Welcome, cartoon friends! We’re “soft launching” the “new” Daily
Cartoonist this week. The site is now owned and operated by my
colleagues here in Kansas City (Mo.) at Andrews McMeel.
Our plan is to restart/continue the great cartoon news site that Alan
Gardner built. Alan has been a great help in the transition and we’re
thankful for his counsel and goodwill.
As to how the site will run on a day-to-day basis: staffers here at
Andrews McMeel will do the occasional post, but we’ve signed the
prolific comics news junkie D.D. Degg to serve as our main news/piece
contributor.
Future TDC plans include a site redesign, long-winded Q&As with
sassy puppets and the occasional dance off. Thanks for coming by and let
us know if you have any feedback.
NEW
CARTOON LAUGHS, a Fawcett Gold Medal Book (you can tell because there's
a little drawing of a gold medal with a 60
cent price in the corner), is a 1970 collection of gag cartoons that
originally appeared in TRUE Magazine. Virgil "VIP" Partch draws the
"Your place or mine?" cartoon cover of this naughty tome. Contents
copyright 1970 by Fawcett Publications, Inc.
Here's VIP with a multi-panel cartoon:
Sid Harris's washes are so painterly:
Chon Day's cartoons are some of my favorites. His clean line style is his trademark.
VIP has a number of these "wandering in the desert" cartoons in the book.
Ed Arno is another master of line and shape.
The look of serious purpose on the bear's face in this great Don Orehek cartoon made me laugh out loud.
An early Sam Gross special! One of my favorite cartoons of his.
And here's George Booth with another one of my favorites.
Jack Tippit's cartoon maybe would not be published today.
Gallagher poses a usurpation of the power structure at Camp Wah Ha Nee Nok!
Bill Hoest had a wonderful way with wash -- and he could draw cute cartoon girls. He was a favorite of Hugh Hefner's.
Chon Day with a gag that shows us that some things do not change!
Brian Savage with a particularly pointed barb.
I'm closing with Chon Day, since I laughed out loud at this one!
Above: November 26. 1945: H.T. Webster was the Time Magazine cover subject. On the upper right: his "Timid Soul" character, Caspar Milquetoast.
H.T.
Webster (1885-1952) was a nobody from West Virginia who took up two
hobbies when he was seven years old: cartooning and smoking (according
to his Editor and Publisher obituary, September 27, 1952 as reprinted in Stripper's Guide).
He took a cartooning correspondence course when he was a teenager. By 1905, he was drawing sports cartoons for the Denver Post. Stints at the Chicago News, the Chicago Inter-Ocean and the Cincinnati Post followed. By 1812, he landed a position at the New York Tribune. Despite a brief period at the New York World, Webster (or "Webby" as his friends called him) returned to the Tribune where he would stay for the rest of his professional life.
He was a prolific newspaper mainstay. He created many popular features (now forgotten). Regardless, they had great titles, like:
Poker Portraits
Life's Darkest Moment
The Thrill of a Lifetime
How to Torture Your Wife
The Man in the Brown Derby
The Timid Soul
Bridge
Nothing Can Be Done About It
When he died on the commuter train the day after his 67th birthday, he left 7 months worth of cartoons for the paper to run.
Here are a few cartoons and other items from WEBSTER'S POKER BOOK by H.T. Webster, Simon and Schuster, New York, 1925.
They, like all of Webster's cartoons, concentrate on human nature that still read true now.
I believe the book belonged at one time to Bil Dwyer, a cartoonist (he took over Dumb Dora) and a friend of Milton Caniff's. This is the signature on an interior page:
You see? And you thought Bil Keane was the first "Bil" with one L. And Bil had put a couple of other cartoons in the book. I assumes these were a few favorites that caught his eye. Here's a wonderfully drawn Gaar Williams panel clipped from the September 25, 1927 Chicago Tribune:
Also inserted in the book from the same year: a page from a Jimmy Hatlo They'll Do It Every Time 1927 page-a-day calendar:
And
here's the back of that same calendar page, with some math in pencil.
Figuring out the winnings from a poker game? I don't know.
In the media of the mid-20th century, color was a big deal. Heck, back in the day, the Sunday night NBC Walt Disney TV show was NOT originally called "The Wonderful World of Disney." It was called "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color." And, by God, if you didn't HAVE a TV that was COLOR the implication was YOU WERE MISSING OUT. Never mind that NBC was owned by RCA and RCA was in the business of selling color TVs.
Color in any media was a rarity. Here is Dick Buchanan with some unique color gag cartoons. Color being more expensive to produce, these cartoons are not the usual gray-tone vintage gag cartoon oeuvre, gang. So, sit back and let Dick take you on a color-filled single panel cartoon romp.
Take it away, Dick -- and thanks!
---
GAG CARTOONS in glorious COLOR
1949 – 1952
Collier’s began publishing color gag cartoons in the mid-forties and continued the practice until the magazine folded in 1957. Most issues contained several, always by their best cartoonists. The Saturday Evening Post published fewer cartoons in color but had some great ones as well.
Are traditional black and white cartoons funnier than the ones in color? The debate rages but one thing is certain, often the gag is secondary to the illustration--as clearly demonstrated by John Ruge’s superb illustration in this group.
In any event, it is always a treat to see the great work these great cartoonists turn out when given the opportunity to work with color.
1. FRANK BEAVEN. Collier’s November 4, 1950.
2. STANLEY & JANICE BERENSTAIN. Collier’s December 9, 1950.
3. KATHERINE (KATE) OSANN. Collier’s May 17, 1952.
4. CORKA. (Jon Cornin & Zena Kavin) Collier’s October 14, 1950.
5. JEFFERSON MACHAMER. Colllier’s May 13, 1950.
6. JACK MARKOW. The Saturday Evening Post December 8, 1951.
7. MARY GIBSON. Collier’s May 7, 1949.
8. BARNEY TOBEY. Collier’s April 1, 1950.
9. TED KEY. Collier’s July 2, 1949.
10. GREGORY d’ALESSIO. Collier’s October 13, 1951.
11. WILLIAM von Riegen. Collier’s December 9, 1950.
12. JOHN RUGE. Collier’s April 26, 1952.
13. HARRY MACE. American Magazine September, 1951.
Some photos of the white board from the three cartooning classes I’m teaching this month. Very enthusiastic elementary school kids! I draw on the board and the kids copy me, step by step, as we go along.
Clients worldwide. Jack Davis Award winner. I write the popular Mike Lynch Cartoons blog on cartoon biz/art. National Cartoonists Society member. New England College Adjunct. Need cartoons and illustrations? Contact: mike@mikelynchcartoons dot com
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