Art by Charles Geer: THE MYSTERY AT REDTOP HILL

 

Happy birthday to Charles Geer, born on this day in 1922.

Let's talk about THE MYSTERY AT REDTOP HILL. It is a Whitman Tween Age Book ("In-Between Books for In-Between Readers") by Marjory Schwalje and illustrations by Charles Geer. It's copyright 1965 by Whitman Publishing Company. I had no idea that the term "tween" had been around for more than fifty years!

Nancy, Tod and Steve are the protagonists in this mystery. I am sure it's good, but I have not read it.

I found this in a second-hand shop in Laconia, NH. Like I said, Redtop, schmedtop. I didn't care about the mystery, or the kids. I just fell in love with the illustrations. They were slapdash, confident and showed enormous life and skill.

Charles Geer (1922-2008), born in Long Island and educated at Dartmouth College, served in the US Navy during WWII. Afterward, he attended Pratt.

He illustrated many books, and enjoyed painting. He moved to Rockland, Maine, where he painted watercolors, and enjoyed sailing. He even built a couple of boats. Sounds like a guy I would like to hang out with!

Here are some of his illustrations from THE MYSTERY AT REDTOP HILL. This isn't quite half of them. And there are a good number of full page, gatefold illustrations. Lots of energy in these drawings and it made me a Charles Geer fan.

Related:

Art by Charles Geer: THAT SUMMER WITH LEXY!

- This has been an edited version of an original March 18, 2015 blog entry.

My Desk

 

Here’s a quick sketch of my drawing that I did up for Lotte Wagner's drawing prompt to draw your desk.

I draw on a kidney bean shaped board in my lap, facing a cluttered desk. The cat in the pic is Fergus, who received a clean bill of health at the vet's a week ago today. He is 14 years old and threw up and popped and yowled all the way there, so having a good report was a relief. 

The desk light on the right belonged to my father and is probably from the 1950s.

Happy Weekend and Be Good!

 

Ed Frascino 1930 - 2026

 

New Yorker cartoonist Ed Frascino passed away this past Thursday in Los Angeles. He was 96 years old.

Via Michael Maslin:

"Ed contributed over 500 cartoons to the magazine in his 61 year run at the magazine. His last drawing in print was in January of 2025, but not too very long ago Ed told me that he’d sold a drawing for the magazine’s Daily Cartoon spot (I was supposed to let him know when it ran). A 61 year run at The New Yorker is, of course, remarkable. Only six other New Yorker cartoonists (out of the nearly 800 who contributed in these past 101 years) had reached that mark."

 

 The Daily Cartoonist:

"While a contract cartoonist with The New Yorker since 1965 Frascino also published cartoons in Playboy, Saturday Evening Post The New York Times, Look, Esquire, Punch, The Saturday Review of Literature, and others.

"Frascino also illustrated many books by himself and by others.

"The Conde Nast Store has nearly 200 Frascino cartoons for viewing"

 

Talented and prolific, Ed was also my leading competition for The New York Daily News weekly cartoon that I would pitch every week to the editors there back in 2002-2003. It was not a guaranteed spot and you had to email some roughs mid-week for consideration. If I didn't sell one that week, it was usually Ed that succeeded.

The Garden As of Mid-August

 

The garden as of mid-August. Most things are bushy and green. The zucchini is spent and the cucumbers are on their last legs. The runner beans are coming in, the tomatoes are getting harvested. Included: flowers and a pic of a huge Great Blue Heron on a power line that we saw yesterday. So exciting to get that close! #garden

 

Documentary: Steve Ditko: Beyond the Myth

Here's a full length documentary about Spider-Man co-creator Steve Ditko (1927 - 2018) told through interviews with those who knew him

"In 2025, President of TASQ Art, Eoin McAuley, conducted three interviews with the friends and family of renowned creator Steve Ditko, presented here in this feature-length documentary.

"A private individual, Mr. Ditko was not a presence at conventions and did not provide many interviews. This, however, subsequently led to many myths to emerge around Steve Ditko in the public discourse among fans and critics.

" Narrated by John Siuntres, 'Steve Ditko: Beyond The Myth' helps to dispel some of these myths and to amend the record, featuring insights and recollections from Mr. Ditko's nephew, Mark 'Zen' Ditko, his friend and colleague Jack C. Harris and scholar and correspondent Dr. Zack Kruse"

Joe Matt Documentary with Seth, Chester Brown and Matt Wagner

 

Cartoonist Joe Matt (1963 - 2023), best known for his autobiographical comics, is the subject of this documentary by matt (with 4 ts). Joe Matt's friends and fellow cartoonists Seth, Chester Brown and Matt Wagner talk about him on the eve of Fantagraphics publishing a new collection of his work this September 29th.