East Meets West - Lazare Style

The wonderfully talented and diversely careered Gerald Lazare is celebrating, along with his equally talented wife Setsuko Lazare, their new book: "East Meets West", on April 2nd in Toronto. If you've followed this blog at all you know that I grew up in the early 1970s loving Gerry's beautiful 1960s work in my elementary school readers (original art from which now hangs on my studio wall). And before that he was a pioneering Canadian comic-book artist (along with Golden Books legend Mel Crawford) in the 1940s!

Now you can enjoy their paintings in book form in this stuning new collection.

So if your going to be in the Toronto area that day and want to say hi be sure to RSVP. And tell them Glen sent you!

"M" day at the Toy Show!

Okay... officially it's known as "Victoria's Ultimate Hobby & Toy Fair!" (to distinguish it from the more established and competing "Victoria Toy Show"). But to me both of them are "the Toy Show", and with each happening twice a year that means the four largest toy shows and sales in Western Canada happen on my doorstep!

And it makes me happy.

The mixture of vintage and collectible toys, games, kid's books, comics, records, (all for sale), plus door prizes, magicians, hobby club displays, personal appearances by costumed characters, and more at this fun-filled Sunday event never disappoints.

C'mon! It's an auditorium filled with toys! Usually I leave with a handfull of wonderful items from my childhood. Today it was three Star Wars action figure backing cards ($1 each) from 1980, a bag of vintage plastic spacemen (actually a reverse re-gift from a pal, since I had originally given them to him ten years ago for his birthday), and both Baron Karza and his trusty Micronaut steed Andromeda.

So... as not to overwhelm you with all the totally tubular and truly terrific toyishnous today I thought we'd just look at a small taste of this morning's show... via the letter "M".

In the first photo (top) we meet an army of vintage plastic Marx figures on the march. Micronauts and more are featured in the montage above... and mounds of moon-age Mattel militaria is on display with the men of Major Matt Mason (below).

I've found dozens of wonderful children's books at these toy shows over the years. Often quite reasonably priced too. This one featuring a magnificent cover illustration by Mary Blair was a little out of my price range though.

More merry Marx mirth making when the mixed-up maniacs known as the Nutty Mads make the scene!

And finally... this beautiful Man in Space cover. Watch the series this comic book was based on here.

So please stop by if your going to be in the Victoria area during the Spring or Fall. I doubt you'll walk away, empty handed or not, unhappy. I never do.

Quick Flick!

Time once again to let my bloggy readers know that there's new old kid's books illustrations from my ever-growing collection of vintage children's goodness up on my Flickr photostream. This time around I'm featuring the work of Charles Nicolas (below), and poetically-named Wonder Books stalwart Dellwyn Cunningham (above).

Intending to enrich the minds of my faithful followers I did a quick search on the origins of the name "Dellwyn". I didn't get too far though before I stumbled across the coolest named dentist in the history of the world! Should you live in the Memphis area and you need your teeth re-filed, or that diamond insert on your front incisor polished I'd suggest you check out Dr. Dellwyn M. Turnipseed, DMD. With a name like that I think she's got to have a great chair-side sense of humour if nothing else.

Evel's Da Bomb!

Last fall, whilst perusing my old home-town newspapers on microfilm at the nearby provincial archives, I ran across this AP photo and caption that ran in late 1977 in the Nanaimo Daily Free Press. I knew Mr. Knievel was a little loopy (earlier that year he had assaulted the author of an unauthorized book* on him with an aluminum baseball bat!), but this harebrained scheme would have taken the cake. Needless-to-say the stunt never occurred, Evil's spleen remained intact (or at least wasn't removed due to haystack-related planning), and within four years Robert Craig Knievel had retired from the motorcycle jumping business.

Yet... until his last days he continued to profess that this ill-considered act of daredevilry would eventually be accomplished. History awaits his learned prediction.

I don't.

Here's the video of E.K. reminiscing about this stunt / promotional put-on. You have to sit through a commercial to get to it unfortunately... but what else have you got to do right now? If you're wasting precious minutes of your life reading my blog you ain't likely in the middle of brain surgery or a marathon!

*$17,000 for a beat-up paperback!? Even if Evel's spleen was used as a bookmark I don't think I'd pay this much.

Kayak on the March!

Or more accurately... the new March/April issue of Kayak! Canada's favourite history magazine for kids hit the stands early this week with a communications-themed cover by one Glen A (for "Awesome"!) Mullaly, a little-known late 20th - early 21st century artist and all-around bon vivant. Get yours today before the Guggenheim snatches up all the remaining copies!

It's Provensen Time!

Once again I'm posting some images from the absolutely legendary (at least in the minds of me and my illustration admiring friends) husband and wife team of Alice and Martin Provensen. I've shared many images from them before but this go-round it's from my newly acquired copy of "The Golden Treasury of Myths Legends" from Golden Books in 1959. I stumbled across this treasure while looking for a birthday present for my sister last week. I was turning around to head from one section to the next when my eyes caught a split-second glimpse of the spine of this tome in the "Religion" section of my favourite local used book store. I paused, turned back, investigated further... and then had to stifle my unadulterated glee as I realized what I had found - in mint condition - for $9.99.

Happy day indeed.

For more samples from this wonderful book check out my Flickr photostream whydontcha!

Ummm...

I think someone in charge needs to be reminded that this is downtown Victoria... We've already had much more than our normal share of snow this year. Okay?!

Know Fun Park Path

The new Know Fun puzzles & fun feature I write and illustrate is out across Canada (and in mailboxes around the world) as the latest issue of Know Magazine, The Science Magazine for Curious Kids hits the stands. This issue is all about "finding your way", and above is a small detail from the very loose and cartoony maze I came up with for this months craziness!
Don't delay - pick your's up today!

Spring Is (not quite) Here!

With birds chirping outside my window, temperatures on the rise, and thoughts of spring cleaning attempting to cha-cha in my head I figured I'd jump the seasonal gun and post this 1957 Better Homes & Gardens ad, along with an alluring assortment of other 1950s magazine illos, over at my Flickr photostream.