Happy Friday

Video: Simon Tofield: The Art and Inspiration Behind "Simon's Cat"

This presentation by "Simon's Cat" creator Simon Tofield took place on November 19, 2013 as part of Purina's Better With Pets Summit in New York City.

The Influence of Harry Haenigsen's PENNY Comic Strip

Ger Apeldoorn posts an informative mini-essay on cartoonist Harry Haenigsen, whose PENNY strip influenced a generation of cartoonists.

"Penny was a huge influence on a whole generation of artists, which can be seen in the advertising work of Dik Browne and Gill Fox, for instance, and everything that grew out of that. But where he once was new and exciting, he very soon started repeating himself, often in one Sunday page. From the early fifties to the end of the strip in, what, the seventies, it almost hurts to look at."

Go look. There are some fascinating samples of his 1928 cartoon work -- as well as a 1958 PENNY Sunday page.

Paste Magazine: The Best Comics Artists of 2013

Above: Fiona Staples' art from the cover of SAGA #8.

It took four people (identified as "Pastes's Comics Team") to come up with this Paste Magazine top ten list of The Best Comics Artists of 2013 and I don't envy them their task. They qualify it as non-conclusive and an "incredibly subjective topic," adding that people may make comments to add their own picks.

Regardless, it's a great list with some of the best comics art of the year. A feast for the eyes and all that -- and it makes me want to have a poster of the above image!

Video: Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman "Making Baby Blues"

"Father Was Right" Song Sung by Rube Goldberg

Start at the 6:23 mark to skip the background detail on Pathe Records. It's not a very good recording The poster, Music Box Boy, says that Rube stood too far from the microphone.  But it's a fun song nonetheless, and a rare chance to hear the voice of the first president of the National Cartoonists Society.

Related: there's a new book THE ART OF RUBE GOLDBERG, written by his granddaughter Jennifer, with an introduction by Adam Gopnick. It's published by Abrams. Here's a video of the cool cover contraption:

Stan and Pauline Goldberg in Rehab

Two weeks ago today, Stan Goldberg and his wife Pauline were in a bad car accident.

Pauline fractured both arms and a leg. Stan had a broken vertebra.

If you are a friend of mine on Facebook or Twitter, then you know all this. I haven't posted anything on the blog until now. I wanted to be sure that they were on the mend.

Stan and Pauline are in a rehab facility in Manhattan. And, yes, they are receiving visitors. They are on the mend.

I am relieved. The last time I saw them was at the 2013 Reuben Awards weekend in Pittsburg. We chatted several times. They seemed to know everybody, and they were having a grand time.

They are dearly beloved by fans and colleagues alike. You spend 5 minutes with Stan or Pauline, and you feel like they are part of your family. Just wonderful, salt of the earth people -- but, hey -- I'm preaching to the choir, huh?

More: Heidi MacDonald has a report at The Beat.

Richard Thompson Surgery Delayed

Richard Thompson fell and broke his hip on Sunday. The surgery, originally scheduled for Monday, has been rescheduled for today due to complications.

Richard's friend Nick Galifianakis has more at the Art of Richard Thompson Facebook page:

Hello Richard Thompson fans, Nick here again. 

Thanks on behalf of Richard for all the kind thoughts. Unfortunately, there's been a setback so obviously YOU GUYS AREN'T TRYING HARD ENOUGH!!!! 

There have been some complications, so surgery has been postponed to, hopefully, tomorrow at the latest. 

Please know that RT's spirits are awesome. When I mentioned that he was wearing a "very happy morphine face," he responded with, "Is there any other kind?"

CBS Sunday Morning Video: Sandra Boynton Goes Country with "Frog Trouble"

Video: Garry Trudeau Talks About ALPHA HOUSE

Garry Trudeau was on PBS News Hour, talking about the "anti-HOUSE OF CARDS" (Steve Kornacki's description): Amazon's first streaming show ALPHA HOUSE, which Trudeau created.

BBC Video: Giles Original Cartoons Auctioned

Video: Ted Rall Talks About "Racist Cartoon" Accusation

Ted Rall appears on Newsmax TV's "The Steve Malmberg Show" to talk about his Obama cartoon that people on the left are calling racist. 

Richard Thompson Breaks Hip; Surgery Today

Richard Thompson fell and broke his hip. Surgery today.

Nick Galifianakis writes at "The Art of Richard Thompson" Facebook page:

Hello cartoon and comic fans. Nick Galifianakis here. 

I'm trying to generate a tsunami of good thoughts for the only actual genius I know (I'm apologize to whoever else I just insulted) Richard Thompson. 

RT's Parkinson's has made him less stable and he took quite a tumble yesterday - he broke his hip, which is being replaced at 3 pm today. 

A joint replacement will get Richard up on his feet very quickly -screwing in a pin, which was briefly considered, would mean a much much longer convalescence whereas the joint replacement means he's up and rehabbing very quickly, very important considering he's already starting out from a compromised physical position. 

Surgery will be followed by about 5 days in the hospital 

Please send good thoughts his way. Now. 

More later...

"The Art of Richard Thompson" Facebook page is here.

Exposure and No Credit

 Mike Peterson, over at Comic Strip of the Day, talks about Rachel Dukes. A cartoon of hers, which was freely available to view on her site, was taken, her name stripped off, and it was shared over a half a million times on other sites.

"The money isn’t the point. But this is a thing that’s happening. This isn’t just happening to me. It’s actively happening to the greater art community as a whole. (Especially the comics community. Recent artists effected by altered artwork/theft off the top of my head: Liz Prince, Luke Healy, Nation of Amanda, Melanie Gillman, etc.) Our work is being stolen and profited off of. Right this second."

In other words, if you saw her work and liked it, you would not be able to find her if her name was scrubbed off.

The only thing I'm confused about is the "the money isn't the point" comment along with the "our work is being stolen and profited off of" comment. How does that work? Click-thru ad revenue that would be hers?

Regardless, her point is correct: this is epidemic. And who is scrubbing off the cartoonist's name?

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

Related: The Beat: The Cost of Art Theft: From Spike Lee to Rachel Dukes.

Ted Rall and the Daily Kos Web site

Ted posted a cartoon on the Daily Kos site's blog. He was invited to do so. FYI: Ted's been a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (twice) and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He's written fifteen books. He's no slouch.

The next day, he found the cartoon removed and a note posted to him, calling his depiction of Obama as "racist."

Ted has the entire account at his site here, including that note. The cartoon is there too. And Daily Kos reprinted Ted's article, "Censored by Daily Kos." The cartoon is not there, but, hey, you can use the Internet to find it.

Ted is not racist. But a lot of the comments disagree. They are not looking at his work and his record. They are quick to knee-jerk and agree that they hate his cartoon and his voice cannot be tolerated.

Most of the comments I read were 100% certain that Daily Kos did what was best: censor a cartoon.

The hate and quick race to get rid of the cartoon was stunning. Liberal America, facist Syria, extremist Muslims all have something in common now.

Related: Robert's Virtual Soapbox: Ted Rall is No Racist; the Obamabots on the Other Hand ….

Fred Gwynne Draws

There were a lot of actors who drew. Martin Landau worked at the New York Daily News before deciding he would abandon dreams of being a cartoonist to pursue an acting career. Jonathan Winters drew gag cartoons. And now this: Fred Gwynne drew cartoonists at the Harvard Lampoon when he was a student there. Here's a link to a great Nat Hiken's Car 54: Where Are You? site that has a number of cartoons drawn by Fred Gwynne.

Happy Thanksgiving