"The Careless Family" by Stanley Stamaty

Here's a rare gem: "The Careless Family" pamphlet, with cartoons by Stanley Stamaty, created and distributed by the National Board of Fire Underwriters. Stanley is the cartoonist father of cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty. This was all part of a kids' education project and was probably distributed to schools in the 1950s or early 60s by major insurance companies.

"The Careless Family ... They're Responsible for Most Home Fires!

CARELESSNESS causes most fires. And carelessness means people. Some of the members of the Careless Family are shown on these pages ...

... are YOU a member of the CARELESS FAMILY?"

And we get ten samples of careless people like Hoarder Hattie, Bert and Nessie the Blow-Uppers, Glow-worm Gertie and other alliterative careless family members. This is from a small stack of fire prevention pamphlets and other paper ephemera that I recently bought. This may be the only instance where we get to see a cartoonist's signature on the art.

The Garden As of July 15, 2016

Tomatoes -- lots of different heirloom tomatoes -- and radishes and basil and eggplant and squash and a couple of "volunteers" that just appeared.

Why I Cut Cable TV

I cut the cord on cable TV three years ago this month. Every time I travel, and see what regular cable TV is, I am reminded of all the good reasons I did this.

As an example of the kind of crud that people pay for, here are Mitchell and Webb's parody of a reality show "Coverage of People Buying a House and Then Living in It." Oh boy. Spot on.

Kubert School Video: Frank Miller

Paris: Hergé Gallery Show at the Grand Palais 28 September 2016 to 15 January 2017

If you are in Paris, this looks like a great exhibition of Hergé's career ....

There is no longer any need to present the career of Georges Remi, known as Hergé, Belgian cartoonist best known for The Adventures of Tintin. Often referred to as "the father of the European comic strip," he was one of the first French-speaking authors to use American-style comic strip with speech bubbles. The exhibition looks back on his creative approach, fed by the cinema, painting, photography and adventure novels and his passion for drawing. It shows how the universally recognised drawings of Hergé fit in with both his era and the history of art.

Michael Crawford 1941-2016

New Yorker cartoonist and artist Michael Crawford died peacefully at his home in Kingston, NY yesterday afternoon. The cause was cancer.

He sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker in 1981. He told Michael Maslin that as the editorship of the magazine changed, and Tina Brown came in:

"'Tina was relentlessly cordial, encouraging and welcoming of spread ideas.” He contributed color work (color was no stranger to him. Like many New Yorker artists he wore two hats: cartoonist and fine artist). His good friend Danny Shanahan said of him not long ago: 'Michael’s not really a cartoonist – he’s an artist.'"

Over 600 cartoons and paintings he sold to the magazine. From his bio:

"Crawford’s work has appeared in the pages of the New York Times, the Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. A dedicated baseball fan, he has played first base for The New Yorker’ssoftball team since the nineteen-eighties. Off the diamond, he co-edited, and wrote the introduction for, 'The New Yorker Book of Baseball Cartoons,' with cartoon editor Robert Mankoff. Crawford’s talents expand beyond cartooning—he is a full-time painter, and also recently worked on a video project for Issey Miyake, examining the designer’s relationship with Irving Penn. He is currently working on a 'not-exactly-for-kids' picture book and animated film about the Skunk Mafia of Central Park, who are fighting for control of the city’s beloved oasis and all the animals in it. Crawford lives with fellow New Yorker cartoonist Carolita Johnson opposite the Cloisters, in upper Manhattan.

They have since moved upstate.

Here's what his daughter Farley Crawford posted yesterday:

"Our beloved Michael Crawford left us this afternoon. At 3:33 pm — in a house buzzing with family and visitors, but in a rare moment alone in his room — he took a last deep breath, and died a minute later. He was listening to Cannonball Adderley’s 'Autumn Leaves.' As his family gathered around his bedside, the song changed to Chet Baker’s 'Someone to Watch Over Me.'

"He spent his last five days comfortably and well cared-for at home, in Kingston, with his favorite paintings on the wall, his favorite music on shuffle, his pain relief delivered via passionfruit custard, his meds via mint chip ice cream, many of his favorite people at his side, and with the love and support of many more favorite people afar.

"We are so grateful to everyone who donated to help offset the costs of Michael's health care and end of life expenses. Your generosity is stunning, and affirming of our father's impact. We are living in such troubling times and this has been a very warm reminder of the deep goodness possible in humanity. 

"We are looking towards a memorial to celebrate Michael Crawford's life in NYC in September."

Michael Maslin has a gamut of memories of his fellow New Yorker cartoonist neighbor. Here is a small selection:

"The first time I laid eyes on him, thirty-two years ago, I was sitting in a street level apartment next to Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Lady Studios in Greenwich Village. The apartment belonged to another New Yorker cartoonist, Richard Cline. I was waiting for Cline to finish up a phone call so we could cab uptown to the Pierre Hotel on 5th Avenue for the magazine’s annual anniversary party. Crawford suddenly came in through Cline’s Seinfeldian unlocked apartment door. More specifically, Crawford sidled in like a sand crab – looking as if he wasn’t sure he really wanted to be there or was supposed to be there. This kind of entrance became, for me, his trademark over the years: looking like he was ready to leave as soon as he entered a room."

Michael has much more, including a good number of links, at his site:

Michael Maslin remembers Michael Crawford

Michael Crawford's daughter Farley remembers her Dad

New York Times obituary

Mort Gerberg Writes to Roger Angell About Frank Modell

(Photo of Frank Modell by Ann Hall Elsner)

New Yorker cartoonist (and my friend) Mort Gerberg has written a tribute to his friend and fellow New Yorker cartoonist Frank Modell.  Mr. Modell died on May 27, 2016, at the age of 98, in his home in Guilford, CT. I am sharing Mort's letter here with his permission:

Frank Modell , one of the great cartoonists for The New Yorker, and for all time, died on May 27th. Roger Angell, a New Yorker legend in his own "write," offered a wonderful remembrance of Frank in the 6/20/16 New Yorker, which is a must-read for anyone in this field. You can see here.

(I sent Roger the following thank you note, which he in return, asked me to share.) 

Dear Roger... 

I just wanted to thank you for your beautiful postscript about Frank Modell. "Yes, yes, yes," I repeated, as I read it, agreeing with every word. 

Yet, there was more "Frank" for me. I loved being with him because he was kind and generous, particularly when I, as a young, timid cartoonist, first met him outside Jim Geraghty's office --- and he spoke to me as if he'd known me all my life, as if he and I BOTH were cartoonists. When I was around Frank I was able to stand a little taller. 

Then, one day at the magazine in the late 70's, after my work had been appearing for about 10 years, Frank suddenly asked me to take over the cartooning class he had been teaching at Parsons School of Design. "I'm too busy," he said, "and you could do it as well as I." 

I trusted his judgment, not mine, and, lifted by his confidence, I taught the class for over 15 years. And, based on the experience, and what I learned, I wrote, "Cartooning: The Art and the Business," which became the go-to book in the field, and, for me, the most important contribution I ever made to cartooning. Because of Frank. Yes, like his elephant, I remember. 

So, I'm grateful and feel very lucky that I got to know him well enough to be able to say, yes, that was Frank, when I read your piece. Thanks again for writing it. 

Be well, 

Best, 

Mort Gerberg

"Lifesaver" AROUND THE BLOCK WITH DUNC AND LOO by John Stanley

Here is a four page story by John Stanley, with art finished by Bill Williams, from the short-lived AROUND THE BLOCK WITH DUNC AND LOO Dell comic book series. (It was later shortened to DUNC AND LOO.) This has to be the most action-filled, hilarious four pages of fun comics I have seen in a long time. And the whole series is pretty much forgotten, except among us comics nerds.

The reason I wanted to post this was to show just how much story with character motivation you could stuff into such a short story. This is comics at its kinetic best by the master, John Stanley. And just look at the issue that I bought: its spine is rolled and there are tears along the staples. This is one well-read comic book!

Who are Dunc and Loo? Don Markstein puts it best:

Dunc was "classically handsome", with regular features and neatly-combed black hair, and always well dressed, with a coat and tie. He focused on girls, practically to the exclusion of everything else. His main lust object was Beth O'Bunnion, whom he met in the first issue (Oct-Dec 1961). Much of the action involved him trying to avoid Beth's protective father or appease her hulking, brutish brother, Buddy. 

Loo was Dunc's best pal. He was also obsessed with girls, but not so monomaniacally. He had unkempt red hair and usually dressed sloppily, in jeans and T-shirts. Loo had a kid brother, Joey, who sometimes had separate adventures, opening the comic to young kid humor as well as the teenage variety. All of the regulars lived in the same New York City apartment building. 

Readers seem unanimous in their opinion that every page of every issue of Around the Block with Dunc & Loo was hilarious. Still, it lasted only eight issues. The final one was dated Oct-Dec 1963.

Here's "Lifesaver," the four page opening story from DUNC AND LOO No. 5. September November 1962. It's copyright Dell Publishing.

Related: CartoonSnap has more DUNC AND LOO

Warm Up Drawings Late June/Early July

Here are the past couple of weeks' worth of warm up drawings I have done. These are stream of consciousness "draw whatever you feel like" sketches. I tend to place a pen next to it for a sense of scale and, so you can see the pen I was using to draw it. (Duh!) No penciling, no thought -- just DRAW! At least those are the rules I am trying to follow.

Mark Anderson: Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum Tour

My cartoonist pal Mark Anderson just took a family vacation and one of the places that they stopped at was the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum in Columbus, Ohio. In his blog, he shares a lot of photos and reactions to a personal tour of the facility. Thanks, Mark!

Cartoonists' Exchange: HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH SIMPLE CARTOONS

There's big money in cartooning and enormous markets, so says the Cartoonists' Exchange booklet titled HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH SIMPLE CARTOONS. This is just one small part of the correspondence school ephemera, which encompassed lesson books, as well as devices to create jokes and characters (the Comic Character Creator and the Laugh Finder).

As the HOW TO MAKE MONEY WITH SIMPLE CARTOONS booklet will tell you, here are the principles that all successful comic strips are based on, editorial cartoon techniques, chalk talk information, caricature, proportions, realistic figure drawing, the "three steps in developing a cartoon sketch" and so much more. This is copyright 1949 The Cartoonists' Exchange, Pleasant Hill, OH.











-- Edited from an original November 19, 2009 blog entry.

Jane Bordeaux Music Video: "Ma’agalim" by Uri Lotan

Uri Lotan animates a short music video by Jane Bordeaux. Lovely, creative work. Charming and made me smile all the way through.

Ma'agalim - Jane Bordeaux from Uri Lotan on Vimeo.

Jean Shepherd: "The Great American Fourth Of July and Other Disasters" (1982)

Last night's viewing: a 1982 PBS adaptation of Jean Shepherd stories, "The Great American Fourth Of July and Other Disasters." Not available on home video ever. 

This picks up the Old Man, Ralphie, Randy, Flick and Schwartz some years later. Well worth a look if you love "A Christmas Story." With, of all people, a young Matt Dillon as Ralphie, and Matthew Broderick's real life dad James Broderick as the Old Man. This got me into Jean Shepherd many years back.

The Garden As of July 1, 2016

Not a lot to see here right now. Looks pretty bare, but that's temporary. There are right tomato plants, as well as some basil, peppers, radishes and one large cilantro plant that just appeared a few weeks ago.

Above: a rat's tail radish.

Here are the garden beds as of a couple weeks ago, way back on June 19:

First you have the dirt and the little heirloom tomatoes to one side, waiting to be planted (in the top picture), and then you lay down the weed cloth. After cutting holes in the cloth, the tomatoes are planted. Then: a layer of hay and the tomato cages.

Related:

The Garden As of Mid-June

Roy Crane Scrapbook: Drawing Women

Here's the "Roy Crane Scrapbook," a feature from the Cartoonist PROfiles magazine No. 38, June 1978. Click to super-size, of course. I do not recall if this was a continuing feature in Jud Hurd's great magazine, but to find this by accident the other day was very exciting. [EDIT: It was an occasional feature in the early days of the magazine.]

Here's Mr. Crane:

"Almost all of the pictures on the preceding pages have these things in common which might be called 'Our Goal.'

"A pretty face ... drawn simply and with care.

"Graceful curves even to the finger tips

"Nice hair

"Interesting action to command attention

"Small waists, feet, ankles

"Simplicity

"And never mind what a girl really looks like."

This all looks like Mr. Crane himself pasted these up for the magazine.

"Pretty girl TYPES. Search for character.

"What a variety of eyes and lips! No two alike. Search for character in the eyes and lips."

"And how to make them DISTINCTIVE

"First, as with men, learn her dominant character trait.

"Is she to be bad, glad, or sad? Innocent, sophisticated, or aloof? Lively or demure? A schemer or a dreamer? Etc.

"What is to be her intended impact on the reader? Her general attitude?

"Only when you know the answer to these questions can you be expected to work out a satisfactory character."

"TYPES. As in the case with men, it's a job of fitting together a JIGSAW PUZZLE

"BEST BETS FOR GETTING INDIVIDUALITY:
"1. THE HAIR
"2. THE EYES There are innumerable shapes.
"3. THE LIPS These are but a few. Stuudy [sic] other pictures on these pages.
"4. THEIR RELATIONSHIP, ONE WITH ANOTHER For example: Is the upper lip long or short? Is the chin short, weak, rounded, pointed, cleft, etc? How long is the nose? Is the face broad, or long, and how shaped? How do they fit together?"

-- The following has been a rerun from the ol' blog dated March 20, 2009.