A great page, marred by my inept attempt at a cartoon illustration. The story was this: Soviet premiere Nikita Khrushchev and his wife visited the U.S. 55 years ago. They spent a day in California, visiting a Hollywood set and rubbing elbows with stars there. Which didn't go well -- they were filming "Can-Can" and the Khrushchevs were horrified by the decadent dance moves by Shirley MacLaine. What Khrushchev really wanted was to visit Disneyland, but that wasn't allowed, due to security reasons. It damn near set off an international incident. I didn't have adequate lead art of Nicky, so I resorted to this cartoon. I tried to make it funny, with Mouse Ears and an old Kodak Brownie camera and a tourist-from-the-USSR Hawaiian-style shirt. But I was -- ahem -- less than happy with my own artwork. Oh, well.
Sept. 19, 2014