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Sesame Street

Sweeping the Clouds Away

Oddly enough for an international institution like Sesame Street, it has never had its own comic book — Until Now! Ape Entertainment’s Kizoic imprint presents the first regular Sesame Street full-color comic, written by Jason M. Burns and illustrated by Amy Mebberson. The first issue hits stores this April, and features one of five full-color covers that interlock into an ultra-wide poster.  “From television to the comic panel, Ape Entertainment will portray the characters that millions of parents and children have come to know and love in a comic series that will be produced in full color and available in stores this fall in standard comic sized printed editions for $3.99 and digest sized hardcover comic book editions for $7.99. They will also be available as a digital comic book that will be available through Apple’s App Store for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.”

image c. 2013 Ape Entertainment

Goodbye Gobo

Muppet fans around the world were recently saddened by another loss: Jerry Nelson, who had one of the longest careers of anyone in the world of Jim Henson’s Muppets, passed away on Thursday the 23rd at the age of 78. He was best known by legions of children around the world — including many who are now adults — as the voice and puppeteer of Count von Count, the beloved Sesame Street character who loved to count things as much as he loved to laugh maniacally. He was also the voice of the seldom-seen mammoth-like Mr. Snuffleupagus, Herry Monster, and Robin — Kermit the Frog’s young nephew.  More recently he was the voice and hands behind Floyd Pepper, bass player for The Electric Mayhem on The Muppet Show and subsequent movies. And after that, he brought to life Gobo Fraggle, the leader of the band of colorful characters on Fraggle Rock. So far, there’s no word on how Mr. Nelson’s passing might affect any plans that Jim Henson Productions (or their current owner, the Walt Disney Company) might have for a Fraggle Rock movie. As for Mr. Nelson… as Floyd Pepper might say, Rest in Peace my man.

image c. 2012 Jim Henson Productions

 

For Sesame Street fans

Following in the foam rubber footsteps of Sesame Street Unpaved by David Borgenicht comes Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street by Michael Davis (published by Viking). This massive (384 pages!) hardcover book was created by former TV Guide writer Davis after an extensive interview with Joan Ganz Cooney, who oversaw production on this world-famous educational TV series for more than twenty years. Some of the stories from the development of the series in 1968 are priceless: Maurice Sendak bored at a seminar on children’s TV, entertaining himself by drawing X-rated cartoons; and Jim Henson, whos long hair, beard, and sandals had producers worried that he might be a Weatherman terrorist. Stories like that abound.