Apologizing for weird inputs since 1969.
So in response to my ponderings about why the I Dream of Jeannie comic only ran two issues and why special attention seemed to be paid to Barbara Eden’s likeness, reader RAR unpacked the following:
“Mark Evanier has addressed this topic a few times. Basically, the publisher would send the comic to the relevant studio for approval, and sometimes the studio would send the comic to the individual actors (or their representatives) for their approval, and sometimes those actors (or, more likely, their representatives) would get very particular about how they were depicted.”
Additionally, RAR mentions a specific example, brought up by Mr. Evanier, that Forrest Tucker was being particular about his likeness in the F-Troop comic, resulting in a photostat of an approved drawing used repeatedly. Which sounds similar to something I’ve heard about the Kyle Baker-illustrated Dick Tracy comics from Disney, tying into the Warren Beatty movie, where Beatty only approved certain drawings of his face to be used in the books. (And by the way, the War Rocket Ajax boys looked at the series recently…it’s a good comic!)
I did some searching on Mr. Evanier’s site, using a variety of search terms (if Mr. Evanier reads this, I apologize for the weird inputs) and couldn’t track down any stories related to this. I even checked through his three paperback collections of columns from the Comic Buyers’ Guide and no dice. I totally admit that I may have missed it, and Mr. Evanier is a very prolific writer and only some of his writing is represented on his website and in his books. It certainly seems like something he would have written about!
EDIT: It’s been pointed out in the comments that Mr. Evanier commented on that F-Troop post with information that backs up RAR above, which I somehow missed. Sigh.
However, in doing an internet search, I did find some discussion of the likeness issues in both F Troop and I Dream of Jeannie, presented on another blog well over a decade ago. This entry here shows how they dealt with the Approved Forrest Tucker likeness in storytelling. And this entry about I Dream of Jeannie focuses on the repeated use of a specific Larry Hagman likeness, which I somehow missed in my brief glances through the copies I had. The writer also mentions some repeated usage of a Barbara Eden likeness, but notes the artist put a little more effort into actually drawing the character.
Sean asks if that was Tony Tallarico on the art chores for I Dream of Jeannie. Apparently the answer is no…the Grand Comics Database entry gives a name with a “?” after it, with an additional note that it’s unlikely this person was the artist (based on information from the previously-linked blogger) so the credit remains unknown.
At any rate, the mystery remains as to why only two issues. Again, I presume sales weren’t great, the usual reason comics don’t continue.
Hey, you may have heard a little something about Robert Downey Jr. being cast as Doctor Doom for a couple of forthcoming and presumably hastily-rewritten Avengers movies. “What’s up with that?” you may be asking. I mean, beyond the “look we got RDJ back, please start watching our movies again” flopsweat of it all. Well, my pal Kurt devoted an episode of his podcast, Welcome to Geektown, discussing the connection between Iron Man and Doctor Doom, and lays out a reasonable theory as to how they’ll be using Doom in the movies. It’s a short podcast, and worth a listen!
Actually, if you look at the artwork in that link to F Troop, the face of the blonde actress is drawn fairly similar to the Barbara Eden face in the Jeannie comics, in terms of line work and how the hair is delineated as well–and that F Troop comic is drawn by Bill Fraccio and inked by Tony Tallarico (they collaborated together frequently, like on Charlton Comics’ Blue Beetle –the Dan Garrett
iteration. Sometimes their collaborative work would be attributed to “Tony Williamsune.” I don’t think the “Jeannie”
artwork looks like Michael Arens’ style (he did Roy Rogers, Tarzan, Scamp, “My Favorite Martian” and even stuff for Car Toons hotrod magazine).
If not by Fraccio and Tallarico, the “Jeannie” art might be by Jose Delbo, who was doing the “Mod Squad” comics art around the same time, or else it might be by Henry Scarpelli, who was doing the
“Bewitched” comics art around that time.
Anyway, I did discover that Steve Ditko drew some Dell Comics issues of “Hogan’s Heroes”–how cool is that?
Evanier or somebody–maybe Don Glut?– should write a Definitive History of Gold Key Comics…I mean, a definitive history of Dell Comics would be best, to, but challenging as Dell.Comics date back to the 1930s. Hey Steranko, whatever became of completing “The Steranko History of Comics?”
More on the Hogan’s Heroes Dell Comics as well as some interesting trivia regarding the TV series:
https://www.comicmix.com/2016/10/12/mike-gold-hogans-weirdos/
The first comment on that F Troop page is from…Mark Evanier. His comment – “The reuse of faces on a comic like this might be a matter of laziness on the artist but I’ve seen it happen for another reason. Sometimes, someone at the company that owns the property is really fussy about the likenesses. Sometimes, it’s even the person being caricatured. I know cases where the artist is made to redraw and redraw until someone is satisfied…and at some point, it becomes easier to just trace or stat the likenesses they did approve and use them over.”
A British comic artist – can’t remember who – who drew movie and TV tie-in comics and comics about pop stars in Look-In, which did that kind of thing, said they’d do one big close-up shot per page based on a publicity shot and try to do the rest with faces obscured or in long-shot. But they were doing a page or two a week, not 24.
Side-note: the RDJ casting seems strange, but I’m unconvinced by the narrative that Marvel is in dire straits and made the move from desperation. They had one movie that underperformed, Ant-Man 3 and coming from comics it’s incredible there was ever an Ant-Man 3, and one which could be reasonably called a flop. Yes, they needed to rethink the number of movies released per year and how heavily they interrelated their TV stuff, but it hardly seems they needed to panic.