Pop Culture
Marketing Nostalgia
Cracker Jack sweetens up America’s past In 1893, brothers F.W. and Louis Rueckheim mixed popcorn, peanuts and molasses together and introduced their concoction at Chicago’s First World Fair. A salesman sampling the snack exclaimed, “That’s a cracker jack,” and this popular slang term became the brand name. The rest,...
Summer Sequels: The Threequel
When one (or two) films just aren’t enough As the old School House Rock song goes, three is a magic number. That’s certainly true for the cinema. In the past, studios waited to see the box office numbers before green-lighting any sequels, then negotiations would start to bring the...
Surf Rock
The kind of summer that only exists in a song I don’t surf, own a “Woody Wagon,” or know anyone named Moondoggie. But every year when the temperatures heat up, I put surf music on repeat and yearn for a summer vacation that only exists in Beach Party movies....
Summer Sequels: Despicable Me 2
Once you start, you just can’t stop. In the summer heat, no one really wants to do any work, the clock gets watched more closely, and the calendar count-down to vacation gets a lot of attention. What we could all use right about now are some minions. Fortunately, Despicable...
Summer Sequels: Smurfs 2
When warmer temperatures return, so do some very familiar faces. If it’s summer, then it’s time for a sequel. Why are sequels so inviting? Maybe the higher temperatures draw us to the familiar, and we feel that it’s just too hot to invest our time in learning the names...
Darth Vader: Deadbeat Dad
At the end of the day, Star Wars is just another custody battle with the kids caught in the middle. Darth Vader is many things; powerful, merciless, fond of capes. But primarily, he’s a Deadbeat Baby Daddy. Where was Darth Vader when Luke and Leia were growing up – shouldn’t...
Comic-Con 2013
Hey there San Diego – we’ll see you soon! Have you packed your bags for San Diego yet? I suppose packing to go Comic-Con is the easiest thing to do. One giant empty suitcase and you’re done! You’re going to need space for all of the wonderful books and...
Frank and His Friend for Collectors
There is a brand new limited edition collection of Frank and His Friend – and Curio & Co. has got them for you. If you’re like us, there are probably a lot of things that you wish you still had from when you were a kid. The top of...
The Return of Mickey Mouse
Mickey gets his groove back in a series of new shorts that premiere today. Mickey Mouse returns to screens today in a brand new series of shorts that reminds us why the world fell in love with him in the first place. It’s easy to forget that Mickey...
A very real imaginary friend
The beloved doll from Frank and His Friend proves to be the best friend a kid could have. The classic newspaper comic Frank and His Friend, created by artist Clarence ‘Otis’ Dooley, is about many things: childhood, adventure, avoiding broccoli. But mostly, it’s about friendship. And Frank is a terrific...
One terrific idea, beaming right up
Sometimes, small budgets and short deadlines can be the best thing to happen to a project. Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. One of my favorite stories is about the development of Star Trek’s most innovative technology: the Transporter. According to legend, the original plan for the show...
Before they were famous: Clarence ‘Otis’ Dooley
What do Cudworth-Hooper and Frank and His Friend have in common? Hog oilers. It can be hard for a comic artist to get started without a name that newspapers recognize or a following to convince a syndicate to take on a strip. Most artists have to take on commercial...