"Emad Hajjaj has been released on bail after successful petition from his lawyer, met today with leadership from local journalists’ association. The fight isn’t over, but the distress of the last four days is ended. More details to come."
Within the historic context of American culture, students will study the evolution of the picture narrative. The focus will be on knowledge and active application of visual comic art forms: comic panels, editorial cartoons, comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels. This course will survey the rise of popular form, and its influences, i.e: Ben Franklin's editorial drawings, Thomas Nast's Teapot Dome editorial cartoons, the standard "work for hire" comic book contracts that left creators uncompensated, the Superman/Captain Marvel court case, the HUAC investigation into the comic book's role in inciting juvenile delinquency, the rise of the underground comic revolution, and the graphic novel explosion. Industry professionals will visit the class to discuss their creative journeys and their cartooning careers.
COURSE TITLE AND DESCRIPTION
History of Political Cartoons
This course will cover the history of the art form of political cartoons, from their beginnings as caricature art in Europe to the maturation of the form and its role in the struggle against tyranny. We will study the elements of a political cartoon, its interpretation and its role in disseminating popular opinion; not only capturing the historic zeitgeist, but helping shape it as well. We will talk about images that have sparked strong reaction (from Daumier's cartoon of King Louis-Philippe that cost him 6 months in jail; Barry Blitt's fist-bumping Obamas New Yorker cover; Der Stürmer's antisemitic caricatures; the 2015 shooting murders at the Charlie Hebdo office for its satirical drawings of the prophet Muhammad; and so on). We will explore the women's movement, the advent of the African American and LGBTQ press in the 20th century, and the contribution of female, minority and queer creators. Through invited cartoonist guests, we will study the creative process behind today's political cartoons. We will also create our own editorial cartoons, and be tested on knowledge of the history of the form.
We will look at these topics:
- What are the symbols/tools used in a political cartoon?
- How do political cartoons effect change in society?
- Is a drawing more effective at promoting democratic values than words? Does it oversimplify?
- Is political satire journalism?
- Can a satirical drawing make fun of anyone; the weak as well as the powerful? Or should a cartoon always "punch up?"
- Should political cartoons always be constitutionally protected speech?
- How have cartoons changed over time?
Readings:
The Art of Controversy by Victor S. Navasky, Knopf, 2014
Drawn and Quartered: The History of American Political Cartoons by Stephen Hess and Sandy Northrop, Elliot and Clark, 1996
Drawn to Extremes: The Use and Abuse of Editorial Cartoons by Chris Lamb, Columbia University Press, 2004
Here's an artifact from American Greetings, a midcentury pack of get well cards. There are seven in this pack, each meant to be mailed a day apart. As usual, no art credit is made, nor a date. But I would guess this is from the 60s. Just look at these sweet graphics and funny riddles. Well, kinda funny. You get a riddle a day, and you have until the next day to guess the answer.
The paper it was sprinted on does have flecks in it. I think (if you look at the very last image) that all 7 cards and envelopes sold for fifty cents.
And here's the back of the envelope that the cards were sold in:
Related:
GREETINGS, DEARIE! Paul Coker, Jr. and Greeting CardsFrom the Museum of Wisconsin Art:
"Meet long-time Wisconsin cartoonist and publisher Denis Kitchen as he discusses his career in comics and graphic novels. Kitchen co-founded and contributed to two 1970s weekly alternative papers, The Bugle-American and The Fox River Patriot, and his Kitchen Sink Press (1969-99) published many of America’s most legendary historical and contemporary cartoonists. This talk is funded in part by a grant from the Wisconsin Humanities Council, with funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities."
Deni Loubert interviews Trina Robbins in this 33 minute video, the third installment of "Zooming the Pandemic" for the Vancouver Comic Arts Festival.
A member of the Will Eisner Hall of Fame, Trina Robbins was an early and influential underground cartoonist. She was founder and contributor to the long running all-women-cartoonists Wimmen's Comix comic book book series. As an historian, she has written books on the herstory of women cartoonists. The latest, The Flapper Queens, is available as of this week. The huge "luscious" hardcover (so reviews The Guardian) showcases six jazz-age female cartoonists.
More:
Deni Loubert interviews Roberta Gregory
Deni Loubert interviews Mary Fleener
Hy Eisman has been in comics for about 70 years. He continues to this day to draw two seminal syndicated features: The Katzenjammer Kids and Popeye. He has been drawing professionally longer than anyone else I can think of. And he is the subject of a new documentary, if we can help raise the funds to do so.
Marco Cutrone and Vincent Zambrano are spearheading this GoFundMe fundraiser to get the money to finish and distribute a new documentary "Hy Eisman: A Life in Comics." Take a look:
From the GoFundMe page:
"If you haven’t heard of cartoonist Hy Eisman, it’s most likely because
you were too busy being entertained by his humorous images of the
longest running cartoon strip The Katzenjammer Kids and very popular
cartoon, Popeye to bother looking at the credits at the bottom of the
strip. Eisman was born in 1927 and has been entertaining us with his
charming storylines since entering into comics in 1950. Hy Eisman has
been granted several of the cartoon industry’s most respected awards as
he continues to bring us laughter through his satirical drawings and
continues to do so, today. Hy Eisman is a man who has made a lifelong
commitment to the arts and succeeded in an industry that has undergone
transformation time and again. Against all odds, he has overcome many
hurdles as a comic artist, stemming from his years at an orphanage and
extreme financial hardships from early childhood. If you ever had the
pleasure of meeting Mr. Eisman, we would sense no sign of his difficult
past, and how he has battled upward into a career notorious for its many
flaws and uncertainties. Hy Eisman remains a perfect gentleman to
everyone he meets, as he shares his lifetime accounts as the respected
artist he has become known as."
Colors are starting to fade in general on trees and lawns, and the garden is no different. We've had several heat waves this summer, and little rain. The garden is pushing out tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers and radishes. Carrots will soon be ready. Here are some pics of the raised beds.
Tomatoes got jostled around over a week ago due to the aftereffects of the hurricane. Lotsa wind, some big boomy storms. This was maybe the most rainfall all summer, and despite the jostling, the tomatoes were the better for it.
The zucchinis are slowing down, due in part to the invasive squash boring worm that got to them. I was able to dig some out, but had to get rid of at least one of the squash plants.
Brown, tired cucumber plants!
The Roma tomatoes are coming in nicely.
And here are some flowers.
More:
The Garden As of July 15, 2020
The Garden As of June 15, 2020
The tough guy with the striped shirt and the black mask cracking a safe or threatening a bank teller is a tried and true gag cartoon trope. As of now, the kind of retro iconography has gone the way of bosses chasing secretaries around the desk and other old magazine cartoon imagery.
But here, we go for retro. Let's join Dick Buchanan as he shows us some old police and perpetrator -- uh -- cops and robbers -- cartoons from the golden, olden age. Thanks and take it away, Dick!
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COPS & ROBBERS
(1941 -1966)
The best day of the week at Cartoon Clip File headquarters is “Cops and Robbers Friday.” That’s the day we dump the folder full of gag cartoons lampooning the wacky world of crime on the Clip File Table and spread them out in order to peruse, dissect and analyze them. The lively discussion that ensues quickly deteriorates into meaningless drivel—which is, of course, is the very best drivel. so we seldom get around to actually looking at any of the cartoons.
That’s why although “Cops and Robbers Friday” is a weekly event it’s often months between Cops and Robbers posts. As it happens, Wally, the Cartoon Clip File intern, is responsible for this selection. It was his job to clean up last week and he failed to return these cartoons to the file.
1. DAN DANGLO. This Week Magazine July 13, 1947.
2. JACK MARKOW. American Legion July, 1959.
3. DICK CAVALLI. The Saturday Evening Post March 13, 1954.
4. CHON DAY. American Legion Magazine January, 1948.
6. TOM HENDERSON. American Legion April, 1961.
7. JOHN GALLAGHER. American Legion Magazine April, 1961.
9. GUY MONTONE. American Legion Magazine March, 1963.
10. BILL KING. The Saturday Evening Post March 20, 1948.
12. BERNIE WISEMAN. The Saturday Evening Post June 22, 1957.
13. ROBERT DAY. Collier’s May 13, 1939.
14. FRANK BAGINSKI. True Magazine April, 1964.
15. JAY IRVING. Collier’s April 26, 1941.
Yearning for more cops and robbers vintage old gag cartoons?
From the Dick Buchanan Files: Cops and Robbers Gag Cartoons 1939 - 1958
From the Dick Buchanan Files: Even More Cops and Robbers Cartoons 1939 - 1970