"The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker" - Edited by Robert Mankoff (2004)

The cartoons from the New Yorker magazine were pretty intriguing to me as a kid. They covered some political subjects with which I was unfamiliar, but also delved into the world of social interaction on an everyday personal level.

For instance, in the cartoon posted below; which is actually the original I clipped and saved decades ago; a grownup faces his own social anxiety when confronted with a situation where he will have to mix with others who are just like him. This was humor I could identify with. We’ve all been 12 years old at some time; when stepping into a room felt as if all eyes were upon you in judgement. Obviously, it struck a chord with me. I identified with the sentiment enough to save the cartoon for all these years.

Anyway, this is just one of the cartoons in this fantastic collection from New Yorker Magazine. I got it as a gift several years ago, and am still enjoying it today. With two CD’s containing every cartoon; as well as the book which has some of the best cartoons arranged by year and subject; this is the complete collection from 1925- 2004; which is over 68,000 very witty cartoons by some of the greatest political cartoonists of the 20^th century.

If you have a favorite New Yorker cartoon in your memory; it’s here in this collection. Here’s one more of my favorites; a bit more modern in theme;

The Yellow Kid - (1895)

It’s amazing what you can learn from a comic strip. March 2^nd marked the day in which a cartoon character was first introduced on a daily basis in the newspaper. That character was known as the Yellow Kid and appeared in the New York World regularly on March 2^nd, 1895.

Richard F Outcault's had previously been drawing a comic known as “Hogan's Alley” for Truth Magazine. It was actually his “Fourth Ward Brownies”, published on February 9, 1895 and later reprinted in the New York World February 17^th, which began one of the first comic strips in an American newspaper. The character of the Yellow Kid was at first incidental to the strip but in short order he became the focus of the entire strip, which even took his name. His balloons containing the dialogue were not the first to do so; they had long been in use for political cartoons; but his use of them in this manner set the stage for every strip that came after.

The Yellow Kid was emblematic of the slum kid; the child of parents who worked long hours in factories; leaving the children to fend for themselves. In a 1902 interview Outcault is quoted as saying, “The Yellow Kid was not an individual but a type. When I used to go about the slums on newspaper assignments I would encounter him often, wandering out of doorways or sitting down on dirty doorsteps. I always loved the Kid. He had a sweet character and a sunny disposition, and was generous to a fault. Malice, envy or selfishness were not traits of his, and he never lost his temper.”

The Yellow Kid had a name; Mickey Dugan. He was bald just as many of the children in the slums were due to the prevalence of lice and the lack of adequate bathing facilities. Most of the apartments of the time had nothing but a sink to wash in, with a toilet down the hall or in the backyard. 

Drawing the Yellow Kid in such a manner drew attention to the dire poverty which so many of the children grew up in at the turn of the 20^th Century. His shirt was meant to depict an old hand me down night shirt, which was at first drawn in white or blue. At first the dialogue was printed on the Kid’s shirt as a way of making fun of the myriad “sandwich board” advertisers of the time, but soon this gave way to the more popular dialogue balloons.

Outcault was eventually lured away from the World and went to work for Hearst’s Journal American at a much higher salary. His time at the Journal was marked by a shift in the character from the hapless victim to a more activist; and some say vulgar; character. Hey, he was working for Hearst, right?

The Yellow Kid was never copyrighted by Outcault and so Pulitzer was still able to run the comic in the World; which meant that Outcault was competing with his own character for about a year; from 1896-1897; when the strip appeared in both papers.

The only mention I have seen of the Yellow Kid was in Monday’s paper in the comic strip "Mother Gooses and Grimm"; which I usually skip. It was only the familiar profile of Dick Tracy which drew my attention to the strip. It was the only one that gave a nod to its roots in the work of R.F. Outcault and the adventures of the Yellow Kid. As a result I will be looking at this strip more regularly in the future.

"I Yam What I Yam" - Popeye the Sailor (1933)

This cartoon is in very good shape! If Seymour Kneitel and William Henning were still with us today they would be amazed. They worked under the direction of Dave Fleischer on this one for Paramount. It’s filled with all of the stuff you’d expect in a Popeye cartoon; sight gags abound; and Olive gets to cry for help as she beats the crap out of some Indians.

Wimpy is on board for this adventure, looking for a hamburger, and as usual, causing some problems for Popeye, who always seems to be looking out for him. There is no real plot to this cartoon other than Popeye and Olive Oyl, along with Wimpy, are both in a lifeboat rowing; that is Olive and Wimpy are rowing; Popeye is busy singing about himself.

If you are a fan of the theme song; which was composed by composed by Sammy Lerner in 1933; then the opening lyrics will be of interest to you. It is slightly different than the usual version. And when the credits stop rolling it’s Popeye who does some of the singing. I still haven’t figured out why they used Bluto’s voice for the opening; he’s not even in this cartoon! One of the best versions of the song was recorded by Hoagy Carmichael. For years I thought he wrote it. As a matter of fact I think I even credited him with writing it incorrectly in a post a couple of years ago! Sorry, Sammy!

Politically correct types are herewith forewarned. This cartoon may be offensive to you, as it invokes the stereotypical American Indian of the 1930’s. But then again, everybody in this cartoon is a caricature of something. For instance, Olive Oyl is the man hungry woman representative of the “weaker sex.” Keep that in mind when you watch her beat the carp out of those Indians while calling for help.

For one of the best histories on the Popeye cartoons; and the original comic strip from which they derived; go to Wikipedia at the following link;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popeye

"The Monsters Meet on Court Street" by Batton Lash (2012)

And now for something completely different; I was never much of a fan of comic books as a kid- except for Illustrated Classics and the Human Torch; for some odd reason he really got to me.  But, this latest offering, by veteran comic artist/writer Batton Lash, has a unique and hip premise to it. Monsters, just as people do, sometimes find themselves in need of legal counsel. And where do they go for this type of service? Well, if you’re a New York based monster, particularly if you are indicted in Kings County; or Brooklyn; then Court Street is the logical place. These people; the lawyers as well as the “monsters”; all have the same problems and dramas of us real life folks.

The series concerns the adventures of defense attorneys Jeff Byrd and Alanna Wolff, of the firm Byrd and Wolff, whose specialty is delivering top notch defense for monsters who may find themselves in legal difficulties. Mostly, this is the result of a misunderstanding of the nature of monsters by those other pesky creatures, “human beings.”

In the first case which opens this book, Ms. Wolff is defending a Frankenstein looking fellow named Fritz, who in spite of his legal troubles is overtly concerned with eating lunch. This little twist puts a comical twist on things as the reader wonders just what, or whom, Fritz would like to eat for lunch. His crime was scaring a lab assistant when he suddenly came to life in the laboratory. Ms. Wolff argues; in an almost politically incorrect fashion; that, as the lab assistant was wearing stiletto heels and a revealing blouse, what response did she expect when this dead man came back to life?

While dealing with these types of cases, the two attorney’s assistants, Mavis and Corey, are busy not only providing support for the defense team, but with their own personal lives as well. The cast of characters includes the somewhat mysterious Charles Hawkins, another attorney; of dubious character; who is in love with Ms. Wolff. Their relationship serves as a sideshow to the main adventures as you wonder just what; if anything; he is up to, and how it will affect Ms. Wolff and her partner, not to mention their clients. Hawkins left Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood 25 years ago for the tonier clientele offered by Manhattan’s Park Avenue. To me, he seemed immediately suspect; but of what, I could not say.

The book is composed of a current, or new adventure, and also features some of the past exploits of the Counselors of the Macabre, such as “The Appeal of the 800 Lb., Gorilla.” In this case, the attorneys find themselves at odds with their own client, Nicky Gorillo. He has lost his case and Ms. Wolff is handling his appeal when Nicky goes "ape". In the end he is exposed (literally) for what he really is; a thug with a simian mentality. I really enjoyed the dialogue in this one, as it reminded me of so many of the “mobsters” portrayed on TV and in movies.

This collection is the sixth in “The Supernatural Law” series by Batton Lash and his team of artists and editors, and the first foray by me into the world of illustrated literature. Comic books have a long history of being beneath mainstream literature, but these are not the simple comic books of my youth, and in some respects, can be even more difficult to navigate than your average novel. (I’m a big non-fiction reader, so this was really a pleasant “stretch” for me.) It actually takes a bit more attention to the unwritten details to “get” the whole story. This was a big surprise for me; you don’t have to write like Tolstoy in order to convey a story.

The Supernatural Law series is a unique and fun way to delve into the world of “illustrated literature”; it would seem disrespectful to refer to them as mere “comic books”, as they have a dimension lacking in that genre. As I said, as a veteran, and inveterate, reader, this was something new and different for me, and I have to say it was a pleasurable excursion.

"Comic Art Propaganda" by Frderik Stromberg

This is a fun book. It contains a collection of comic art that spans over 100 years, from the Anti-Chinese "comics" of the early 1900's, to the latest editions of "Spiderman", fighting the Islamic threat in Iraq. In between, the comic book art genre has been used to villify everyone, and everything.

Some of the most loathsome were, of course, the Anti-Semetic cartoons, which were so popular during Stalin's reign of power. Make that his reign of terror. Part of his arsenal to dehumanize an entire group of people was comic book propaganda. Hitler did the same. The Chinese under Mao brainwashed an entire generation, or two, with their own type of art form.

As Americans, we have been no less guilty of this form of slander. The cartoons of World War Two, with their depictions of the Japanese as buck toothed, sub humans, wearing Coke bottle glasses, and later, the Anti-Communist cartoons of the 1950's, along with the "Step and Fetch It" series of the 1930's, which depicted African Americans as shuffling, boot lipped creatures, are no less appalling than any of the cartoons previously mentioned. As in the the former, the latter is just one more tool of dehumanization in the pursuit of often dubious goals.

The book also explores some of the counter culture comics of the 1960's, such as "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" and "Mr. Natural." The whole Zap comics era was one of great satire, along with a return to the tradtional style of comic drawing from the 1930's. This shift can also be seen in the cartoons of the 1950's, when production costs made it more profitable to skimp on the artwork. Think of the old Max and Dave Fleischer "Popeye" cartoons from the 1930's, and then compare those to the King Features Syndicate "Popeye" cartoons of the 1950's and you will see what I mean.

Overall, this was an entertaining romp through the world of political cartoons, and the stereotyping they sometimes engender. From the Revolutionary comic books of Cuba and Che Guevara, yes, they actually had them, to the more traditional "Peanuts", it's all represented here in a colorful and educational way.