The Vanisher by Kenneth Robeson

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This is my first Doc Savage novel. I read some of the comic books back in the 1970s. Those didn’t strike me even though I’m a fan of the main artist that drew it. This one also didn’t grab me. It is poorly plotted, written and, in general, conceived. It’s full of plot holes and bad literary devices. There is all kinds of nonsense where one minute Doc is thinking way ahead of everyone and then suddenly seems not to be able to think at all. The writer worked way to hard to keep the bad guy a mystery, though to me it was obvious what was going on. I hoped loose ends and needless action scenes added up to even a bad plot twist. Didn’t happen in that way. All of this is assembled to be one of the worst books I’ve read in many years.



However, two friends tell me not to give it up and track down the early adventures of the Doc. This I get. Sounds like a situation similar to the Mike Shayne series. It’s a powerful set of mysteries up until the original writer dropped it into the hands of a sea of freelancers brought in by Dell publishers. So I will wander back to the Doc Savage series as soon as I find one of the early parts of the series.



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Here are the steps I took to paint this double caricature. Above are the pencils.

Then I tighten the pencils with a pen. Now to add watercolor.

Here is the final artwork with watercolor and then an outline I added at the end.

History of Brevard County Vol. 1 by Jerrell H. Schoffner

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This first volume of the History of Brevard County is as excellent as one would suspect when written and composed by Jerrell Schofner. I think it can be said that if Schofner writes a history, that history can be considered the definitive history of the subject. This is as thorough as any of his works are. Maybe a bit too much. There is a bit too much history of how all of Florida developed with population. I think he could have just focused on the central east coast and kept a better focus of the subject matter. Otherwise, the writing is spot on and spells out everything from politics to trains to citrus production. There are few humorous parts. Schofner is, as always, straight history. Though, there are some signs of his political bent in his writings of the rise of the “progressive” early 20th century. It is the early 20th century that this volume ends. My next stop is volume 2 of the definitive history of Brevard County.



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Hard at work on the next Swampy’s Florida Coloring Book and Guide.

Terisa Glover and I crossed pens across the sketchpad while at dinner at Palace Pizza in Downtown Lakeland, Florida. Each adding a piece and passing the pen to the other. Above are the results. i should mention part of this has to do with Terisa’s dog, Sparky, slurping many a spaghetti noodle served to her.

The Socrates Cafe discussion this month included asking what the pop phrase “Epic” means, ethics and personal information, knowing oneself and asking what “mercy” is.

Attended the Orlando Remembered meeting on the 18th. Above are sketches. Page 1 is of Bob Buck and Betty Bandy. The second page has Steve Rajtar, Leon Handley, Grace Chewning, Joy Wallace Dickinson and Hillis Bandy.

Below is a sneak peek at the meeting!

Our Chairman, Bill Milligan, and secretary, Grace Chewning, discuss Orlando Remembered business.

I joined the Thursday morning hiking group of the Florida Cracker Chapter of the Florida Trail Association for, what turned out to be, a strenuous 6 mile hike through San Felasco State Park. There are many more photos at the Swampy’s Florida site. You can see those by clicking here.

Along the way I got some sketchin’ done, too. Not as much as usual. Below are a couple of the slight scribblings I made along the way.

While hiking it’s always good to be prepared for emergencies by carrying a well stocked Pez container!

We found ourselves in an empty bed of a cypress swamp.

This should be under at least some water. Below is a lonely cypress knee.

Here’s the birthday illustration I made for my father this year. Reading a Mike Shayne mystery novel inspired me to combine the detective with the frog. This is a watercolor painting, 11″ x 14″.

Below is a photo of my father on his birthday caught in the act of retrieving a glasses case from his shirt pocket with his requested steakburger ready for consumption.

Above is the mysterious Marie who asked me to create the caricature she’s holding. I did the whole thing at Bubbalou’s Bar-B-Que in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Look for a post about it on Swampy’s Florida next week. The restaurant was a great meeting place to get the artwork done and for good food.

  Here I am in the midst of getting the caricature done.

My last Christmas visits had me a bit closer to home and a chance to see lots of Christmas lights. Above are lights in Leesburg at Venetian Gardens and in Downtown Ocala. I just wish I would think more of taking photos when passing along Christmas cards. Something to work on next year!

After nearly 30 years got the opportunity to meet with a classmate in high school, Steve Brewster. He was also a fellow artist at the time. Now he lives in Gainesville. One of his hobbies is showing old horror movies on Blog.TV. You can tune in here on Saturday nights to see Steve in action.

Steve also has a mutual interest in cartoon toys and has his own collection. I did a drawing of him during the meeting.

Below is another classmate, James Holding and his wife, Susan. Though, James was a few years younger than me as we went to through school. I tutored cartooning  with James when he was attending Robert E. Lee Jr. High School.

James still cartoons to compliment a business he is in as a biblical apologist. You can see much, much more on his site by clicking here. Click here to see some of his animated spots on YouTube.

The annual Christmas Eve visit to, my dear friend, Lucile Fair, is always fun. A month before her 104th birthday and she is as full of energy as ever.