Mark Evanier’s News From Me Never Fails
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| Mark Evanier hard at work as seen by Sergio Arogones |
News From Me is one of the most informative and entertaining sites on the Web. The host, Mark Evanier is a writer, teacher, and historian whose wide range of interests will amaze and enlighten almost everyone. Fans of Jack Kirby undoubtedly know Evanier from his recent book Kirby: King of Comics. Others may recognize Mark from his recent work on DC’s current title The Spirit or the fun he and Sergio Aragones bring to Groo the Wonderer. Others may know him for his work on the animated series Garfield.
Inside the daily webpage format of News From Me Evanier writes about topics that should be close to the heart of everyone who reads Scoop, comics, art, animation, theater, Jack Kirby, television, game shows, movies, raccoons, and soup. His posts can move from the political to a quick story about Jack Kirby, whom Evanier worked for and within the late 1960s. Recently he linked to an actual episode of What’s My Line that featured Walt Disney as the mystery guest.
That link to What’s My Line serves as a perfect example of everything great about News From Me. The average columnist or writer would just tell you to watch the link because it holds a rare and forgotten appearance by Uncle Walt. When Evanier asks you to watch something, he broadens your world by often adding a couple of short anecdotes related to the link. This opens a new dimension to what we are about to enjoy. In this case he first mentions an autograph dealer and collector who, ages ago, deliberately bought this very same piece of What's My Line on 16 mm film so that he, the collector, could use it authenticate Disney’s signature for other autograph collectors. Now when we watch Disney sign onto the show with chalk on the blackboard Evanier has moved us backstage into the world of autograph collecting.
Evanier takes it a step further by telling a second anecdote about Walt and his unwillingness to do the voice of Mickey Mouse in person. By taking a few seconds to place the What’s My Line clip inside a more clearly defined and personal context Evanier not only entertains us with his post and link, but gives us a better understanding of the world Disney walked in. He has opened up the mindset behind even the smallest of the animator’s decisions.
There are many reasons to read almost anything Evanier writes. His columns for Comic Buyers Guide were so popular that they have been collected in no less than three volumes. True comic fans know that his work on DNAgents and Crossfire is just flat out great comic reading. Fans of MAD may know about his book MAD Art. And than there his work on Groo.
You can’t go wrong by dropping in on Evanier’s world a couple of times a week. The section titled Incessantly Asked Questions may be the smartest page anyone has ever put together in the entire recorded history of the Web. Once you read his explanation of why Popey fought both Bluto and Brutus, you will know what we mean!
