Tex Avery war propaganda - "Blitz Wolf"

Sure, you've seen classic WWII propaganda cartoons before. We've all probably watched the Donald-Duck-in-Nazi-land to death. But this is a rarer one, from the cheeky, loopy, surreal animation of Tex Avery. All the staples of Avery are there - fourth-wall-breaking post-modern sign gags, wolf whistles at a girly magazine, literal listening devices made out of giant ears that would tickle Salvador Dali, and improbably gag weapons.

Oh, and unfettered racism, nationalism, and jingoism. And buy some more war bonds, dammit!

Bill and Coo - A movie for the birds

In 1948, producer Ken Murray was sitting around with a lot of time on his hands and thought "Hey, I'll just make an entire film about birds! Not a nature documentary, no, I mean birds as actors, telling a story, putting on a SHOW!" And this was the result.

Had enough? If not, view the entire 61-minute Bill and Coo here.

Admittedly, this is the corniest idea you've ever seen go into a feature film, and they don't spare one kernel while they're at it - gag signs, lame puns, and endless gawking at the cute widdle birdies ensue. For being birds, they're pretty clever and do little tricks while the typicalmid-20th-century narrator yammers on and on about what the birds are doing since the birds don't actually talk - they really missed out not getting Alex the grey parrot - alas, it was before his time.

Just, y'know, don't expect A-list acting. It's just enough to sit through this thing in jaw-dropping astonishment that it got made.

We all need a little Baffling Mystery in our lives

Jason Scott, of textfiles fame, has scanned in some vintage pulp comics for preservation at the Internet Archive. The Ace Comics Collection so far includes Ernie, Baffling Mysteries, Atomic War, Andy, Western Adventures, and many more. These are from the somewhat rusty pre-golden age of pulp comics between the 1930s and '50s.

Ace Comics were a notorious pulp publisher, not to be confused with David McCay Publishing's Ace Comics title. Ace Comics published horror / detective series for the boys and love story / soft porn for the girls, and never mind justifying the art. In fact, they were an early scapegoat for the moral panic over comics that lead to the Comics Code Authority.