Tag Archives: Bella

Bella does Comics #13: BLACKSAD

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Blacksad

I don’t know if writer- artist team Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido had this in mind when they created the detective noir BLACKSAD but the title character of this beautiful with a capital B graphic novel series of anthropomorphic crime tales is one sexy cat.

He’s cat. And he’s sexy. If Idris Elba was animated, he would be Blacksad. I almost wish that Idris’ Luther was more like Blacksad because then I would love the show instead of just like it.

Luther is a good show. The whole tortured cop thing, intense inner turmoil burning its way to the surface –Idris has it down. It’s beautifully shot. Alice is a villain worthy of scorn and praise.

Blacksad is The Maltese Falcon. To Have and Have Not. The Third Man. Bullitt. Body Heat. It’s pure Sin City without the pandering. Its 100 Bullets without the stereotypes. Its Scalped without the gratuity. Its the best of old school Walt Disney animation without the camera. Its Pixar’s first adapted work of fiction if they’re smart and want to venture outside their lane. It’s everything Adult Swim should be.

It is the closest to a perfect depiction of a comic creator’s vision I have ever seen.

Bella does Comics #12 – CURTIS

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Curtis

I don’t know if Curtis has ever seen boobs. I’m pretty sure he’d like to see boobs, especially Michelle’s. I could see Ray Billingsley drawing cute boobs. Matter of fact, I’d like to see Ray Billingsley draw some boobs. Probably never happen though; he’s too classy for that.

But giving up a chance to see boobs for a Get-Out-of-Hell card…I don’t know. I’m not sure there is a hell…or a heaven. And the card doesn’t say Get-Out-of-Hell FREE card which means there’s probably some cost involved for activation of the card. So already things seem dubious.

Then suppose the boobs in question belong to Shanola Hampton. Or Naturi Naughton. Or Regina King. Or Nia Long.

Nia.

Long.

Excuse me while I clean the drool off my keyboard.

Bella does Comics #10: RICHIE RICH

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RIchie RIch

Ages 8 through 12, I must have collected every Richie Rich comic Harvey printed and there were a ton. Richie Rich. Richie Rich Cash. Richie Rich Cash Money. Richie Rich Millions. Richie Rich Billions. Richie Rich Zillionz. Yes. Zillions with two z’s. I could not read enough adventures of ‘The Poor Little Rich Boy’ and his faithful dog Dollar$, his trusted butler Cadbury and his android super-maid Irona. His money bought him anything and everything including happiness, which runs contrary to some ways of thinking.

Of course there’s always “Money can’t buy happiness, but it can make you awfully comfortable while you’re being miserable.” – Clare Boothe Luce. But I digress.

The gold bauble burst for me in 1980 when ABC announced they were going to debut a Richie Rich cartoon on Saturday mornings side by side Scooby Doo. If you’ve ever read the best Richie Rich tales, gorgeously illustrated by Warren Kremer, you’ll agree that these diamond-encrusted stories of  mystery, mirth and money read like animated yarns captured cel by cel on the printed page. Now Hanna Barbera being the producers of anything usually equals mitigating levels of quality in the finished product but with such lush source materials, how could they go wrong?

Well for starters, they turned ‘The Poor Little Rich Boy’ into The Poor Little Rich Kid, aging the character about 4 years which precipitated a wardrobe change from his stock baby Lord Fauntleroy look to a half-size Archie reject. Dollar$ is no longer playfully mute and canine in his mannerisms. He’s now a $1.50 Goofy knock-off so as to play the sidekick in these wacky, silly cartoons.

I was mortified. I was heart-broken. Plus I was pissed because I was old enough to know that if the TV show was a hit, then this would be the Richie Rich everybody would gravitate to in future iterations of the character. And I was right.

The live action adaptations – Richie Rich 1994 and Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish 1998 – played in the same arena. Netflix’s sitcom revamp of property, Richie Rich 2015, dials back the lunacy of the movie by making Richie a self-made trillionaire via going green but maybe that just proves, sadly, that the original scope of the character doesn’t work in the 21st century.

I don’t know. I’m still gonna paint dollar signs on the next white dog I see, though.

Bella does Comics #9: The JACKSONS

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Jacksons

A lot of people remember the Jackson 5 cartoon show either from its initial run of 23 episodes from 1971-72 or from its numerous revivals on MTV, BET, VH-1 and different outlets over the years. But do they remember, do they respect the musical career of Rock n Roll Hall of Famers The Jacksons?  I say to thee ‘NO THEY DON’T’ and there lies the shame…to a degree.

The discography of The Jackson 5, who would become simply The Jacksons in ’76, is pretty extensive – over 20 studio & performance albums form ’70-’84 – yet much of it gets historically lumped under the banner of ‘Michael Jackson.’ Now while this speaks to how prominent Michael is on 95% of their songs, it does a disservice to the contribution of his brothers.

Jackie Jackson was a talented musician and composer, writing lyrics and melodies for the group’s later output. Tito Jackson, he of the many hats, is an underrated guitarist and songwriter. Before Janet Jackson’s star began to shine and being labeled ‘the greasiest man on television’ by Chris Rock, Jermaine Jackson was THE other successful Jackson who was the other voice on Jackson 5 hits who went on to a respectable solo career. Motown treated the group like The Monkees – Michael singing lead and backing vocals on many tracks, session guitarists replacing Tito’s work on the music beds – but their move to Epic Records in 1976 saw the brothers’ input into their success was felt and appreciated. Arguably the Jacksons’ best albums – Goin’ Places (1977), Destiny (1978), Triumph (1980) – are their most collaborative works, examples of the sibling synergy that excited audiences in Indiana in the late 60s.

I’m the first to admit that Marlon Jackson and, later, Randy Jackson…um…I don’t wanna say they were stealing money; lets just say that Dalvin (Jodeci) studied their playbook. Be real — did you even notice that they weren’t in the cartoon?

I don’t kneel at the altar of the Gloved One as so many have done but I love myself some real good Michael Jackson. I just think more than a fair share of that is with his brothers standing by his side, and not in his shadow.