From the Sketchbook: Some Comics About Covid

Covid-19 has been here a long time and I only now realized I've done comics about it more than once. Here's a collection of true pandemic stories or #covidcomics that I've drawn since 2020:

 

March 25, 2020: Sketchbook: True Covid-19 Stories

Sketchbook diary time. Here's some of the things I've seen. (I've only gone to three places in the past week.)

1 - My mail carrier on the other side of the door letting me know that there will be martial law by March 18th. I haven't seen him since. [Edit: He has since returned to work.]

 

2 - Grocery store stockboy impressing his friends and passers by with his self-perceived immunity. Calling covid-19 the "Chinese Virus" in such a mean, tough way that the germs will cower and not infect him.

3 - One of the trips I took was to the "transfer station" (the dump). The man in charge tells me that I can't recycle my paper because of money. I have no idea what this means. I asked him should I just drive around with paper in my car? He thought this was the heighth of cleverness and laughed. Hmm. Not helpful. I am still mystified. Is no recycling a sign of endtimes? [Edit: The transfer station was eventually allowed to resume its paper recycling.]

4 - The post office employee who stands, half hidden in the doorway, meekly inquiring if she can help. Signs everywhere about #socialdistancing. 

 

 

#covid19 #coronovirus #mayyouliveininterestingtimes #mikelynchcartoons 

 

March 31, 2020: Sketchbook: True Covid-19 Stories Late March 2020 

Or, if you prefer, Covid Comics! Shelter-in-Place Stories!

Here are some drawings I did. They are mostly true. All drawn freehand in a little sketchbook, and then photographed on the arm of the couch under a decent lamp.

Staying fit at home:

Going to the grocery store:

Now that all of the talking heads on the TV news shows are skyping/facetiming from their homes, I get hung up on looking behind then and seeing what the room looks like. Do they have books? Art on the wall? One anchor had some crazy wallpaper. Anyway, this is a quick comic I did.

 

April 1, 2020: CovidComics: How Life Has Changed by My Sister-in-Law

My sister-in-law wrote about how her life has changed in unexpected little ways due to #covid19. I asked if I could draw up what she had written, and she said OK. Thanks, Jenny! #coronacomics #CoronavirusUSA #covidlife

 

April 23, 2020: Sketchbook: CovidComics Mid-April 2020

"Oh! I got this great idea! Have a guy like doing Zoom on a computer but instead of like ordinary people on the screen -- we see the Brady Bunch, y'know? Like in the beginning, in the little squares, y'know? So funny! That would be a great cartoon. You can use that if you want, OK?"

Sometimes people have ideas for cartoons and they tell me ....



Here are some true story sketchbook sketches from the past week. 

New grocery store rules! Fierce checkout professionals maintain the six foot social distance at the
register. Yeah. She yelled at a dude that looked like Jesus Christ when he put his Bud Light on the conveyor belt. Can’t do that. You have to stand back and wait to be waved in now.

The only person who spoke to me was this woman. I was just walking by the dairy section and she turned to me and had to vent. I don’t think it was price gouging. 

Another grocery store event. I kept running into this one couple. They were always nearby, some of the few to NOT wear facemasks. The woman told the man several times loudly and clearly that whatever he was putting in the cart was NOT an item they bought at Market Basket. Poor Roger. I try to buy all I can there since MB pays its workers a living wage.

Only going out maybe twice a week now. The post office is one of the places. They have a clear plastic sheet taped up from the ceiling to the counter. There's a gap on one end where you can pass along your packages and/or money. 

The sign says: 

The CDC Recommends We All Keep

6 FEET BETWEEN US.

We kindly ask that you work
with us on this, by staying
back near the lobby counter
until it is time for you to
complete your transactions.

Many Thanks,

USPS

 

 

Trying to install Zoom and forgetting what the heck my "administrator password" is for my Mac. I finally figured it out, but "wove a tapestry of obscenity that to this day is still hanging over Lake Winnipesaukee."  

A way too clean quick sketch of my studio, taken over (of course) by a cat. 

 

May 12, 2020: CovidComics: "For those who are quarantined with their partners: what's the most ridiculous thing you've wanted to yell at your partner in this crisis?"

 

Just for fun, I illustrated a series of tweets that started with the writer Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) asking her Twitter followers,

"For those who are quarantined with their partners: what's the most ridiculous thing you've wanted to yell at your partner in this crisis?"

And she added: "Mine is: 'I HATE HOW YOU MAKE TOAST'"

Springboarding from her example, many people offered their own. Here are some of the real tweets with some of my drawings.

#shelterinplace #lockdownlife #goingstircrazy #iloveyouBUT #covid19 #coronavirus #covidlife #covidcomics #mikelynchcartoons

Ha ha. I hope you enjoyed this and it made you forget about Russia invading Ukraine, global warming and our politically divided country for just a moment!

Happy 93rd Birthday, Arnold Roth!

From the Files of Dick Buchanan: 1950s Color Magazine Gag Cartoons

 

I am handing things over to Dick Buchanan, so he can show you some of the gag cartoons he's collected through the years. My sincere thanks to him contributing! Take it away, Dick!

----

Once again I have emerged from my tiny studio in New York’s scenic Greenwich Village with a handful of mid century gag cartoons to share.

These cartoons are part of a collection which was painstakingly clipped from the pages of America’s great magazines, sorted haphazardly and then carefully stored away in poorly marked cardboard boxes for decades.

This selection is from a folder labeled COLOR CARTOONS: 1950’s.

Just a few cartoons from some of the best cartoonists of the era.

1. STAN FINE. Collier’s. January 20, 1956

2. ED NOFZIGER. Back when animals were funnier than they are today, Ed Nofziger was the acknowledged creature cartooning master. Here’s a great example. The Saturday Evening Post. c. 1950’s

3. MARTIN LOWENSTEIN. American Magazine. December, 1952

4. JERRY MARCUS. Good job on a really old show biz gag. The Saturday Evening Post. January 13, 1951

5. MORT TEMES. Collier’s January 7, 1957

 

6. WALTER GOLDSTEIN. American Magazine. December, 1951

7. FRANK RIDGEWAY. Ridgeway’s comic strip Mr. Abernathy debuted in 1957. American Magazine. March, 1953

8. GREGORY d’ALESSIO. Mr. d’Alessio was a marvelous cartoonist, painter and longtime Art Students League faculty member. Collier’s. January 7, 1955

9. DICK CAVALLI. Collier’s. March 28, 1953

 

10. GAHAN WILSON. Collier’s. May 27, 1955

11. BARNEY TOBEY. Mr.Tobey did hundreds of cartoons for Colliers and a few covers as well. Collier’s. October 15, 1954

12. DANA FRADON. Collier’s. June 22, 1956

13. BOB SCHROETER. American Magazine. March, 1953

 

14. KATE OSANN. Kate Ossan’s fine panel Tizzy first appeared in Collier’s, later syndicated by NEA until 1970. Collier’s. January 20, 1956

 

15. GEORGE WOLFE. An old gag from an old master--note the label of the bottle on the bar. Popular with his peers, Wolfe’s career spanned nearly 50 years. He was NCS Gag Cartoonist of the Year in 1969, 1973, 1975 and 1976. Collier’s. June 20, 1953

More of Dick Buchanan's great gag cartoon collection:

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: Funny Vintage Magazine Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1963

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: Wordless Gag Cartoons 1944-1964

1953 George Booth Drawings for American Legion Magazine

Dick Buchanan: Winter/Christmas/Holiday Gag Cartoons 1940s-60s

Dick Buchanan: Some PUNCH Magazine Cartoons 1948-1963

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1946-64

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1947-62

Dick Buchanan: Some Favorite Magazine Gag Cartoons 1940-60s

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1931-64

 

-- This has been an edited version of a blog entry from five years ago today.  Time flies! Dick has been contributing to this here blog for more than a decade! Wow! Thanks, Dick, for all of these gems. They are much appreciated!