Friday, March 30, 2012

BEST CARTOONS OF THE YEAR 1959 Part 7



Here is the final part of BEST CARTOONS OF THE YEAR 1959, edited by Lawrence Lariar, Crown Publishers, New York, and copyright 1959 by Mr. Lariar.

Part one is here.
Part two is here.
Part three is here.
Part four is here.
Part five is here.
Part six is here.



Part one is here.
Part two is here.
Part three is here.
Part four is here.
Part five is here.
Part six is here.

SPACE GHOST #1 (1966)



The Saved From the Paper Drive blog treats us to some stellar Dan Spiegle art with scans of the entire issue of Gold Key Comics' SPACE GHOST #1, 1966 (no month listed).

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Video: Who Is DOCTOR WHO?



At the end of the last broadcast episode of DOCTOR WHO, Dorium (the big blue guy) has the last words, the words that seem to set up what the next season's story arc will encompass.

"The first question! The question that must never be answered! Hidden in plain sight! The question you've been running from all your life! 'Doctor Who.' 'Doctor Who.' 'Doctor Who!'"

Perhaps it may be the 50th anniversary theme; the "first" question, from the series premiere on November 23, 1963.

VG934 has constructed an fan-short that is a lot of fun. The BBC should grab this and air it:



Related: Waris Hussein, the director of the first DOCTOR WHO episode "An Unearthly Child," will give a chat at New York's Paley Center April 10, 2012.

Video: Cartoonist Apologizes for "Awful" Trayvon Martin Cartoon


 Above: the cartoon by Stephanie Eisner. Hat tip to The Austinist.


The University of Texas student newspaper The Daily Texan published cartoonist Stephanie Eisner's above cartoon about the Trayvon Martin case. The Austinist has the background here.

Stephanie Eisner has apologized, saying in a statement:

"I apologize for what was in hindsight an ambiguous cartoon related to the Trayvon Martin shooting. I intended to contribute thoughtful commentary on the media coverage of the incident, however this goal fell flat."

There was a protest at The Daily Texan. Video from KXON:



Lincoln Peirce: BIG NATE / WIMPY KID Connection



BIG NATE cartoonist Lincoln Peirce is profiled by The Los Angeles Times' Susan Carpenter today.

If you know Lincoln, you know he is, like most cartoonists, a nice guy.

Twenty years ago. Lincoln, being a nice guy, replied to a struggling college student asking for advice about breaking into the syndicated comic strip field. That college student was Jeff Kinney, who went to achieve massive success (sales over 50 million) with his DIARY OF A WIMPY KID franchise.

Years later, it was Kinney who advised Peirce.



"I owe a lot to Jeff, and not only for his hands-on support but also the publishing climate that evolved in the aftermath of the 'Wimpy Kid' books," said Peirce, whose comics compilation "Big Nate: What Could Possibly Go Wrong" will be out May 1. "All of the sudden, people were much more on the lookout for stories that combined comic and text in some sort of inventive ways. I'm very fortunate."

The article is here.







Cartoonists Are Interchangeable



The above drawing was found at Furby Fungus. 

One of the jokes about being a cartoonist is that when you (the professional cartoonist) are in front of a class of kids, someone's hand invariably goes up to ask a question:

"Will ask you to draw Spongebob or Naruto?"

They don't care what YOU draw, all they know is that you CAN draw. And they want you to draw their favorite cartoons.

It's hard to get the point across that there are different kinds of cartoonists, and they are not interchangeable. 

So, this article from "City Talk" in The Standard shows that even the mighty have the same problems:

With us at breakfast was Matt Groening, the genius behind The Simpsons. He said cartoonists are also considered interchangeable: "One guy came up to me and said, `Hey, you're a cartoonist? Wow, can you draw Garfield for me?"'

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

BEST CARTOONS OF THE YEAR 1959 Part 6


Above: a great gag by Betty Swords.

Here is part 6 of BEST CARTOONS OF THE YEAR 1959, edited by Lawrence Lariar, Crown Publishers, New York, and copyright 1959 by Mr. Lariar.

Part one is here.
Part two is here.
Part three is here.
Part four is here.
Part five is here.



Part one is here.
Part two is here.
Part three is here.
Part four is here.
Part five is here.

Video: Charles Burns

Here's over 90 minutes of Charles Burns speaking of his life and influences. It's a lot of fun. This talk is part of the Caroline Werner Gannett Project; Visionaries in Motion V. The video was posted on YouTube and is copyright 2012 by the Rochester Institute of Technology.



BEST CARTOONS OF THE YEAR 1959 Part 5


Part 5 of BEST CARTOONS OF THE YEAR 1959, edited by Lawrence Lariar, Crown Publishers, New York, and copyright 1959 by Mr. Lariar.

Part one is here.
Part two is here.
Part three is here.
Part four is here.



Part one is here.
Part two is here.
Part three is here.
Part four is here.