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philcom55 · Post by **philcom55** » 12 Nov 2007, 21:48

I've always been a huge fan of the American cartoonist Don Martin so I was delighted to look through the new slipcased collection of his work for Mad Magazine this weekend; unfortunately, at nearly ?100 it's way beyond my budget. All the same, I wish some British cartoonists could have their strips presented in a similar format. People on this site have often speculated about how successful Ken Reid might have been working for the American market, but by the same token I can't help imagining an alternate world in which Don Martin moved to the UK in the early 50s and spent his life creating strips for Dandy, Beano, Wham! and Buster! Any suggestions as to which characters he could have drawn?

[img:596:800]http://uk.geocities.com/philcom55/donm.jpg[/img]

- Phil Rushton

Gary Northfield · Post by **Gary Northfield** » 12 Nov 2007, 22:20

I picked up a Don Martin paperback book at a jumble sale when I was about 7 years old ("Don Martin Steps Out!" - still got it!). I was totally thrown by his use of one panel per page to tell a story, but this really does create some beautiful comic timing. I was also really intrigued by the way he drew his characters with their toes bent down at right-angles.

I haven't checked out the big new collection yet; is it like those "Complete Far Side" and "Complete Calvin and Hobbes" books? They've got one of those Calvin And Hobbes going for ?50 at my local Sussex Stationers. Not only is it still pricey, I just don't think I'd be able to carry the flipping thing back on the bus!

felneymike · Post by **felneymike** » 12 Nov 2007, 22:21

Hmm, i think Andy Capp had similar "attitudes" to that strip in the early 50's XD

Also ridiculous "harmless" violence and big muscles would seem to lend itself to Captain Hurricane

Cap Haggis · Post by **Cap Haggis** » 13 Nov 2007, 02:27

Don Martin was a true original and a total one off - loved his work and used to pick up the Mad paperbacks like CAPTAIN KLUTZ when ever I came across them- but for me his one off pages in Mad (and to a much lesser extend in Cracked) were works of genius that were always funny - How many cartoonists have a National day in their honour (well National Gorilla suit day

after his trademark character ploy just brilliant) Martin and Reid (with Wolverton and possibly Wally Wood) were, for me more or less on the same "page" (ie off the wall - look at the look in Martins characters eyes they're the same as Reids ie mad /insane although for me with Ken Reid there seemed to be something just not quite right about his characters that were always more off the wall than anyones) - I would have loved to have seen Don Martin set loose on Bash Street Kids, Bannanaman or someone like Mickey the Monkey (nearly a Gorilla lol) to see how insane he could actual go - I picked up a thick book on Martins work (featured a newspaper strip he worked on as well as lots of his other wok) for about ?9 about 8 years ago its still on sale (has a man on a pogo stick on the cover its worth a look -also worth picking up are the Don Martin comics that were produced a few years ago (only got the 3 issues I think)

HighAndMighty · Post by **HighAndMighty** » 13 Nov 2007, 12:56

Don Martin and Sergio Aragones (his margin illustrations were terrific) were the two that kept me interested in Mad after I stumbled across it in a cut-price seaside comic shop - Superduperman and Star Wars spoofs being the main draw at the time.

The Mad paperbacks were great too.

If I remember rightly, Don Martin left Mad over copyright issues to his characters. He joined one of the magazine's competitors who allowed him to retain copyright on his own characters...... so it's not likely that he'd have been working for the Beano...

ISPYSHHHGUY · Post by **ISPYSHHHGUY** » 13 Nov 2007, 13:17

The Americans sure honour their cartoonists more vigorously, and indeed take the whole concept of comics/cartooning far more seriously than we BRITS do......there are entire museums dedicated to some of their prominent cartoonists [SCHULTZ definately has one]....this is totally unthinkable here........the 'CALVIN and HOBBES' slipcase set was available at around 75 quid at one time........it weighed A TON, I remember, I only wish I could come across a KEN REID set like this.

P.S.-----the AMERICANS also have a museum dedicated to RONALD RAEGAN.........but, that's another story.

felneymike · Post by **felneymike** » 13 Nov 2007, 14:12

Well they have a huge country, they have to find something to fill it with XD

philcom55 · Post by **philcom55** » 13 Nov 2007, 14:42

Oddly enough I just bought a replacement copy of The Mad Adventures of Captain Klutz this weekend as my original one appears to have been terminally 'borrowed'.

In my opinion this was one of Martin's genuine masterpieces, containing a hilariously sustained 'origin' sequence that can make radioactive spiders and exploding planets seem positively ordinary! Sadly, the long-standing copyright dispute between Mad Magazine and Martin's estate means that none of his original paperbacks are likely to be reprinted anytime soon, in any format.
[img:378:627]http://uk.geocities.com/philcom55/klutza.jpg[/img][img:376:625]http://uk.geocities.com/philcom55/klutzb.jpg[/img]
I agree that American cartoonists tend to have been much more generously celebrated on the other side of the Atlantic, but it occurs to me that humorous comic strip artists with a distinctively original style like Martin had a much more limited market to pitch their work to. In fact apart from Mad and Cracked there was surprisingly little of this sort of work published between the sophisticated newspaper and magazine strips (aimed primarily at adults) and the largely stultifying house-styles of DC, Disney, Harvey and Archie (even allowing for the occasional Barks, DeCarlo or Mayer). By contrast the British scene would probably have seemed like some kind of paradise.

- Phil Rushton

Cap Haggis · Post by **Cap Haggis** » 13 Nov 2007, 14:47

The Beano ref was only a "fantasy" in reference to the original posters comments on what he could have done in the UK - As you say he would have been unlikely to work on a UK comic (not his style really) Martin moved to Craked magazine (a poor version of MAD) after his copyright problems with MAD - CRACKED had some good artists working for them, most notably John Severin (altho not great on humopur for me) one of my fav artists of all time and Martin of course but the quality of the humour in Cracked was pretty poor for me.

colcool007 · Post by **colcool007** » 13 Nov 2007, 20:58

Got the Calvin and Hobbes set as a combined birthday/Christmas pressie. Sometimes it is good to have your birthday 3 weeks before Christmas and I do agree it weighs a ton! Moving that beast around windy Falklands was no picnic!

As to Don Martin, I first became aware of his work when I was browsing the Dens Road Fleamarket in Dundee. (Now, that is a blast from the past!) I picked up a few of the Mad books and the Don Martin bits were hilarious. Always seemed to me to have been inspired by the Goons meets the Marx Bros with a bit of W C Fields thrown in for good measure.

Whether US artists would have enjoyed the UK is another matter as I am sure that they would not have been impressed with the pages rates in the first place and the establishment imposed anonymity may not have sat so well on their shoulders as credits have been appearing in US comics for decades longer than they have over here.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » 13 Nov 2007, 21:04

Didn't Don Martin influence Leo Baxendale for a short period during the 70s? I'm sure I remember something in 'A Very Funny Business'...

Brendan McGuire · Post by **Brendan McGuire** » 14 Nov 2007, 20:31

There's a Don Martin look-alike in one of the Willy the Kid books.

ISPYSHHHGUY · Post by **ISPYSHHHGUY** » 24 Nov 2007, 14:11

If you are a U.S. cartoonist who wishes to avoid the pitfalls of turning out similar 'in-house' product already set in stone, ----in other words, if you prefer working on your own personal drawing-style/humour, your best bet is the Newspaper syndicates ['CALVIN and HOBBES' being the obvious example cited here].

Notoriously difficult to crack, [they get thousands of submissions anually, of which very few are selected]------this royalty-based system netted 'SPARKY' Schulz 30 MILLION bucks per annum at the peak of 'PEANUTS' popularity...........I am not exaggerating, 'only in America,'and all that... granted, this is THE extreme example, being the most successful strip in U.S. History............but it sure puts into perspective the glaring differences between U.K. and U.S. comics industries.

The other downside in newspaper syndication is the tiny, postage-stamp-sized frames in which to 'express yourself' in..........this makes the normal A3-seeming sized pages of 'DANDY' appear like limitless vistas........

TomRaymondUK · Post by **TomRaymondUK** » 04 Sep 2008, 14:59

HighAndMighty wrote:Don Martin and Sergio Aragones (his margin illustrations were terrific) were the two that kept me interested in Mad after I stumbled across it in a cut-price seaside comic shop...

That's where I first saw Mad as well! In Hunstanton, should you be interested. Really liked Mort Drucker's work as well. I haven't bought Mad since the eighties though...

Peter Gray · Post by **Peter Gray** » 04 Sep 2008, 17:24

heres Phils image back up..

Just bought a paperback of Don Martin in Chichester and a DC comic of Sergio Aragones Actions speak from ebay..love the work..
very keen to buy the book of complete Don Martin...see how my budjet is...

I'm in a Mad magazine mood at the moment...will be buying a new Mad...also look for old ones on ebay.

Mad fold-ins......we've been talking a lot about Mad and showing pictures at the
forum
http://tiptopgolfy.proboards101.com/index.cgi
you have to join up to see...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/30/arts/ ... ref=slogin

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