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Censorship: Jeff Smith’s Bone and Frank Hampson’s Eagle; Animation Admission: Artificial Intelligence and The Flescher Studio News (1936).
Jeff Smith, who this Summer was inducted into The Will Eisner Hall of Fame and also received The National Cartoonists Society Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award to join his couple dozen prior honors, was recently interviewed El Mundo America by Jose Maria Robles which included the claim that…
“‘Bone’ is one of the most censored books in the US”
In a career spanning, though not overly long interview, Jeff is incredulous about one thing other than Bone‘s amazing success:
What he hasn’t quite gotten used to is that his most important work is read in a political or esoteric light. And, consequently, banned. As if in the Great Cow Race or the old man’s cave -two scenarios of the adventures of the trio of cousins Fone, Phoney, and Smiley- there was an uncomfortable message hidden.
“Bonehas been one of the most censored books in the US. I know, it’s ridiculous, right? They see something in it that they don’t approve of. Well, they can go to hell,” he explodes, who for five years collaborated with the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund precisely to advocate for freedom of expression. “In my comics, I don’t promote any political ideas. I only value friendship.”
Which leads us into today’s downthetubes‘ review of A Sensual Cesspool of Iniquity: Comics and Censorship in 1950’s Ireland by James Bacon, a new book about attempts at banning comics.
Bizarre Claims During Ireland’s 1950s War on Comics
From John Freeman’s review of A Sensual Cesspool of Iniquity and religious objections to the new Eagle comic:
In 1950 some 410 books and 49 periodicals were, astonishingly, banned in Ireland, a system for banning books and periodicals had been in place from 1930. This is something that clearly sets Ireland apart from America and Britain, although both countries have, in previous times, had their fair share of moral panic about the stories and themes some comics presented.
But it seems incredible that Eagle, itself born, in part, in response to those concerns, raised, [as downthetubes has previously noted], at the highest levels of the British government, would be a target for moral censure. In the world of comic books, there are many comics which hold a warm and loved sensation, and are thought of well, and one of these comics is the Eagle.
Switching gears from static to moving cartoon art, where once denied technique is admitted to.
Eli Roth Confirms ‘Ice Cream Man’ GenAI Use
Jamie Lang at Cartoon Brew reports on a Polygon interview about the new Ice Cream Man horror film.
Eli Roth has confirmed that generative AI was used in his new horror film Ice Cream Man, including in animated sequences that he initially described as having been created through a traditional, human-led pipeline.
The film has not yet been widely released, but viewers at early screenings identified what appeared to be AI-generated material, including Fleischer-style cartoons watched by the characters and an illustrated flashback explaining the villain’s origins.
“I misspoke,” he said, offering up a completely conflicting account of how the scenes were animated. “AI was used in a very small portion of a few scenes in the film. It was an opportunity where technology and creativity came together to help bring my vision for the film to life.”
Continuing to follow up items with a Wayback Weekend article…
Fleischer’s Animated News (January 1936)
Since Fleischer animation was mentioned in the above item we’ll link to Devon Baxter’s recent Cartoon Research column reproducing an issue of the in-house Fleischer’s Animated News from January 1936.
