From the Dick Buchanan Files: Gag Cartoon Hodgepodge 1946- 1969

Dick Buchanan has rummaged through his tremendous collection of magazine cartoons in his Greenwich Village apartment and shares a hodgepodge of vintage comic art, unseen these many years. Thank you so much, Dick -- and take it away ....

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GAG CARTOON HODGEPODGE
(1946 – 1969)


The burgeoning Cartoon Clip File, located just around the corner from the Old Joke Cemetery somewhere in New York’s Greenwich Village, is chock full of gag cartoons from mid-20th century magazines. And, yes, the comforting aroma of old magazines and comic books permeate the entire office. This helps to create an eclectic environment which is ideal for rummaging through the gag cartoons which are everywhere. Rummaging day arrived at last and here now is the result of our latest forage, a hodgepodge of certified vintage gag cartoons . . . Take a look!

1. DICK CAVALLI. Cavalli was one cartoonist who didn’t cartoon his way through WWII. He saw combat in France, Luxembourg. and Germany. True July, 1952.

2. JOHN BAILEY. John Bailey was cartoon editor for the Post in the late 1940’s and early ‘50’s. The Saturday Evening Post September 13, 1952.

3. DICK STROME. Some was born in New Mexico and graduated from The Chicago American Academy of Art. The Saturday Evening Post July 1, 1950.

4. BOB WEBER, Sr. Weber was a cartoonist for more than half a century. In 1965 he created the comic strip Moose, which became Moose Miller and, finally, Molly & Moose. This Week Magazine January 19, 1969.

5. JOHNNY HART. Hart was one of only four cartoonists to have two comic strips appearing in over 1000 papers each. American Legion Magazine January, 1959.

 

6. TOM HENDERSON. The Saturday Evening Post June 22, 1946.

7. CHARLES SCHULZ. Before he created Peanuts, Schulz enjoyed a brief but successful stint as a gag cartoonist. The Saturday Evening Post July 8, 1950.

8. CLAUDE. Claude Smith signed his drawings with his first name. This Week Magazine April 13, 1952.

9. STAN & JAN BERENSTAIN. American Legion Magazine September, 1949.

 

10. AL KAUFMAN. After serving in WWII, Kaufman managed a grocery store until becoming a full-time cartoonist in 1946. Kaufman sold this to True Magazine July, 1952.

 11. TOM HUDSON. The Saturday Evening Post June 3, 1950.

12. JACK TIPPIT. Look Magazine March 28, 1961.

13. LEO SALKIN. Salkin, a former animator, was also a gag writer for ventriloquist Paul Winchell’s Jerry Mahoney Show. Liberty Magazine August 3, 1946.

 

14. VIRGIL PARTCH. True Magazine February, 1950.

15. JACK MARKOW. Markow was a columnist for The Writer’s Digest and authored four cartooning “How To” books. The Saturday Evening Post July 1, 1950.

Peanuts Figures from Re-Action and Super-7

 Via Scott Shaw!

"Check out these insanely cool Peanuts figures from Re-Action and Super 7." 

 

They retail for around $18 apiece, or $108 for a set of six. Beautifully done, they are tempting to buy. But if I ever did, I like the packaging so much that I would never take the figure out.

Some Photos of My Teaching Set Up

Just thought you would enjoy a peek at the Zoom set up for my classes this semester. I've blurred out the faces of the students for anonymity's sake. The other students keep their cameras off, with some putting up an avatar of their pet or a cartoon drawing. This is the way it was all semester, three classes of History of Comics and the History of Political Cartoons since August. The semester was shortened due to covid.

 

This is the set up: what I see when I teach (my desk and computer) and what I look like when I teach. 

 

Those long strings on the window are to deter bird crashes! I graded papers all weekend and was finally done late Sunday. Behind me, some books on my board: John Gnagy's Learn to Draw; Krazy: George Herriman a Life in Black and White by Michael Tisserand; Kent State by Derf Backderf.

Grading finals and essays took three days, but it's over now. The shortened semester officially closed Sunday night at 11:59. It was a blast, but I miss getting to know the students in a real-life classroom. 

And my thanks to all of the industry pros who dropped by (virtually) to talk about the comic arts world. So far, I've been fortunate to have these great people speak live, one on one to the students:

Steve Brodner, the multi award-winning satirical caricaturist whose work appears in The New Yorker, The Nation and other outlets;

• Liza Donnelly of The New Yorker and CBS Sunday Morning;
  
  
• Greg Fox, whose gay-themed comic strip "Kyle's B&B" has been a Lambda Literary Award Finalist;
  
  
• Linnette Moore, a trans cartoonist whose graphic novel "The Prisoner of Silverstone: will be out from Abrams in 2021;
  
  
• Brian Fies, award-winning graphic novelist;
  
  
• Jim Salicrup, former Marvel Comics editor and current editor of the Young Adult graphic novel imprint Papercutz;
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• Ali Solomon, a New Yorker cartoonist and illustrator;
  
  
• Due to schedule constraints, the Pulitzer Prize award winning editorial cartoonists Ann Telnaes and Signe Wilkinson were not able to be part of the class, but have said they would love to be asked for 2021.

Thank you, one and all!

 

Buy a Mike Lynch Cartoon and Support the Cartoon Art Museum

If you would like to support the Cartoon Art Museum, then buy an original cartoon through their eBay fundraising auction. Here's mine. This drawing was created for the Cartoon Art Museum's October "Scrawl-O-Ween" fundraising event. I was given the drawing prompt "PUMPKIN" and "offered this hilarious gag cartoon in response."

If you think it's a great thing to have and a great way to support the museum, please take a look. You would get this signed color print as well.

Video Preview: Laurel or Hardy: Early Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy

Flicker Alley has put together a new cleaned up Blu-ray collection of the Laurel and Hardy short films before Laurel and Hardy met titled "Laurel or Hardy: Early Films of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy." I laughed out loud at a number of bits -- and then watched in wonder/horror at the final gag with Stan Laurel. Wow.

Personal note ....

It's the end of a shortened-due-to-Covid semester and I am grading papers and finals all day. Except for a brief Zoom call with an old friend who lives overseas, it's all day work. The comic arts majors at the New Hampshire Institute of Art at New England College are mighty and many! See you next week.

Patrick Chappatte's New Graphic Novel About the Impact of Covid-19

 From France24 English:

"Early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, world-renowned cartoonist Chappatte received a call from a doctor he knew in Geneva, who told him the virus was devastating Italy's health system and that it wouldn't be long before it spread to the rest of Europe. As we now know, it soon did, leading to huge loss of life, global lockdowns and ongoing restrictions on our freedoms. An extraordinary few months that Chappatte has chronicled meticulously in his latest graphic novel 'Au coeur de la vague.' He joined us for Perspective."

 Swissinfo has more about the book here.

Happy 35th Anniversary Calvin and Hobbes!

 Via Tom Heintjes, of Hogan's Alley:

Want to feel old? One of the truly great comic strips--Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes"--first appeared 35 years ago, on November 18, 1985. Here, the first week (which includes the strip's first Sunday):

 

 

From a 1987 60 Minutes Episode: Mad Magazine: Inside Look Behind the Scenes

 

Vintage How to Draw Cartoons Ephemera

Over in my other job, that of teaching the History of Comics and the History of Political Cartoons to college students, this is finals week. Yes, we had a shortened semester due to Covid-19. Let's look at a little bit of history with a sample of some vintage "how to draw" ads and books. Enjoy, while I write up some tests ....

Mort Drucker's Mad Magazine parody:

Richard Thompson's "Poor Richard's Almanac" feature with a Clinton-oriented "Let's Draw:"

Looking for more? 

Vintage "How To Draw Cartoons" Ads

Sherm Cohen's great School of Cartoon Art

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Winter and Holiday Gag Cartoons 1943 - 1964

Dick Buchanan has delved into the great gag cartoon clip file that he has in his Greenwich Village apartment. I picture him jumping into a large pile of clipped cartoons like a kid jumping into a heap of fall leaves. Anyway, he had retrieved some cold weather favorite single panel cartoons, and asked if he could share them with everyone. Of course the answer is yes and THANKS! Now, take it away, Dick!

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WINTER & HOLIDAY GAG CARTOONS
1943 – 1964

It is time once more to dip into the seemingly bottomless Cartoon Clip File. (By the way, the Clip File is not bottomless, it’s side-less.) We have searched for seasonal gag cartoons drawn by the top cartoonists of the mid-century era and we have found a few to share, so, through sleet, snow, and pestilence, from Thanksgiving and beyond, here are some “blasts from the past” . . . .


1. GEORGE WOLFE. Collier’s November 24, 1951.

 

2. CHARLES SHARMAN. American Magazine December, 1952.

3. VAHAN SHIRVANIAN. Look Magazine February 13, 1962.

4. PHIL INTERALNDI. The Saturday Evening Post January 10, 1953.

 

5. TED KEY. Collier’s December 29, 1951.

6. FRANK BEAVEN. Collier’s December 25, 1943.

 

7. STAN FINE. Collier’s March 11, 1950.

8. LEONARD DOVE. Look Magazine December 29, 1964.

9. DICK CAVALLI. The Saturday Evening Post December 24, 1949.

 

10. BOB BARNES. American Legion Magazine.

11. BOB SHROETER. American Magazine December, 1953.

 

12. CHON DAY. Look Magazine December 31, 1962.

13. TOM HENDERSON. The Saturday Evening Post November 6, 1954.

14. DONALD REILLEY. The Saturday Evening Post December 22-29, 1962.

 

15. LARRY HARRIS. American Magazine February, 1950.

16. DICK SHAW. True Magazine February, 1950.

17. DAN KILGO. American Legion Magazine. December, 1946.

18. ROBERT DAY. This Week Magazine December 19, 1954.

19. RAY HELLE. The Saturday Evening. December 24, 1949.

20. KENNETH MAHOOD. Punch Almanack for 1959 November 3, 1958.