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The Chief Blue Meanie Animation Cel
Among the treasures auctioned last month at Swann Galleries' sale of Illustration Art was a cel from "Yellow Submarine" (1968) featuring the Chief Blue Meanie. Note how well the intense color has been...
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The CartoonStock Caption Contest #146
I needed to break out of the CartoonStock Caption Contest #146. My three captions are shown below. The drawing is by Drew Dernavich."They grow up to hate their parents so fast.""That explains why...
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My Copy of Ken Krimstein's When I Grow Up
I was unable to attend the event in the Strand Book Store's rare book room on December 14 featuring cartoonist Ken Krimstein in conversation with Molly Crabapple. The topic was his new book When I Grow...
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The New Yorker Advertises in Stage, April 1938
"People who like the theatre can't help but like The New Yorker." So advertised the magazine in the April 1938 issue of Stage: The Magazine of After Dark. The ad featured a collage of nine theatre...
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Shel Silverstein's Copy of James Thurber's Fables For Our Time
Writer and cartoonist Shel Silverstein (1930-1999) left his unmistakeable signature the front free endpaper of his copy of James Thurber's Fables for Our Time (1940). The book, a 1943 later printing,...
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My Copy of Death by Laughter by Harry Bliss
Harry Bliss's cartoon collection Death by Laughter appeared in 2008. Many but by no means all of the cartoons are on the subject of death. This collection does not include any of his New Yorker work....
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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #786
Sign on the dotted line for my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #786 from the double issue of January 3 and 10, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Pia Guerra and Ian...
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Al Ross: Walking the Dog
In cartoonist Al Ross's sketch of a man walking his dog, it's hard to tell who is having the better time. Ross was a master of the loose, fluid line. This sketch, seemingly done in a minute or two,...
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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #787
It's time to unpack my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #787 from the issue of January 17, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Tom Toro."I hope this trip will be a new...
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Sight Unseen: The First Issue of The New Yorker, February 21, 1925
On New Year's Day, I came across an AbeBooks listing for the very first issue of The New Yorker, dated February 21, 1925. I was immediately taken aback by the asking price, an absurdly low $4.39.The...
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The CartoonStock Caption Contest #147
I went three rounds in the CartoonStock Caption Contest #147. My submissions are shown below. The pugilistic drawing is by Liam Francis Walsh."I can't believe you would hit a man with glasses.""Fine,...
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Ronald Searle for Max Factor
Ronald Searle's vintage advertisement for Max Factor Gentlemen's Cologne makes full use of the cartoonist's penchant for drawing thin, elongated figures that can inhabit a narrow magazine column. The...
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License Plate for a Dairy Farmer?
Thirsty? A license plate spotted in central New York has a suggestion for you."DRINKMLK"New York State license plate03857
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Syd Hoff: A Sketch of Danny and the Dinosaur
Syd Hoff's sketch of Danny and the Dinosaur, currently listed on eBay, is based on the cartoonist's popular 1958 children's book. Oddly, the drawing, which looks as if it were done in about two...
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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #788
This week I tried to fit a caption to The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #788 from the issue of January 24, 2022. My entry is shown below. The drawing is by E. S. Glenn."I'm just surprised they...
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Charles Addams: A Fender Bender
Beginning around 1946, the young Frank Modell served as assistant to New Yorker cartoon editor James Geraghty. Working at The New Yorker, he acquired some early original works by Peter Arno that had...
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Alan Dunn: A Fender Bender
Readers of Michael Maslin'sInk Spill learned last week that over the course of his career cartoonist Alan Dunn (1900-1974) published an astonishing 1,981 cartoons in The New Yorker. Today we look at...
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Eldon Dedini: A Christmas Dis
txt"I've just decided to disinherit everybody for Christmas!"Eldon DediniPlayboy, December[?], 1963, pages...
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Hilda Cowham: Mistress and Maid and an Earlier Pandemic
There have never been any good pandemics. British illustrator Hilda Cowham (1873-1964) published an undated drawing inscribed Mistress & Maid: If she thought her life was in danger. The perceived...
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Kirk Stiles in College Humor, January 1940
Did readers of College Humor really identify with the injured football player in Kirk Stiles's cartoon from the January 1940 issue? The unsympathetic coach seems to be a caricature of the trainer who...
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