R.I.P. Yvonne Craig.

We sadly note the passing of actress Yvonne Craig, on August 17, 2015, at the unthinkable age of only 78. 

We can endlessly debate who, and what medium, gave us the best version of Batman, and all arguments and opinions have merit… but Yvonne Craig WAS Batgirl!  Hands down, and no arguments! 

Even subsequent animated versions of Batgirl owed their designs to Yvonne Craig. 

Filmation.

Warner Bros. 

And, it is the role of Batgirl she will be endlessly identified with.  To the present day, as seen by this 2015 comic book cover. 

...And the original 1967-era photo that inspired the 2015 cover. 
  

...And the comic book that started it all!  

Here's Batgirl's transformation, circa 2015.  The second panel, in particular, captures that "Yvonne Craig look"!

Beyond Batgirl, Yvonne Craig was also all over the landscape in other popular genre and fan-favorite series as:

STAR TREK

VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

Anyone care to guess what she's screaming about? 

LAND OF THE GIANTS

...With Bruce Dern

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

 ...With Angela Lansbury ("The Bride of Frankenstein")

That's Angela Lansbury - NOT Yvonne Craig!  

...Opening U.N.C.L.E.'s "Channel D"! 

Yvonne Craig can be found throughout my DVD collection including:

PERRY MASON, WAGON TRAIN, McHALE'S NAVY, MY FAVORITE MARTIAN, THE WILD WILD WEST, and IT TAKES A THIEF.  All of which I hope to acquaint, or reacquaint, myself with in the coming days.  

And, of course, I can always enjoy her performances HERE. 

A complete list of Yvonne Craig's credits are found at IMDB, HERE.  

 I even got to meet her once.  She was delightful and very high-spirited.  It was anything but going through the “personal-appearance-motions”, as some might do. 

I must also add that she was at the top of my “Big Three” of sixties television, along with Marta Kristen, and Grace Lee Whitney – the latter of whom we also lost this year! (…And, if you have to ask “Big Three what?”, you are banned from my Blog for a week!)

Mark Evanier has a wonderful piece that you can link to HERE - and another funnier one HERE! 

And here's a great one from our friend "Comic Book Rehab"!

Rest in Peace, Yvonne Craig, and thank you for such great moments that will live on forever.   

Just Some More Editorial Brilliance from IDW!

Was anyone else reading IDW’s MICKEY MOUSE # 3 (Legacy Numbering # 312, released on August 26, 2015) as delightfully stunned as I was at the panels below?

If you weren’t, consider that this very same month’s DONALD DUCK # 4 featured Yetis…

And, this very same month’s UNCLE SCROOGE # 5 featured the Grand Canyon! 

How about THAT!

...And, yes, he has indeed had "wilder adventures"! 

If the IDW Disney Comic Book line is a DREAM, I don’t wanna wake up!   

...Even from a "dream" like this! 

Oh, wait... That's better! 

On Sale August 19, 2015: DONALD DUCK # 4 from IDW.

Let nothing, up to and including a pack of Tibetan Yetis, deter you from getting to your local comic book shop to pick up a copy of DONALD DUCK # 4 (Legacy Numbering # 371) from IDW! 

In it, you’ll find "The Perfect Calm" or "Are We There Yeti?", an original 1974 story from the Italian publication ALMANACCO TOPOLINO # 211 written by Rodolfo Cimino, with "perfectly calm"... er, superbly complementary (and sometimes "perfectly weird") art by the great Romano Scarpa, with full translation and dialogue by yours truly!

Donald gets himself into some typically Barksian trouble, while trying to get-through a decidedly non-typical Barksian oddball Duckburg holiday - and gets thrown in jail for his troubles.  

There, he meets an old Tibetan sage who introduces him to the state-of-being known as "The Perfect Calm"!  

Donald is quick to embrace this philosophy, as the latest in his long line of All-Consuming Obsessions, like this one...

But, instead of a quest for a set of outdated walkie-talkies...

...He's off to Tibet, on a quest to achieve "The Perfect Calm", with his nephews in hot protective pursuit!  

There, they find Yetis...

...And, "The Perfect Calm"!  

And just wait until Donald brings "The Perfect Calm" back to Duckburg!  Hoo-Boy!  

The issue is rounded-out by "Hampered", a 1937 three-page British comic...

...And Ludwig Von Drake and Grandma Duck in "Chore Chump", by Don R. Christensen and Paul Murry.  

I must point out that Don once told me that he preferred the "R." in his name, because there were two other "Don Christensens" in animation, and this was his way of differentiating himself from them.  So, perhaps in future credits, IDW could use the "R." (which Don sometimes wrote as "ARR" for effect) as part of his name.

So, walk in a "Perfectly Calm" manner, or run in a total frenzy - makes no difference to me, as long as you pick up a a copy of DONALD DUCK # 4 (Legacy Numbering # 371) from IDW! 

It will be one of the more bizarre - not to mention outright fun - reads you will have this year!  I make that "Perfectly Calm" guarantee!    

As always, once you’ve read the issue, please come back and join the discussion in our Comments Section! 

Just remember, I do not speak for IDW, or anyone in its employ.  I speak strictly for myself as both a long-time fan and as a dialogue creator – and those opinions are strictly my own. 

I’ll meet you back here for another lively comment thread!  Not sure if DONALD will be here, though...  3...2... 1... Bye, Donald!

Maybe, we'll even get comments from some Yetis!  

Bonus Closing Pun:  This issue is SO GOOD, it would be foolish "Tibet" against it!