UPDATED: All the Cartoons From SUCCESSFUL FARMING December 1964

Yes, I am updating a blog entry about an obscure magazine over a half a century old. 

Here's an updated entry with lots more information on Larry Harris, one of the gag cartoonists in this December 1964 SUCCESSFUL FARMING magazine. 

"It's lucky I had my knife."

John Gallagher, who received the National Cartoonists Society Division Award for Gag Cartooning in 1957 and 1971, knocks the above cartoon outta the park. A great gag. From the December 1964 issue of SUCCESSFUL FARMING. Yes, you NEW YORKER snooty cartoon snobby types with your nose in the air, there was a magazine titled SUCCESSFUL FARMING. And, like so many mags of its day, the blessed publication had cartoons.

Friend of the Mike Lynch Cartoons blog Tom Sager reaches deep into his pile of musty magazines to come up with an issue of SUCCESSFUL FARMING. Here are all of the cartoons (all 3) from an issue from the December 1964 issue.

The rest of the cartoons were drawn by Larry Harris, a fellow I can find nothing about online. I've never seen his cartoons before. Perhaps he was a niche market seller.

EDIT: Wow! Another friend of the Mike Lynch cartoons blog, Jake Oster, wrote in to let me know more about cartoonist Larry Harris. He found this bio at the Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum site. Thanks, Jake! Thanks Billy Ireland staff! Here it is:

Larry Harris graduated from Rossford High School near Toledo, Ohio in 1927. While attending the University of Toledo, he studied art in the design school at the Toledo Art Museum and later went to school in the evenings at Keane's Art School. His first job was at the Toledo Bottle Cap Company designing milk bottle caps. While this was not the design work Harris wanted to do, the Depression limited opportunities for work in commercial art. The job provided him with experience in lettering and layout, which helped to advance his career. At the outset of World War II, Harris went to work with a Detroit engineering firm doing mechanical drawing and projection illustration. These new skills led to a position at General Motors Styling Section. WWII had put a hold on car design and Harris's work focused on three-dimensional illustration of military equipment, and design and layout for military manuals and handbooks. In his spare time he created the "Catfish Joe" comic strip that appeared in Pep Comics, until a wartime paper shortage of newsprint caused the publication to fold. At the end of WWII he decided to move to La Jolla, California and focus full-time on magazine cartooning. He became known as a gag cartoonist and published cartoons in many popular magazines of the day. He continued to work on developing cartoon panels and comic strips for syndication. In addition he created and designed board games for children that were published by Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley. Due to shrinking freelance market of the 1970s, Harris decided to leave cartooning and took a position as Art Director at a television station in Southern California. He retired from the television station in 1980.

"Catfish Joe" ran in PEP COMICS #40–48 (Jul 1943–May 1944, MLJ). Despite what the above article says the publication did not fold, though the page count dropped from 60 to 52 pages. PEP #411 (Mar 1987) was the last issue.

Cartoonist Laurence W. Harris died October 18, 1997; most of his work donated to Cartoon Research Library at Ohio State University. Reported by Brian Fox in THE COMICS JOURNAL #201 (Jan 1998).

-- Edited from a July 30, 2012 blog entry.

Brad Anderson 1924-2015

Brad Anderson, best known for his long-running syndicated feature MARMADUKE, died August 30, 2015. He was 91. There was no cause of death reported.

Brad sold his first cartoon to Flying Aces magazine when he was 15 years old. He graduated from Brocton High School in Brocton, New York, in 1941. After serving in the Navy during World War Two, he enrolled in Syracuse University. In 1951 he graduated with a BFA in Fine Arts, with a major in advertising.

He worked at a Utica, NY advertising agency, Ball and Grier, for a couple of years. But being a cartoonist was in his blood. Leaving the agency after a couple years, he focussed his attentions on magazine cartooning. In 1954, he achieved the dream of syndication. MARMADUKE, a daily panel, first appeared in 1954.

From the MARMADUKE Wikipedia page:

The strip was created by Anderson, with help from Phil Leeming (1955–1962) and later Dorothy Leeming (1963–1969), and (since August 2, 2004) Paul Anderson. The strip revolves around the Winslow family and their Great Dane, Marmaduke. The strip on Sundays also has a side feature called "Dog Gone Funny", in which one or more panels are devoted to dog anecdotes submitted by the fans. Anderson, who says he draws on Laurel and Hardy routines for his ideas,^[1] received the National Cartoonists Society Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for the strip in 1978. Anderson died unexpectedly on August 30, 2015,^[2] leaving the long-term fate of the strip unknown; strips co-drawn with the help of his son, Paul Anderson, continue to be syndicated. 

Mr. Anderson also drew a comic strip titled GRANDMA'S BOY from 1954 to 1966.

In the 1980s, MARMADUKE was a Saturday morning cartoon, paired with HEATHCLIFF. In 2010 a MARMADUKE theatrical movie was released, with the voice of Owen Wilson as the title character.

Two years ago, Mr. Anderson received the Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Society.

Brad Anderson was a prolific gag cartoonist. Here are a few of his many gag cartoons from the 1950s and 60s:

Related:

Brad Anderson obituary

HOWIE SCHNEIDER UNSCHUCKED

Maybe one of the problems with the Internet is that there isn't more Howie Schneider in it.

Howie created the long running EEK AND MEEK syndicated comic strip, as well as children's books -- some of which he wrote with his wife Susan Seligson. He also created THE SUNSHINE CLUB, a comic strip about retirees, and he contributed a regular cartoon, titled "Unschucked," to the Provincetown Banner.

From the Boston Globe:

"Howie insists -- and he was known to embellish -- that he could draw before he could walk. In the delivery room he drew," said his wife, Susan Seligson of Truro. "Howie drew constantly. He always knew he was going to be an artist."

Here are a few of his cartoons from the out of print HOWIE SCHNEIDER UNSCHUCKED collection, "A Cartoon Collection about the Cape, the Country and Life Itself." It's all copyright Mr. Schneider.

The fearless, quick, assured lines of his drawings and his pointed, hilarious writing are two reasons to pause and linger over these terrific cartoons from the late 1990s.

New 2 Volume Book Set: KREMOS: THE LOST ART OF NISO RAMPONI

For the first time ever, a print collection of Niso Ramponi's art will be published. KREMOS: THE LOST ART OF NISO RAMPONI is scheduled to be published next month by Lost Art Books.

It's actually two volumes (one color, one black and white work) and it sure is going to be wonderful to look at. If you order now, you get a discount on the set.

He worked under numerous names—Kremos, Niso, Nys O’Ramp—but he occupies a singular space as Italy’s cartooning Casanova, and he finally gets his due in this new two-volume set from Lost Art Books. From the mid-1940s through the early 1960s, Niso Ramponi’s work was everywhere, from collaborating with friend Federico Fellini in Italy’s animation industry to drawing newspaper strips to creating movie posters for Walt Disney. Ramponi made his name, however, in Italy’s weekly satire magazines, for which he drew some of the world’s prettiest “good girl” gag cartoons and covers for over a decade. Volume 1 collects over 200 of Kremos’ bodacious black & white cartoons and illustrations, while Volume 2 adds 250 of his curvaceous color comics and covers to the set. Combined, these volumes offer a comprehensive overview of the maverick artist when he was at the height of his powers.

Related: Some Kremos cartoons that I posted about in 2008.

Milt Priggee Editorial Cartoon "Can Put Police In Danger"

An editorial cartoon by Milt Priggee that criticized the police "can put police in danger," says Jacksonville, FL Fraternal Order of the Police Spokesman Steve Amos.

Ink can endanger cops.

Times Union editor Frank Denton for stands up for the cartoonist, even while distancing the paper by citing that the cartoon is "the cartoonist's opinion." Mr. Denton goes on to explain what an editorial cartoon is. 

But I think that those who feel threatened by cartoons cannot be taught. The whole idea of free speech and the first amendment and all that is seen as a violation unless it agrees with the ears of the beholder.

Mr. Priggee has a great notice on his site to help take care of people who do get angry at his work, which I loved:

You are not required to agree with the opinions expressed herein. If you feel obliged to bring suit against me, Milt Priggee, however, please sit down and wait until the urge passes. If you still desire to expose yourself in a courtroom, all service of process may be addressed to: 

Law Office of Jeffry K. Finer
West 35 Main • Suite 300 • Spokane, WA 99201 

Please include a current inventory of assets, including homestead exemptions, in the event that we undertake a counterclaim for malicious prosecution.

The Garden As of September 1, 2015

I ran around yesterday, taking these photos. You can see a bit of a finger in that above photo. Now, that just teaches me that if I want to take a photo, then I need to stop running and concentrate.

So, here we are at the beginning of September, the end of the summer. It's the 7th biweekly update. The garden has a lot of tomatoes and cucumbers and some peppers. But it's nearing the end of its life. The brown leaf disease, a common problem for tomato plants, is overcoming some of the romas.

You can see that the weight of the tomatoes is causing the plants to lean down and the stakes used to reinforce are overwhelmed. Time to harvest!

There are some flowers continuing to bloom, but the days are getting shorter and it just feels a lot more like November than September sometimes. Some trees are just beginning to turn.

Related:

The Garden As of June 1, 2015
The Garden As of Mid-June 2015
The Garden As of Early July
The Garden As of July 15, 2015
The Garden As of Early August

The Garden As of Mid-August 2015

Remembering Stan Goldberg

Stan Goldberg died one year ago on August 31st.

Best known for his work on the flagship ARCHIE comic books, Stan was a friend and one of the legends in the cartoon biz. I was fortunate to know him, to work on a gallery show with him and to get to hang out with him in his studio. Here is a tribute to the many decades of art that Stan created. This played just before the National Cartoonists Society awarded him the Gold Key in 2012.



Thanks to Bennett Goldberg for this.

Arnold Roth Record Cover Art

Run over to Drew Friedman's great blog today to see many wonderful LP covers by the one and only Arnold Roth! 

Myfanwy Tristram: "How I experienced the life of a model, with Gudrun Sjoden"

Illustrator and cartoonist Myf Tristam scans her sketchbook diary about her experience being chosen as a "non-industry standard" fashion model:

"I haven’t exactly been blessed with the looks of a model, so no-one was more surprised than me to receive an offer to be photographed for a fashion catalogue. In fact, my first reaction may have been a snort. 

"But it all makes sense when you find out that the invitation came from Gudrun Sjoden. They regularly photograph their clothes on models who are “non-industry standard” — older, more characterful or larger than most brands would touch with a bargepole. (Makes perfect sense to me: their clothes are made for all ages and spread across a massive range of sizes, so why not reflect customers’ own looks?) 

"In this case, the shoot was to feature ‘friends of Gudrun’: bloggers, artists, novelists and other creative types. I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved with some events in Gudrun’s London store, and that’s what put me on the early plane to Stockholm for two of the most pleasurable days I’ve had in a long time!"

Hat tip to Nick Abadzis! Thanks, Nick!

A Gag Cartoon Batch Question and Answer Forum

(Above: some cartoons from this week's cartoon batch, drawn in ink with wash. I drew them with a Micron Pigma pen on good quality typing paper. )

I thought that I would talk about a magazine cartoon batch: what it is and where it goes. Essentially: how a gag cartoon goes from the drawing board to being inside a magazine for everyone to see.

A cartoon batch is usually about ten or 12 cartoons. This batch is shown to an editor. For a lot of editors, I email my submission. If not, I mail copies of the cartoons.

I just got this question this week:

"How do you get your gags, do you use a formula, just start drawing funny pictures or do you ever get any from God?"

My stock answer is that I sit and write. I try to think of popular phrases or new buzzwords and see if I can make those into a funny picture. Sometimes I just think of something in the news that makes me mad and see if I can turn that anger into something funny. Yes, sometimes I will just draw something because I feel like drawing something. But these methods are not formulas. To come up with an original, funny idea still takes me time. Do I get any ideas from God? If you mean, do I ever have a cartoon idea that falls into my lap? Sometimes. Most cartoonists I know are thinking about cartoons all their waking hours and so, in the back of their head, they are always on the lookout for something funny. Sometimes, because your brain is always addled in joke-writing, something can happen and you may have an "Eureka!" moment where it all comes together like magic. But that only happens to me once every 400 or 500 cartoons. So I cannot depend on it.

So ... let's say you are a cartoonist and you have had a productive week: a cartoon batch of yours is done.

Now is the time to send them out in the world.

"How do you decide where to send your cartoons?" was a question I got at a panel discussion in 2005 on making cartoons for a living.

I send them to the place where they pay the most money, and then they go to the place where they will make the second-most money and so on, down the money food chain so to speak.

"Will you send them to The New Yorker?"

Maybe, eventually. The New Yorker is not the highest paying national market for freelancers.

"Why can't we see the captions in that above photo, Mike?"

I sell first rights to my cartoons, so, in other words, these fresh cartoons are only for the eyes of the editors for now. If they want them, then they get cartoons that people have never seen before. So, I have to "Wite-Out" some of the gag lines for now.

"How many did you sell?"

Early days yet. Maybe we should come back to this in a while and see how this particular batch fared. Some of them are already on hold -- but that means nothing.

To be continued!

The First Cartoonist I Ever Met: Chuck Jones

Chuck Jones was the first cartoonist I ever met.

He was giving a presentation of some of his Roadrunner and Coyote shorts at a West Coast University Film Association conference in the 1960s. My Dad taught radio/TV/film production and was a member of the UFA (now renamed the University Film and Video Association). I remember being taken by the hand, lead down the aisle to the stage, and being introduced to Mr. Jones by my parents. He looked into my eyes. He was very tall. (I was very small.) He paused, smiled and shook my hand when he was told that, "Mike likes to draw."

Mr. Jones proffered a deal: I mail a letter to his MGM offices and he would mail back a drawing for me and my baby sister. After a couple weeks of my Mom badgering me, I finally sent him a letter. I didn't know what to say and I don't remember what I finally wrote. Anyway, Mr. Jones, a man of his word, replied with this:

-- From a March 24, 2009 blog entry.

How to Graduate from Art School (Animation)

I like people who cartoon, but I don't like people who put on airs about drawing.

Here's a short animation of an art student talking "artspeak" for about a minute. Such gobbledygook. Such balderdash. So true.

Maybe talking like this is encouraged in art school, but it ain't gonna help you find a job.

Please just shut up and draw.

Thanks to ProbCauseTV:



Hat tip to Anthony Owsley

THE GIRLS by Franklin Folger

Franklin Folger (1919-1977) was born, lived and worked in Cincinnati, Ohio. Except for five year stint in the US Army beginning in 1942, he was a mainstay, devoting his time to the Cincinnati Art Academy, where he initially went to school after graduating Withrow High School. He studied commercial art, painting and cartooning. Cartooning won out. His comic panel THE GIRLS originally appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer, and then was syndicated nationally by the Sun-Times—Daily News Syndicate (later, Field Syndicate). 

THE GIRLS were well-to-do, active middle aged women of an upper middle class background. It's solidly in the tradition of Helen Hokinson's women. These are ladies who lunch, ladies who form committees, ladies who put on amateur theatricals and so on.

According to the Branches and Rain blog, there were seven collection of THE GIRLS published by Doubleday in the 1960s. Here are a handful of cartoons from what I believe is the first collection. 

My sincere thanks to Randy Michaels who found this book, with its first 16 pages ripped out, at a recycle center in Rangeley, Maine last month. He figured I would like it and he figured right! Thanks, Randy! I am guessing it's copyright Field Enterprises or Mr. Folger. 

Vintage Sam Norkin Record Album Covers

Newspaper caricaturist and illustrator Sam Norkin's rare album cover art is showcased over at the Drew Friedman blog. 

Sam was a career newspaper illustrator. Drew points out that he had 4000 published drawings of NYC performers to his credit during his seven decade career.

Here's Drew:

Norkin was also the most well-known of the various imitators of the legendary theatrical caricaturist, the great Al Hirschfeld. The good natured Hirschfeld even laughingly refers to Norkin in the documentary "The Line King" as his imitator. 

From 1940 to 1956, Norkin's Hirschfeld-esque illustrations were featured in the New York Herald Tribune and then from 1956-1982 his work was featured weekly in the New York Daily News.

Sam was a member of the Berndt Toast Gang, and would regularly drive out to Huntington, Long Island from his West Side apartment. He began taking the train in 2004 when he was in his 80s. He didn't want to take the train, but his wife and doctor insisted.

So, the last Wednesday night of the month, my phone would ring. "Mike? This is Sam. Are you going to the lunch tomorrow?" Of course I was. "Would you mind if we met and could go in together?" He wasn't happy about not driving, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from going to the monthly lunches with cartoonist colleagues.

So we would meet at Penn Station and take the train to Long Island.

So, a couple of stories, and then I have to get going:

I remember one time he told me about a description in THE GREAT GATSBY of the giant piles of old ash; remains from millions of Manhattan coal stoves and fireplaces. I didn't know the passage, having last read the book in ninth grade. Well, they used to be right there. He pointed out the window of the LIRR train. He remembered actually seeing them in real life when he was younger. They were huge, just like Fitzgerald described them. Hard to believe, he added, that they were gone.

He was a gracious fellow, always interested and curious. I remember having coffee with him and another cartoonist. We were waiting for the train back to the city. We were, of course, talking about drawing for a living. I guess that's the number one topic at these lunches. Sam said, "I can't do what Mike does." And then he went back to his coffee. We asked him what he meant. And he said that he  could draw, but he "couldn't do gags like Mike and other gag cartoonists do."

Maybe it was an offhand remark, but, regardless, it was a very kind thing to say. Sam was frank and did not say things he didn't mean.

I miss the those days, and I miss traveling with Sam Norkin.

Petition: The LA Times Should Reinstate Ted Rall

A couple of people have asked me about this. You can sign here.

It was created by Susan D. Einbender, Ph.D. on July 30, 2015.

At this time, there are 343 Facebook "likes" but only 191 signatures. Go figure.

From the site:

Petition Background (Preamble):

On July 28, 2015, Nicholas Goldberg, the Editor of the Editorial pages at the Los Angeles Times posted a statement informing readers that the newspaper would no longer publish the cartoons of Ted Rall because a story written by Ted Rall at the Times' OpinionLA blog on May 11 contained facts about his experience with the LA Police in 2001 that could not be substantiated. Although there was no evidence offered to contradict Ted's story, Mr. Goldberg claimed that this was sufficient reason to terminate publishing his political cartoons.

We the undersigned respectfully request that Mr. Goldberg reinstate Mr. Rall and his cartoons immediately. We fail to see any relationship between a personal recollection of an event that took place 14 years ago to Mr. Rall's cartoons, and are troubled that an esteemed newspaper reporter used subjective and illogical justifications to terminate using Mr. Rall's cartoons.

Mr. Rall's cartoons are consistently brilliant and offer the Los Angeles readership and cartoon fans who read his work a unique and important perspective that would be lost should Mr. Goldberg's decision be allowed to remain in force.

The Los Angeles Times has proven, time and time again, that it holds its reporters and staff to the highest possible standards of ethical behavior. Mr. Goldberg's decision is an aberration and violation of these tenets.

Please reverse this decision immediately.

"Pasadena Weekly" Editor Pressured by the Police Department, City Officials to Drop Ted Rall's Cartoons

(Above: Ted Rall's cover to this week's Pasadena Weekly.)

The Pasadena Weekly editor goes on record about the police asking him to drop Ted Rall's anti-cop editorial cartoons. 

When I first wrote about this, ten days ago, I was one of the few colleagues who were publicly calling for cartoonists not to remain silent. I'm glad to see that others have now joined in, as well as the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists.

It's an admittedly odd story. Here's some background:

Being fired is something millions of people have had happen to them, and it's usually just the boss, the security guard and you that are involved in that fateful day.

But ...

"When your boss later writes in the LA Times that you are a liar, and that the Los Angeles Police Department has proved it -- and THAT is why you were fired, well, that's different. You've been humiliated publicly by one of the biggest newspapers in the country. And with the support of the LAPD. 

"Ted Rall, who is maybe the most divisive political cartoonist of the day, was fired last month by the LA Times. Why? Because he wrote a column about being ticketed for jaywalking 14 years ago. (Ted writes as well as draws for the LA Times.) The LAPD said that Rall's version of the 2001 arrest was wrong and then produced an audiotape of the incident. (Yes, even in 2001, people were being recorded without their permission/knowledge.) 

"Nicholas Goldberg, the Times editorial page editor, wrote

"'An audiotape of the encounter recorded by the police officer does not back up Rall’s assertions; it gives no indication that there was physical violence of any sort by the policeman . . .'"

-- from LA Times Fires, Publicly Humiliates Ted Rall

The audio tape, which was 20 minutes long and mostly static, was tampered with and/or spliced, said audio experts that were hired by Ted after the fact. The LA Times never vetted the tape with an outside source before he was fired.

I still see people who say that Ted Rall has gone too far and deserves what's coming. Ted is a divisive cartoonist.

This is, of course, completely wrong.

When the police collude with the media to destroy a cartoonist, it should be big news. The tepid reaction is a surprise and a disappointment.

From Ted's site today:

"Even after the Assocation of American Editorial Cartoonists issued a formal statement calling for an investigation of the LA Times’ firing of me as a favor to the LAPD because I criticized police brutality, I found it difficult to get support from, well, everybody. Because one of the defining aspects of satire is that, eventually, you end up making fun of everyone. Who end up hating you."

Another thought from ANewDomain:

"Does the fact that a big chunk of The Los Angeles Times is now owned by Oaktree Capital, an investment firm that itself is powered by billions in investment from the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pension Fund, have anything to do with this?"

My story: I have met Ted a number of times, at a National Cartoonists Society Reubens weekend and at the Small Press Expo. We always shook hands and chatted. It was always very cordial. I don't do editorial cartoons myself, but I respect what he does. I have bought several of his books with my own money.

I know there are other people out there who do not like him. I don't really know why (Like Mack White writes, "I don't have a dog in this fight."), and that's not my point. It's about the next fight.

Who will the police or the politicians come after next? What editor will they convince to not only fire another cartoonist or writer -- but also publicly humiliate them with a damning editorial in their publication? This kind of collusion of power to go after creative people is not tolerable and not what this country is about.

Your silence -- whether you are a cartoonist or a regular person -- says this is OK.

Ted will be on the Project Censored radio show, which is carried by Pacifica, at 1pm today.

Some 2015 Sketches

Above: a little girl discovers a back store room full of toys in a North Carolina thrift store.


I have been traveling a lot this year. Sometimes for family, sometimes for business. And when I have a moment, I will whip out the sketchbook and draw some people.

This is one of those small sketchbooks, 3.5 in. x 5 in., that fits in a pocket easily. None of these people ever noticed I was drawing them, which is a good thing. I like to be a fly on the wall.

These are, with the exception of the first one below, all from 2015.

Dude who sold me this sketchbook in Virginia really wanted to get me on some kind of list. I told him I was from far away. Dude still kept asking me.

A big man who said this several times to his kids. The mother, who was much smarter, was not to be seen.

When you have a fanny pack hanging off your gut, you really just do not care about how you look.

The above man was a beer brewer and he performed a five hour soliloquy on hops, yeast, water, and the beers of the world on the way from Portsmouth, NH to NYC. I was very happy to get off the bus.

Great t-shirt. I saw this guy a couple of times on the DC Metro.

Sitting and chilling in the Ronald Reagan airport.

A pilot with his sack lunch.

Cool beachy looking man at the Goodwill in Topsham, ME.

A couple of sketches of people working the night shift.

Thanks for looking. Let me know if any of these people is you!