther than that. I told you that my dad had mentioned lemon Abner to me as a kid. Dr Joe Oliver played a 15 minute lemon Abner show on KSA you at Stephen F Austin State University. That got me. I was already into old time radio, but it was the next summer 1981 there's a radio station, an am station in Gilmer, Texas Christian radio station that started running Lum and Abner every day. First it was 530 in the evening, and then I think they switched it to 1215 or so. And I started listening, started setting up my recorder, recording it every day. And a friend of mine named David Miller, who was also a radio show collector, lived in the Dallas area, I would send them to him, and at first he wasn't impressed, but then suddenly he got hooked. And when he got hooked, he got enthusiastic. He started making phone calls. He called Mrs. Lock chet's widow and talked to her. He spoke to a fellow who had written a number of articles, George Lily, who was an early proponent or an early promoter of lemon Abner, as far as reruns in the 1960s and it was through George Lilly that I was put in touch with Sam Brown in Dongola, Illinois, and because he had contacted Mr. Lilly as well. And before long, we were talking, heard about this guy named Tim Hollis. Sam and I met in Pine Ridge for lemon Abner day in 1982 for the first time, and hit it off like long lost friends and became very good friends. And then in 84 I believe it was Sam and Tim and Rex riffle met again, or met for the first time together, I guess in Pine Ridge. And I wasn't there that time. But somehow, in all of that confusion, it was proposed to start the national lemon Abner society, and we started publishing the Jot them down journal in the summer of 1984 Michael Hingson  39:43 and for those who don't know the Jotham down journal, because the store that lemon Abner ran was the Jotham down store anyway, right? Donnie Pitchford  39:50 Go ahead, yes. And that was Tim's title. Tim created the title The Jotham down journal, and we started publishing and started seeking information. And it started as just a simple photocopy on paper publication. It became a very slick publication. In 1990 or 91 Sam started recording cassettes, reading the journals, because we were hearing from Blind fans that said, you know, I enjoy the journal. I have to have somebody read it to me. This is before screen readers. And of course, you know this technology better than I do, but before any type of technology was available, and Sam said, Well, I'll tell you. I'll just start reading it on tape and I'll make copies. Just started very simply, and from then on, until the last issue in in 2007 Sam would record a cassette every other month, or when we went quarterly, four times a year, and he would mail those to the the blind members, who would listen to those. And sometimes they would keep them, and sometimes they would return them for Sam to recycle. But incidentally, those are all online now, Michael Hingson  41:03 yeah, I've actually looked at a few of those. Those are kind of fun. So the London Avenue society got formed, and then you started having conventions. Donnie Pitchford  41:14 Yes, yes. First convention was in 1985 and we did a lot of things with we would do recreations. We would do a lot of new scripts, where, if we had someone that we got to the point where we would have people that hadn't worked with lemon Abner. So we would have lemon Abner meet the great Gildersleeve. Actually, Willard had worked on the lumen Abner half hour show at some point. I believe les Tremain had never worked directly with them, but he was well, he was in some Horlicks malted milk commercials in the 1930s and of course, the Lone Ranger was never on the London Abner show and vice versa, until we got hold of it. So we had Fred Foy in 1999 and he agreed to be the announcer, narrator and play the part of the Lone Ranger. So we did Lum and Abner meet the Lone Ranger, which was a lot of fun. We had parley bear, so Lum and Abner met Chester of Gun Smoke. And those were just a lot of fun to do. And Tim, Tim would write some of them, I would write some of them, or we would collaborate back and forth to come up with these scripts. Did love and amner, ever meet Superman? No, we never got to that. That would have been great. Yeah, if we could have come up with somebody who had played Superman, that would have been a lot of fun. We had lemon Abner meet Kathie Lee Crosby as herself. Yeah, they met Frank brazzi One time. That must be fun. It was a lot of fun. We had some people would recreate the characters. We had the lady who had played Abner's daughter, Mary Lee Rob replay. She played that character again, 50 years later, coming back home to see, you know, to see family. Several other things, we had London Abner meet Gumby one time. Of all things, we had Dow McKinnon as a guest. And we had Kay Lineker come back and reprise one of her roles, the role she played in the London Abner movie. Bob's Watson did that as well. Some years we didn't have a script, which I regret, but we had other things going on. We had anniversaries of London Abner movies that we would play. So whatever we did, we tailored it around our guest stars, like Dick Beals, Sam Edwards, Roby Lester, gee whiz. I know I'm leaving people out. Michael Hingson  43:52 Well, that's okay, but, but certainly a lot of fun. What? Yes, what? Cartoonist really influenced you as a child? Donnie Pitchford  44:01 Oh, wow. I would say the first thing I saw that got my attention was the Flintstones on on prime time television, you know, the Hanna Barbera prime time things certainly Walt Disney, the animation that they would run, that he would show, and the behind the scenes, things that would be on the Disney show, things like almost almost anything animated as a kid, got my attention. But Walter Lance, you know, on the Woody Woodpecker show used to have, he'd have little features about how animation was done, and that that inspired me, that that just thrilled me. And I read Fred lachel's Snuffy Smith Chester Gould's Dick Tracy. Tracy, which that was a that's why the Dick Tracy connection, later was such a big deal for me. Almost anything in the Sunday comics that was big. Foot. In other words, the cartoony, exaggerated characters are called, sometimes called Bigfoot, Bigfoot cartooning, or Bigfoot characters. Those were always the things I looked for, Bugs Bunny, any of the people that worked on those some were anonymous. And years later, I started learning the names of who drew Popeye, you know, like LZ seagar, the originator, or bud sagendorf or George Wildman, and later high eysman. But people like that were my heroes. Later on, I was interested in I would read the Batman comics, or I would see Tarzan in the newspaper. I admired the work of Russ Manning. Michael Hingson  45:49 Do you know the name Tom Hatton? Yes, I do. Yeah. Yes. Tom did Popeye shows on KTLA Channel Five when I was growing up, and he was famous for, as he described it, squiggles. He would make a squiggle and he would turn it into something. And he was right on TV, which was so much fun. Donnie Pitchford  46:09 We had a guy in Memphis who did the same thing. His name was, he's known as Captain Bill, C, A, P, you know, Captain Bill. And he did very much the same thing. He'd have a child come up, I think some, in some cases, they're called drools. Is one word for them. There was a yeah, in Tim hollis's area, there was cousin Cliff Holman who did that. And would he might have a kid draw a squiggle, and then he would create something from it right there on the spot, a very similar type of thing, or a letter of the alphabet, or your initials, that sort Michael Hingson  46:43 of thing. Yeah. Tom did that for years. It was fun. Of course, I couldn't see them, but he talked enough that I knew what was going on. It's kind of fun. My brother loved them, yeah? So later on, when you got to be a teenager and beyond what cartoonist maybe influenced you more? Donnie Pitchford  47:03 Well, I would have to say George, probably because I was corresponding with him, right? Also, I would see the work of Carl Barks, who created Uncle Scrooge McDuck and the Donald Duck comics and all that. His stuff was all in reprint at that time, he was still living, but I didn't know he could be contacted. I didn't try to write to it, right? Years later, years later, I did get an autograph, which was, was very nice. But those people, a lot of people, Neil Adams, who did Batman, the guys at Charlton Comics, Steve Ditko, who was the CO creator of spider man, but he had a disagreement with Stan Lee, and went back to Charlton Comics and just turned out 1000s of pages, but his work was was inspirational. Another was Joe Staton, who was working at Charleton comics, who I got to work with on several projects later on, and I would say just all of those guys that I was reading at the time. Pat Boyette was another Charlton artist. I tend to gravitate toward the Charlton company because their artists weren't contained in a house style. They were allowed to do their own style. They didn't pay as much. But a lot of them were either older guys that said, I'm tired of this, of the DC Marvel system. I want to just, you know, have creative freedom. Charlton said, come on. And so they would work there and less stress, less money, probably one guy named Don Newton started there and became a legend in the industry at other companies. So I found all of those guys inspiring, and I felt I could learn from all of them. Michael Hingson  48:59 Well, you always wanted to be a cartoonist. Did you have any other real career goals, like, was teaching a goal that you wanted to do, or was it just cartooning it? Donnie Pitchford  49:07 Well, it was just a secondary, you know, as I said, when I started, I thought, I'll just do that for a few years. You know, I didn't know it was going to be like 27 but I we had a lot of success. We had, I had some student groups that would enter video competitions. And for 20 straight years, we placed either first, second or third in state competition with one Summit, one entry, another or another every year. And that was notable. I mean, I give the kids the credit for that. But then about five or six of those years, we had what we call state championship wins, you know, we were like the number one project in the state of Texas. So, you know, we had some great success, I think, in that so a lot of years there, I really, you know, that was a blessing to me. Was that career, you. Well, it just, it just got to be too much time for change. After a while, Michael Hingson  50:05 was art just a talent that you had, and cartoon drawing a talent you had, or, I don't remember how much you said about did you have any real special training as such? Donnie Pitchford  50:14 Well, all of my training was, I just couldn't afford to go to a specialized school. You know, at one time, the Joe Kubert School opened just about the time I graduated high school, it was in New Jersey. I just couldn't make that happen, so I went to state colleges and universities and did the best I could. I took commercial art classes, drawing classes, design classes, even ceramics, which came in very handy when I did some sculpting here in the last eight or nine years and worked as an assistant to a sculptor named Bob harness who lives here in Carthage, but I never had any actual comic strip slash comic book training, so I learned as much of that as I could from guys like George wild. And then after I started the lemon Avenue comic strip, an artist named Joe, named Jim Amish, who worked for Marvel, did a lot of work for the Archie Comics. And tremendous anchor is his. He's really a tremendous anchor, and does a lot of ink work over other artists pencils. Jim would call and say, he said, I want to give you some advice. I'm like, okay, at 3am he's still giving me advice. So I'd go around for two or three days feeling like a failure, but then I would, I would think about all the lessons, you know, that he had told me. And so I learned a lot from Jim and tremendous, tremendous guy. And I would listen to what high, sometimes high would call up and say, Why did you use that purple beg your pardon. So it was fun. I mean, those fellows would share with me, and I learned a great deal from those guys. Michael Hingson  52:11 Are you in any way passing that knowledge on to others today? Donnie Pitchford  52:16 I don't know that I am. I've had an offer or two to do some teaching. I just don't know if I'm if I'm going to get back into that or not. Yeah, I'm so at this point, focused on, quote, unquote, being a cartoonist and trying to make that, that age five dream, a reality, that I'm not sure I'm ready to do that again. And you know, I'm not, I'm not 21 anymore. Michael Hingson  52:45 I didn't know whether you were giving advice to people and just sort of informally doing it, as opposed to doing formal teaching. Donnie Pitchford  52:51 Well, informally, yes, I mean, if anybody asks, you know, I'll be glad to share whatever I can. But yeah, I'm not teaching any classes at this point. Michael Hingson  53:01 Well, you have certainly taken lemon Abner to interesting places in New Heights. One, one thing that attracted me and we talked about it before, was in 2019, lemon Abner in Oz. That was fun. Donnie Pitchford  53:17 Well, the credit for that goes to Tim Hollis. Tim wrote that as a short story years ago when he was first interested in lemon Abner. And I don't know if he ever had that published through the International oz society or not. I don't remember, but Tim later turned that into a radio script when we had a batch of guests. This was in 2001 we had, let's see Sam Edwards, Dick Beals, Roby Lester and Rhoda Williams. And each of them had done something related to Oz, either the children's records or storybook records or animation or something. They were involved somewhere in some type of Oz adaptation. So Tim turned his short story into a radio script that we performed there at the convention. So that was a lot of fun. And then he suggested, Why don't I turn that into a comic strip story? So that's what we did. But that was fun, yeah, and we used the recordings of those people because they had given us permission, you know, to use a recording however we saw fit. The only problem is we had a mistake. The fellow that was running the sound had a dead mic and didn't know it. Oh, gosh. So some of them are bit Off mic in that audio, but we did the best. I did the best I could Michael Hingson  54:40 with it's it sounded good. I certainly have no complaints. 54:45 Thank you for that. Michael Hingson  54:47 I I said no complaints at all. I think it was really fun and very creative. And it's kind of really neat to see so much creativity in terms of all the stuff that that you do. As a cartoonist, me having never seen cartoons, but I learned intellectually to appreciate the talent that goes into it. And of course, you guys do put the scripts together every week, which is a lot of fun to be able to listen to them well. Donnie Pitchford  55:17 And that's what that was, the audience I hoped that we would would tap into right there and it, it was guys like you that would would talk to me and say, What am I going to do? You know, I can't see it. So that's why the audio idea came about. And it's taken on a life of its own, really. And we've got Mark Ridgway, who has created a lot of musical cues for us that we use and Michael Hingson  55:45 who plays the organ? Donnie Pitchford  55:47 That's Mark Ridgway. It is Mark, okay, yes, yes. And it's actually digital, I'm sure. I think it's a digital keyboard, Michael Hingson  55:55 yeah, but it is. It's a, it's a really good sounding one, though. Donnie Pitchford  55:59 Yes, yes. There are a few cues that I did, which probably are the ones that don't sound so good, like if we ever need really bad music. If you remember the story we did, and I don't remember the name of it, what do we call it anyway? Lum tries to start a soap opera. Think this was about a year ago. Yeah, and Cedric is going to play, I don't remember it was an organ or a piano, and I don't remember what he played, but whatever it was, I think was Mary Had Michael Hingson  56:32 a Little Lamb, Mary's, Mary Had a Little Lamb on the piano. Sort of kind played. Donnie Pitchford  56:35 It was played very badly, well that, yes, it was on purpose. When mom plays lum tries to play the saxophone. That was me, and I hadn't played this. I used to play the sax. In fact, I played in a swing orchestra here in Carthage, Texas for about five years back in from the early 90s. And so I had this idea, and I hadn't played the horn probably since, probably in 20 years, and his. So I got it out, and I thought, you know, it's gonna sound terrible because it needs maintenance, but it doesn't matter. It's lump playing it, so I got to play really badly. Michael Hingson  57:14 It was perfect. It was perfect, Donnie Pitchford  57:16 yeah, because it had to sound bad. Michael Hingson  57:19 How do y'all create all these different plots. I remember so many, like the buzzard, you know, and, oh yeah, that was fun. And so many. How do you come up with those? Donnie Pitchford  57:28 Well, I used to get some really good ideas while mowing the yard. Don't ask me, why? Or I get ideas. I get ideas in the weirdest thing, weirdest places. Sometimes I have ideas in the shower. You know, I said, I better write this down. Sometimes I'll wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, but there the ideas just come to me. Yeah? The buzzard was fun. I'd had that one. Pretty creative. Yeah, the one about, the one about, let me see. Oh, there was one we did, where wasn't the buzzard? What was that other one? I called the Whisper? Yeah, there was a strange voice that was coming lum thought it was coming from his radio. And he turns his radio off, and He still hears it, and it was a villain who had somehow hypnotized everyone so that they wouldn't see him and he would use his voice only. And then there's a character I came up with, and let me see Larry Gasman played it, and I called him Larry John Walden, and he was the only guy he was blind. He was the only guy that wasn't hypnotized because he couldn't see the you know, I use the old thing about the watch in front of the eyes. I mean, he was the only guy that wasn't hypnotized, so he wasn't fooled by the whisper, and he could track him, because his hearing was so acute that he was able to find him. In fact, I think he could hear his watch ticking or something like that. So he was the hero of that piece. But, well, I just, I just think up ideas and write them down. Tim Hollis has written some of the scripts, maybe three or four for me, I've adapted some scripts that London Abner did that were never broadcast or that were never recorded. Rather, I've adapted a few, written several, and I keep saying, Well, when I completely run out of ideas, I'll just have to quit. Michael Hingson  59:32 Well, hopefully that never happens. What? What are your future plans? Donnie Pitchford  59:38 Well, right now, there's nothing major in the works other than just maintaining the strip, trying to continue it, trying to make it entertaining, and hopefully doing a little work on the website and getting it into the hands of more people. And I'd like to increase. Least newspaper coverage, if at all possible. And because this thing doesn't, you know, it's got to pay for itself somehow. So you know, I'm not getting rich by any means. But you know, I want to keep it fun. I want to keep having fun with it. Hopefully people will enjoy it. Hopefully we can reach younger readers, listeners, and hopefully lemon Abner can appeal to even younger audiences yet, so that we can keep those characters going. Michael Hingson  1:00:29 Yeah, there's so much entertainment there. I hope that happens now in the the life of Donnie Pitchford. Is there a wife and kids? Donnie Pitchford  1:00:40 Yes, there's a wife of almost 40 years. We unfortunately don't have any children. We've almost feel like we adopted several children all the years we were teaching. We we've adopted several cats along the way. And so, you know, we've had cats as pets for almost ever, since we were married. But that's she's, she's great, you know, she's, she's been my best friend and supporter all these years. And we were members of first Methodist Church here in Carthage, Texas, and doing some volunteer work there, and helping to teach Sunday school, and very involved and active in that church. Michael Hingson  1:01:19 So I have a cat, and I hear her outside, not outside the house, but outside the the office here, she wants me to go feed her, and we, we shaved her yesterday because her hair gets long and Matt's very easily. So she got shaved yesterday. So she's probably seeking a little vengeance from that too, but, but my wife and I were married 40 years. She passed away in November of 2022 so it's me and stitch the cat and Alamo the dog, and Karen is monitoring us somewhere. And as I tell everyone, I've got to continue to be a good kid, because if I'm not, I'm going to hear about it. So I got to be good. But it's a lot of fun. Well, I want to thank you for being with us today. This has been a lot of fun. I've learned a lot, but it's just been great to have another podcast talking about old radio shows. And you said again, if people want to reach out, they can go to lemon Abner comics.com if people want to talk to you about doing any kind of cartooning or anything like that. What's the best way they can do that? Donnie Pitchford  1:02:24 Well, they can go to the London Abner dot lumen, Abner comics.com website, and there's a contact a link right there at the top of the page. So yeah, they can contact me through that. Probably that's the easiest way to do it. Michael Hingson  1:02:37 Okay, well, I want to thank you again for being here, and I want to thank all y'all out there. That's how they talk in Texas, right? It's all y'all for everybody. Donnie Pitchford  1:02:46 Well, some of them do, and some of them in Arkansas do too. Well, yeah. Michael Hingson  1:02:49 And then there's some who don't, yeah, y'all means everything, and it Speaker 1  1:02:54 don't, yeah, I don't think squire skimp says it that way. Michael Hingson  1:02:58 Well, Squire, you know, whatever it takes. But I want to thank you all for being here, and please give us a five star rating wherever you're listening or watching the podcast. Donnie would appreciate it. I would appreciate it, and also give us a review. We'd love to get your reviews, so please do that. If you can think of anyone else who ought to be a guest, and I think Donnie has already suggested a few. So Donnie as well, anyone else who ought to come on the podcast, we'd love it. Appreciate you introducing us, and you know, we'll go from there. And I know at some point in the future, the Michael hingson Group Inc is going to be a sponsor, because we've started that process for lemon. Abner, yes, thank you. Thank you. So I want to, I want to thank love and Squire for that 1:03:45 years. Well, it's been my pleasure. Michael Hingson  1:03:50 Well, thank you all and again, really, seriously, Donnie, I really appreciate you being here. This has been a lot of fun. So thank you for coming. Donnie Pitchford  1:03:58 Thank you. It's been a great honor. I've appreciated it very much. Michael Hingson  1:04:06 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

KOSMIC! Novelist, comics writer, and historian Stuart Moore joins the podcast to discuss his new book for the Marvel Age of Comics critical series from Bloomsbury and Marvel, Doctor Strange: A Decade of Dark Magic. As the title promises, Moore's book looks at the first ten years of the character - from its start as a supporting feature in Strange Tales from artist Steve Ditko and writer Stan Lee through multiple reimaginings and adjustments in the hands of writers and artists like Roy Thomas, Gene Colan, and Steve Englehart. In this discussion with bookseller Justin Remer, Moore talks about the dialogue Doctor Strange created with the '60s counterculture, the tumultuous publishing history of the title, and his own prior interactions with the late Ditko and Lee. If you stick around, there's some Toxic Avenger talk near the end as well.  Pick up a copy of the book at Skylight or order the audiobook version from Libro.fm. Hosted and produced by Justin Remer.  Recorded remotely via Zencastr.  Opening music: "Optimism (Instrumental)" by Duck the Piano Wire.  Closing music: "Rule of 3s (Solemnity Child)" by Elastic No-No Band. 

Comic legend Jim Starlin (Infinity Gauntlet, Batman Death In The Family) joins Dave to discuss the upcoming Dreadstar vs Dreadstar Kickstarter. Starlin shares stories from the New York studio scene of the 1970s, Walt Simonson's spoilers, learning from Howard Chaykin, collaborating with Bernie Wrightson, and how early encouragement from Steve Ditko kept him drawing. The two explore Starlin's fascination with death, pushing against the institutional systems, his take on the MCU Infinity Saga, and the harsh economics of Marvel that had artists selling original art at bargain prices just to cover the rent. He also discusses what inspired him to paint and the importance of Neal Adams to comics.You can pre-save the Dreadstar Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/monkeywrenchent/jim-starlins-dreadstar-vs-dreadstarGet all other Dreadstar books through Dark Horse ComicsFind Jim on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jimstarlin/?hl=enMy Website : www.westcoastdavengers.comPATREON https://www.patreon.com/DavengersDirectEdition

Savor shrimp — and Steve Ditko — with comics writer/editor Jack C. Harris as we discuss why he decided to abandon his original plan of becoming an artist and chose writing instead, the chance comics shop encounter which led to him being offered a job at DC Comics, why he was astonished when he first saw the colors of Superman's costume, how his working relationship with Steve Ditko began, an intriguing comparison between Julie Schwartz and Stan Lee I'd never considered, the greatest compliment he ever received during his comics career, the idiosyncrasies of editor Murray Boltinoff, which comics pro was responsible for the flowering of comics fandom, how he felt about the Marvel/DC divide during the time we were both assistant editors, what it was like working with the legendary creators who preceded us, the legacy character he regrets never having gotten the chance to write, his Human Torch story which took 17 years to get published, the contrasting ways Marvel and DC treated their Golden Age characters at the beginning of the Silver Age, and much more.

Everyone is here for some comic book merriment. Controversial topic Comic Shop News coverage (which dates this episode) BRZRKR #5-12 by Keanu Reeves, Matt Kindt, Ron Garney, Bill Crabtree (Boom!)https://www.boom-studios.com/series/brzrkr/ BRZRKR Bloodlines Vol 1 & 2 by Keanu Reeves, Steve Skroce, Mattson Tomlin, Rebekah Isaacs, Dave Stewart, Dee Cunniffe, Matt Kindt, Jason Aaron, Ron Garney, Salvador Larrocahttps://shop.boom-studios.com/products/brzrkr-bloodlines-vol-1-schttps://shop.boom-studios.com/products/brzrkr-bloodlines-vol-2 Alone Against Fear (A Survival Horror Solo Game) by Andrea Sfiligoi Blue Ribbon Comics #1 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby with Steve Ditko and Ruby Nebres cover (Red Circle/Archie). Reprint title. Coconut Meat Skull A Copra Fanzine with many contributors as noted in link (on sale)https://wakeup-comics.square.site/product/coconut-meat-skull-a-copra-fanzine/83 Shout-outsDerek Enjoy! Twitter: @indiecomicbookn, Bluesky: @marvelicbnoise.bsky.social

Before there was the Marvel Universe… before Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four changed everything in 1961… there was Atlas Comics. It was the 1950s — the so-called “lost decade” for Marvel. The superheroes were gone. In their place came monsters, crime, westerns, romance, and science fiction. But inside those pages, you could already see the DNA of what was coming next.From artists like Joe Maneely, Bill Everett, and a young Steve Ditko… to Stan Lee's endless experiments with genre and tone… the Atlas years are the missing link between Timely's Golden Age and Marvel's Silver Age explosion. In this episode, we're diving deep into that forgotten era — the stories, the creators, the rise and fall of the Atlas line, and how those books quietly paved the way for the Marvel Revolution.

FLASHBACK! If you're into American comics at all, you undoubtedly know how Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and others changed the industry with their work in the 1960s, and set the template for kinds of stories Marvel still publishes today. That's just part of the story that Sean Howe researched for his 2012 book … Continue reading #410 Marvel Comics: Telling the Untold Story

Step right up! In this issue of Amazing Spider-Man #22 (1965), Stan Lee and Steve Ditko bring back the Circus of Crime - now rebranded as the Masters of Menace = led by the Clown in a chaotic art heist targeting J. Jonah Jameson. Chris explores the issues' blend of slapstick villainy, Peter Parker's romantic tension with Betty Brant and Liz Allen, and the slice-of-life storytelling that made early Spider-Man so iconic.  Whether you're a vintage comic collectior, a Spider-Man lore buff, or just love classic Marvel drama, Chris lays out the plot and beats, and goes into Ditko's visual storytelling.

Episode #568! Works by Carl Barks, Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko! This episode we look at a number of books featuring the work of comic's top creators. Scott starts by bringing two very nice Vanguard sketchbooks to the table featuring John Romita and John Buscema.  DL has Ditko's Shorts from Craig Yoe. We also look at Fantagraphics' Complete Walt Disney's Donald Duck vol. #1, Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold. Scott has two Jack Kirby collections from Pure Imagination. Plus plenty of extras! 

Hammer Time at the House of Franklin-Stein! Chris and Cindy discuss the 1966 film The Reptile! A mysterious black death plagues the residents of a small Cornish village. What kind of creature could be behind it, and who will save the day? Why, none other than Hammer's greatest supporting player, Michael Ripper! Then they slither to the comic crypt to check out Spider-Man's first encounter with Dr. Curt Connor's reptilian alter-ego, the Lizard from Amazing Spider-Man #6 by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko! Subscribe via iTunes. Or Spotify.. This podcast is a proud member of the FIRE AND WATER PODCAST NETWORK Visit our WEBSITE: http://fireandwaterpodcast.com/ Please consider supporting us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/fwpodcasts Like our FACEBOOK page - https://www.facebook.com/FWPodcastNetwork Like our FACEBOOK page - https://www.facebook.com/supermatespodcast Use our HASHTAG online: #FWPodcasts Email us at supermatespodcast@gmail.com Clip credits: The Reptile (1966) directed by John Gilling Spider-Man (1967) animated series theme composed by Paul Francis Webster and Bob Harris, sung by the Billy Van Singers and the Laurie Bower Singers. Incidental music from Spider-Man (1967) by Ray Ellis “The House of Franklinstein” by Terry O'Malley, of Stop Calling Me Frank https://www.facebook.com/rockSCMF

Every creative person has that one work their audience considers the ultimate creation—their masterpiece. On today's pod, we had a blast digging into some of our favorite comic creators' defining works. We talk about legends like Jack Kirby and Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, and Neal Adams, along with later giants like Frank Miller, Bill Sienkiewicz, Mike Mignola, and many more. Is a masterpiece a single issue, an iconic run, a stretch of covers, or even one unforgettable cover? Is it the creation of an iconic character like Thanos or Deadpool? Or could it be something beyond the page, such as the launch of Image Comics and Milestone Media?  The conversation runs long and goes in all kinds of directions (as you might expect), but one thing's for sure—the opinions fly fast and furious!

Andy Rider (@andyrideragain) loves an obscure superhero – or obscure to me! And Steve Ditko drew them! The Question, The Creeper and Blue Beetle. Enjoy.  Donate to The Dork Forest if you like the show. The paypal email ⁠⁠jackie@jackiekashian.com⁠⁠ and venmo is @jackiekashian. There is MERCH: ⁠⁠www.JackieKashianStore.com⁠⁠ is the direct. Links to everything is at ⁠⁠⁠www.dorkforest.com⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠www.jackiekashian.com⁠⁠⁠ Extra TDF/standup and a storytelling album are available here: ⁠⁠https://thedorkforest.bandcamp.com/⁠⁠   YouTube has the videos: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@JackieKashianInc⁠⁠ And it's @jackiekashian on all the social mediaz. Audio and Video by Patrick Brady Music is by Mike Ruekberg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Comic legend Erik Larsen is back to discuss his return to Marvel, writing the new Spider-Man Noir miniseries and creating a Jack Kirby–inspired variant cover for Venom: Black, White & Blood, in which he writes and draws a short story. He talks about working with the classic “Marvel method” and the noir touchstones—Bogart, The Thin Man, Citizen Kane—that shaped his approach. Larsen also shares what's ahead for Savage Dragon, recounts meeting Steve Ditko, sets the record straight on Mark Bagley, and reveals where the best burritos in San Francisco are, really.Spider-Man Noir is in stores October 1st, you can also find Erik at NYCC and Fan Expo San Francisco.Join my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/davengersdirecteditionhttps://www.westcoastdavengers.com/direct-edition-podcast

This week on Black Hoodie Alchemy, we're rounding home-plate and reading the second half of my friend and colleague Eric Millar's work, The Four Color Grimoire! And this has everything to do with the legendary and still somewhat-unsung legacy of Jack Kirby - the King of Comics! But overall, it has the most to do with the art of nerd-fandom world-building itself, and the catharsis that can come from both creating and enjoying these things.(For those unfamiliar, Stan Lee hardly created any of the heroes he is known for, and rode off the coat-tails of Kirby in the creation of superheroes like the Avengers, the X-Men, and most of their respective casts. And when Lee wasn't riding on Kirby's coat-tails, he hitched onto people like Steve Ditko in the creation of Spider-Man.)If you haven't listened to the last episode, I encourage you to do so, although it's not entirely necessary. In the first half of the work, we discussed the archetypal, allegorical value in modern nerd fandoms by looking at OG comic book culture and art.In this episode, we talk all that context and dive into the legacies of some of the most inventive and esoteric creators in comic books! While a solid two-thirds or so focuses on the great Jack Kirby, we also take the time to look into the titanic art and careers of both Steve Ditko and Rick Veitch. Don't sleep on these fascinating artists, or on Eric's Four Color Grimoire!RELATED CONTENT:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠DIVE MANUAL AUDIOBOOK⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (narrated by Joe Rupe)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠HUNT MANUAL⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BHA LINKTREE w books, shorts, and much more⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠purchase Four Color Grimoire⁠⁠WE THE HALLOWED⁠ MEDIABHA episodes with Eric Millar:Four Color Grimoire pt 1⁠Existential Fury⁠⁠Garbage Wizardry⁠⁠OG Comics and mysticism pt 1⁠⁠OG Comics and mysticism pt 2 (with Martin Ferretti)⁠This week's featured music, as always, is brought to you by some of the most titanic beatmakers and wordsmiths of the underground! Don't forget to support that black hoodie rap and all your favorite independent artists!Jeffrey Dahmer (feat. Solomon Childs) - Switch Talkin Durty to the Godz - Babylon Warchild x Tainted WisdomGorefield - Alex ArckDeserve - impaleme

In this special bonus episode, we discuss Zach's favorite oldie issue

Swing into the world of intellectual property and untangle the legal threads behind legendary wall-crawling comic book character, Spider-Man. From comic book origins to blockbuster films, hosts Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue trace Spidey's journey through pop culture, the U.S. Patent Office, and the courtroom. From Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's Amazing Fantasy #15 to Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland on the big screen, Michael and Joe explore how each era shaped Spider-Man's generational appeal—and his IP story. Listeners' “spidey senses” will tingle at the tale of a toy web-shooter patent that reached the Supreme Court in Kimble v. Marvel Entertainment (2015), sparking lessons in royalty agreements and licensing strategies. The host take a deep look into other intellectual property aspects of the Spider-Man universe. 

MRC returns from a brief break! And we've brought a very special guest, veteran penciller Paris Cullins, who has funny tales of meeting Steve Ditko and Vince Colletta! Together we look at Amazing Spider-Man #59, Daredevil #39, Thor #151, Incredible Hulk #102, and X-Men #43! Check it out!

Steve Ditko Artist's Edition coming from Act 4. Paul Pope's THB gets collected. Popeye joins I Hate Fairyland.SUBSCRIBE ON RSS, APPLE, SPOTIFY, OR THE APP OF YOUR CHOICE. FOLLOW US ON BLUESKY, INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, AND FACEBOOK. SUPPORT OUR SHOWS ON PATREON.Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Thanks to our PATRONS:Jacob LickliderShow your support on PATREON! - https://patreon.com/BloodDonutStudios?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLinkJacob's Linktree - Jacob Licklider | Instagram | LinktreeJoey's Linktree - jomoblooddonut | Twitter | LinktreeBuy the book on Amazon! - Amazon.com: Batman: Haunted Knight (New Edition): 9781401284862: Loeb, Jeph, Sale, Tim: BooksOur next reading - Amazon.com: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 4 (Marvel Masterworks): 9780785142805: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, John Romita: Books

Este mes nos sumergimos en la llamada Bronze Age, con un clásico de Spider-Man... ¡La Noche En Que Murió Gwen Stacy! Tenemos una historia dramática, de la mano de Gerry Conway, jovencísimo guionista que tomó las riendas Stan Lee del título arácnido (vamos a ser sinceros, Stan las tenía agarradas bien flojitas), junto con el artista sucesor de Steve Ditko, John Romita padre en tintas y dirección artística, y el también legendario Gil Kane en lápices. La maldad y locura del Green Goblin, la inocencia de Gwen, y el dolor de un Peter Parker que ya no será el mismo. Mirá el video y dejanos tu reseña en YouTube, o escuchá el audio donde sigas nuestro podcast (pero mejor mirá el video, que le pusimos mucho amor, y tiene imágenes y datos extra en pantalla): https://bit.ly/perdidosnerdoteca06 Si te gusta, tiranos un mango por Cafecito desde Argentina o Ko-Fi desde Uruguay y el resto del mundo, los links están en bit.ly/perdidoseter. En agosto leemos Justice League America #28 (1989) y #45 (1990), con las primeras dos citas de Ice y Guy Gardner.

In this 2006 conversation, legendary writer and editor Denny O'Neil joins Word Balloon to revisit his groundbreaking 1980s run on The Question, a series that helped redefine the character for a new generation. Originally created by Steve Ditko for Charlton Comics, Vic Sage found new life under O'Neil's pen—philosophical, gritty, and deeply human.We also explore Denny's novel Helltown, which digs into Vic Sage's origin story in a bold new way. Longtime fans will notice some departures from past continuity, but the spirit—and sharp commentary—are pure O'Neil.Plus: Denny shares stories from his early days in comics, working under editors like Julie Schwartz and Stan Lee, and yes, there's some great Batman talk too—no surprise from the man who helped shape the Dark Knight for over three decades. A must-listen for fans of classic comics, noir storytelling, and one of the true legends of the mediu

Jim Shooter talked to the Crawlspace back in 2015 for the podcast. He was the Editor-In-Chief of Marvel Comics from 1978 until 1987. During that that time he saw success with the Secret Wars, giving Spider-Man a new black suit and also marrying off Peter Parker. The interview talks also talks about his memories of working in the Marvel Bullpen including a fun Steve Ditko story. And did you ever wonder about that scene in Secret Wars II where the Beyonder is taught to learn how to use the bathroom from Spider-Man? He discusses that fun moment in the book.  This re-broadcast is from episode #394.  If you would like to see the video of this interview, the link is here.  https://youtu.be/frsTG0licec?si=WBC1b9PP-tu-Cg7O Are you a Crawlspace patreon member? Sign up to support the site and get free stuff!  https://www.patreon.com/crawlspace Be sure to visit our main page at: http://www.spidermancrawlspace.com Be sure to follow us on social media Facebook https://www.facebook.com/officialcrawlspace Twitter https://twitter.com/crawlspace101 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/officialcrawlspace/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/spidermancrawlspace

For our final season, we're covering the short life of Martin Goodman's Atlas/Seaboard comics by reviewing all the debut issues from their line.  What do you get when you make a stew out of Orwell's 1984 heavily seasoned with Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and generous pinches of A Clockwork Orange and a dash of The Time Machine? Why, Michael Fleisher's crazy dystopian body horror sci-fi book MORLOCK 2001, of course! You can read all 3 issues here: https://archive.org/details/morlock-2001-complete/Morlock%202001%2001 Watch it on YouTube with BEAUTIFUL ART! https://youtu.be/syhSwk8EcIw MAIL: bronzeagemonsters@gmail.com  STORE: https://bronzeagemonsters.threadless.com/ SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.patreon.com/BronzeAgeMonsters DISCORD: https://discord.gg/wdXKUzpEh7

In which the Mister joins me in reviewing KRAVEN THE HUNTER (2024), from a screenplay by Richard Wenk, Art Marcum and Matt Holloway from characters created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the film is directed by J.C. Chandor.  After miraculously surviving a lion attack and gaining amazing powers, young Sergei Kravinoff flees from his crime lord father, returning years later as the mysterious vigilante known as Kraven the Hunter.  The film clocks in at 2h and 7m, is rated R and is currently streaming on Netflix but also to buy/rent on Prime Video.  Please note there are SPOILERS in this review.#KravenTheHunter #StanLee #SteveDitko #RichardWenk #ArtMarcum #MattHolloway #AaronTaylorJohnson #SergeiKravinoff #Kraven #ArianaDeBose #CalypsoEzili #FredHechinger #DmitriKravinoff  #AlessandroNivola #AlekseiSytsevich #Rhino #ChristopherAbbott #TheForeigner #RussellCrowe #NikolaiKravinoff #OnePersonArmy #Action #Adventuire #Superhero #Drama #Thriller  @Netflix  ⁠@PrimeVideo  #FridayFamilyFilmNightOpening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library

Ditkoverse publications are here: http://www.igg.me/at/ditkoverse1Alex Grand speaks with Steve Ditko's nephew, Mark Ditko, and longtime Ditko collaborator Mort Todd about their DitkoVerse publishing venture, a project dedicated to “remastering” and re-presenting classic Steve Ditko stories in high-quality editions . They describe their upcoming Indiegogo campaign, which kicks off a broader plan to keep Ditko's independent work in continuous print leading up to what would have been his 100th birthday in 2027. The initial releases include Mister A—relettered and published in color for the first time—along with Fantastic Giants (featuring Charlton monster stories), Static (a superhero title), and a revised edition of Avenging World, Ditko's philosophical opus. Mort Todd, who worked with Ditko as far back as the mid-1980s, explains the painstaking restoration process—cleaning up original black-and-white artwork, recoloring, and updating lettering in a way that stays faithful to Ditko's intent. Mark emphasizes that the family's focus is on honoring Steve Ditko's desire to keep his work available and of high quality. The interview also touches on personal anecdotes—such as Ditko's private yet supportive nature—and highlights their shared commitment: all funds raised will go directly into producing and distributing further reprints and unreleased material so future generations can appreciate Ditko's unique blend of storytelling, philosophy, and artistry.00:00 Intro and greetings  00:28 Settlement with Disney  01:01 Receiving Legend Award  02:15 Launching DitkoVerse Project  03:46 Mort Todd involvement  05:02 Why use Indiegogo  11:00 Exclusive fan rewards  11:37 Starting titles lineup  14:00 Avenging World spotlight  15:37 Restoration process details  16:16 Balancing family legacy  19:16 Beyond Marvel overview  22:43 Editorial approach discussion  28:00 Social media impact  31:00 Mort Todd anecdote  35:02 Mark Ditko anecdote  40:05 Indiegogo campaign info  01:00:48 Wrap up thoughts  01:03:00 End of interview  My book, Understanding Superhero Comic Books available at https://a.co/d/iIE3fWH .

As Jessie Hale finds herself saddled with the most irritating translator she could have asked for, we find ourselves once again joined by Lauren Petronaci, who has a surprisingly strong reaction to The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles episodes we watched this time. Plus, Brian has a controversial take on Steve Ditko, Bud-Arcs and bullwhips return, and Sam and Brian share some recent personal Indy news involving a treasured relic that belongs in a museum.

A new(ish) era of Serious Fun kicks off with UWGB English professor Zack Kruse! Bryan and Zack talk about the work of the enigmatic and often misunderstood Steve Ditko, creator of characters like Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and The Question, as well as Zack's must-read book "Mysterious Travelers: Steve Ditko and the Search for a New Liberal Identity". We'll discuss the complex ideological and philosophical framework that shaped Ditko's creative output, how it manifests in his most popular characters, and more! Special thanks to Marcus Moss for the intro and outro voiceovers, and Kevin McLeod for the outro music. Check out "Mysterious Travelers" here: https://www.upress.state.ms.us/Books/M/Mysterious-Travelers

The Marvel time portal is in full effect yet again as the latest Spider-Man episode has nearly identical scenes to Spider-Man: No Way Home! Join us as we discuss...Back to back disappointing Daredevil episodes and reacting to all the cast members listed for the new Avengers: Doomsday movie!Why the presentation of this Spider-Man origin was as close to a sacred text at the time of its release!It's hard to get a hired goon as capable as Barcroft these days!Pouring one out for Steve Ditko (and Jack Kirby) as we wrap things up!The X-Men TAS Podcast just opened a SECRET reddit group, join by clicking here! We are also on Twitch sometimes… click here to go to our page and follow and subscribe so you can join in on all the mysterious fun to be had! Also, make sure to subscribe to our podcast via Buzzsprout or iTunes and tell all your friends about it! Follow Willie Simpson on Bluesky and please join our Facebook Group! Last but not least, if you want to support the show, you can Buy Us a Coffee as well!

Change is always good, but is the legendary Steve Ditko's mid 70s run on Shade,the Changing Man, from DC Comics any good? We review this obscure series this week to find out! Plus we all know Steve Ditko co created not only Spider-Man, but tons of his iconic villains and supporting cast. But who are our favorite Steve Ditko creations outside of the Spidey Mythos? We'll list them on this week's show! Host: Andy Larson  Co Hosts: Chad Smith, JA Scott, and Mikey Wood

¡Hombre Araña! ¡Hombre Araña! ¡Tu Amigable Vecino El Hombre Araña! Marvel Studios Animation recientemente lanzó la primera temporada de la nueva serie animada del arácnido, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, que explora los comienzos de la carrera superheroica de Peter Parker en un universo que se parece un poco al MCU, pero que al final no es. En este programa hacemos la RE: seña de esta serie, que mezcla elementos modernos con inspiraciones visuales de los dos artistas más clásicos de Spidey, su co-creador Steve Ditko, y quien lo sucedió, John Romita padre. Después, ya que estábamos en la onda "inicios de Spidey", reseñamos varios comics viejos con comienzos del personaje. Empezamos por su debut en Amazing Fantasy #15 (por Steve Ditko y Stan Lee) y el primer número de su propia serie, Amazing Spider-Man, ambas de 1962 y del mismo equipo creativo (Steve Ditko y Stan Lee). Seguimos por los primeros dos números del primer volumen de Marvel Team-Up (1971/1972, por Roy Thomas, Gerry Comway, y Ross Andru), con un Spider-Man que ya tiene algunos años de actividad, pero haciendo sus primeras colaboraciones importantes con su amigo Human Torch. Para terminar, cubrimos los dos primeros números de Untold Tales of Spider-Man (1995, por Kurt Busiek y Pat Olliffe), una serie con historias retroactivamente ubicadas en los primeros años de actividad del trepamuros. Con música de The Math Club con Relaye y Melo Makes Music (sampleando a Paul Francis Webster y Bob Harris), Within The Ruins, y Weezer. Próximo programa: Tres comics rioplatenses, Tango Pulp / Nonfata / El Cronista.

For our final season, we're producing the episodes as videos. Check out our YouTube channel for the full experience.  YOUTUBE VERSION: https://youtu.be/oM815qWFhS8 This episode, we cover a creative dream team assembled for the 1 straight superhero book of the line: Archie Goodwin, Steve Ditko, and Wallace "Wally" Wood. READ ALL 4 ISSUES OF THE DESTRUCTOR ON ARCHIVE.ORG: https://archive.org/details/destructor-complete/Destructor%20001/ MAIL: bronzeagemonsters@gmail.com  STORE: https://bronzeagemonsters.threadless.com/ SUPPORT THE SHOW: https://www.patreon.com/BronzeAgeMonsters DISCORD: https://discord.gg/wdXKUzpEh7

Spider-Man es uno de los personajes más icónicos de la historia. Su carisma, su representación de la fuerza colectiva o la naturaleza cotidiana de sus problemas, como las deudas, la inestabilidad laboral o los alquileres abusivos, lo convierten en un símbolo de actualidad a pesar de tener más de 60 años. Por ello, desde que fue presentado en el cómic Amazing Fantasy #15, el éxito del superhéroe creado por Steve Ditko y Stan Lee ha trascendido las viñetas. Y toca fijarnos en lo que más nos gusta: los videojuegos. ¿Cuál es el mejor videojuego de Spidey? ¿Y el primero? ¿Cómo ha influenciado el cómic a los videojuegos y cómo éstos han influenciado al noveno arte de vuelta? Hablamos con el periodista José Antonio Luna, autor de Una araña en la red del videojuego (Héroes de papel), un recorrido de más de 40 años por las aventuras del trepamuros en consolas desde la Atari 2600 a la PlayStation 5.  Con Don Víctor y Duque de Champagne hablamos de Spider-Man en la que siempre ha sido y será su casa: los cómics.Escuchar audio

Sergio Pérez entrevista a Rafa Giménez, director de Sold Out, promotora de la exposición de Marvel en España. Llega a España la primera exposición oficial sobre el universo Marvel bajo el nombre Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes. Una exposición que acaba de prorrogar su estancia en Madrid hasta el 30 de marzo debido a la gran acogida de público, más de 120.000 visitantes. La muestra que celebra la influencia visual y el impacto de Marvel puede verse en IFEMA MADRID. La gran exposición cuenta con más de 100 piezas originales que permiten explorar los 85 años de historia de Marvel, e incluye más de 25 trajes y utilería originales utilizados en pantalla de más de dos décadas de películas y programas de televisión sobre los icónicos personajes de Marvel, entre los que destacan Spider-Man, Iron Man, los Guardianes de la Galaxia, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, los Vengadores, Moon Knight, los X-Men, Ms. Marvel, Deadpool y Lobezno. También se exhiben más de 60 piezas de arte original de cómic realizadas por artistas legendarios como Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Frank Miller, Alex Ross, Todd McFarlane, Sara Pichelli, Neal Adams, Billy Graham, Jim Steranko, Amy Reeder, Brian Stelfreeze, Bill Sienkiewicz y Moebius (Jean Giraud). Escucha el audio para descubrir todos los detalles.

Richard and Sarah break down the new Disney+ animated series, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and compare it to the classic Spider-Man comic from 1963! It's astounding how close showrunner Jeff Trammell and his team have stayed true to the classic comic, with art by Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr. This episode includes some behind-the-scenes quotes and fun facts which will give you even more enjoyment for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. We also go over some fun MCU Easter Eggs, puzzle together where it fits in the current MCU, and share our first introductions to Spider-Man. Richard and I have vastly different stories.   Be sure to check out our Spider-Man review.   Today in Star Wars History 2/4/2024   The 51st Saturn Awards, which honors the best in science fiction, fantasy, horror are presented, and Star Wars winners include:    ‘Best Music in a Film' - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – John Williams ‘Best Animated Television Series or Special' - The Bad Batch ‘Best New Genre Television Series' - Andor ‘George Pal Memorial Award' – Dave Filoni ‘Best Fantasy Film' - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 'Best Actor in a Film' - Harrison Ford – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny    SPONSORS   Small World Vacations is an official sponsor of Skywalking Through Neverland. Contact them for a no obligation price quote at www.smallworldvacations.com. Tell them Skywalking Through Neverland sent you.   SUPPORT THE SHOW   Find out how you can become a part of the Skywalking Force and unlock bonus content.   CONTACT US   Instagram: http://instagram.com/skywalkingpod   Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkywalkingPod   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skywalkingthroughneverland   Send emails to share@skywalkingthroughneverland.com and follow us on Facebook.   If you dug this episode, click over to iTunes | Stitcher | YouTube and leave us a review!   Never Land on Alderaan!

Richard and Sarah break down the new Disney+ animated series, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, and compare it to the classic Spider-Man comic from 1963! It's astounding how close showrunner Jeff Trammell and his team have stayed true to the classic comic, with art by Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr. This episode includes some behind-the-scenes quotes and fun facts which will give you even more enjoyment for Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. We also go over some fun MCU Easter Eggs, puzzle together where it fits in the current MCU, and share our first introductions to Spider-Man. Richard and I have vastly different stories.   Be sure to check out our Spider-Man review.   Today in Star Wars History 2/4/2024   The 51st Saturn Awards, which honors the best in science fiction, fantasy, horror are presented, and Star Wars winners include:    ‘Best Music in a Film' - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – John Williams ‘Best Animated Television Series or Special' - The Bad Batch ‘Best New Genre Television Series' - Andor ‘George Pal Memorial Award' – Dave Filoni ‘Best Fantasy Film' - Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 'Best Actor in a Film' - Harrison Ford – Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny    SPONSORS   Small World Vacations is an official sponsor of Skywalking Through Neverland. Contact them for a no obligation price quote at www.smallworldvacations.com. Tell them Skywalking Through Neverland sent you.   SUPPORT THE SHOW   Find out how you can become a part of the Skywalking Force and unlock bonus content.   CONTACT US   Instagram: http://instagram.com/skywalkingpod   Twitter: https://twitter.com/SkywalkingPod   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skywalkingthroughneverland   Send emails to share@skywalkingthroughneverland.com and follow us on Facebook.   If you dug this episode, click over to iTunes | Stitcher | YouTube and leave us a review!   Never Land on Alderaan!

In this episode of Mostly Superheroes, Logan Janis, Andy The Giggler, Scotty Scoop, and Sam The Sleeper dive into the first episode of "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" by Marvel Animation, now streaming on Disney+. Show Overview "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man" offers an alternate origin story for Peter Parker, where he is mentored by Norman Osborn instead of Tony Stark. This fresh take on the beloved superhero has been receiving rave reviews and has earned a nearly perfect score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 70% from audiences. On IMDb, the show has a score of 8.2/10. Fun Facts Alternate Universe: The series explores a universe where Peter Parker is mentored by Norman Osborn, providing a unique twist on the classic Spider-Man story. Animation Style: The show uses a 3D cel-shaded technique that echoes vintage Steve Ditko-era Spider-Man, blending vintage and contemporary styles. Quotes from Critics and Celebrities Josh Wilding from ComicBookMovie: "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man exceeds every expectation and is a true love letter to the world's greatest superhero." Michael Thomas from Collider: "Whether you're a lifelong fan or simply a casual viewer, there's plenty in this series to keep you entertained." Colman Domingo on Norman Osborn: "This performance strikes a perfect balance between classic cartoons, comic book authenticity, and modern storytelling." Episode Titles and Drop Dates Here are the episode titles and their respective drop dates for the first season of "Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man": Episode 1: Amazing Fantasy – January 29, 2025 Episode 2: The Parker Luck – January 29, 2025 Episode 3: Secret Identity Crisis – February 5, 2025 Episode 4: Hitting the Big Time – February 5, 2025 Episode 5: The Unicorn Unleashed – February 5, 2025 Episode 6: Duel with the Devil – February 12, 2025 Episode 7: Scorpion Rising – February 12, 2025 Episode 8: Tangled Web – February 12, 2025 Episode 9: Hero or Menace – February 19, 2025 Episode 10: If This Be My Destiny... – February 19, 2025 Don't miss out on this thrilling new take on Spider-Man! Tune in to the latest episode of Mostly Superheroes to hear Logan, Andy, Scotty, and Sam discuss their thoughts on the show. What did you think of the episode? Do you have any favorite moments from the show? https://mostlysuperheroes.com/posts/your-friendly-neighborhood-spider-man  ©2025 Carrogan Ventures, LLC

Jason and Rosie dive into the first two episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney+. Spider-Man swings into animation again, this time at Marvel Studios. Led by Jeff Trammell - who helmed some of the best episodes of Craig of the Creek - this series unique look has divided fan, but it's big heart gives reason to stick around. Rosie and Jason wonder why Spider-Man doesn't sound like a Beastie Boy. And of course, there’s that big twist involving Norman Osborn! Follow Jason: twitter.com/netw3rk Follow Rosie: IG & Letterboxd Follow X-Ray Vision on Instagram Join the X-Ray Vision DiscordSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is our spoiler-free review of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. We share our thoughts on this incredible new series from Jeff Trammell and the immensely talented teams at Marvel Animation. We dive into the show's timeless look and feel sensational cast performances, and rich, refreshing story—all of which seamlessly blend everything we've grown to love about Spider-Man over the past 63 years. It truly is a love letter to Spider-Man fans, both young and old. Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man launches on January 29, exclusively on Disney+. Check out Geekcentric onYouTube | Instagram | Twitter | TikTokJoin the Geekcentric Discord HERE

As Indy travels to Cuba to clear Marcus' name, Barm and Jack both swing by to weigh in the Crimson Jack of it all in Skeleton Crew, to fight off a case of Indy Fever in Peking, to admire the unexpected charms of Steve Ditko in these comic pages, and to revel in the joys of the Smash Martians.

Craig Yoe's biographical interview highlights his creative journey through personal struggles and reinvention, who transforms adversity into creativity while remaining true to his innovative spirit. He discusses his graphic novel Woman & Man+, a psychedelic reflection on leaving the U.S., a painful divorce, and using art therapy to rebuild his life. Raised in the Midwest, Yoe credits his parents for encouraging his creativity, with influences like Carl Barks, Marvel Comics, Steve Ditko, and Robert Crumb. Yoe's 1960s anti-war activism, through protests and underground newspapers, reflected his pacifist values despite cultural losses like the deaths of Hendrix and Joplin. In the 1970s, he embraced the Jesus People movement, blending communal living, spiritual exploration, and work on Christian newspapers with artists like Rick Griffin. He oversaw David C. Cooke Bible and Life Pix comics before moving into toy design with Sid Diamond Toy Company and Marvin Glass toymakers. Yoe later became Creative Director for Jim Henson's Muppets and founded Yoe Studio, building a decades-long career in design and storytelling. His publishing imprint, Yoe Books, has produced award-winning works celebrating comics history and pop culture. Yoe's new Graphic Novel found at Clover Press.Interview ©2024 Comic Book Historians LLCSupport the show

It's all been leading to this - Coverage of the final issues of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko; AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #37 & #38.

Giuseppe Castellano talks to author, cartoonist, and educator, Frank Cammuso, about Frank's approach to pacing with panels, and why it's one of the most beautiful things about comics; how Steve Ditko does not get the credit he rightfully deserves; what you can learn from a good tomato sauce recipe about making comics; and more.

Smash Trivia John of Smash Trivia Presents: The Gamma Analysis podcast (listen to it on Spotify; follow him on TikTok @smashtrivia) joins us to go over Spider-Man (2002). Director Sam Raimi brought his signature vision and energy to the project and kinda shifted the movie industry into a completely different direction for the next two decades. But how does it hold up as a movie?   Bonus video: We talk about our favorite villains from superhero movies. Watch it on our Twitter, Instagram, or TikTok.   Next week: We're taking a week off for Thanksgiving. We'll be back on December 6, 2024 with an episode about Home Alone 2 (1992) featuring special guest Elliott Stokes, returning to the show for the first time since 2018!    Time stamps: 00:02:44 — Our personal histories with Spider-Man (the character) and Spider-Man (the movie)  00:15:04 — History segment: The origins of Spider-Man with Steve Ditko and Stan Lee; development of Spider-Man projects at Sony Pictures over the years; and brief career overview of director Sam Raimi 00:30:27 — In-depth movie discussion 01:47:00 — Final thoughts and star ratings   Source: The Big Picture: The Fight For the Future of Movies by Ben Fritz (2018) - https://amzn.to/4fzqnHy    Artwork by Laci Roth.   Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).   Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode: “Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM “Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg “The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ   Follow the show! Twitter: @LoadBearingPod | @MattStokes9 | @LRothConcepts Instagram: @loadbearingbeams TikTok: @load.bearing.beams | @mattstokes9 Letterboxd: @loadbearinglaci | @mattstokes9

Batman's Penis & Poop in a Box , A Spider-Man No Way Home Discussion (Episode 121) A Spider-man No Way Home Discussion Joe, Andy, and Artstar continue the discussion of Spider-Man: No Way Home. Join us as we analyze the plot and character development of the Spider-Man: No Way Home movie, as well as other Marvel-related topics such as the Marvel Snap and the Green Goblin's origin story, movies, comic books, and their associated genres as well as expectations people have for certain movies or comic books based on their genre, and how these expectations can sometimes be disappointing. We also discuss the portrayal of characters in movies and comic books, with a focus on Deadpool and Gambit as well as the topic of Batman's penis in a comic book, and censorship in comics. Andy provides background information on the villains featured in the film, who were originally introduced in the early years of the Amazing Spider-Man comics by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. And of course the conversation meanders around Andrew Garfield and Tobey McGuire as well as Topher Grace and Debra Jo Rupp. Plus, without TBJ, the fellas spiral wildly out of control into penises and poop. Sorry, TBJ.

Here at Back Issue Banter, we try to come up with answers as to why we love classic comics, but this time we're examining The Question.We're taking a look at DC Comics' 1987 revival of The Question and to help us unravel this, we brought on a guest.  Brian Linnen (Permanent Record Podcast) chose this month's topic, so it's only fitting that he chatted with us about this enigmatic character created by Steve Ditko, who originally appeared as one of the Charlton Comics heroes...or anti-heroes.The Question is a different type of comic -- no long underwear types here -- and it was great fun dissecting and talking about this.Hosted by Chris Karam and Brad Page.Check out Brian Linnen's Permanent Record Podcast: https://www.permanentrecordpodcast.com/

Seriah is joined by Chris Ernst to interview Robert Guffey about the works and influences of comic book/graphic novel artist Jack Kirby. Topics include Saxon/Super_Inframan and a psychedelic encounter with Jack Kirby, Robert's intense dream experience with JK, articles Robert has written on JK, Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, JK's WWII service under General Patton, post-war career with DC Comics, the recurring crises in the comics industry, juvenile delinquency and horror comics, moral panics past and present, the Fantastic Four, Marvel vs DC, Neal Adams, Grant Morrison, Hermetic and Kabbalistic symbolism in JK's work, Ken Thomas and Steam Shovel Press, the “Hour 25” science fiction radio show, Mike Hodel, JK's experimental artistic techniques, Captain Victory, new business models for comic artists, the emergence of comic movies, visionaries in comic art, Masonic imagery, the collective unconscious, H.P. Lovecraft, Kenneth Grant, Jungian archetypes, a childhood JK experience involving an Orthodox Jewish exorcism/healing, 20th century pulp fiction, “New Gods” vs “Star Wars”, George Lucas, the influence of comics on mainstream live-action films, prescient/prophetic story lines in JK's work, OMAC the comic character, the face on Mars, “Mission to Mars” film, Easter Island, Thor Heyerdahl, the combining of extremely different ideas and images, “Tiki Style” by Sven Kirsten, Richard Shaver, “The Eternals” film, Ray Bradbury and possible adaptations of his novels, the film “The Mothman Prophecies” vs expectations based on the book, the differences between movies and books as art forms, the difficulties of adaptations and expectations, a possible sabotage of JK's career in the 1970's, “Kamandi” DC comic, “The Demon”, “Swamp Thing”, the alchemical quest of Dr. Banner, cold war politics in “The Incredible Hulk”, the “Dream Sequence” fiction podcast, JK's work habits and techniques, automatic writing, “Strange World of Your Dreams” JK's 1950's horror comic, Albert Pike and the metaphysical meaning of the letter “G”, Stan Lee and the legend of the Golem, JK's interactions with fans, “Monsters” novel by Barry Windsor-Smith, and much, much more! Robert Guffey, as always, is a firehose of information and connections!

The CBB Boys are back but this time they are focused on one era of comic books in this new audio episode! Set the controls for the 1950s and 1960s as we discuss some of our favorite books published during the Silver Age of Comic Books. The Silver Age is considered to cover the period from 1956 to 1970 and it was a time where the concept of the super-hero was revitalized for the Cold War period! Caleb, Steve and Bill Z are on the mic to talk about some of their favorites - Fantastic Four, Tales to Astonish, Aquaman, Tales of the Bizarro World, the sci-fi work of Steve Ditko for Charlton, The T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents and more! 

Seriah is joined by Chris Ernst to interview Robert Guffey about the works and influences of comic book/graphic novel artist Jack Kirby. Topics include Saxon/Super_Inframan and a psychedelic encounter with Jack Kirby, Robert's intense dream experience with JK, articles Robert has written on JK, Steve Ditko, Stan Lee, the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, JK's WWII service under General Patton, post-war career with DC Comics, the recurring crises in the comics industry, juvenile delinquency and horror comics, moral panics past and present, the Fantastic Four, Marvel vs DC, Neal Adams, Grant Morrison, Hermetic and Cabbalistic symbolism in JK's work, Ken Thomas and Steam Shovel Press, the “Hour 25” science fiction radio show, Mike Hodel, JK's experimental artistic techniques, Captain Victory, new business models for comic artists, the emergence of comic movies, visionaries in comic art, Masonic imagery, the collective unconscious, H.P. Lovecraft, Kenneth Grant, Jungian archetypes, a childhood JK experience involving an Orthodox Jewish exorcism/healing, 20th century pulp fiction, “New Gods” vs “Star Wars”, George Lucas, the influence of comics on mainstream live-action films, prescient/prophetic story lines in JK's work, OMAC the comic character, the face on Mars, “Mission to Mars” film, Easter Island, Thor Heyerdahl, the combining of extremely different ideas and images, “Tiki Style” by Sven Kirsten, Richard Shaver, “The Eternals” film, Ray Bradbury and possible adaptations of his novels, the film “The Mothman Prophecies” vs expectations based on the book, the differences between movies and books as art forms, the difficulties of adaptations and expectations, a possible sabotage of JK's career in the 1970's, “Kamandi” DC comic, “The Demon”, “Swamp Thing”, the alchemical quest of Dr. Banner, cold war politics in “The Incredible Hulk”, the “Dream Sequence” fiction podcast, JK's work habits and techniques, automatic writing, “Strange World of Your Dreams” JK's 1950's horror comic, Albert Pike and the metaphysical meaning of the letter “G”, Stan Lee and the legend of the Golem, JK's interactions with fans, “Monsters” novel by Barry Windsor-Smith, and much, much more! Robert Guffey, as always, is a firehose of information and connections!Recap by Vincent Treewell of The Weird Part PodcastOutro Music is by BELLS≥ with Kings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another jam-packed episode as we shine the spotlight on the legendary Steve Ditko. A recent Rolling Stone article reveals new and shocking details of the talent that brought Spider Man and Dr. Strange to life! Wolverine's Greatest Battles continues and a rare Uncut Gem, or perhaps, an Uncut Jim?? 

The Micronauts: The Original Marvel Years Volume 1 by Bill Mantlo, Michael Golden, Pat Broderick, Steve Ditko, Howard Chaykin, Josef Rubenstein, Armando Gil, Rich Buckler, Bob McLeod, Al Milgrom, and company!