Javits Center NYC: Signing at Noon May 31, 2018

NYC Javits Center: I'm signing these books at noon Thursday 6/31 Booths 1827 & 1829 - National Book Network/Rowman - Littlefield booth.

Portland, ME: Signing and Talk at Comics Arts Festival June 2, 2018

 Over 100 cartoonists and writers will be at the Portland Public Library on Saturday, June 2 from 10am to 5pm. The event is free and open to the public all day. Many will be showing and selling their work from tables located throughout the library.

The cartoonists behind the new LOBSTER THERAPY book (myself, John Klossner, David Jacobson and Bill Woodman) will be signing books during the day. We will also have a panel talk beginning at 1:30pm.

We were fortunate to be showcased in an article about MECAF in Sunday's Portland Press Herald. 

Here's the information of the panel for June 2:

1:30 MAINE GAG CARTOONISTS

Four local professional single panel cartoonists whose clients include The New Yorker, National Lampoon and Mad Magazine, talk about how they got in the business, how they come up with cartoons, and their new collection LOBSTER THERAPY AND MOOSE PICK-UP LINES: CARTOONS FROM MAINE.

David Jacobson has had cartoons published in The New Yorker, Down East, and Bangor Daily News. He is also a professional glass blower and lives in Montville, Maine.

John Klossner’s cartoons have appeared in The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and Reader’s Digest.

Mike Lynch is a recipient of the Jack Davis Award and has been published in Reader’s Digest, Playboy, The Wall Street Journal, Golf Digest, Harvard Business Review, Mad Magazine, and many others. He lives in Milton, New Hampshire, just over the border from Maine.

Bill Woodman retired to Portland, Maine, where he devotes his energy to painting and
cartooning. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, National Lampoon, Audubon, The New York Times, and Gourmet.

Portland Press Herald article about MECAF

Brian Fies: "This is probably the most clear-eyed piece I've read about what it's like to have a book published."

My friend, the award-winning graphic novelist Brian Fies shared an article by writer Tom McAllister about what it's like to have a book published. Here's his introduction, nicked (with permission) from his Facebook page. Here's Brian:

This is probably the most clear-eyed piece I've read about what it's like to have a book published. Not that you're ungrateful, but it IS anticlimactic and a bit of a shock to realize how little the universe cares.

I don't share writer Tom McAllister's disappointment in the support he gets from family and friends. I've never really counted on those people buying my books. One sale to Cousin Waldo isn't going to make or break me. I make graphic novels; most people don't read comics, and folks are busy with their own lives. And, as McAllister says, I'm not innocent either. I have writer friends whose books I haven't bought or read. I still sincerely wish them great success.

My editor at Abrams, Editor Charlie, once asked me to meet with a young author whose first book was about to come out and give him the straight dope on what to expect. I said pretty much what McAllister did in this article: Having a book published is nice, but it won't change your life and nobody's going to back a money truck up to your front door. That young author was Jeff Kinney, whose "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series just printed its 200 millionth copy.

Jeff still reminds me of that, and we laugh and laugh. I try not to give advice anymore.

Who Will Buy Your Book? by Tom McAllister

Ronald Searle: Movie Titles Designer

Ronald Searle was not just an illustrator and cartoonist, his work also appeared in other media. Here are a few samples of his movie titles work. Of the six movies he is credited with, I only have half available to show. Going from most recent, here they are:

SCROOGE (1970)



THOSE DARING YOUNG MEN IN THEIR JAUNTY JALOPIES (1969)



Of the four St. Trinian's movies of the 1950s and 60s, the films THE GREAT ST. TRINIAN'S TRAIN ROBBERY (1966), THE PURE HELL OF ST. TRINIAN'S (1960) and THE BELLES OF ST. TRINIAN'S (1954) do not have their Searle-title sequences available online to look at.

But BLUE MURDER AT ST. TRINIAN'S (1957) does have its titles online (but it's not available for embedding). Go to the link to see it.

Video: The Mad Magazine TV Special (1974)

The unsold and unseen pilot for an animated Mad Magazine TV series. New to me!

Video: The Comic Book Greats: Sergio Aragones (1991)

Stan Lee visits with Sergio Aragones in this hour-long segment of The Comic Book Greats series. Some good conversation here. Stan was obviously a fan! And we get to see Sergio draw.

Comic Book Greats was a 1991-92 direct-to-video series of interviews produced by Stabur Video. There were 13 episodes. Some of the greats interviewed were: Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefield, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Christ Claremont, Bob Kane, John Romita, Sr., John Romita, Jr., and Will Eisner. So far as I have been able to tell, it was a one-time VHS release, with no DVD availability.

EDIT: Friend-of-the-blog Larry Rippee corrects me:

"There was a DVD set of Stan Lee Presents the Comic Book Greats available around 2004 issued by Heritage Comics Auctions. I have no idea if they are still available."

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Kid Stuff 1948 - 61

Mouthy, petulant kids! A comic staple since, really, the first comic strip, The Yellow Kid, and up through to Dennis the Menace and Calvin! And somewhere, under that kid behavior, shines a little insight into the adult world. Well, sometimes. Actually, a lot of times, they are just being kids.

Here is my friend Dick Buchanan with a collection of baby boomer gag cartoons from his large collection. Take it away, Dick -- and thanks for sharing! You're a good kid!

---

KID STUFF

1948 - 1961

Almost everyone loves kids. After all, almost everyone was one. So it stands to reason that cartoons about kids would resonate with many. That’s why there’s a cartoon clip file simply titled “kid stuff.”

Many mid-century cartoonists made this genre a big part of their portfolio as they braved the editors on Wednesdays.

Here, handpicked haphazardly from the clip file is a sampling of cartoons by mid-century cartoonists who revealed how obnoxious and impossible kids actually can be — unless, of course, they’re your own. And, besides, as Art Linkletter said, “Kids are funny.”

1. BERENSTAIN Collier's 1950 Dec 16

2. DRUCKER The Saturday Evening Post SEP 1951 Dec 8

3. GALLAGHER The Saturday Evening Post SEP 1960 Oct 

4. HART  American Legion 1956 June

 5. CAPLAN American Magazine 1950 Jan

6. MARCUS Collier's 1950 April 1

7. KETCHAM  Collier's 1948 June 19

8. WALKER 1954 American Legion 1954 May

9. FINE Collier's 1951 October 13

10. KEY The Saturday Evening Post SEP 1952 Sept 27

11. MACE Look 1961 Apr 25

12. HOIFJELD Collier's 1952 March 29

13. HELLE American Legion 1954 APRIL

14. LAZARUS The Saturday Evening Post SEP 1950 June 20

 15. LAMB  American Legion  Jan 1953

Kickstarter Ending

Final Day!

The Kickstarter for LOBSTER THERAPY, the Maine cartoon book by Maine cartoonists, expires tomorrow, Saturday, May 19th at about 4pmEST.

If you've been thinking about contributing, now is the time. The money goes to the cartoonists who created it. We have autographed books, sketches, originals and more by me and these talented cartoonists: John Klossner, David Jacobson, Jeff Pert and the one and only Bill Woodman.

Kickstarter Countdown: Fifty Hours To Go

About fifty hours to go on the Kickstarter to help raise funds for us to get to BookExpo and beyond. Thanks to all who have pledged. I am so very thankful. We are at only 20% of the goal. If the goal is not reached, it's a no go.

We have signed books, sketches and originals. Except for fees and shipping, the money goes to the cartoonists directly.

 "Hopkins deserves to be fired, but we can't touch him

since that piping plover began roosting in his office."

Some May and June LOBSTER THERAPY Signing Dates and Radio Show

I will be signing copies of LOBSTER THERAPY, the new Maine cartoon book by Maine cartoonists (me, John Klossner, David Jacobson, Jeff Pert and the one and only Bill Woodman) this summer in NYC, Portland, ME, Camden, ME and other places in Maine (Bar Harbor, Bangor, Rockport and more).

Here are a some of the signing dates with more to come:

May 31 - BookExpo, Javits Center, NYC - see me at the Rowman Littlefield table beginning at noon

June 2 - Maine Comic Arts Festival, Portland Public Library, Portland, ME - 10am to 5pm. We have been asked to do a panel as well. No time on that yet.

June (dates TBD) Portsmouth, NH

July 6 - Sherman's Books, Camden, ME - 4 - 6pm

 

We will also be on the NPR Maine Calling radio show live on Thursday, June 28 from 1pm to 2.

Three Days to Go

As of now, there are three days left in the Kickstarter for the LOBSTER THERAPY Maine cartoon book that is full of cartoons by Maine cartoonists! The campaign ends Saturday afternoon. My thanks to everyone who has pledged their support to get autographed books and drawings.

We are 20% funded, which is great -- but this is an "all or nothing" proposition. So, while I am hopeful you will click on the link and support us cartoonists, I am also wary that this will not be successful.

Regardless, I appreciate being able to put this together and have Down East publish it.

Blog Entry #6001

Oops. I forgot to mention that yesterday's post was the 6000th entry here at the Mike Lynch Cartoons blog. The blog started in 2006, so that makes for over twelve years of me talking about cartoons and other funny things.

When I first started, blogging was a new thing; a new word. And there were not many people blogging about cartooning for a living. That's changed and now there are many great resources!

I didn't think that I would do this for so long. When, in August of 2007, I moved to New Hampshire, I really thought I would not go on. But every day, there was something to share, so I did it. And the blog has become part of my daily routine.

I am thankful to everyone out there for peeking in and making this part of their day.

Kickstarter Final Week and LOBSTER THERAPY Book Signing

This is the last week for the Kickstarter campaign for the LOBSTER THERAPY Maine cartoon book. 

This is an opportunity to support us cartoonists directly, and also get some swell swag like signed books, sketches and original art.

The book LOBSTER THERAPY AND MOOSE PICK-UP LINES, by Maine cartoonists, had a great first signing in South Berwick, ME at the "A Little Something" gift and craft store.  My thanks to A Little Something for a wonderful event.

At least 46 books were sold. We drew and autographed the whole time. Families came, kids liked it, grandparents bought them. The two-hour event went by quickly.

Yes, we wore ties! Ha ha. From left, that's me, Bill Woodman, and John Klossner. David Jacobson, at the last minute, was unable to come. And I want to shout out to my friend, the late, great Jeff Pert, whose art graces the cover. We miss you, man.

Bill Woodman (you know his work from National Lampoon, New Yorker, Playboy and other places) typically opened up the book and drew a full page on the interior back cover.

Some people bought multiple copies. The incredible thing was the diversity of ages that were paging thru the book in the store and laughing. Anyway, I will post a signing schedule soon.

South Berwick, ME Tonight! May 11! LOBSTER THERAPY Signing

South Berwick, ME - On May 11, 2018, there will be a signing event at A Little Something from 6 to 8pm. The initial shipment of books has sold out already, but more are on their way. I have it on good authority that there will be wine (so get there early). If you are within 100 miles, get in the roadster and come on down. I will be there, as will Bill Woodman and local boy John Klossner. I might wear a tie.

Bing Crosby in "Goldilocks"

Here is a 1970s made-for-TV cartoon/live action special record album starring Bing Crosby. And it costars his whole family. The title on the record reads

Evans-Black Carpets
by Armstrong
Presents Bing Crosby
Introducing
Mary Frances Crosby
as
Goldilocks
with
Kathryn Crosby, Nathaniel Crosby
A DePatie-Freling - Sherman Bros. Production

So, as you can see, you got Crosby times four, the people who did the Warner Brothers and Pink Panther animation, and those song-writing Sherman brothers. Despite this, the special is forgotten. At least, I never heard of it, nor knew anyone who had recalled it with any sort of wistful nostalgia. The oddball thing is that, when it came out and I was a wee tot who was totally into ANYTHING that combined live-action people with animation. I must have seen Gene Kelly dance with Tom and Jerry on our old RCA black and white TV. There was an odd Tom Sawyer show that combined live actors playing Huck, Tom and Betsy in a cartoon world that would make Mark Twain spin. I watched that for sure! But I don't remember seeing this at all.

I bought this at a thrift store in Somersworth, NH. And when I did I had no idea until I Googled that Mary Frances Crosby was the actress most well-known for the Dallas TV show. Her brother Nathaniel became a golfer. 

The cool thing about the LP is that it opens up in the middle, giving us a storyboard-like sequence. So here's what it looked like. Do your best Bing Crosby impression when reading the text to get the feel for it. Or go down to the end here and you can click on a video of a few minutes of the 1970 special.

Here's a bit of it from the Bing Crosby channel on YouTube: