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With Further Ado #374: The 2025 Annual Gift Giving Guide – Part 2

With Further Ado #374: The 2025 Annual Gift Giving Guide – Part 2

Posted on by Ed Catto

But wait, there’s more! It’s time for part two of With Further Ado’s Holiday Gift Guide. There’s so much good stuff out there, for you and for your loved ones. And hey, if your “loved ones” means your home office, that’s perfectly fine with me!

Nancy Wears Hats
by Ernie Busmiller
(Design by Kayla E.)

Ever since I was gifted part of the William G. Martin collection, I’ve been really into the comic strip Nancy. (Exhibit A is here, and exhibit B is here.) Mike Gold would tell you I was late to the party, and, as usual, he would be right. There’s an offbeat brilliance to Ernie Bushmiller’s work on Nancy. And like eating tortilla chips, the more you get the more you want.

This new Fantagraphics Books edition is smart and sassy. It’s not oversized and somehow that feels just right. I would even say there is a subtle rhythm to presenting this collection that the editor nailed. Most of the book consists of three strips to a page, but every now-and-again: Bam! A four panel strip is taking up a whole page. These make you pause and smirk all the harder.

This is the type of book that I’ll be eager to share with my cool, hip friends. But at the same time, I can’t wait to read it to my soon-to-be-visiting granddaughter, Lula. She’s only five, but she’s subversive and sneaky, so I think she’ll instantly “get Nancy”. Maybe better than I do.

Seriously, though, what a smart gift this would be your entire spectrum of friends.

And you know what? I can’t say it any better than the back cover copy, which extols us to “Experience random Acts of Nancy!”

Nancy Wears Hats
by: Ernie Bushmiller
Publisher: ‎Fantagraphics Books
Softcover/TPB: ‎216 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8875001017

Arthur Ferrier’s Showgirl Sirens 1940-1949: Gals! Gags! Glamour! (Volume 1) (Pin-up Parade)
by Rian Hughes (Author), Arthur Ferrier (Illustrator)

Rian Hughes is brilliant in many ways: as a designer, as an entrepreneur, and increasingly as the guy who turns us all onto cool new things! A couple of years ago he wowed us all with his Rayguns & Rocketships book – celebrating the early days of UK Science Fiction illustration. I raved about that one here. Continue reading “With Further Ado #374: The 2025 Annual Gift Giving Guide – Part 2” →

With Further Ado #321: Arthur Ferrier’s Classic Cartoon Collection Pin-up Parade on Kickstarter

With Further Ado #321: Arthur Ferrier’s Classic Cartoon Collection Pin-up Parade on Kickstarter

Posted on by Ed Catto

The is upcoming Kickstarter from one of the coolest publishers, Korero Press, looks to be so much fun. And it also made me say, “How did I not know about this guy?” The featured artist, Arthur Ferrier, looks to be a new favorite.

From the Korero Press Kit:

Arthur Ferrier’s work defined the heyday of British pin-up cartoons for nigh-on four decades. In clean, elegant ink line he rendered the fashionable female form with consummate virtuosity and style. Through comic strips, cartoons and advertising art, few illustrators were as celebrated or prolific.

Ferrier’s women, often in a state of casual undress, were always catching the attention of dashing suitors – and the odd wolf. A big hit with the troops during World War II, Ferrier’s cheeky illustrations and quick-fire comic strips raised not only morale but a few eyebrows. After the end of hostilities, Ferrier continued to chart mid-century fads and fashions right up to the dawn of the Summer of Love.

This three-volume set includes cartoons plucked from the pages of Blighty magazine, news clippings, posters, magazine covers, rare original art, and an introduction by Rian Hughes.

“Arthur Ferrier had a very long career – he was active from the thirties to the sixties. He first sold cartoons to the Daily Record while working as an analytical chemist in Glasgow,” said Rian Hughes. “He later moved to London, where he got work from Punch, London Opinion, The Humorist, and other weekly magazines. He drew one or two beautiful cartoons for Blighty magazine, a newsprint weekly, pretty much from its inception during World War Two through to its demise – it eventually changed its name to Parade and metamorphosed into a top-shelf magazine, by which time his work looked somewhat out of place.”

“As well as his Blighty contributions, book illustrations, and advertising work, Ferrier also drew comic strips – Film Fannie, Eve, ITMA (‘Its That Man Again’, based on a BBC radio comedy show), and Our Dumb Blonde, which ran in the Sunday Pictorial for seven years from 1939 to 1946.”

You can read more of Rian Hughes recent interview about Ferrier here.

As an added bonus, this book set includes several articles by Ferrier himself that offer valuable insights into his working methods. These articles remain just as relevant for budding and professional pin-up artists and illustrators today as when they were first written.

Check out the Kickstarter today, and be “first in line” when it officially Launches on November 12th!

Tell ‘em With Further Ado and Pop Culture Squad sent ya.

With Further Ado #227: Ed’s 2022 Annual Gift Giving Guide – Part 1

With Further Ado #227: Ed’s 2022 Annual Gift Giving Guide – Part 1

Posted on by Ed Catto

Ok, I may not have been perfect this year, but I promise I’ll be really good for the rest of this year and all of 2023.

Yeah, yeah – you’re right. I’ve been telling Santa that line for quite a few years. I don’t think he’s buying it. I hope you’ve been able to behave this year, though, because there’s so much wonderful stuff out here! And that’s just what this Annual Gift Guide is for – to help you put a few things on your radar. Items that would be wonderful for gifting ..or suggesting to your loved ones as gifts for yourself. Let’s jump into it, shall we?

Frazetta Book Cover Art: The Definitive Reference
By J. David Spurlock and Frank Frazetta

Publisher :‎ Vanguard
Language ‏:‎ English
Hardcover :‎ 168 pages
ISBN-10 ‏:‎ 1934331848

Clear some room on that coffee table, Vanguard has a new book out and it’s a beauty! This lovely volume chronicles artist Frank Frazetta’s book and paperback covers. Each cover is packed with dramatic tension and skilled artistry. And just about all of the covers are moody and memorable.

I’ve been a Frazetta fan forever, and our our trip to the Frazetta Museum fueled my fanboy flames. Author J. David Spurlock shares his knowledge of and respect for Frazetta in an entertaining and enthralling manner. A book like this is magnificent to flip thru once, twice or a million times.

Here’s the official sell copy for this brilliant book.

This new 2022 Frazetta book follows last year’s hit, Fantastic Paintings of Frazetta and is similar to Vanguard’s earlier Frazetta Definitive Reference book…this new book is devoted solely to the artist’s single, most beloved venue, Book Cover Art. By focusing on this specific area, the book boasts room enough to feature every single one of Frazetta’s famous and highly collectable illustrated book covers, beautifully and authentically reproduced at a larger size on a page to itself. All are presented in chronological order which, gives readers a unique ability to follow Frazetta’s evolution as an artist. Accompanying text includes commentary, original publication titles, publishers, dates, and rare quotes from the artist himself. For this Definitive Reference to feature the Complete Collection of Frazetta’s decades of book cover illustrations, in a single beautifully produced volume, is a dream come true for Frazetta fans, art and book collectors and historians alike.

I’m don’t think I’m usually that big a fan of slipcovers, but in this case I am. This slipcover is sturdy and durable, and it shows off a lesser-known book cover – and it’s exceedingly fantastic. Continue reading “With Further Ado #227: Ed’s 2022 Annual Gift Giving Guide – Part 1” →

With Further Ado #225: The Rayguns and Rocketships of Rian Hughes

With Further Ado #225: The Rayguns and Rocketships of Rian Hughes

Posted on by Ed Catto

You can almost smell the stale greasy fumes in the air and the hear the metallic thrumming of the engines as you flip through the pages. This is space travel – 1950s style.

This space travel has more in common with a submarine than a Tesla or SpaceX. These spaceships are more like typewriters and lawnmowers than your iPhone.

The clunky space suits are cumbersome and ugly, except when worn by women. Then the unitarian suits somehow transform into slinky, formfitting fashion statements, hugging every curve of the women’s 50s hourglass shapes.

The brave astronauts of this day never dreamed of apps or coding, all they needed was a space-wrench, whatever that was, and a blowtorch to build or fix their spaceships in between intergalactic oil changes.

This is the vision of a sci future…from the unique vantage point of seventy-plus years ago and from the “other side of the pond”.

Ace designer Rian Hughes has done it again! His latest book, Rayguns & Rocketships, published by Korero Press is a space-age treat. In fact, the back cover of this book displays a logo/badge on the back signifying it to be a five-star Retro Scientific Thriller –complete with a “thumbs up”. This logo, presumably designed by Hughes, couldn’t be more spot-on. Continue reading “With Further Ado #225: The Rayguns and Rocketships of Rian Hughes” →

With Further Ado #224: Lost DC Logos!!

With Further Ado #224: Lost DC Logos!!

Posted on by Ed Catto

My favorite logo designer is a brilliant gent named Rian Hughes. I’ve been a fan for years, and I’ve even been a client. (He designed our Agendae logo.) His book on logos is brilliant. He’s created many big company logos and comic logos. I keep his book on my office bookshelf and always trot it out when I need some creative inspiration. Longtime readers will even remember I featured his book in my very first With Further Ado column.

And I just received Hughes’ newest book Rayguns & Rocketships, published by Korero, which I will be reviewing in a future column.

But this past weekend, we went to another vintage book sale and rescued some more treasures. (I’m developing a nice Big Little Book collection, in fact.) One treasure was an oversized coffee table book, Milton Glaser: Art is Work, celebrating legendary designer Milton Glaser. Continue reading “With Further Ado #224: Lost DC Logos!!” →

With Further Ado #193: Book Review – The Set-Up

With Further Ado #193: Book Review – The Set-Up

Posted on by Ed Catto

If you like boxing and old film noirs, you might know the movie The Set-Up. Directed by Robert Wise, it’s an impactful film about struggle, grittiness and aging all wrapped up in the knowledge you are just “one punch away from being the champion.”

This book isn’t exactly like that.

As it turns out, the story’s original writer hated the film version. Author Joseph Moncure March was a New Yorker born into wealth. He worked hard to understand, and write about, the “real” world and the common man. He is best known for his earlier work, The Wild Party. This story, first published in 1928, is told as a long poem. It is about a black fighter’s battles in and out of the ring.

The author described it as “the story of a Negro fighter who has already been defeated by race prejudice, but doesn’t know how to stop fighting.”

Korero Press, the UK publishing house that is always stretching to try creative new projects, has just published a new version of The Set-Up. It’s a cross between a graphic novel and a heavily illustrated epic poem. It has the feel of a lost treasure one would find on a back shelf of some forgotten bookstore. And yet, somehow it seems crisp and new.

The art is a big part of the experience. Erik Kriek is a powerful modern-day illustrator. He’s based in Amsterdam, and maybe that’s why I’m not familiar with his work.  He has illustrated graphic novels (including In the Pines and Creek County) as well as children’s books. Continue reading “With Further Ado #193: Book Review – The Set-Up” →

With Further Ado #001: Logo-A-Gogo

With Further Ado #001: Logo-A-Gogo

Posted on by Ed Catto

Did you ever wonder about a brand and why that brand grabbed you? It may have been something about the business proposition, or it might have been the way that idea was communicated in the brand’s logo.  So why don’t we kick things off with a column about logos?

My name’s Ed Catto and this is the first “With Further Ado”, my new column for Pop Culture Squad. I’m an entrepreneurial marketing guy and long-time comics fan. I’ve recently joined the faculty of Ithaca College were I teach business, with a focus on entrepreneurism, to MBAs and undergrads while I continue with my management & marketing consulting. In this column, I’ll be covering the crossroads of comics, entrepreneurial business and geek culture. I’m so happy you’re here.

Logo-a-gogo

Logos have long been an important part of the comic experience.  The iconic Superman logo has been one of the most copied, and parodied, logos ever.  But in a medium that’s about story as much as it is about art, a strong logo reinforces what a brand is while doing the necessary work of grabbing a customer’s attention and helping make the sale.  Continue reading “With Further Ado #001: Logo-A-Gogo” →