PIXELS by Patrick Jean

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PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.
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Hat tip to Sherm Cohen! Thanks, Sherm!

Fritzi Loves Brian Fies

My friend Brian Fies' latest graphic novel WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?, which is nominated for two Eisner Awards, makes a cameo appearance in the last panel of today's NANCY comic strip, drawn by my friend Guy Gilchrist (along with his brother Brad).

Read about it on Brian's The Fies Files blog!

Gary Clement Meets Bob Mankoff

From the April 15, 2010 edition of Canada's National Post newspaper: Editorial cartoonist Gary Clement recently met up with New Yorker cartoon editor Robert Mankoff. Here's what ensue.

Hat tip to Journalista!

Pulitzer Prize Winner Mark Fiore on Your iPhone? Not Any Time Soon!

Via the Nieman Journalism Lab, article by Laura McGann:

This week cartoonist Mark Fiore made Internet and journalism history as the first online-only journalist to win a Pulitzer Prize. Fiore took home the editorial cartooning prize for animations he created for SFGate, the website for the San Francisco Chronicle.

... In December, Apple rejected his iPhone app, NewsToons, because, as Apple put it, his satire “ridicules public figures,” a violation of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement, which bars any apps whose content in “Apple’s reasonable judgement may be found objectionable, for example, materials that may be considered obscene, pornographic, or defamatory.”

The link includes Apple's email rejecting Mr. Fiore's work.

H/t to Drawn!

Where Did THAT Come From?

And what is THAT? Above is a JoBo or, as it's now called, the Martian Popping thing. In 1962, Steve Allen played with one on his show and called it a goo-goo doll.

You squeeze it and the blue eyes along with the red ears and mouth pop out.

Bhob Stewart gives us the history of the toy, which has been around in one form or another since the 1930s, and Jay Lynch's participation in early product placement.

"Tain't Funny, McGee"

One of the records I remember growing up with is THE LONGINES SYMPHONETTE PRESENTS REMEMBER THE GOLDEN DAYS OF RADIO with Jack Benny. I listened over and over again to Jack Benny, Fred Allen and Fibber McGee and Molly. It was my first introduction to old time radio.

This came to mind because TCM is showing a movie, OH HEAVENLY DAYS, at 6am EST tomorrow. One of a handful of Fibber McGee and Molly movies, this is their last, and, from the description, is very much a WWII propaganda picture. I don't expect it to be good. It's a 70-something minute B picture. It might not even be watchable (I can't think if a radio star aside from Bing Crosby who ever made a decent career in the movies), but I'm going to try to get a peek at it in the wee hours tomorrow.

It's funny, but these old radio shows remind me of my childhood in the 1970s, since that's when I first heard the recordings. First, I listened to my Dad's Longines record set, and then I checked some records out of the library -- I think that companies like Radiola and Decca were releasing old time radio shows.

Remember those library "listening stations?!" I remember having to go to the librarian, filling out cards and pieces of paper and being told I only had an hour in the listening station, etc. And, in the stale-smelling listening station cubicle: those big great metal turntables that looked like they could survive an armed assault and the big clunky tone arms that would sometimes have about 8oz. of dust clinging to them. And those big, vinyl headphones you had to wear! Those big headphones always made me rather hot and itchy after about 5 minutes. They were definitely designed to be so ungainly that no sane individual would ever consider for a moment trying to steal them. And when you were finished, you had to walk back the librarian, and, standing there, s/he would take the records out of the sleeves, looking for any scratches. Always a serious visual inspection, both sides scrutinized for abuse, before being allowed to take my nerdly leave.

Jim Jordan, "Fibber McGee" himself, had a special radio series one summer (maybe in 1972 or 73) where he would play the old programs. There was this gimmick in the show. The deal was (and suspend about 20 tons of disbelief, OK?) that Fibber had his old Philco radio in the garage, and would tell the listeners that it was full of old radio shows that he hadn't listened to back in the day. These old shows were still inside the radio tubes, waiting to be unleashed and heard. I remember listening to these old comedies and thinking seriously -- maybe waay too seriously -- about the structure of the jokes, the wordplay, the puns, the way an actor could get a laugh just by the tone of his/her voice (Titus Moody, Throckmorton P. Gildersleeve, Baby Snooks, etc.).




Woody Allen's RADIO DAYS film had it right: all of these people, all of these beloved shows are dead because the way we listen to radio changed. And most of these very big stars are forgotten!

Anyway, I'm going to watch the movie for a bit, even if it tain't funny. I love Eugene Pallette.

Many cartoonists and illustrators enjoy the old comedy, the ones we listened to on those old records. And as my pal, and fellow old time comedy fan, the award winning illustrator Sean Kelly, suggested to me: "That's why we're all so warped, today.... (Just like the old LPs!)"

Above Fibber McGee and Molly ad nicked from The Digital Deli. The uncredited color illustration is from this OTR download site.

New Books from Rosebud Archives

Rosebud Archives, founded by Rick Marschall and Jonathan Barli, specializes in the great comic and illustration work of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Rosebud has announced its 2010 slate of upcoming publications, with some wonderful comic and cartoon art, most previously unavailable, from creators like George Herriman, Charles Dana Gibson, Heinrich Kley and others. Save your pennies. The books and prints start arriving soon.

Some highlights:



2 publications featuring drawings by Gluyas Williams: PEOPLE OF NOTE, a portfolio of 20 of his drawings of musicians, and, above, a book of panel cartoons titled SUBURBAN HEIGHTS OR: THE MISADVENTURES OF FRED PERLEY.



GEORGE HERRIMAN’S EARLY MASTERPIECES - "the first in our volumes collecting the complete comics of the NY World features the early work of Krazy Kat’s famous father."




Harrison Cady is showcased in KIDS AT PLAY, THE BIRD'S EYE VIEWS OF HARRISON CADY, "an over-sized collection of Harrison Cady’s elaborate tableaus. Further installments in this series will feature Clare Briggs, J.R. Williams, H.T. Webster, Dwig, and many others."



A handsome reprinting of Leal de Camara's caricatures.


Several publications of Kley's pen and ink drawings.


RACE, "an examination of racial depictions from over a century and how they shape our views today."



A selection of gorgeous covers to JUGEND Magazine.

The entire list is here.


And don't forget to visit the Rosebud Archives store for cool prints and books and portfolios that are available now, like that Toonerville Trolley print I got me eye on.

Virgil VIP Partch: Color TRUE Illustrations

My friend Ger Apeldoorn shares some long-unseen illustrations and color work from TRUE Magazine by then-cartoon editor Virgil VIP Partch.

Cartooning Advice: Bill Griffith's Top 40

Above: Bill Griffith asks "What if 1950's illustrator Roy Doty created "Guernica" instead of Pablo Picasso? Well, maybe only Zippy wants to know ...." Drawing by Bill Griffith in Mr. Doty's style. From the "Zippy the Pinhead" 1990 calendar and copyright Mr. Griffith. This has little to do with the Top 40 list, I just really dug the illustration.

Anyway, on the the topic at hand:

Via Sherm Cohen's CartoonSNAP: Here's Bill "Zippy the Pinhead" Griffith's "Griffy's Top 40 List on Comics and Their Creation."

Some great advice here on making and selling comics.

Unseen Jack Kirby

Above: an unseen Kirby-created superhero team. More at the NY Times.

In the 1980s, working for a Hollywood animation firm, Jack Kirby drew lots of images for never-produced Ruby-Spears productions. This work has been shelved for a generation.

Today, this mountain of unseen Kirby goodness is being revealed.

"Now, a partnership between that studio’s founders, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and Sid and Marty Krofft, the longtime children’s entertainment producers ('H. R. Pufnstuf,' 'Land of the Lost'), is planning to revive these unseen Kirby characters in as many forms as possible. It’s a proposition that faces challenges as the studios scour the landscape for the next comic book or cartoon character they can transform into a franchise, but also one that has piqued the interest of some powerful Hollywood players."
- Jack Kirby’s Heroes in Waiting by Dave Itzkoff, April 12, 2010 New York Times

Big hat tip to Tom Tomorrow!

Video: An Afternoon with Jack Davis

Big hat tip to Potrzebie -- where there is a plethora of Davis art to ogle. Go look!

Otto Soglow

Gabriel Corbera showcases some of Otto Soglow's New Yorker cartoons at his Joyville blog, citing Soglow as one of his main influences, along with Bushmiller. The more I find out about Gabriel, the more I like him!

Tom Tomorrow: If Real Life Were More Like the Internet

Tom Tomorrow hits a bullseye.

Video: Jim Woodring Documentary

Here are a few minutes from THE LOBSTER AND THE LIVER, a documentary about cartoonist Jim Woodring by Jonathan Howells.



From the press release:

'The Lobster and the Liver' is a documentary about the Seattle cartoonist Jim Woodring. We chart his journey as a child experiencing terrifying hallucinations, through his troubled youth as a prankster and alcoholic, and examine his current status as a master craftsman and seeker of spiritual truth.

As well as displaying his incredibly surreal artwork, the documentary features music by jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, and includes interviews with such notable cartoonists as Peter Bagge, Ellen Forney, and Jim Blanchard.

By the copyright date, I'm guessing that this is at least a 2 year old documentary project that is either ongoing or in search of a distributor.

Mike Lynch Cartoon Class Media Coverage

We had a wonderful cartoon class in nearby New Durham, NH. We drew a lot. We had a nice graduation.

And we also had some media coverage. Here's a round up, and then a big thank you.


I'm thankful to the Rochester Times. Editor John Nolan personally came by to take the above photo of three of the hard working student cartoonists. Below is the photo from this week's edition:

Nationally-known cartoonist Mike Lynch's six-week cartoon class, just winding up at the New Durham Library, has proved popular, with a full class signed up. Here, from left, are Anna Lise Cataldo, Marc Cataldo and Bradley Barbarisi get inspiration from Lynch, who draws the first panel of a strip on the blackboard, and asks the class to create what happens next.

Also, a big thank you to The Baysider ...


... which ran the below photo of more students, hard at work, cartooning, in its April 1st edition:

Students follow along at the six-week cartooning class offered at the New Durham Public Library. The class was taught by area cartoonist Mike Lynch, who featured some of the students' work on his blog at mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.com.

I would like to add my thanks to the Friends of the New Durham Library for their support of the cartoon classes. Another big thank you goes to the staff at the New Durham Public Library, whose letter below appears in the same issue of The Baysider.



I'll be starting up new classes in Maine next month, and in NY this summer.

New Site: Library of American Comics

Go look!

Hat tip to Comics Reporter!

Scott Shaw!: A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to Jeff Keane's House

Scott Shaw! tells us a story in cartoons: I Was Too Fat to Fly!

Tony Greco and Cartoon Art Forgeries

Above: an original from Mr. Greco's collection, attributed to Bill Watterson, from the PG Slideshow of his collection.

Tony Greco collects cartoon art and fine art. That's his claim in this Pittsburgh Post Gazette article by Sally Kalson. Several people, when asked about him, including Lucy Caswell, curator of the renowned OSU Cartoon Library & Museum, and Jean Schulz, the widow of Charles Schulz, say he deals in fakes.

Mrs. Schulz says she's seen original PEANUTS art from Greco's collection that's "clearly not Sparky's work."

Mr. Greco says his critics are out to get him.

"'They don't want to believe someone like me could have all this great stuff,' he says. 'The art world is very cliquey, and I'm an outsider they can't control. They're scared of me because I have so much, they don't know where it ends. And you know what? It never ends. If I let it all out, it would depress the market overnight.'"

The art world and the cartoon art world are not one and the same, as Mr. Greco makes it sound. It would be wonderful to have an original George Booth cartoon next to the Mona Lisa, but, well, that's not the world we live in. Neither do these worlds conspire.


Above: an original from Mr. Greco's collection, attributed to Charles Addams.

The reason he is criticized is because he chooses not to "submit them [originals] to the artists' estates or foundations for authentication because, he says, he doesn't trust them."

As you read, you will find one supporter. Musician-songwriter George Michalski believes Tony Greco. He adds:

"'Anything I want, he comes up with -- signatures of Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, Kennedy.'

"In the beginning, he says, he took things from Mr. Greco to dealers who specialize in the named artists and autographs.

"'They would have been happy to tell me something wasn't real, believe me. But they said everything they saw was authentic. Since then I haven't thought twice about anything from Tony. In fact, I'm in the midst of buying a Matisse from him right now.'"

When the only people who will vouch for your story are those who have a vested interest, then you are suspect.

The Gallery on Baum, which is holding showing of his collection, should be ashamed. But perhaps they are as shameless as Mr. Greco.

Hat tip to Dad for letting me know about this. Thanks, Dad!

Video: Malachi Throne at Wondercon

Here's a short interview with actor Malachi Throne at this year's Wondercon. Thanks to Zennie Abraham for this.



Related: My pal Brian Fies' visit to Wondercon.

And here's the original trailer for the STAR TREK episode "The Menagerie Part 1," which aired in the show's first season on November 17, 1966. Look for Malachi Throne in conversation with Captain Kirk at about the 27 second mark.

Video: Jules Feiffer at the NY State Writers Institute

A small clip of cartoonist and author Jules Feiffer, who visited SUNY's New York State Writers Institute on March 16, 2010. He talks about his first book SICK, SICK, SICK: A GUIDE TO NON-CONFIDENT LIVING and how it came to be.