You are currently in standard theme
You are currently in flex theme
In the 1700s, fueled by the invention of movable type and the need to disperse information as quickly as possible, designs were etched into the printing plates to help either explain or draw readers into the text. These additions were called "comical cuts." In the 1800s, when shortened to "comicals," printers discovered how to use chemicals to ensure there would be no loss in quality in these "strips" over multiple printings. Add to that various colors and by the time we as Americans entered the 20th Century, "Comics" became a part of a publication that everyone could enjoy.
Magazines like Harper's, Puck, Life, and Judge were now famous for their strips and comical additions. So the earliest comic books were simply collections of these stories reassembled and bound together to enjoy as a complete series. For 50 cents in 1897, you could buy a 167-page black & white reprinting of all "The Yellow Kid" strips. In 1899, comic stripes from the aforementioned magazines were collected in "Funny Folks."
Comics got their first original creation in 1902 as Richard Outcault returned with his new creation, Buster Brown. Modeled after the popular suit for boys of the day and taking his name from vaudevillian child actor Buster Keaton, Buster Brown was a mischievous kid who played jokes and was usually caught. Like Twain's Tom Sawyer dropped in a more urban setting, Buster Brown rifles through life without paying attention to the consequences of his actions. At a drugstore counter, Buster clowns around and spills his own drink on himself and the elegantly dressed woman next to him. As punishment, Brown is taken home and spanked. Weirdly while being flogged by his mother, she says "The druggists are legalized robbers! They will sell you soda and candy to make you ill, then sell you medicine to make it worse!"
A lot of standards are established here. Tige, his faithful dog, speaks to Buster but goes understood by any adult. Buster even has a girlfriend, Mary Jane. In 1904, Outcault traveled to the World's Fair to sell his creation to the highest bidder. The Brown Shoe Company bought the rights and the shoes became instant hits. While Buster Brown grew into more of the brand for the company, the classic low-cut Mary Janes remain a standard in women's shoes today.
Joining Buster, Mary Jane, and Tige in the pages were "two mismatched tinhorns." Creator Bud Fisher described his characters that way in the first daily comic strip, "Mutt and Jeff." Using a character he had employed a few times in his single-panel cartoons in the Sports pages of the San Francisco Chronicle, Fisher the misadventures of "A.Mutt" in 1907, before bringing on his foil Jeff in 1908. Their original love of horseracing (and betting), grew into the pair being roped into any number of scams, schemes, and bad ideas. While most of their mishaps were the result of greed, their interactions were ridiculous and their behavior so uncouth they were truly caricatures instead of characters.
"Mutt and Jeff" was far more timely than most strips (a result of running six days a week) so the older strips have not aged as well. Some of the language and observations would not be allowed in society today. Still, as they aged out of these unfortunate social behavior patterns, their weird world was the first nationally syndicated comic strip. In addition, it also produced its own spinoff (then referred to as a "topper strip"), "Cicero's Cat" in 1926 (which ran without words until 1972).
Fisher was so busy with "Mutt and Jeff" that he had to hire assistants to help with the strip. In 1917, Fisher hired Billy Liverpool and Ed Mack. Mack would be integral in keeping these hapless dunderheads in print, even hiring as his assistant Maurice Sendak. When Fisher abandoned the strip in 1930, and Mack passed away in 1932, it was turned over to Al Smith (who actually would not claim the strip as his own until 1954). Smith would keep "Mutt and Jeff" going until 1980.
One of its most famous imitators was the adventures of "Maggie and Jiggs" best known as "Bringing Up Father." As early as 1911, cartoonist George McManus was playing around with the story of a brick carrier (Jiggs) who won the lottery. As Irish immigrants, Jiggs and his family are introduced to middle-class America. His wife, Maggie, takes to the social-climbing immediately, while Jiggs is content to live better but resists change. The battle of "shanty" v. "lace-curtain" Irish attracted numerous readers after its introduction on January 2, 1913. Its style was far cleaner and incorporated the looks of the day. "Bringing Up Father" lived through generations of interfamilial conflict, finally ceasing in 2000.
Mik Davis is the record store manager at T-Bones Records & Cafe in Hattiesburg.
LIZZO - Special [LP/CD/CS](Atlantic)
Triple-Grammy winner Lizzo has already proved to the world she has the talent to burn. Her breakthrough "Cuz I Love You" was a long time coming. When her viral single "Truth Hurts" finally earned its airplay stripes, they had to add it to copies of her record. Three years later, "Special" launches a full-fledged assault on the Pop charts. Aided by a cadre of Grammy-winning producers/co-writers including Ricky Reed, Max Martin, and Benny Blanco - here are 11 songs that could easily follow her massive Disco-flavored lead single "About Damn Time" up the charts.
INTERPOL - The Other Side of Make-Believe [LP/CD](Matador/Redeye)
Interpol has really never been a band about evolution. What they are however is one of consistency. After flipping the formula on Post-Punk twenty years ago, everything depends solely on how minimal and powerful they can make their songs. For "Make-Believe," they reach a new high in intimacy. Paul Banks' voice sounds more wizened ("Something's Changed") and their music remains emotional but never morose. If anything, "Make-Believe" often feels detached in its verses and ready to rejoin during their choruses ("Toni”). With "Make-Believe" their Eighties Joy Division-esque strain has grown into the soft verse/loud chorus phenomena of the Nineties.
BLACK MIDI - Hellfire [LP/CD](Rough Trade)
After growing up significantly on the imaginative-yet-overstretched "Cavalcade," Black Midi pulls back from their extremes to make an album that tries to cram their sometimes chaotic arrangements into songs that could be more commercial. "Welcome To Hell" recalls Nineties Faith No More in its weirdness and expanded sonic palette (orchestra, pianos, and large bashing breaks). While their musicianship has long been unparalleled, "Hellfire" - on the initial listen - feels a little too close to actually trying to break new ground when you unconsciously did that two albums ago.
VIAGRA BOYS - Cave World [LP/CD](YEAR0001)
Swedish band Viagra Boys have been way out on the edge leading from the fringes. Their slinky, unkempt style of Punk-y Rock defies categorization even as it recalls so much other music. 2018's "Street Worms" is still a thrill-a-minute (with some major singles ("Slow Learner," and "Sports" - still not a novelty song). 2021's "Welfare Jazz" solidified their Iggy Pop-esque ability to straddled stylistic fences and tell messy but human stories. "Cave World" is their first attempt to infuse their attitude into both anything and everything. The result is an album that is strangely unpredictable and danceable. "Punk Rock Loser" establishes Sebastian Murphy as one of the most chameleonic frontmen today while the band pounds away a serious groove. "Ain't No Thief" is even more dancefloor ready as its content is simply not. That seems to be Viagra Boys' mode of operation: Just do it and damn the torpedoes! Long live Viagra Boys!
LOST FIND OF THE WEEK
DEATH - Non-Analog Stage Series: New Rochelle, NY, Tijuana, Belgium, Montreal [LP](Relapse/The Orchard)
While they did not give Death Metal its name, Florida band Death is largely responsible for many tenets of its current sound and thrust. Coming out of Thrash Metal, Death evolved from NWOBHM Metal and spurred on a Florida scene that is the petri dish for the growth of Metal into both Death Metal and Grindcore. Guitarist Chuck Schuldiner drove his band hard during their 1984-2001 run. Each of these four bootleg quality recordings requires a lot more listening than normal. These are scratchy cassettes that were fortunately saved. What each one lacks in fidelity, it more than makes up for in sheer energy. The 1988 show in New Rochelle is blistering. Working with only tracks from their first pair of albums, Schuldiner sounds possessed. His guitar lines swirl in and out of focus and the band seems to compete with his pained holler. The gallop of "Open Casket" almost drowns him out, but he returns howling with that same sound a tornado makes. 1990's Tijuana show from the "Spiritual Healing" tour is an improvement soundwise and really captures how furious they could sound at any speed. With James Murphy on guitar now, all the solos blaze. The deep cut "Within The Mind" becomes a showcase for how well they handle the twists and turns (especially bassist Terry Butler and drummer Bill Andrews). The dissonant stair-step patterns on "Altering The Future" make a great contrast with the chugging/heavy picking portions culminating in a high-wire guitar solo. Tijuana is Death untethered. Following their near dissolution, Schuldiner put together another completely new band for 1991's "Human." The "Inhuman" tour stops in Belgium in December and while the audio (and video!) are out here, it is not the best at capturing their fury. The moments of delay on Schuldiner's vocals and when Schuldiner, guitarist Paul Masvidal, and bassist Scott Carino lock into the same part (their newest song at the time "Flattening of Emotions" and "Left To Die" - found on three of the four) it is brutal. In comparison, the1995 recording has the best quality. However, it is really a demonstration of how talented all the players were. Drummer Gene Hoglan's control of both the grinding beat and the double-kick gallop is awesome. "Spiritual Healing is a real gear-jamming opener and it just soars from there. Once they get past the behemoth songs, the real boost is hearing Schuldiner duel with King Diamond's Andy LaRocque on "Crystal Mountain" and the amazing muscular "Zero Tolerance" - possibly the best track in the series. For Schuldiner, he would next try to disband Death again and continue with his Prog Metal project Control Denied. In 1999, he would be diagnosed with brain cancer. With no insurance (and as a testament to his influence), artists like Dave Grohl, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Korn, and even MTV pitched in and helped raise money for his surgery. Sadly, even with the medical treatment his condition worsened and he passed away on December 13, 2001.
Click here to view this author's last article or here to see all of their content.
Swipe right to left for next article. Swipe left to right for previous article.
Click here to see all E-editions
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Sunny, with a high near 90. Heat index values as high as 101. South wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts less than a tenth of an inch possible.
Based on data from National Weather Service and OpenWeather.
$10 per thousand reads up to $50 per post.
Neighbors $10 per thousand reads up to $50 per post.
News $30 per thousand reads up to $200 per post.
525 N. Main St.- Hattiesburg,
© Copyright 2022 HubCitySPOKES, 525 N. Main St.- Hattiesburg, MS 39401 | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy