A Short History of America (1979) by Robert Crumb

From the R. Crumb Facebook page:

Crumb originally drew the 12 panels of A Short History of America in 1979. He created 3 additional panels of three different future scenarios for the Kitchen Sink serigraph in 1994. This version, with the three additional panels, became known as the 15 panel edition. Crumbproducts.com (or rcrumb.com, same site) created a 500 print unsigned giclée edition based upon that 15 panel serigraph edition (with some color changes) in 2018, and it sold out several years later. But we’re constantly besieged by requests for this image by many Crumb fans almost on a daily basis.

Robert and Alex came up with the idea to modify the art slightly by adding clouds thereby creating a different sky in each panel, instead of the blue sky which remains constant throughout all the previous editions. So Alex enlarged each panel, printed them and sent them to Robert in France. Crumb used gouache and water colors to paint over the sky and sent them back to Alex who then placed the new artwork behind the existing landscapes using Photoshop. The result is this new and very beautiful 15 panel giclée edition of one of Crumb’s most famous pieces – A Short History of America (15 panel Cloud version).

The white Somerset archival paper is 24 by 21.5 inches. The image size is 19 by 17 inches. There are 600 unsigned, hand-numbered prints in this edition, with 40 signed artist proofs and 3 signed printer proofs. We do NOT have any of Robert’s artist proofs to sell! The printer proofs are also not available because they’re not signed yet. Prints will be mailed in a 4 inch tube via USPS around the world. Release date is Monday, June 30th (https://crumbproducts.com/.../short-history-of-america-15...)

Robert estimated the time each panel depicts:

 

Panel #1–Before Whitey; Panel #2–1860's; Panel #3–1870's; Panel #4–1880's; Panel #5–1890's; Panel #6–1900's; Panel #7–1910's; Panel #8–1920's; Panel #9–early 1930's; Panel #10-1940's; Panel #11–1950's; Panel #12-late 1970's.

Turkish Cartoonist Zehra Ömeroglu Acquitted

 

Via DailyCartoonist:

"After five long years of proceedings, punctuated by postponements, the Istanbul Court of First Instance finally ruled in favor of acquittal on Thursday, June 26.

"The Turkish cartoonist was tried for 'obscenity' for a cartoon published in LeMan magazine in 2020 and faced a prison sentence of six months to three years and a fine.

"In the expert report dated March 5, 2025, it was declared that the work was protected by the Intellectual and Artistic Works Act. The Istanbul Court of First Instance ruled in agreement with this opinion and acquitted Zehra Ömeroğlu."

Cartooning for Peace has the details.

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: Wordless Gag Cartoons 1944-1964

My thanks to Friend-of-this-blog Dick Buchanan. He has wandered the dusty piles of his old magazines and scanned in a selection of fifteen cartoons without words and shared them with us. Take it away, Dick!

----

At one time or another several magazines had a feature titled “Too Funny for Words” featuring cartoons without captions. Here are some cartoons that fall into that special category--some amusing if not necessarily “too funny” cartoons by some of the best cartoonists of their time.

1. AL ROSS. For Laughing Out Loud. July-September, 1963




 

2. GEORGE la MENDOLA (George Dole). 1000 Jokes Magazine. Fall, 1950




3. CORKA. (Jon Cornin & Zena Kavin) Liberty. August 10, 1946




 

4. CLYDE LAMB. Judge. October 1953




 

5. TOM HENDERSON. Collier’s. July 8,1955




 

6. VIRGIL PARTCH. Liberty. September 9, 1944



 

7. TON SMITS. 1000 Jokes Magazine. March-May, 1962





8. CEM (CHARLES E. MARTIN) The Saturday Evening Post. September 29, 1962




9. CHARLES ADDAMS. True Magazine. October 1949






10. BOB BARNES. 1000 Jokes Magazine. Fall, 1950




 

11. JOHN GALLAGHER. Collier’s. March 16, 1953



 

12. HENRY SYVERSON. Look Magazine. January 28, 1964




 

13. PETER PORGES. The Saturday Evening Post. September 29,1962




14. STAN HUNT. 1000 Jokes Magazine. May-July, 1955



15. CLYDE LAMB. 1000 Jokes Magazine. Summer, 1951



FYI: In May, 1955, The Gag Re-Cap (a publication for cartoonists and gag writers covering major magazines) reported that out of 94 magazines there were 924 cartoons published, of which 20% were no caption gags—194 to be exact..

---

Thanks, Dick, for this amazing selection.

- This has been an edited rerun from December 22, 2016.

"Hidden Things" 1938 Hidden Picture Children's Book

"Hidden Things" is a 1938 staple-bound booklet full of hidden pictures. This is an inexpensive product designed to keep a kid busy. The publisher, Saalfield Publishing Company of Akron, OH was one of the biggest publishers of children's works in the world from 1900 to 1977. There are no credits on this book (aside from a "D + D Downs" on the cover), but they employed Ethel Hayes and Frances Brundage for many of their books. 

The drawings are inky, complex and not necessarily very cute in, for instance, a Raggedy Ann sort of way. Saalfield owned the rights to Johnny Gruelle's Raggedy Ann and Andy. 

Confession: I was not always successful in finding all of the hidden things and, sadly, there isn't a kinda "teacher's edition" page where we see any sort of solution. 

AI Slop: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Via HBO MAX's YouTube:

Some Buck Rogers Drawings by Dick Calkins

Here are some illustrations from some of the Big Little book series of Buck Rogers. The Buck Rogers comic strip began January 7, 1929 and ran until July 8, 1967. Dick Calkins was the initial artist on the strip from 1929 to 1932, with Russell Keaton doing the Sunday strip chores during those same years. Rick Yager drew it from 1932 to 1958, and then George Tuska illustrated the feature from 1959 until its demise. So, chances are it may or may not have been Dick Calkins who drew the work below. Buck Rogers spawned a lot of merchandise as well as movie and TV series, and kept a lot of people busy churning out product.

I would love to see a Buck Rogers movie that captures this "will be that was" kinda future. 

 

Meredith, NH Celebrates a Year of "Archie" Creator Bob Montana

 

Main Street artist Paul Moreau works on a life-size image of the character Betty from “Archie” comics as part of a multifaceted celebration of “The Year of Bob Montana” in Meredith. (Courtesy photo)

 

Via the Laconia Daily Sun:

Meredith celebrates a year of Bob Montana

MEREDITH – For no more reason than Veronica going on yet another spending spree or Jughead dodging another Miss Grundy homework assignment, the Meredith Historical Society is celebrating 2025 as “The Year of Bob Montana” in tribute to the local creator of the “Archie” comic franchise.

With cooperation from the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, the Winnipesaukee Flagship Corporation, several Meredith businesses and the local public at large, the society’s tribute includes: a museum display of Montana artifacts, life-size figures of Archie and his gang created by local artists, and staging a rediscovered play written and directed by Bob Montana in the ‘50s for the Meredith Village Players theater group.

MHS board member George Berman found Montana’s 70-year-old script among artifacts in storage at the Main Street Museum. He and Bonnie Edwards, vice president for preservation, dusted it off and brainstormed an ambitious project to bring the musical “Mutiny on the Mount” back to life.

Contacting the Winnipesaukee Playhouse, they quickly brought Cory Lawson, the theater’s community engagement director, on board. Together, they paid a visit to officials of the historic M/S Mount Washington cruise ship and proposed bringing the play right to the setting in which the play is set – on board The Mount. 

Originally slated for three showings during the sunset dinner cruises on Oct. 1-3, tickets sold out. Three additional performances were added on Oct. 8-10.

“We could not be happier for the success we’ve had putting this all together,” said Edwards.

She and her crew worked through the winter and early spring collecting and organizing a large selection of Montana artifacts into a new display at the museum.

“We are featuring our collection of items about Bob’s life from the time he was a teenager to his extensive involvement as an artist in the town of Meredith,” she said.

Among retailers participating is Galleries at 30 Main Street. Artists Vynnie Hale and Paul Moreau created life-size figures of Archie and the gang to be placed around Main Street, adding to the existing Archie statue at the Meredith Community Park.

For tickets to “Mutiny on the Mount,” visit cruisenh.com. For more information, visit meredithhistoricalsocietynh.org.