From 1976, here are the opening titles from MURDER BY DEATH, a so-so movie with a great cast and an opening drawn by the one and only Charles Addams. It runs almost 2 1/2 minutes.
A bit hat tip to Michael Maslin for posting this first on his blog!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Comic Boom in Keene, NH
Good ol' Stephen Bissette and other creators will be at Comic Boom in Keene, NH until 4pm today. All info here. Wish I could drop in ...
Hat tip to Comics Reporter!
Halloween Cartoon
Found lots of unpublished cartoons (that's a polite way of saying rejected) that I might publish over the next few weeks. So it won't just be caption contest entries.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Potential Career Day Questions About Cartooning
I'm participating in a local high school career day today. John Klossner and I will have a table where we talk about being a cartoonist. I'm trying to anticipate questions ....
FOLLOW UP
One of our clients from Canada came through to add some more work to the piece dedicated to her son.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
University of Missouri Celebrates Mort Walker
Cartoonist Mort Walker Friday steps inside Mort’s, an eatery modeled after The Shack, with his granddaughter Isobel Walker at the new MU Student Center. Photo by Don Shrubshell.
The University of Missouri unveiled its new student center last week, with some help from illustrious alum Mort Walker. The new eatery was named in honor of the cartoonist.
The corner lounge features a backdrop of Beetle Bailey cartoons, a life-size statue of Bailey and a trophy case with mementos from the comic strip character and The Shack he made famous.
The Columbia Daily Tribune has an article here by Janese Silvey.
I love that big mural of early BEETLE BAILEY strips.
Interview: Editorial Cartoonist Cam Cardow
Canadian editorial cartoonist Cam Cardow talks about his life in this interview in the Abbotsford News by Neil Corbett.
I especially liked this exchange, " a conversation Cam Cardow has replayed many times in his life."
The rest is here.“What do you do for a living?”
“I’m an editorial cartoonist.”
“Wow, that’s cool! I’ve never met one before!”
“That’s because there are only about 20 of us in the country.”
“And that’s a real job? They pay you enough to make a living? How much do you make?”
“So far, so good.”
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Cartoonist Dedication
I just got an email from a young, just-starting-out cartoonist who lives in the UK, and is having a hard time finding markets. He asks for advice. I thought I'd respond here.
(Above: a cartoon of mine from the Harvard Business Review. Yes, a cat cartoon in a business mag! A refreshing change of pace from the "people in meetings" cartoons and the "boss at his/her desk" cartoons.)
The great thing about cartoons is that EVERYONE loves cartoons. Whether it's cartoons on TV or Mad Magazine or Marvel or gag cartoons -- people love their cartoons. And every time you see a cartoon, there's a real person, somewhere, who drew the cartoon, designed the character, designed the toy, wrote the story, etc.
You all ready know it's a lot of dedicated work to get to be a pro. That's good! Only the most persistent and dedicated cartoonists make it. The real pros out there have seen a lot of rejection. It's normal.
When Joe Kubert is asked what does he look for in a new student for his Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art (which is in its 34th year in 2010), he replies, "Dedication."
Not someone who is in it for the money, the "the most talented," not the one with all the art credentials, not the one from the city, not the rich one, not the one with the connections.
I draw magazine cartoons. I did not go to school to learn to cartoon. When I was a kid, growing up in the Midwest, there were no schools for cartoonists. I just was dedicated and persistent.
At a 2006 Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art exhibit of the very successful comic artist Todd MacFarlane, there was a case full of Todd's rejection slips; hundreds of them!
Every successful person I know (a) worked at their craft and (b) got rejected. There are no secrets. The good stuff floats to the top and gets noticed.
This is an edited version of a June 27, 2008 blog entry.
(Above: a cartoon of mine from the Harvard Business Review. Yes, a cat cartoon in a business mag! A refreshing change of pace from the "people in meetings" cartoons and the "boss at his/her desk" cartoons.)
The great thing about cartoons is that EVERYONE loves cartoons. Whether it's cartoons on TV or Mad Magazine or Marvel or gag cartoons -- people love their cartoons. And every time you see a cartoon, there's a real person, somewhere, who drew the cartoon, designed the character, designed the toy, wrote the story, etc.
You all ready know it's a lot of dedicated work to get to be a pro. That's good! Only the most persistent and dedicated cartoonists make it. The real pros out there have seen a lot of rejection. It's normal.
When Joe Kubert is asked what does he look for in a new student for his Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art (which is in its 34th year in 2010), he replies, "Dedication."
Not someone who is in it for the money, the "the most talented," not the one with all the art credentials, not the one from the city, not the rich one, not the one with the connections.
I draw magazine cartoons. I did not go to school to learn to cartoon. When I was a kid, growing up in the Midwest, there were no schools for cartoonists. I just was dedicated and persistent.
At a 2006 Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art exhibit of the very successful comic artist Todd MacFarlane, there was a case full of Todd's rejection slips; hundreds of them!
Every successful person I know (a) worked at their craft and (b) got rejected. There are no secrets. The good stuff floats to the top and gets noticed.
This is an edited version of a June 27, 2008 blog entry.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Leo Cullum Dies at 68
Leo Cullum, a gag cartoonist for The New Yorker, has died at the age of 68. The cause was cancer.
Although I never met Mr. Cullum, I always admired his grand cartoons. He was one of the most consistently funny cartoonists I'd read.
I had no idea that he had been battling cancer and this comes as a shock.
NY Times obit here.
Although I never met Mr. Cullum, I always admired his grand cartoons. He was one of the most consistently funny cartoonists I'd read.
I had no idea that he had been battling cancer and this comes as a shock.
NY Times obit here.
Mike Lynch: 2010 Festival of Cartoon Art
Some selected moments that I experienced at the recent 2010 Festival of Cartoon Art.
Notes:
Steve Breen made the comment in the first panel. He was making a joke. Billy Ireland was an important cartoonist in Columbus's history and among the cartoonists he mentored were Caniff and Sickles. If you go and Google his work, you'll see that Ireland's cartoons, most having to with the history of Columbus, were amazing.
Shop talk, like the comment in the second panel by a friend, is common. It's not just what pen do you use -- it's are you REAL or VIRTUAL?
Jan STONE SOUP Eliot made the "Without deadlines, cartoonists would never finish anything" remark and she's spot on.
Dave SHELDON Kellett, in the 4th panel, is one of the most enthusiastic speakers for the medium of comics. I want to apologize to Dave and everyone else --I'm no Tom Richmond when it comes to caricatures. In Dave's presentation, he showcases the simple economic model of giving your cartoons away for free on the Web and then people will buy your ancillary products. As an aside, my criticism of this accepted business model is that it assumes the cartoonist produces a good product and that the cartoonist can produce cartoons for a couple of years before their Web traffic grows and they can begin to eke out an income. These are big assumptions.
The weekend's highlight was an onstage interview of Matt Groening by Tom Gammill (next to last panel). Two microphones were placed in the aisles of the sold out Wexner Auditorium and dozens of people lined in front of them to ask Mr. Groening, mostly, for autographs. Yes, the fellow who wanted a lock of Mr. Gorening's hair was completely serious. The best people who asked questions (and rarely asked for autographs) were the kids 12 and under. They always informed him that they grew up THE SIMPSONS, and usually asked very astute and specific questions.
Lucy Caswell, Jenny Robb, Susan Liberator and the entire library staff did a tremendous job and deserve much thanks. The event was friendly and not too big. It was great meeting so many cartoonists, and hanging out with my inky pal Mark Anderson. I hope I can go next time.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Ben Katchor: Window-Shopping on Remission Avenue
From Metropolis Magazine: Ben Katchor writes and draws a one-pager about those heavy clear plastic partitions that act as shields between the patron and business owner. In my old neighborhood in Brooklyn, we had them in the subway, the liquor store, the OTB and the bank.
"The design implies that each customer is capable of having violent intentions toward the clerk."
LA FAMILIA
Our good friend Greg Bojorquez came it to add his fathers portrait to his family portraits.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Video: Ken Krimstein
Here is my friend Ken Krimstein, signing his new book KVETCH AS KVETCH CAN. And then he reads from the book. Each part runs about 4 minutes.
Part 2:
Thanks to Gregory Kogan for the heads up about part 2!
Part 2:
Thanks to Gregory Kogan for the heads up about part 2!
75 Years Ago Today: Sidney Smith Dies in Automobile Crash
Sidney Smith, is perhaps better remembered today for his big time syndicate contract rather than his comic strip.
Above graphic via Michael Sporn's Splog. Mr. Smith signed the biggest syndicate contract to date -- a one million dollar deal for his then popular comic strip THE GUMPS --making him the richest syndicated cartoonist in the country.
THE GUMPS was, like LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE, MOON MULLINS and GASOLINE ALLEY, a soap opera comic strip. Publisher of The Chicago Tribune, Captain Joseph M. Patterson, had a big hand in the strip's genesis (as he had for many newspaper strips, like the ones above), handing the concept of this domestic family humor strip to OLD DOC YAK cartoonist Sidney Smith for development. The term "gumps" is slang for a fool; a name revisited year later, in an ironic statement, for the FORREST GUMP movie.
The strip inspired a popular radio series, movies and merchandising.
As Don Markstein writes in his Toonpedia entry on THE GUMPS:
In 1922, Smith signed a highly publicized million-dollar contract — $100,000 per year for ten years, a vast sum in those days and a pretty good hunk of change even today. And it only went up from there — in '35, he signed a new contract, giving him $150,000 a year. It was on the way home from signing the latter that he wrecked his brand-new Rolls-Royce, killing himself in the process.He died 75 years ago today* in an automobile accident near Harvard, Illinois. He was driving to his farm at Shirland. He was 58 years old.
His assistant, Gus Edson, took over the strip, continuing it another 24 years, until 1959. (Factoid: one of Edson's assistants was then-cartoonist (now actor) Martin Landau.)
Some of these images are from THE GUMPS Wikipedia page.
Related: Michael Sporn has some dailies, so you can really get the flavor of the storytelling:
*Hmm. In writing this, I'm seeing conflicting reports; without access to actual obituary, the date of Mr. Smith's death may be October 21st, 20th or 29th, depending on the source.
Video: Tom Gammill "Learn to Draw" #25
This one has special guest star Matt Groening.
This video premiered at the Festival of Cartoon Art, this past Saturday night, October 16, 2010, at OSU's Wexner Auditorium. It was part of "An Evening with Matt Groening," hosted by Tom Gammill. The place was packed; a sell out crowd. Matt and Tom showed some cartoon and comic-related clips from THE SIMPSONS and FUTURAMA. Matt also premiered a brand new "Treehouse of Horror" segment from THE SIMPSONS. He asked that no one record it because if they do, then Fox won' allow him to occasionally give fans sneak peeks like this.
Like Matt said, you won't REALLY learn to draw when watching one of Tom's videos, but they are great fun.
A big hat tip to Tom Gammill for letting me know that LTD25 was on the olde YouTube.
This video premiered at the Festival of Cartoon Art, this past Saturday night, October 16, 2010, at OSU's Wexner Auditorium. It was part of "An Evening with Matt Groening," hosted by Tom Gammill. The place was packed; a sell out crowd. Matt and Tom showed some cartoon and comic-related clips from THE SIMPSONS and FUTURAMA. Matt also premiered a brand new "Treehouse of Horror" segment from THE SIMPSONS. He asked that no one record it because if they do, then Fox won' allow him to occasionally give fans sneak peeks like this.
Like Matt said, you won't REALLY learn to draw when watching one of Tom's videos, but they are great fun.
A big hat tip to Tom Gammill for letting me know that LTD25 was on the olde YouTube.
Shaman King Wallpapers
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