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TIL The Addams Family was originally a cartoon that ran for decades until the author, Charles Addams, died. Also, he was friends with Ray Bradbury. (i.pinimg.com)

submitted 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) by pelespirit@sh.itjust.works to c/til@lemmy.ca

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Addams would enjoy the Presbyterian Cemetery on Mountain Avenue in Westfield as a child, where – according to author and Addams expert Ron MacCloskey – he would wonder what it was like to be dead.[5] In the cartoons, his ghoulish creations lived on Cemetery Ridge with a dreadful view.

A house on Elm Street and another on Dudley Avenue – into which police once caught him breaking and entering – are said to be the inspiration for the Addams Family mansion in his cartoons. College Hall, the oldest building on the current campus of the University of Pennsylvania, where Addams studied, was also an inspiration for the mansion.[6] One friend said of him: "His sense of humor was a little different from everybody else's." He was also artistically inclined, "drawing with a happy vengeance", according to a biographer.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Addams

Original Morticia from her grave (his first wife):

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/208438556/barbara-jean-hersey

Original model pack by Charles Addams: https://archive.org/details/adamsfamilymodelpack/page/n49/mode/2up

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[-] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 47 points 3 days ago

That's why I find it so funny when people want to complain/explain how authentic Wednesday is in the new series. They usually compare it to the first movie when there have already been numerous different interpretations to choose from.

BTW, the original TV series is available for free on YouTube.

[-] TheSlad@sh.itjust.works 16 points 2 days ago

His comics had a wide variety of subject matter, kind of like a more edgy version of The Farside. The addams family were recurring characters that showed up every now and then until their popularity eclipsed all the other stuff he drew.

Theres a big anthology of his work floating around my moms house somewhere that I used to look through when I was younger.

[-] Tramdan@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 days ago

11089 11092 11091 11090

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 4 points 2 days ago

This is great, I really appreciate you posting this.

[-] Tramdan@sh.itjust.works 3 points 2 days ago

It's available on Internet Archive

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

It only shows a few pages for me and then goes to "limited preview."

[-] Tramdan@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

Maybe I should scan my copy...

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

I think you're getting into copyright infringement territory. There's a reason it's on the limited preview, someone blocked them from showing it.

[-] Tramdan@sh.itjust.works 2 points 2 days ago

Yes, I've changed my mind!

[-] ParadoxSeahorse@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago

I’m sorry, complete mindsplosion by the fact that, although the comics were black and white, the cover is in full colour!?!

It’s a completely different feel!

[-] But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago

I love how much Luiz Guzman personifies the original Gomez, instead of the hot Raul Julia Gomez, Hes small and round and weird looking

[-] calliope@retrolemmy.com 18 points 3 days ago

I wanted to make sure they were essentially like newspaper comics and they were mainly printed in the New Yorker!

They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker between 1938 and their creator's death in 1988.

[-] BlameTheAntifa@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

It’s disappointing that there is no complete collection. Maybe the rights are too tangled up?

[-] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 5 points 2 days ago

There was a book of his cartoons at my house when I was young (never really thought about who in my family bought it), and I loved it. Probably responsible for some of my personality today.