Man, what is up with the last few weeks? A couple or three weeks ago I hear from my roommate that John Buscema is dead. This guy was the core of Marvel comics art back in the day. I'm talking in the day when Marvel meant something and wasn't the bloated pile of suck it became in the nineties. His art is one of the major influences on my own artistic inclinations. The dynamic camera angles, attention to anatomy, and lighting in his work are second to none. For like the last decade I've been lamenting the fact that I haven't been seeing any new work from him. Nowadays most artists seem to depend on adding in lots of pointless detail without focusing on the actual art. Nobody seems to have a sense of how to do dramatic artwork in comics anymore.

Obviously saying nobody is an exaggeration but look at all of the bs that comes out nowadays. Everyone is a half-assed Jim Lee clone it seems like. Don't get me wrong. Jim Lee rocks. His ability with line and style was refreshingly unique when he started. However, since Image started up all you see is bad Lee clones' ultra-line artwork with shaded computer coloring, no sense of proportion or lighting and an utter lack of flow in the artwork. Hence, I miss the old days where you might not have as much detail in a panel but you were guaranteed to get art with an impact.

Just as I was getting over this yet another legendary figure in my pantheon of worship decides to shed the mortal coil. Chuck Jones died very recently. One of the most important figures in Warner Bros. history Chuck created many of their great characters. Not only that he was one of the key artists that created the perfect form of comedy, Bugs Bunny. What he did most in my mind was provide the uniquely humorous faces and expressions of Bugs. Bugs Bunny has been and always will be the epitome of humor. Trans-dimensional mallets, politically incorrect caricatures, frequent cross-dressing, opera in a non-suck format, and too many other great things to mention have all contributed to making Bugs Bunny the pentultimate king of cartoon comedy. Chuck's portrayal of him was a big part of that.

It is my belief that without Bugs Bunny the world would suck far worse than it does now. I doubt the slapstick humor seen in Japanese animation would exist in its current form without the examples provided by Warner Bros. of true comedic genius. The sexually suggestive humor and frequent resultant blunt violence seen frequently in comedic anime is very similar in nature to Warner cartoons from the 40s through the 60s. Talk all you want about Disney and Tezuka Osamu. The kind of comedy you see in things like Ranma 1/2 is far more similar to Bugs Bunny cartoons than the great Tezuka's work.

Now I'm really jonesing to see some Bugs Bunny cartoons. I think I may have to go peruse my laserdisc stack to see if I can find some of those fine, unedited old Chuck Jones cartoons that truly exemplify humor.