Phyllis Thaxter (Superman: The Movie's Martha Kent) Merges with The Infinite

Actress Phyllis Thaxter, the actress who so wonderfully portrayed Martha Kent in Superman: The Movie, has passed at the age of 92.

She is preceded in death by actor Glen Ford who played Jonathan Kent, and Christopher Reeve, who played Superman.  However, Jeff East, who played a young Clark Kent is alive and well.

I have not seen much of Thaxter's work, but, oddly, last night I began watching Women's Prison with Ida Lupino and Audrey Totter, and the film's major character is played by none other than Phyllis Thaxter.  And she's really very good in what I'd seen so far.

Thaxter's portrayal of Martha Kent contained a stunning and instantly motherly quality that surpassed surprise at the strange manner in which she finds the boy, and his odd abilities, and cut straight to the need to love a little lost child when reason may have told her to do otherwise.  In the few lines and scenes she had in the movie, she and Richard Donner presented Martha Kent as a very real mother experiencing both the blessing and pain that comes with bringing a child into your life and then realizing you have to let him go.

Honestly, the wheat-field scene between East and Thaxter in the film was when I realized (way, way back in high school) what an extraordinary film Superman truly is.

Here, however, is that scene of discovery in a Kansas field.

Joe Kubert Merges with The Infinite

Comics legend Joe Kubert has reportedly passed.

I point you to the obit run at The Onion AV club, as it's a pretty damned good summary of Kubert's bio and will hopefully explain to those of you who don't follow comics who the man was and how he stood in the pantheon of comics heroes.

Kubert was at DC Comics for most of his career, first arriving in 1943 and holding positions as a writer, editor and artist, depending on where the winds blew.  Today's fans like myself are mostly familiar with his co-creations like Sgt. Rock, or his own creation, Tor and the stunning artistry he brought to the page.  Where Kirby was volcanic energy in need of an outlet, Kubert was an illustrative master capturing the world-weary faces of Easy Company, battle-worn soldiers of Earth and beyond, but a master of perspective and detail.

...and I like his Iris West.

50th Anniversary of the Death of Marilyn Monroe

On June 1 of this year we wished Marilyn Monroe a happy birthday.  August 5th is listed as the day when Marilyn Monroe was found dead, but reports seem to say that she died before midnight on the 4th.

There's enough speculation out there, from the various conspiracy theories surrounding Monroe's death, and I've no idea what her career might have looked like had she lived.  The final years before she passed were difficult, and she'd been fired off a movie.  Like so many who are revered who passed when they were still young and beautiful, it's easy enough to build an image that has nothing to do with who the person was, what their career was really like, or even what was really happening when they passed.

We'd be remiss if we didn't mention the date, and so we do.  Godspeed, Ms. Monroe.

Sherman Hemsley Merges with The Infinite

Sherman Hemsley, a staple of television for the past 40 years and most famous for his role as George Jefferson on both All in the Family and The Jeffersons, has passed.  He was 74. 

Bit of Signal Watch trivia:  Sherman Hemsley also played Superman villain Winslow Schott, The Toyman, on  an episode of Lois & Clark.

Sally Ride Merges With The Infinite

I am very sad to say that Sally Ride has passed at the age of 61 after fighting pancreatic cancer.

Sally Ride was not the first name of an astronaut I knew or heard (the first name I really remember is John Glenn.  I think the KareBear liked the cut of his jib or something).  But something about Ride stuck with me not just because she was the first woman in space, but because she felt always seemed like the embodiment The Modern Space Program.  She rode shuttles, not capsules.  She wore the blue jumpsuit.  She was a pilot, a space jockey and a scientist.  She was the Shuttle era and the promise it held.

We all grew up proud of the name Sally Ride, but it wasn't until I was older that I appreciated how amazing Ride must have been to actually win that seat on Challenger and the pressure on her to not just be as capable of her male colleagues, but much more capable lest anyone seize the opportunity to hold her up as an example of why giving her a chance was a mistake.  I cannot begin to imagine.

And Ride pulled it off.

She succeeded not just at NASA, but went on to teach at UC-San Diego, formed a company to create educational materials for young scientists, and served as a consultant in aerospace and defense arenas.

Here's to one of the real pioneers of the era in which I was raised.  You will be missed.

Godspeed.

My Grandfather, Marvin Ross, Passes

My grandfather passed on Tuesday morning at the age of 93.

As my dad's parents had divorced when he was a kid, Marvin was my father's step father, and so while there's no blood relation, there's no question he was my grandfather if all the usual granddad criteria apply.

The family loves the above photo of a young Marvin Ross, partially because his service in the 82nd Airborne during World War II is household legend.  Africa.  Italy.  France.  All this for a farm kid from Kansas who worked in FDR's NYA farms to make ends meet.  With the end of World War II, he returned stateside, earned his degree and eventually worked for Eastern Airlines where he helped roll out the first computer systems for the company.

In many ways, his life often read to me as a Rosetta Stone for 20th Century America.

It can't go without saying that he was heavily involved with his local Legion post, serving as President, and active in the activities of the American Legion.

He and my grandmother visited often, hosted us in Florida (in Miami and then in Ocala), and my folks made certain we were as close as could be despite the geographic distance.

The more I learned of his days in the military and then his career in technology, the more questions I had, and he was always willing to share a story or two about dealing with punchcards or taking fire in a house in Italy.

In recent years, after the passing of my grandmother, he'd lived first in Houston near my folks, and more recently in Las Vegas with his son, Frank.  The last few years was hard of hearing, but no less sharp when he was chatting (and you were two feet away and shouting).

I spoke with Frank and he reported that my grandfather spent the Fourth with his family, reportedly just his usual self.

He'll be deeply missed by us all.

Toys That Should Not Be: The Steve Jobs Statue

When I started blogging the collectibles market was just really taking off.  We quit doing Toys That Should Not Be as, really, what I'd advise is to just open the Diamond Previews Catalog and flip through the thing.  Every page or two, you'll find something that makes you die a little inside.

And I'm not even talking about the import Manga statues with the removable clothing.

If you're not done grieving Apple Overlord Steve Jobs, you can now make everyone who enters your home or office stop and ask the exact same question in under two minutes:  Is that Steve Jobs?

Indeed it is.

Syco Collectibles has introduced the Steve Jobs statue.  Only $100, this fantastic piece of artistry looks pretty much like a tiny Steve Jobs, complete with jeans, scrubby beard and black turtle neck and posed like Scorpio planning his attack on humanity from his undersea base.  Only, you know, tiny.  Standing on the edge of a MacBook in discount store sneakers.

I have to say, I think it's a hell of a conversation piece, and that conversation may just be your co-worker leaving your office and commenting to your colleagues about how you're still really hung up on losing the guy who yelled at people until the iPhone was cooler.

To their credit, Syco is sending part of the proceeds to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and we find that admirable enough that we've ordered four of these, so Steve Jobs can look down upon us from every corner of the room.

Ernest Borgnine Merges With The Infinite

Ernest Borgnine, a talented actor with an illustrious career, who I still think of as Dominic Santini from TV's Airwolf, has passed at the age of 95.

He also once married Ethel Merman for a month.  Go figure.

Alan Poindexter Merges with the Infinite

Astronaut Captain Alan Poindexter has died in a water craft accident.

There is an article on his death here.

Poindexter served with NASA for over a decade and served as Pilot for Shuttle Atlantis and Commander for Shuttle Discovery.

Andy Griffith Merges with The Infinite

The Signal Watch bids farewell and Godspeed to entertainer and personality Andy Griffith.  He passed today at the age of 86.

Ray Bradbury Merges with The Infinite

Like many of us English-speaking Westerners, one of the great moments of my youth was having a Ray Bradbury book put in my hand.  Oddly, it was Fahrenheit 451 and I was in fifth grade.  Most certainly I had an ambitious teacher, one who did not mind much if she shattered our cozy suburban world with a picture of dissolute marriage in an ossifying culture that was just our culture carrying on from our current trajectory.

It'd difficult to say how much of an impact the book had on me, and continues to have on me, as I've returned to it a half-dozen times, seen the movie a handful of times, and even consumed it in comic form (one of the few forms of print Bradbury would suggest would survive the end of books.  The end of ideas.*).

Just a year before Fahrenheit 451, my parents, knowing I had a thing for that red dot in the sky, took me to see a play of The Martian Chronicles, and the honesty of what it had to say about us shook my ten year old little self.  

Throw in Something Wicked This Way Comes and re-reading the Martian Chronicles two or three times and you've got the literature that left an indelible impression on a worldview.  It's completely fair to say that these books had a huge hand in shaping my perceptions, and absolutely they posed the questions that helped to lay the rail for the long haul of developing a moral perspective.  And that's the value of fiction, I think, when you're coming of age.

And, really, how many millions of us are there who understood where Mr. Bradbury was going with all this?  How many of us clenched paperbacks on the school bus or leaning up against the wall while we sat on our twin -sized beds and learned something about us that sounded perhaps deadly accurate even when wrapped up in spacesuits or demon carnivals or watching old women die in a pyre of novels?

MCA Merges with the Infinite

I am shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of MCA of The Beastie Boys, most certainly a seminal band for my generation.

I have nothing else to add.  47 is too young to go.

Here for an obituary for Adam Yauch.

And here is one of the greatest songs and videos of the 1990's.

Dick Clark Merges with The Infinite

Dick Clark.  Man.

Were it American Bandstand, Bloopers, Bleepers and Practical Jokes or pretty much every single New Year's Eve of our lives, the man was ubiquitous as he was welcome on TV screens.

The man's job was astonishing and will never be understood by The Kids.  In an era of three channels, Clark brought rock'n'roll to living rooms for decades (DECADES!), surviving the trends and talking about and to the artists, giving everything a shot.

I suspect when we lose Regis Philbin, that'll be it.  We'll have lost the last of the real TV hosts, the guys who were as much a part of your living room as the family dog and maybe even more friendly to both the people they chatted with, making performers seem vaguely charming, and to you, out there in your Barcalounger.

Here's PIL melting down on American Bandstand.

I have no idea which chimp died

Randy has alerted me that the earlier reports of Cheetah the Chimp's death may be inaccurate.  It seems a number of parties and news sources are claiming that the chimp was not Cheetah.

Obviously I have no idea, so I'll just go with whatever.  Here's HuffPo on the topic.

One need only watch Antiques Roadshow or History Detectives to see how family lore about items around the house can be incorrect or a skewed version of a half-remembered story.   Sounds like this may be true of Cheetah the chimp.

Goodnight, Mr. Chimp, wherever you are.

Cheetah the Chimp Merges with the Infinite

I haven't watched any Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies in  30 years, but as a kid, I knew exactly who Cheetah the Chimp was.  He was Tarzan's wacky little buddy.

I will never be in a picture even 1/4 this awesome

The chimps you see in TV and movies not played by Andy Serkis or Roddy McDowell are usually very young chimpanzees, usually younger than 5 or 6.  After that, its a highly intelligent and willful animal with hands that can tear your arms out of the sockets.  So, getting them to hit their marks can be a bit of a challenge.  I think casting juveniles in movies also gives people funny ideas about how big chimps actually get.

So, in his way, Cheetah was a child actor when starring in Tarzan movies between 1932-34.  He has just passed at the age of 80.  That's pretty old for a chimp, most of which don't make it to 40.

Godspeed, Cheetah.  You were one awesome primate.

Like many retirees, Cheetah had lived in Florida in recent years.

Jerry Robinson Merges with The Infinite

Comics artist and creator of Batman's arch-nemesis, The Joker, Jerry Robinson has merged with The Infinite.

There are fact-filled eulogies and appreciations drifting in from all over the internet, so I'd rather link to better-written and better-researched articles and eulogies.

From CBR

From Newsarama

Jerry lived to the age of 89, but in his youth was part of the comics explosion, working side by side with the pioneers and greats of industry.  He was also a comics historian, and advocate for creator's rights.

With the production of The Dark Knight as a major film (and featuring The Joker), Robinson was given emeritus status at DC Comics, and has enjoyed a close relationship with the company the last few years.

Another of the great ones has passed.

Alvin Schwartz Merges with the Infinite

Comics writer Alvin Schwartz, whose tenure at DC stretched from the Golden Age to the Silver Age, has passed at age 95.

Truthfully, I am not familiar with Schwartz's bio, only that his name appears again and again in reprints that I read of old school DC comics.

Schwartz is likely most famous in Superman-fan circles as the writer who (1) created Bizarro, and (2) believed he had actually met Superman in a cab.

I say:  sure, why not?  Superman tends to move between the various worlds of the multiverse.  Why not ours?

A semi-teary farewell to "Batman: Brave and the Bold"

So this post is going to be kind of weird.

And probably pretty whiny.

Batman: Brave and the Bold only aired for a handful of seasons, and I'd argue that the first season was spent largely trying to find the right footing and tone.  Scripts were still coming in that first year that seemed a bit like team-up episodes written for Batman: The Animated Series, and one episode (I believe a Christmas episode) featured the death of the Waynes as a flashbacky plotpoint.

It just felt... weird juxtaposed against robot Santas and other DC Comics madcap shenanigans.  But the second season it seemed like we'd come over the top of the hill, and the show did nothing but pick up speed and do loop-de-loops right up until the wacky end.  The basic gist of the show was a riff on the Bronze Age-era of Brave and the Bold comics, a DC team-up book mostly featuring Batman and another figure from the DCU (Superman did the same in DC Comics Presents).  The creative team found the right balance of hilarious OUTRAGEOUSness for the adults and mixed it up with gleeful mayhem and action, and managed to introduce an astounding amount of the DCU to an unsuspecting audience.

It featured episodes done entirely as a musical (with a singing Black Canary), sit-com episodes, winking-4th-wall-breaking episodes with Batmite, brought Silver Age Superman in all his glory to TV (really for the first time), featured a Justice League v. Legion of Doom baseball game, and mined every corner of the DCU, right up to a Creature Commandos adventure this season.

Mostly, for the past two years, its really been my favorite show on TV.

Bil Keane, Family Circus Creator, Follows Dotted Trail into the Infinite

Today it was announced that Bil Keane, creator of the long running and enormously popular Family Circus comic strip, had passed at age 89.  Keane's strip appears in over 1500 papers and has been in publication for over 50 years.

As a somewhat shallow jerk with no children of his own, like literally dozens of other Americans, I quit enjoying daily newspaper strip The Family Circus's whimsical take on the gosh-darn cute things kids say and do some time back.  But circa 1984, I was all about The Family Circus.  Mostly because I'd found a huge treasury album on deep discount at Bookstop, but its also a fairly consistent (perhaps too consistent) strip, and sometimes it was sweet and amusing enough and inoffensive, in the way you might find yourself partially smiling at a rerun of Everybody Loves Raymond when its on in the waiting room of Jiffy Lube and you're stuck there for 45 minutes.*

Les Daniels Merges with the Infinite

I saw some noise on Twitter and am sad to confirm that Les Daniels, writer and comics historian, had passed.

I've read a few books by Les Daniels, now several years ago.  Daniels wrote the books that I still refer to for historical context on DC's Trinity (I pulled the Superman book off the shelf just last month for some fact checking).  I've always understood that he preceded current historians like Hajdu or Gerard Jones, and its certainly not the place where one earns glory in comics.

Likely Daniels' greatest exposure came in the creation of the DC Masterpiece box sets that came out a few years ago that you could pick up at Barnes & Noble or Borders.   Those things were actually pretty amazing, and if you're a comics fan, you missed out if you didn't grab them.  

Mostly, I appreciated Daniels' approach as an historian, not really shying away from some of the goofier or odder sides of the development of characters.  It was from him that I first read about Wonder Woman's origins derived from William Moulton Marston and Marston's particular proclivities.  Its not an approach 95% of the folks currently writing about comics seem to get (or want to get), that these characters we love do not spring whole cloth from the imagination, but from the forces of the time, the forces of personality of creators and the environment and culture that formed the minds of those creators.  

In the end, I don't have much to add about Daniels, other than that he opened my eyes to the sweeping history within the publication of superheroes, and I suspect that he helped build my fascination with Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman as more than characters on a page, but as icons of western culture in their own right.