My Favorite Photo of 2010 (So Far)

No, it's not the 11:11 at the Biograph. If you want to know more about 1111, there's plenty of links on my site. This shot is in the alley alongside the Majestic Building, which had been in pretty bad shape until it was cleaned up and now the place is home to the excitingly-named Bank Of America Theater. Anyhow, I like the photo because of the ball. It wasn't there last month. Oh, I should add that I cut through this alley to get from the Monroe Street subway to the bldg. where Greg works. I love it when unseen forces add props to photo locations for me.

Fat Johnnie's Hot Dogs

Pardon the quality on these next week's worth of photos, last Friday was a grim day. Having to go to Holy Cross that afternoon, I took time after to take some photos along Western, last time it was Lithuanian Plaza (or 69th Street) about four blocks west. I'll post those later, but here is Fat Johnnie's, an actual hot dog stand! Cripes! I'd seen photos of it, but really had not known it was actually still there. And it has been quite a while since I saw the Dave Berg name on a hot dog sign. The craziest thing, as you can tell, is the frozen waif in the kayak filled with ice. After getting my two dogs with steamed, poppy seed buns, I asked the man who was presumably Johnnie (because of his age), what the dilly-o was on the kayak. He told me it was a flower pot when it warmed up. I liked that he called it a pot and not a garden.

I have taken to posting photos on Google Earth via Panoramino under the name JonnyAlgiers. I put up a few of the 16th Street Bridge, the subway, like that. Oh, and Bubbly Creek. Can't forget that. Saw the Book of Eli film yesterday night and loved it, then I swiped a pair of glasses to see the last thirty or so minutes of Avatar in 3-D. I didn't mind sneaking in because I knew I'd never see the film because I can't see in 3-D, period. But I wanted to check it out past the shots on TV. Well, karma got me as I watched for a bit, my head starting to hurt, then I left and vomited white stuff in the bathroom, and again at 3 this morning. Headache all day, but I get them this time of year anyways. Karma's a bitch.

There might be a connection here...

There is an entire cult out in the real world who can quote from the famous Boner issue of Batman (#66, mid 50s) page by page. But I don't think anyone has ever thought that ten years after that issue came out, those same readers read the comic in bed. Under the covers. With a flashlight. And the Raquel Welch pillow. While their wives were watching the kids or doing the laundry. (Welch Pillow courtesy of Adam Barnett over at Comics Make No Sense.)

This Time They Signaled Me

I'm involved with a project involving LOST, which had the first episode of the final season air earlier, and I've spent two hours writing an essay. So I'm just going with more helo shots. I stood in the street waiting on it this time, and I'll be damned if a headlight didn't flick on and off as it got close. I'm thinking I might be seeing Elvis again soon.

More Quality Heroes

See, here's the thing. DC had their Silver Age versions of Golden Age characters. In 1955, the late Julie Schwartz (who I met at several conventions between 1986 and his passing in 2004) gave the green light on creating two books, Showcase and Brave & Bold, and starting in 1955, there were updated versions of Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, and Atom, among others. In a sense, the current Green Lantern shares the month and year of my birth. So this is why the Quality characters have a uniqueness, and Bob made a point by saying that Eisner's The Spirit was the best-known of all the heroes. DC picked up the rights to Fawcett Comics, as well, but almost all the books were related to Captain Marvel. I would have loved for DC to have purchased Fox, so that there would be adventures of the original Blue Beetle, but that was not to be.

DC did put out a Plastic Man comic in the late 60s, and it held its own, getting canceled after 8 issues, but keep in mind that in the 40s, PM appeared in Police Comics, an anthology with several other features. Yesterday I mentioned how kids wanted westerns and then sci-fi after WWII, plus there were all the horror comics that resulted in the comics code authority being formed. The only DC characters that remained active in their own comics throughout the 50s were Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and, surprisingly, Blackhawk, which just went straight from the Quality imprint to that of DC. In later years, Roy Thomas wrote a story explaining the absence of so many heroes in the 50s, that they had retired or operated in secret rather than give up their civilian identities before the HUUAC. Actually, a neat idea.

I posted the shot of Doll Man simply because of the guy he is punching. I thought I was a mug. Phantom Lady was fairly popular, and, I'm sorry, but Red Bee was my favorite of the Quality characters. Yes, the costume is more insane than Madame Fatal's, and yes, he kept trained bees in his belt buckle, but he had more stories than a chunk of the rest of the line. There is nothing on Google but this goofy cover from Hit Comics#1, I looked on Google until the images ended up as Red Baron pizza.

Anyhow. That's that. And, hey, isn't that a great Blackhawk cover?

Madame Fatal

Quality was a comic publisher that put out a fair amount of books in the 40s, and I just yesterday learned of Madam Fatal. Rather, the fact that Madam Fatal was the first cross-dressing hero, as I did know of the character by name. DC purchased Quality's heroes in 1956, but as could be expected, the character was never used, although many Quality heroes were never used, and many were only mentioned by name.

The character was created by Art Pinajian, whose other creation, the Invisible Hood, was more well-known. As with Fletcher Hanks, Pinajian's collected body of work may soon see publication, and he also had a fair amount of noteriety as an abstract painter. For the most part, Richard Stanton, who had a pedigree in theater, dressed up as an old woman, surprising bad guys by using a walking cane as a quarterstaff. His impetus for fighting the good fight was to get clues on which bad guy had kidnapped his gal. This was never resolved, most likely because there'd be no reason for the character to go on, but no, truth was the comic he appeared in was cancelled, as so many were after WWII ended. Somehow, westerns became big, before all the science-fiction of the early 50s. And there you have it, the story of Madame Fatale

The Balloon at 162 No. State

A few shots here of State and Lake, the first from the Chuckman Collection of Postcards, and the shot of the State/Lake at night by Tom Jelen. At the time I wrote The Holy Terror in 1988-9, nothing from that top postcard remained, aside from a bare bones Shoppers Corner. Where you see that portion of signage next to Burgerbar, that is Block 37, and so you've seen Mammy's, the Trailways and Greyhound depots, and the various theaters and greasy spoons intersecting just to the left off-camera. But in 1989, the State-Lake was closed, as was the Chicago. I can't recall ANY of these places, the Burgerbar, The Flame, or the dubious sounding Michelob Restaurant.
What is there now are housing for art school students and the Gene Siskel theater, with the entire buildings being built from scratch. The State-Lake is the 190 North building, the HQ for our ABC affiliate.

But I want to describe an image. From when the other, smaller buildings stood. I was working in the Loop in 1984, when there was no el train towards my home, and the massive buses actually had to trundle along I-55 to Pulaski Road. The buses all ran down State southward to Cullerton and Archer where we stayed on the Dan Ryan Expressway for about seven seconds before hitting I-55, the Stevenson. Trust me, it was like watching a movie where they tried to cram as many unseemly backgrounds--Chinatown, auto junkyards, freeway off-ramps--as possible into a, well, actually it was often an hour long ride once we hit the expressway. I learned to leave my job and walk northward to Lake Street and wait for the bus there. It was the second stop on the route and I was always baffled by anyone I knew from Adams Street being on the bus all pissed off that they were standing along with 75 other people in the aisles.

See that building next to the one with the fire escape? That is, well, it WAS 162 No. State. And for several years there was a bright balloon tied to the fire escape, red or orange faded to pink. It wasn't afloat, mind you. It was just there, the string possibly tangled with the fire escape next door. The balloon eventually deflayted and actually looked like a burnt candle hanging three stories up. One day it was gone, certainly not from anyone coming around to clean things up. I never thought to take a photo because at the time, that wasn't my bag. Buildings, sure. But not balloons floating like weighted lanterns.

Well, I'm glad I finally got that story out of the way. It actually seemed more boring as I continued typing. I do promise to get to the story about the guy with the knife in the Trailways bathroom soon. Oh, and the guy with the knife? That was me, trying to commit suicide.