Blog@Newsarama » R.I.P. Iwao Takamoto

We are slowly loosing the old-school talent.  He will be missed.

Blog@Newsarama » R.I.P. Iwao Takamoto

R.I.P. Iwao Takamoto

Tuesday January 9, 2007, 11:33 am

Iwao Takamoto

Veteran artist Iwao Takamoto passed away Monday as a result of heart failure. He was 81.

According to his AP obituary (linked above), Mr. Takamoto had
graduated high school in Los Angeles when World War II began. He and
his family were sent to an internment camp, where fellow internees
taught him how to illustrate. He had no other formal training, but
still got a job at the Walt Disney Studios, where he worked as an
assistant animator on its feature films from 1947 to 1960.

Mr. Takamoto (IMDb listing)
is probably known best for his work at Hanna-Barbera, where he started
in 1961. While there, he worked in various capacities on many familiar
H-B series, including “The Flintstones,” “Jonny Quest,” and “Super
Friends.” He is credited with creating Scooby-Doo, and directed the
1973 animated adaptation of “Charlotte’s Web.” 

Iwao Takamoto received a 2005 Golden Award from the Animation Guild,
in honor of his fifty-plus years working in animation. His name is no
doubt familiar to anyone who spent Saturday mornings in the 1960s,
1970s, or 1980s propped in front of a TV, waiting through the credits
for the next cartoon to begin.

[EDIT:  ToonZone obituary]

 

Posted by Tom Bondurant in News & Views, Movies, Pop Culture, Creators, Animation, Television [ Permalink ]

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I heard some good news over at Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin

I am a big fan of the Wild Cards books, I have been reading them since I was in High School. I even still have all of the paperbacks back in the “Fortress of Comictude”. I know I saw the 16th book one time in a book store, and for some reason I spaced that is was new and thought it was some kind of a reprint. The snippet below is great news and I will have to pick up Deuces Down and Death Draws Five with my some of my Christmas\Birthday money. I might even find my old paperbacks and read them from the start.

Mike Sterling’s Progressive Ruin

I’m currently reading volume 17 of the Wild Cards series, Death Draws Five by John J. Miller, released in hardcover in early 2006 by iBooks, which
had also published volume 16 of the series a year or two previous. I only mention it here because there was a several year gap between
volumes 15 and 16, and because these two new books are only in hardcover (with iBooks no longer an ongoing concern, following the untimely passing of founder Byron Preiss, softcover versions may not be immediately forthcoming), some of you old time Wild Cards fans out there may not even be aware there are new installments in the series. I didn’t even know #17 was out until several months after its release, and that’s only because I plugged “wild cards” into Amazon’s search engine just on a whim.For those of you who don’t know what Wild Cards is, Wildcardsonline.com
details the history and background of the series. Short version: it’s a long-running prose novel shared-universe series where people infected by an alien virus gain superpowers, unless the virus kills or deforms them instead. It’s convoluted, improbable, uneven, and greatly entertaining…just like some of those funnybooks you folks are reading.

And some good news…Tor Books has picked up where iBooks left off, and is committed to publishing three more novels in the series. You can read a sample from the next book on Wild Cards mastermind George R. R. Martin’s official website.

Technorati Tags: Wild Cards, George R. R. Martin,

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Blog@Newsarama » Like you didn’t expect this.

Looks like others are slowly coming to realize what I did years ago.  MARVEL SUCKS!!

Blog@Newsarama » Like you didn’t expect this.

Like you didn’t expect this.

Tuesday January 9, 2007, 8:50 am

Fans on the Comic Book Resources boards respond to the news of the latest Civil War delays:

“Marvel I’ve stuck by you in everything so far but this… this is
INSANE. If this really is delayed until late February, I say screw it
and use a fill in. I love Civil War but this cannot be worth this.”

“WHat happened to Marvel/Millar saying there would be no further delay for Issue #7?”

“THIS STORY IS NEVER GOING TO END! EVER! IT’S JUST GOING TO KEEP
GOING AND GOING GETTING WORSE AND MORE NONSENSICAL WITH EVERY ISSUE
THAT DOESN’T COME OUT ON TIME ANYWAY! ARGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! … …
Okay. Got that out of my system. I feel bet– SPEEDBALL WHAT DID THEY DO
TO YOU!?! no. Seriously. I mean it this time. I’m good this time.”

“Sweet Jesus and the orphans!!! What the f***?!!?! Is this right?! I
love Civil War, and I do mean love…but this is outrageous! All these
delays are really starting to annoy me now.”

“Ok I must say this is f***ing bull**** I mean come on first delay I
wasn’t upset because i knew the others would be out on time, but no
there was another delay again upset but figured two in one month would
be great, but getting almost another month delay I call bull. This
means the last tie-ins won’t be out until this and then the whole post
civil war will be delayed I will say that planet hulk will not have my
participation at all. At least with DC they got the story out to you in
a reasonable amount of time. And 52 has had no delays what so ever come
on Marvel pick up your F***ing game.”

“Wow. This has really disappointed me. I’m not even mad. I just feel
extremely let down. I really believed them when they said, ‘No more
delays’ the first time. The second time, I believed them again, and
wasn’t that mad. After all, this was Steve McNiven’s health we were
talking about. Wouldn’t do much good for CW’s schedule if the penciller
dropped dead, after all. But then, they up and do this to us again. Why
didn’t Brevoort have the stones to tell us this last week, instead of
feeding us some ‘we’ll tell you on Tuesday’ bollocks?”

Posted by Graeme McMillan in News & Views, Marvel, Fandom [ Permalink ] [ ]

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