I’ve known Marty ever since I started cartooning. I was in some of Sam Gross’s books and Sam emailed me asking if I knew Marty and Fred Lucky, two great cartoonists out here. At that time, I knew NO other cartoonists, anywhere! Alone, all alone, in a wide wide sea. (There was a cartoon group, that had meetings, CAPS, but I didn’t find them for years because they didn’t advertise or have notices anywhere. They FINALLY have a website, nicely done, but no info about what happens at the meetings, to insure that they don’t get any new members, or any ex-members (like me) interested in coming back.)

Anyway, I had lunch with Marty and Fred, who were best buddies, and that was the beginning! Of course, they were very sweet and appreciative of my work – very kind of them!- but I was a little intimidated. They used to get together with all the successful guys, like Sergio Aragones, and with the animation guys, (animation was still going well then), etc  at extremely expensive meals that I couldn’t afford. There was always a handful of wannabes at these gatherings, and afterwards Marty and Fred would happily flame them and warn me that these were the guys who followed cartoonists, wanted to be them, and yet…never were. I never saw Marty be rude to anyone, but he always avoided sitting next to them!

Marty was the best mentor anyone could ask for, and he taught me more about cartoons than anyone or any book. Sure, he was grumpy a lot – especially after Fred Lucky passed away a couple years after I met him. I think he never quite got over that. But he was very positive about a lot of things I tried: greeting cards, syndication, my books, and even my political cartoons, which very sadly, he never saw, since they are mostly online. He was curious and supersmart, and we talked for hours about art and even more, what was going on in the rest of our lives. I would like to say he was like a second father to me, but my own father might be hurt. In any case, he was like an older brother, giving me advice about my car, editors, how to go into the outside world (we were both loners!), parties, his Chicago background, just about anything. It brings tears to my eyes to remember all that we shared.  

I rarely saw him. He liked his gatherings, but hated one on one. He was very private, and somewhat embarrassed about his great old rambling messy house in Hancock Park, surrounded by apartment buildings on each side.  The last time I saw him in person was written up by another very talented and successful cartoonist who was there, Roy Delgado, when we all got together with Bob Weber for a great meal and conversation. But we talked several times a month, and I considered him one of my best friends. I was so proud when he came to one of my book signings, white flowing mane and all!

I don’t know how or when he passed away. I just found out an hour ago from a post Nelson Dewey made on Facebook. Nelson’s own site here.  He attaches some of Marty’s cartoons in the CAR-toon magazine, which I am borrowing for this. (I think I only have one of Marty’s books, and it’s not handy to get a scan. Of course, Marty is most famous for his Playboy cartoons, but excuse me for not subscribing to that. I don’t think they’re sexist in concept, but when they don’t use cartoons by any women?? Fail. Marty said they did  keep demanding color cartoons from the old-timers like him, however, just to stash, not to print, so they have TONS of back cartoons from the older cartoonists. Playboy is a death dealer.)

One of the things we truly shared was a love of animals, often more than people. I can never forgive the hateful neighbor – not sure who, but if I ever find out, will publicize her or his name – who reported his dogs barking when he was in the hospital a couple of years ago. The handy dandy animal services, run by the bad Ed Bok, took his 3 dogs, that he had cared for and had for YEARS,  WHILE he was in the hospital, and I guess destroyed them or offered them for adoption. Which means 7 more days to live, right? So he came back from the hospital, his first big illness, weak, to find his dogs gone forever. HATE. Last year he found one little girl dog that he thought was adorable – I could hear her annoying barking every time we talked – so I hope someone is taking care of her.

One thing that I feel bad about is that I could never get him into a computer. He had a slow antiquated one, 7 years old, that another loser neighbor talked him into buying, that I think he used 2 or 3 times.  Obviously, a lot of my cartoon news – and even social things – was from online. He understood some of what I was talking about, but mostly from watching TV a lot. I even did research for him this spring, to find a cheap yet fast computer to get him into the whole world that he was missing, but he got cranky and snapped at me. I truly believe he would still be here if he had more ties to the present – and the future – that are here for everyone on the internet.

Sad, sad news. Marty, I love you.

More cartoons:

1. Marty Murphy Memorial (and books.)
2. The Adman Cartoon.

Here you go – and she’s off:

Aug 15, 2009 @ 8:27 pm

Closing the thread temporarily, because people aren’t really using it to discuss media, anyhow.

Word to the wise, if you see yourself as a contestant’s defense attorney or prosecutor, you should probably post elsewhere. I’ll clean things up and open the thread tomorrow or Monday — as time allows. Everyone go have a weekend or something.

Aug 24, 2009 @ 12:42 pm

The nagging me just makes me contrary, in case you didn’t notice. And to be clear, one request isn’t nagging; it’s the pile on that’s the problem.

Aug 27, 2009 @ 10:30 pm

Thread closed. Again.

19 posts deleted. 1 person banned.

Look, this isn’t the Ed thread. Reality Steve isn’t media. If he’s reporting on a contestant, take it to that contestant’s thread.

When there’s actual news about this show, please send me a PM and let me know. The thread is closed until then.

Is she a freaking control freak, or what?!!! I can see why being a mod attracts copy editor types, but how about little people like this?

And don’t you love that Reality Steve isn’t the media?! Ummm – (they don’t allow this word in TWOP, so I’m glad I don’t comment there -:)) – it’s called a BLOG. Is she going to claim USW, ET, and all the other blogs aren’t media, too? I don’t read him – not interested in someone who apparently delights in ruining the surprise in a show- but I think he does his research, and I did hear part of his Deanna interview, and he is a pro.

More later on my view of the latest news.

More cartoons:

1. The trouble with Television without Pity is Barnes.
2. Free will in a cage.

It really was an eventful Final Rose Ceremony. Jillian did glow, and she looked beautiful. The Bachelors looked properly nervous. There were rings. And Reid…did show up, and to Fleiss’s great satisfaction and relief, humiliated himself by asking Jillian to marry him when she already loved another.

Photo from The Monitor, from the LA Times.

Comments from Television Without Pity:

Reid didn’t seem that broken up by being turned down. I’m of the belief he’s been asked to be the next Bachelor, and this was part of the deal. They like their Bachelors to be jilted now and this ups the ‘ah, poor Reid’ quotient. I would hope if he really was there to propose seriously that he would have chosen to tuck his shirt in and wear something other then tennis shoes.

It was interesting to see Chris actually giving Jillian advice about how to handle Reid’s return. Has he ever done that before? But the million-dollar question in my mind is: why did they keep hiding Reid’s face? When he got down on one knee and said, “I love you,” we didn’t see him say it. We only saw Jillian’s face during that whole scene. Why? Hmmmmmm….

I noticed the missing camera shots of Reid, too. Usually she pushes them into prime lens territory, so…was the camera on the blink?

Other stuff: The volcano erupting as Jillian and Ed retired into the bedroom suite was hysterical. See, the Editor at The Bachelorette does have a sense of humor. The other time I laughed out loud is when the red station wagon pulled up and Reid stepped out in his white sneaks and some half-assed clothes that I’m sure they told him to wear.And did the producers tell them to say “pumped” all those times?! Funny comment on TWOP:

Well, hell, I totally called that wrong. I was positive that right after the light clicked off in that suite, the camera would pan outside to Wes and his band singing the “Viva, Viagra!” song.

Photo from Trista's blog on E Online.

I thought Ed’s visit with her parents went very well, and he was so sincere with her father I got tears in my eyes.

For the first time this season, Kiptyn was fleshed out as a character; I believe he did fall in love with her, and was crushed at her rejection.

Reid said on After the Final Rose that he bought the ring himself, and he “pulled strings” to get back to Hawaii to be able to propose to her. I guess he figured if Ed could do it, he could be successful at that trick, too. But if I describe Kiptyn as fleshed out, in the Hollywood script sense, I think this whole side to Reid was very out of character! I am shocked he could flip-flop so strongly: not be able to even say the word love one day, to proposing marriage the next. Hard to believe.

Last night I thought she was torn about Reid, but knew Ed was her man. But the ratings were so great Monday night, they ran it again tonight, and on 2nd viewing, I thought she came very close to changing her mind about Reid when he proposed, and I’ve decided she really did love him, although obviously not enough. I had no idea she felt that strongly about him. They both surprised me. He was really raw, confronting her on After the Final Rose – talk about AWKWARD. I don’t know how Chris can stand the silence, without jumping in. There’s a good interviewer for ya!

From Chris Harrison’s delightful blog:

If you ask Jillian about that final day and Reid coming back she’ll tell you it was always Ed all the way. I understand her position and if I was engaged to somebody else I would probably paint the same picture. I don’t doubt for a second that Jillian loves Ed and I know that was what she wanted the moment she woke up that morning. But I also know that there was serious temptation when Reid came back and that temptation did lead to a moment of doubt. Luckily Jillian had the poise to walk away and try and collect her thoughts.

If you ask me to be honest about it, I have to admit for a moment there I really thought she was going to take Reid back.

I think this season proves that you really can love 2 men at once. But the producers (Fleiss, and Evil Writers) really jerked Jillian around this season, making her go through the agony of rejecting Reid twice.   A sarcastic commenter at TWOP:

Gee, wouldn’t it be great if the next bachelor was someone the fans already kind of like, and wouldn’t it be even better if everyone felt so bad for him because he really ‘put himself out there’ and made a desperate plea for Jillians’ affections, and after much deliberation, she finally tells him that she wants the guy she originally wanted…..and wouldn’t it be even better if he showed up in some simple mini van looking all disheveled, like he hadn’t been sleeping well, and hadn’t been able to think of anything but Jillian, so how could he possibly look sharp….wouldn’t that be just the coolest finale ever?

Everyone agrees the ring Ed picked was hideous. I worried that meant he would lose! I never knew I disliked pear-shaped stones so much before…But I’ve never wanted a diamond anyway. Colored stones for me. People on Jillian’s ring.

Last, but not least, it wouldn’t be a good post without including one of the bitter commenters, the viewers who furious that Jillian didn’t do what they wanted her to:

I was disappointed in tonight’s epi. I don’t like Ed at all, and see him as an opportunistic phony. Too bad Gillian couldn’t see that, and got swept away by the fact that they probably slept together, and the fact that its just storybook romantic to have him come back and be “more devoted than ever”. I would have chosen someone who stayed the entire time, and not shown disloyalty by leaving in the first place. I don’t like her much herself anyway, I felt she based all her choices on who she liked kissing the most. I mean, I know no one really falls in love on this show, and its usually based on lust anyway, but she seemed to have less of a clue what to look for in a man than anyone I’ve seen on the show before. I thought she was a moron the whole show, and its no wonder she’s still alone. She prefers jerks like Ed and Wes to real men like Kipton and Luke. Whatever.

I don’t know who Luke is. Well, I do know, but he doesn’t belong in this post. Wah, The Bachelorette is over!! :( Come back, Jillian and Ed! Real soon!

PS on Left-handed folks: I think most left-handed people are more creative – just irks me that I’m not! I try not to dwell on it. Greg Evans, creator of LuAnn, one of my favorite comics, agrees with my theory that most cartoonists are left-handed, and actually did a survey to prove his point…

Photo from The Monitor, from the LA Times.  Wish I could say it was worth reading, but the guy who wrote it isn’t into the show, and it shows. Boring. Plus he uses it for his own agenda, to get more minorities on TV. Hey, try the op-ed section, dude.

Photo from Trista’s blog on E Online.

More cartoons:

1. Last Jillian interview before the Final Rose!
2. I’m working on cartoons for Jillian’s hot dog book.

• I did do some excellent new cartoons for Slate. Always happy when I like my own work.
• I got Wonkette to stop using my cartoons, after weeks of the most vicious, vile, sexist comments there, in the usual spewing Gawker way.  Also, their hotlinking is not cool,  and is theft of bandwidth. Actually, I notice Wonkette hardly links to anyone. Great, non-2.0, selfish policy you got there, people.
• I got to go on John & Ken! You can listen here: podcast or here
• I gained 5 pounds this year, which is most decidedly NOT good, and I know it’s because of the stress of adding on political cartoons, and Slate. But I’ve lost one of those pounds, and hope I’m on the way down now.
• I’ve always been impressed by the outspoken, beautiful rabble-rouser, Jill Stewart, and she wrote a little something on me in the LA Weekly.

Also, because I ignored most media for a while, I got to concentrate on my new blog, The Opposite of Wrong, my political and editorial cartoons.

I really love designing new WordPress blogs! It’s very frustrating at times, but so much fun to kick it into what you want it to do, and want it to look like.  I love the way this new one turned out – uses fonts as a big part of the design. I had been thinking for a while that I wanted to separate my political cartoons from general gag cartoons. Really, they’re two different genres! And after the maelstrom last month, when the bad libs decided they should find out everything about me they could – including the name of my CANARY – I decided I really want to separate the two. This is my New Yorker cartoons and whatever entertains me. That is my political cartoons. Okay.

More cartoons:

1. Sarah Palin is a five-letter word.
2. Which came first, Democrats or Republicans?