B. TOBEY OF THE NEW YORKER

Barney Tobey, a contract cartoonist for The New Yorker, had over 1,200 cartoons published in the magazine. When he was in his 20s, he sent in 3 cover ideas to The New Yorker magazine. To his pleasant surprise, they sold. That was a turning point. Mr. Tobey walked out of his BBD and O advertising agency job to become a full-time cartoonist freelancer. Brave soul!

Mr. Tobey (1906-1989) shares his sketchbook with us in B. TOBEY OF THE NEW YORKER, an oversized hardcover published by Dodd, Mead and Company, Inc. and copyright 1983 by Barney Tobey.

Below are his words, his sketchbook pages and then, the final cartoon finish, for two of Mr. Tobey's cartoons, taken from the appendix of the book.

THE MAKING OF A CARTOON - I







THE MAKING OF A CARTOON - II





Cartooning may look like it just drips out of the cartoonist's hand like a leaky creative faucet, but here is a peek at the time, the writing, the rewriting, the missteps, the hard labor — that all go into making the end result look effortless.

Related:

Norman Rockwell Museum Exhibit: All for Laughs: The Artists of the Famous Cartoonist Course March 1 through June 15, 2025

-- Edited from a May 5, 2009 blog entry.

Norman Rockwell Museum Exhibit: All for Laughs: The Artists of the Famous Cartoonist Course March 1 through June 15, 2025

 

From the Norman Rockwell Museum:

"What did 'famous' cartoonists Al Capp, Whitney Darrow, Barney Tobey, Dick Cavalli, Willard Mullin, Rube Goldberg, and Harry Haenigsen have in common? They were all celebrated visual humorists in the mid-twentieth century and faculty of the Famous Artists Cartoon Course—a popular correspondence course launched in the 1950s that was designed to teach artists to be funny. Original cartoons and instructional drawings from the Norman Rockwell Museum’s extensive Famous Artists School Collection by this cadre of noted artists will explore the wit and wisdom of the Famous Artists Cartoon Course."

 

Terry Gilliam Animations Made Outside of Monty Python's Flying Circus

Via the Monty Python Museum:

CBS Sunday Morning: From the archives: Illustrator Edward Gorey

Via CBS Sunday Morning:

"The prolific author and illustrator of morbidly funny books Edward Gorey, who departed this life in 2000, was born 100 years ago, on February 22, 1925. His darkly comic drawings depicted odd creatures and unfortunate events, and were popularized in the opening titles of the PBS series 'Mystery.' In this 'Sunday Morning' profile that aired April 20, 1997, correspondent Martha Teichner visited Gorey at his Cape Cod home, where the eccentric artist’s obsessions were piled high. She also talked with Clifford Ross and Karen Wilkin, authors of 'The World of Edward Gorey.'"

 

Dik Browne’s Life That Way Party Line Comics Collected by IndyPlanet

Dik Browne didn't have to do Hagar the Horrible. He was a prolific advertising cartoonist for years before he made his comic strip debut. I am sure he was busy enough without adding a daily comic to his regimen. But good for him that we got Hagar! 

Here's a collection of all thirty advertising comic strips that Dik drew for the Chesapeake and Tacoma Telephone Company of Virginia. You can buy it from IndyPlanet:

"In the early 1950s, cartoonist Dik Browne, best known as the creator of Hagar the Horrible and as the original artist on Hi & Lois, drew Life’s That Way…, a series of six-panel comic strips to be used in ads for local telephone companies. These stories focused on teaching proper phone etiquette, particularly for users of party lines, when several households shared a single phone line."

 

Napoleon and Uncle Elby and Little Mary Big Little Book by Clifford McBride

 

The wonderful pen lines of Clifford McBride, who drew the Napoleon and Uncle Elby comic strip (1932 - 1961).

My grandmother and grandfather knew Clifford and Margot McBride. The two couples and would meet up at a Los Angeles restaurant back in the day (1940s I think) from time to time. My grandmother was highly amused that Clifford would routinely pause and gaze around to see if people recognized him. As if people knew what a cartoonist looks like!

Clifford McBride's assistant was Disney artist Roger Armstrong, who would continue the feature after McBride's death in 1951, with Margot McBride writing. It's more than likely we are looking at Armstrong's work for this Big Little Book.

Thanks to George Topham Hayes for these scans!

 

 

IT'S BETTER WITH YOUR SHOES OFF by Anne Cleveland PART TWO

Continuing a look at the book IT'S BETTER WITH YOUR SHOES OFF by Anne Cleveland. Part one is here. This book shows us what it was like for well-to-do Westerners living in Japan in the 1950s.






Above: one of my favorite gatefold illustrations. The reason I bought the book.



 

-- This has been an edited version of a blog entry that originally appeared way back in November 13, 2007.