Recent Comments

1. 11 months ago on Gasoline Alley

   Gweedo – Yeah, it was a GA strip, but Jim has only a partial recollection of the story line and no real sense of the date . . . and no way to check – he’s not very handy with computers and the internet. But he does recall Fuzzy Feldman being in the mix. And, anyway – even if he was a computer commando – he’s absorbed in getting future Gasoline Alley strips to the publisher on schedule so he can’t tear himself away from that. Thanks anyway, Gweedo. Have a good day.

2. 11 months ago on Gasoline Alley

   I have a question for the Good Citizens of GOCOMICS Land concerning a run of strips that featured Fuzzy Feldman.

   Best as I can discern, the story line was about Skeezix and some of his old army buddies who went back to the Philippines to an island where Fuzzy was left on guard to report enemy movements during WW2.

   However, he couldn’t complete that mission since his walkie- talkie was destroyed.

   Skeezix and his veteran friends found Fuzzy still at his post waiting for the war to end.

   The storyline might have appeared in the Gasoline Alley strip in the early 1990s.

   I wonder whether anyone out there in GOCOMICS land can put a good date to that run of the strip involving Fuzzy Feldman?

   I’m not getting any traction from my attempts to dig it up.

   And Jim has only the most fuzzy memory of the 4 or 5 weeks of strips involving Fuzzy.

   THANKS! Lew Stern

3. over 3 years ago on Gasoline Alley

   Since Kitty shows up in the first frame of today’s Gasoline Alley, it makes sense to quote from a note that Jim Scancarelli sent me late yesterday:

   BEGIN TEXT:

   A CAT OF MANY COLORS! About Kitty’s coloring in the daily strips . . . there’s no telling what color she’ll end up. The dailies are intended to be run in black and white but most papers color them the way they want disregarding set patterns as red hair or people of color. The Gertie character is meant to be light tan, but in some papers she is dark skinned and even others she appears white. No continuity. Going back to Kitty. She is white on the Sunday pages. Interestingly, the character Chef Meowrice started out as a yellow cat but gradually morphed into his present state of whiteness. It ends up being a function of each of the newspapers and how they handle the coloring part of the process. By the way, Kitty says “meowrrr” which, loosely translated, means “thanks for inquiring.”

   END TEXT. Cheers,Lew

4. over 3 years ago on Gasoline Alley

   A Co-Comics Citizen asked: "When did Kitty change colors? Didn’t s/he used to be kind of a yellowish-orange color?

   I talked to Jim on the afternoon of 27 May. This is what he told me:

   BEGIN TEXT:

   In the beginning Kitty was originated as a white cat by Dick Moores. Jim says he “cute-ed” her up a little. But she is in fact white and fluffy now. Also, Rufus doesn’t carry the cat around in his arms the way Dick Moores drew the two figures. When I brought Boogie Woggie, the black cat, into the scene – and they had several litters – Rufus decided he couldn’t keep all those cats and ended up giving them away. So, in Jim’ s thinking, this “Kitty” is a different cat than the one that showed up on Dick Moores watch.

   END TEXT.

   I can confirm that Kitty was intended, by both Dick and Jim, to be a “she” cat.

   Cheers,

   Lew

5. over 3 years ago on Gasoline Alley

   Summer issue of FIDDLER MAGAZINE contains two articles on Jim Scancarelli – my essay, “Jim Scancarelli: A Lifetime of Fiddling and Cartooning,” and Jim’s piece on his intriguing fiddles, “Head of the Class.” See: http://www.fiddle.com/ — Thanks! Lew

6. over 3 years ago on Gasoline Alley

   Hi, “Poore.ronnie.” I put the question you asked to Jim Scancarelli, directly, and a few minutes ago he sent me a Text Message with this response: BEGIN QUOTE: “How many of us think of ourselves as being the youthful entity we once were and, as we stare into the mirror, an aging parent’s visage glares back. With the passage of time we turn into the parent and, sadly, they become the child. I thought it would be fun to peek in on a crazy dream Uncle Walt was having.” END QUOTE.

   Respectfully,

   Lew Stern

   https://www.facebook.com/Book-on-Jim-Scancarelli-by-Lew-Stern-Fiddling-and-Cartooning-Through-Life-103518338401512/

7. almost 4 years ago on Gasoline Alley

   I hadn’t thought about the broad, historic panorama of all this. Interesting point.

8. almost 4 years ago on Gasoline Alley

   Lew Stern here. I’m the guy who just finished writing a book-length manuscript on Jim Scancarelli that will be published next year. I put the question you asked about Sidney and Lew in front of Jim. He replied this evening. BEGIN QUOTE: “Lew and Sidney were introduced on a Sunday page a couple of years ago as a walk on one shot appearance. However, it was deemed necessary to have them return carrying the dryer to and fro. Sidney is an inquisitive teenage student in between high school and college and Lew owns the truck and delivery service. He is usually quiet whereas Sidney isn’t. As for their personal info, you might try asking them as they remain mute with me. Lew Stern, the author of the book about, well, me, Jim Scancarelli – a book that will revolutionize modern day writing about banjo and fiddle players, and the cartoon industry, and no doubt have an impact on global vaccinations – coincidentally has the same first name as the delivery man. That really, truly is a total coincidence.” END QUOTE.

9. almost 4 years ago on Gasoline Alley

   https://www.facebook.com/Book-on-Jim-Scancarelli-by-Lew-Stern-Fiddling-and-Cartooning-Through-Life-103518338401512

10. almost 4 years ago on Gasoline Alley

    Jim recalled using the joke – and the source for the joke – but not when he deployed it in a strip, and we haven’t been able to turn it up in his files.