Don Martin, Animated

In 1986, Gerhard Hahn's Deutsche Zeichentrick Erste Produktions GmbH & Co. KG. produced an animated feature called Don Martin Does It Again. It was based off many of Martin's old comic strips and, from what I've seen, are pretty faithful executions of same. Sounds like a brilliant idea! Somehow, though, the pacing and onomatopoeia make the originals funnier to me. See for youself... Norma Martin, Don's widow, described it as "a half hour version of one of Don's long stories that can be found in his wholly owned pocketbooks." She added, "Don worked on this project extensively and the film won an award—there were problems of the usual kind between the parties. It was shown on TV in Europe—but never released in the US."

And speaking of Norma, I missed earlier this year (because of the pandemic) that she had set up a GoFundMe to try to keep MAD and DC Comics "from stealing his name, trademark and work." She highlights: "If AT&T [who owns MAD and DC] wins the case I have been fighting all other creative people can just as easily lose control over their names and work too. My opponents have been using Don's name on books and magazines all over the world as if it is their property. They have been putting his name on work he did not create. That is what I am fighting."

I expect the pandemic has really thrown an additional wrench into the works for her. She launched the campaign just as news of COVID's spread began taking over every headline. If you have the means, I'm sure she would appreciate any assistance you can throw her way.

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