It has become an annual October tradition in artist circles to draw a picture in pen and ink each day of the month. It is called “Inktober” and it comes with a list of prompts to help inspire the participants. This month we created a list of prompts based on the LOAC books we have […]
Rube Goldberg had a lot to say about American elections. His biting wit and loopy cartooning brought welcome smiles and a dash of truth about the unavoidable nuttiness of politics. Later in his career, he left humor comics behind to enjoy a long career as a Pulitzer-Prize-winning political cartoonist. Here are three rare Goldberg gems […]
Professor Knix by Jimmy Swinnerton (July 3, 1904) People stop me the street. They knock on my front door and politely inquire. A few poke their heads through my bedroom window late at night when I am sleeping. I think I once heard the question emanating from deep within my bathroom plumbing. “What other cartoonists […]
Through the years with Chet Gould’s Fearless Detective
Say “howdy” to Sam Howdy! Our previous last two Screwball Sundays have shared recently discovered vintage essays by George Swanson on screwball cartooning (see here and here). Today we share three prime examples of $alesman $am in 1924, when Swanson’s cartooning reached its peak of manic intensity. There’s never been a comic strip quite like […]
Here’s a game unique to all kinds of comics!
Say WHAT? Read on, MacDuff …
I’ve been having severe pains and weakness in my right hand/arm for the past several months. After undergoing a series of tests, the good news is that I don’t have Carpal Tunnel syndrome; the bad news is that my problems stem from spending 10-14 hours a day on the computer for so many years. The […]
In the fall of 1930, George “Swan” Swanson wrote and illustrated this essay on what he called a “bang finish,” but which is more commonly known as a plop take. Arguably, in Swan’s hands, the plop take – where a character flies out of the last panel – ascends to an art form in itself. […]
Today is Chuck Jones’s birthday. If he were still alive today, he would be 108! On his birthday, I have made it an annual tradition to take Chuck Jones: The Dream That Never Was off my bookshelf and re-read my introduction. It is hard to believe that this book came out 9 years ago! I […]