TRAILER OF THE WEEK

PUT YOUR $ WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS

Here is a piece from last night.. Our client came in and wanted to set the record straight with the good and the bad..

PORTRAIT OF THE CARTOONIST AS A WOMAN by Liza Donnelly REVISED

Liza Donnelly has posted a good chunk (32 pages) of her graphic novel autobiography over at the NARRATIVE Magazine site.

CORRECTION: This is not a preview of her new GN, but rather it's a new "spin-off." (See below.)

One hitch: NARRATIVE wants you to register at their site in order to see it.

CORRECTION 2: Liza emailed me the following:

"... [Y]ou don't have to register in order to see it. It was in the backstage first, and for that you had to register. for this now, its free. Also, it is not a chunk of my forthcoming book, rather it is a spin-off."

Thanks Liza. And I'm sorry for getting it wrong. Regardless, it's a good read.

Please take a moment to look.

Video: MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT Intro

Here is the first 90 seconds of the very first episode of the TV show MY WORLD AND WELCOME TO IT. Based upon "stories, inspirational pieces, cartoons and things that go bump in the night by James Thurber," to quote the titles.

You may already know the format:

William Windom plays John Monroe, a cartoonist who commutes from his Connecticut house to New York City to work at The Manhattanite magazine. Unlike Thurber's most famous character, Walter Mitty, John Monroe was not a passive, quiet soul. He railed against the world and its conventions. He was a curmudgeon, and not necessarily lovable. Balancing out the acid protagonist were Joan Hotchkis and Lisa Gerritson playing the more likable and sensible wife and daughter.

I was a wee tot at the time, but I have memories of this opening, with the real-life color Windom, interacting with a line drawing of a cartoon house. It was, to be honest, absolutely nightmarish and absolutely mesmerizing. I loved to watch it, although I doubt I was paying attention to the content. Those segments were the highlight of the show, and, according to what I've read, rather a costly item for a 1960s sitcom. The animation was by DePatie-Freling.

After its cancellation, the half-hour series would win two Emmies: one for Windom and another for Best Comedy Series.




Sometimes I wonder if there will ever be a revival or a reimagining of MY WORLD. I would be happy with the series just being properly cleaned up and available on DVD.

LOVE HER MADLY

Here is a piece from a couple days ago on a loyal client who came thru for and upgrade..

Clouds

Well I thought it was funny.

in reference to: lose-weight.jpg (JPEG Image, 497×406 pixels) (view on Google Sidewiki)

WAR IS BORING by David Axe and Matt Bors

WAR IS BORING, a graphic novel collaboration between journalist David Axe and editorial cartoonist Matt Bors, arrives from the New American Library next week. The Huffington Post has a preview here.

"War correspondence -- that makes sense, people tell me. By why comics? they ask.

"Because words seem to want to connect like plumbing: one piece at a time in a perfect line, no gap between them. But images are like dreams. They're wispy. They linger. And as they fade, they mix with the images that preceded them and follow. Comics combine words and images. You get the solid, logical effect of words plus the images' gauzy wrapper. That lets you do all sorts of interesting things with story. You can say one thing with your text while implying another with the art. You can describe hints of untold back-stories with a few strokes of ink even as the narration leaves no doubt about your main point. 'Look here,' the words declare. 'Imagine this,' the art whispers"

Hat tip to Sean Kelly!

Video: Sundance's "Strokes of Genius" series: Al Jaffee and Sergio Aragones

"This is an homage to two of my favorite artists. The great geniuses of MAD Magazine: Sergio Aragones and Al Jaffee. These two guys were thinkers, "imaginers," and writers and wonderful artists in the history of humor." - from Steve Brodner's introduction.

Here are 4 short videos about two of the seminal "Usual Gang of Idiots" from MAD Magazine: Al Jaffee and Sergio Aragones.

Steve Brodner hosts these segments, produced by Sundance, with direction by Gail Levin. These are worth watching, not only for the cartoonists themselves, but also to watch Brodner draw caricatures of some of these great MAD men.

Al Jaffee



Al Jaffee's SNAPPY ANSWERS TO STUPID QUESTIONS



Sergio Aragones



Sergio Aragones on Pantomime



Big hat tip to Jelena Kovacevic! Thanks, Jelena!

Ikki Minami Head East Gunz Outperfect Geng

1.Ikki Minami Head East Gunz Outperfect Geng

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5.Ikki Minami Head East Gunz Outperfect Geng

ITS ALL FOR THE FAM

Here is a piece on one of our clients who just made it in from Vegas on his way back to Canada..

Konan: Member of the Akatsuki Women

1.Konan: Member of the Akatsuki Women

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Akatsuki team best Picture

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Murder Suspect Wants Comics Strips Brought Back

Jeremy Valdes faces the death penalty in a double homicide. Even though he's busy with his trial, he did make the time to email the local paper, the Standard-Examiner, to ask that PEARLS BEFORE SWINE and GARFIELD be reinstated to the comics page.

"While I have you here, my friends and I would like to request that you bring back the comics, Pearls Before Swines and Garfield. Thank you."

More here.

Hat tip to Journalista! via Justin Major.

Video: Fake Stan Lee

Here is Fake Stan Lee at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con. Just click and play. I could watch a TV series of Fake Stan Lee.



Huge hat tip to Journalista!

The "Crippled KFC Chicken" Statue by Harry Bliss

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and the city of Louisville, KY have a problem and it's called Kentucky Fried Chicken. Louisville is the headquarters for Yum! Brands, which owns the KFC franchises.

New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss designed the above 5 1/2 foot tall bloody chicken statue to show the inhumane treatment that chicken suppliers use. PETA petitioned to put the statue on public display. Louisville Metro Government denied their application.

PETA says this violates their first amendment rights. An appeal was filed yesterday.

Dan Klepal of the Louisville Courier-Journal has the story.

IT'S A WRAP

This past week we were out in S.D. at Comic Con for our Friend Danny Trejo and his new film Machete Co Starring Robert DeNiro. Thanks to Robert Rodriguez & everyone who was involved.
Here is a lil video of the process...

Naruto and Sasuke Uchiha wallpaper

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Cool Naruto Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze wallpaper

1.Cool Naruto and Minato Wallpaper

2.Cool Naruto and Minato Wallpaper

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4.Cool Naruto and Minato Wallpaper

Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga Love Story

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John Callahan Dead at 59

John Callahan died due to complications with his paralysis on July 24, 2010 at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland, OR. He was 59. Mr. Callahan had been in declining health for some time, according to Tom D'Antoni's article in the Oregon Music News.

John Callahan had been paralyzed since the age of 21 due to a car accident. He turned to alcohol, and then, cartooning. His cartoons were called "sick" and "offensive." It didn't bother him at all. To quote his description from his very own Web site:

"There's absolutely nothing funny about a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. Unless, of course, that person is John Callahan. For nearly a decade, this irreverent cartoonist has been shocking America with his own special brand of wicked humor. In the world of Callahan, nothing is sacred, nothing is taboo and nothing is funnier!"

This came as an awful shock to me. It's a terrible loss of a singular, fearless voice.

"Watching John develop a single cartoon, nearly all produced under looming Willamette Week deadlines [en route to international syndication], is a short course in the creative process. John banters around ideas, plumbs anyone nearby or near a phone for suggestions, and then plays with 2 or 3 possibilities, flipping them around — mentally and verbally — until a punch line emerges. He then clutches a sharpie pen in both hands and begins drawing an image to fit the phrase. Sometimes he hits it on the first round, but more often image and phrase duel a while, with both subject to mutation in the process. Then boom, they fit together like a glove, and he’s off the hook for another week." from Jim Redden's Portland Tribune portrait.

The Williamette Week has a brief John Callahan primer and a short obit (with many comments from those who knew him) here.

Associated Press obit at the Seattle PI site here.

There is a remembrance page at John's site.


My friend Rod Mckie has a remembrance and some links, including some video from a Dutch documentary on Mr. Callahan.

FAMILY TIES

Our good friend & client J59 came thru on Friday with his Son to get a Family Piece..
Inspired by The Hawaiian culture.

Oh HELL. It's HOT.

T

This weeks entry in the Cartoonist forum contest. The theme was set by wiLbur, last weeks controversial winner. The theme was simply 'HOT'. Struggled with this for the whole week. Got this done moments before the contest deadline. Quite a few hellish cartoons this week.

SOUL SUNDAY

Gara vs Naruro wallpaper 2010

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