Meet Virgil from the 'Mighty Max' animated series ...And, yes, the 'L' has been restored, thx to MasonMouse (DA). :3
Now, because I wasn't a Mighty Max fan growing up, I thought it wise to do a tiny bit of research to uncover what kind of bird Virgil is supposed to represent.
"Virgil is the guide for Max and a scholarly fowl. And he is also known as valiant, inspirational, rational, good-hearted, instructive, level-headed, selfless, caring, humble, organized, aspiring, righteous, loyal, dignified, friendly, optimistic, wise, likable, trusting, honest, encouraging, lion-hearted, educated, mature, understanding, respectful, intellectual, attentive and nice"
Almost every entry in Merriam-Webster's may be found here, but the wiki says nothing, at the start, about what Virgil is.
Reading further,
"What's more, although he looks like a talking chicken and is often referred to as such, he keeps insisting that he is actually a fowl"
Uh... Judging by the beak, Virgil is obviously some kind of raptor, like a hawk or a falcon. Granted, chicken is scary---chickens will eat mice and so forth (and, supposedly, they derive from the T-rex).
But what about that 'fowl' part?
"fowl (n.) a gallinaceous bird kept for its eggs and flesh; a domestic cock or hen. 2. birds collectively" (Webster's)
Yeah, see, the use of 'fowl' told me nothing I didn't already know---Virgil is obviously a bird; I never questioned that!
...But perhaps I should've,
"The last living Lemurian, the next step in human evolution, as revealed in one episode"
Lemurian. Ok ...'Human evolution'? So, Virgil isn't a fowl, but is instead some kind of ape? Now that I'd not have guessed! Sarcasm aside, methinks the Mighty Max team didn't know the difference between an ape and a bird, and the wiki author doesn't know the meaning of the word 'fowl'.
Suffice it to say, I'm just gonna call Virgil a hawk. If I'm wrong, you Mighty Max fans out there (*both of you!) please feel free to correct me (or, better yet, rewrite Virgil's wiki).
*actually, that's knowingly unfair---this series has a surprising amount of fan art! ^^
All right, so what about the show 'Mighty Max'; was it any good?
...Yes. 'Mighty Max' isn't fantastic (that's another Max), but it had some fairly dark themes and some good action sequences. Of course, this was balanced with some VERY unfunny jokes, and copious amounts of Rob Paulsen's screeching (Paulsen's, IMHO, miscast as the voice of Mighty Max).
Digressing, but was there an American 90's cartoon Paulsen WASN'T cast in? :P
Anyway ...Virgil! :}
So, what about our drawing tool?
The paint had been completely worn away from the lettering. Thankfully, the lettering had been engraved, so I was able to use a white pencil to fill it in so as to make the words readable on the screen. The pencil is a Dixon 'Cabinet', 720 model with an HB lead. It's a heavy pencil with a slow drag and fairly unforgiving lines (ie, hard to erase). Its lead is thick, and its barrel perfectly round. I think this pencil to be WWII era, but I'm uncertain. :3
