The "V-word"

Bill Keane likes to have "Little Billy" sub for him every now and then for Family Circus.Thought I'd post something by one of my kids, since I'm in kind of a dry spell anyway. This morning my 8 year old presented me with this drawing of her mother and I. She said that I'm holding a rose in my hand, but that all of her classmates thought it was a pitch-fork. So long as my wife doesn't see me as the Devil.

A Book Report

The Last of the Funnies: A li'l tall tale about America's favorite art form (with Illustrated Appendix). by Mike Cope

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Anyone else interested, check out their website-

http://lastofthefunnies.com



Pretty funny, but bitter-sweet. Part commentary on the demise of print newspapers and thereby cartooning, with shades of the dehumanizing element of technology- much like 1984 or Fahrenheit 451 but with a lighter tough, with wit and humor a bit like Kurt Vonnegut... plus a touching father/son reconciliation sort of story thrown in. Good stuff!


View all my reviews.

Am I really that mean?

This offering was submitted to me by one of my Photography students. 'A' for retouching in Photoshop, but do I sense some hostility here? Just wait till I grade y our quiz this weekend Josh!

Existentialist Cartoonists

From: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/festival/2008/10/groening-barry.html

The cartoonists Matt Groening (“Futurama,” “The Simpsons,” “Life is Hell”) and Lynda Barry (“Ernie Pook’s Comeek,” What It Is) have been friends since they attended the same college, where, they said Saturday afternoon at the Metropolitan Pavilion, Matt tormented hippies and Lynda modeled nude for four dollars an hour. They also found teachers who inspired their offbeat work. Matt’s seminars on Kierkegaard and Nietzsche led to his “Life is Hell” theme, and Lynda’s art classes led to her belief in a natural biological instinct in humans to create “images,” whether by making a drawing, talking to an imaginary friend, or by merely recognizing the personality and significance of an inanimate object.

Also, they are really funny people. Lynda dispelled the false notion that a person should only make art if he or she can make a living from it in the following way (I’m paraphrasing):

That’s like having a baby and as soon as it’s born you jump on it and say, ‘Take me to the store and buy me dinner and go to work and make me some money!’

The point she was making was that you don’t have a baby in order to make money, you make money so you can take care of a baby—just like you make money so you can have time to make art, which is an enjoyable experience. The point I am making is that she pantomimed having a baby and jumping on its back and galloping to the store.

They also had a great interview with Dilbert creator Scott Adams: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cartoonlounge/2008/10/scott-adams-dilbert.html

Occupational hazard

One of the occupational hazards of teaching high school is that occasionally you become the subject of your student's editorial cartooning. Elsa used to be such a nice girl too, shame about her Yearbook grade.

Jon without Garfield

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net

This site was featured on the New Yorker's Cartoon Lounge (blog) and I just found it to be just about the craziest, existentially profound, DaDa-esque work of art I've ever seen. I've always found Garfield a little simple and commercial, the ultimate pop-culture on the comics page. About as far from Zippy the Pinhead or too Much Coffee Man as you can get. But take the lazy lasagna eating cat out of the picture and Freud and Sartre could both have a field day. You have to see it for yourself.

Garfield Minus Garfield is a site dedicated to removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strips in order to reveal the existential angst of a certain young Mr. Jon Arbuckle. It is a journey deep into the mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against loneliness and depression in a quiet American suburb.

Not by me, just OF me

One of my students drew this of me on my board. Just so you know, I don't smoke and I've never smoked a "big-fat-Cuban" at school, nor do I condone it. But you have to admit, it does make it even funnier.