Six Cartoon Publications, Mostly Signed

An ebay listing offered six publications, four of them cartoon-rich editions from The New Yorker, one New Yorker magazine, and one New York University Bulletin. The bulletin, magazine, and bookazines date from 2010 to 2015. In five of them, either Roz Chast, Matthew Diffee, or Jules Feiffer signed next to or on their own artwork in print. It's the kind of collection that would be nearly impossible to assemble today if it weren't already there for the taking. Yet it proved difficult to sell.

Of the six publications, the NYU Bulletin is probably the hardest to find, but there can't be much demand:

Jules Feiffer (1929-2025) signed his Bulletin cover.

Roz Chast signed her cartoon in the October 3, 2011, issue of The New Yorker—not a cartoon-themed issue—and a page from, probably, the magazine's 2011 cartoon calendar.

A Sam Gross rabbit cartoon was on the cover of the New Yorker Cartoons of the Year for 2011.

And Matthew Diffee signed his cartoon on page 4.

The New Yorker Cartoons of the Year 2014 has a dog cartoon by J. C. Duffy on the cover.

Matt Diffee signs on page 11.

The New Yorker 90th Anniversary Book of Cartoons surely deserved to be hardbound, but it was published as a bookazine. The bookazine cover art was adapted from Barry Blitt's 2015 anniversary magazine cover which had nine, not eight, modern-day Eustace Tilleys.

Again, Matthew Diffee was good enough to sign his Che Guevara cartoon on page 118.

The back covers:

Six assorted signed cartoon volumes
eBay listing accessed September 21, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285601622932?_skw=signed+Yorker&itmmeta=01K5QNXCMX5R18PN804RFGDKB3&hash=item427f2eeb94:g:~wkAAOSwDDNlbUaB&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cLVMMmPv3vOqghoI2UNwugDuGjgYuvD%2BnnE7qdCF3P058g6jJO0MOotbFnHn8o7D1uUwlYsfySyCzhf5XI1%2BD52

hFlcoHSCDnbVMpGm7MRfuLpXOTXoQz4QWm20%2BrS%2BKJzAV5Hq7Y32FFZazFrV9EPd%2BSlYToPBNDeY%2BTX4Z1rZfaSGYRsguH1vR0KcA%2BCpdAbEXaGVHgjmTgo1fsS5YStRqUEXTZY%2BWgDwX1QmJ1tbMz2m7%2FldXfAZ1govD2vL88%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9DK9fWtZg&autorefresh=true

Six assorted signed cartoon volumes
eBay item description

The set had been languishing on eBay since December 2023. Decisive action clearly was needed.

Sold for a best offer of $35.00.

05075

The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 188

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 188, we are in a living room with a flying dog and its master. The dog may or may not be an angel; there's no halo.

The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed (and neither has my description of them): Five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $165 into the first thirty-three pay-to-play contests and this thirty-fourth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $170. Having achieved runner-up status with two previous entries, I've collected $200 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, thank goodness. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds may generally be considered favorable even for us less-gifted caption writers. My three entries are shown below. The cartoonist is J. C. Duffy. 

"Guess what happened when I caught the car."
"So, it's true, you can't feed a dog chocolate."
"I never had my day."

January 12, 2025 Update:  The Judges Deliberate

February 9, 2025 Update:  The Winner

04847

Before the Kisses: J. C. Duffy 2001 Exhibition Art

An original drawing by J. C. Duffy was created in 2001 for a gallery exhibition. Enjoy the show.

J. C. Duffy
eBay listing ended February 20, 2017

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-CARTOON-ART-BY-J-C-DUFFY-/282362209539?hash=item41be196503%3Ag%3A56sAAOSw~AVYnhUv&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

J. C. Duffy
eBay item description

J. C. Duffy
eBay bid history
A single bid is placed late in the game.

Note:  As you can see, I've waited seven years to post this eBay sale. I hope it was worth the wait.

But if you've got original art by J. C. Duffy and you would like to have it posted here, I promise to get to it in less than seven years.

04672

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #833

This week, I diagnosed The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #833 from the issue of January 2 and 9, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by J. C. Duffy.

"I never see patients remotely."

These captions were too off the wall:

"What is your concern, Mr. Ames?"
"Yes, I'm THAT good."
"I prefer an upright exam table."
"The young doctors are bright enough, but what you want is experience."
"You're in luck. I've just been to the eye doctor."
"Don't make me repeat myself."
"Why haven't you signed the consent form?"
"Now let's see how that Xanax we gave you is working."
"The Hippocratic what?"
"I call it targeted therapy."
"Oh, and don't move."
"Isn't it ironic that we're blood brothers?"
"Enough with the dry run."
"I got my degree from Stumpy's Hatchet House."
"I was feeling a bit off-center, but I'm better now."
"I haven't hit my performance target either."
"Today, I'm feeling on point."
"I suck at assisted suicide."

January 16, 2023 Update:  The Finalists

 

January 27, 2023 Update:  I voted for the caption from North Haven.

February 4, 2023 Update:  The Winner

04194

J. C. Duffy: Working With What You Have

For those of us who may not get to spend much time in bars, original New Yorker cartoon art by J. C. Duffy can help to reacquaint us with the scene. The drawing was sold last month on eBay for $255.

Once upon a time, interesting editorial and printer's notations covered the verso of original New Yorker cartoons. If I ever find anything useful to say about the printed bar code on the back of original cartoon art, I will announce it here. Today, cartoons are submitted electronically and even the bar code is obsolete.

The cartoon shown in its natural environment:

J. C. Duffy
eBay listing ended June 4, 2022

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284836216261?hash=item42518fbdc5%3Ag%3A-h4AAOSw4vxiZw60&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

J. C. Duffy
eBay item description

J. C. Duffy
eBay bid history
The lone bidder placed a bid more than a day before the auction ended.

July 27, 2022 Update:  The cartoon was originally listed at $300. The listing priced was incrementally lowered by $5 every five days down to the $255 sale price.

Note:  I once rode in an elevator with Gene Shalit.

04022

J. C. Duffy: Bar Bookshelf

Cartoonist J. C. Duffy's original New Yorker cartoon of July 1, 2002 depicts a bartender pouring a drink and making conversation with a patron. The caption is a play on words. The original sold in April for $245 on eBay.

The gag raises two questions we don't usually entertain here: 1) Why don't the magazine's editors buy more punning cartoons, and 2) Why does original art from such punning cartoons fail to inspire serious bidding wars at auction?

These questions are, of course, a bit disingenuous. Puns are looked down upon by some but they still have their place, even in the hallowed pages of The New Yorker. The magazine is not elitist, although it is sometimes portrayed as such, and it is not above using so-called "low" forms of humor. Puns involve clever wordplay and there's absolutely nothing shameful about that.




As for the failure of such cartoons to launch frenzied bidding wars, that might have little to do with the presence or absence of puns. All manner of original cartoons these days go unappreciated by the art market, which collectively must be far more elitist than any editors of The New Yorker ever were. It defies logic that cartoons remain such an incredibly popular feature of the magazine, yet so few readers seem interested in purchasing the originals. Why is that?

And what could be the remedy for such apparent reader apathy? If only there were some soft spoken personality with, let's say, a blog who would promote the public's interest in New Yorker art! That might really be a game changer, no? Well, apparently not.

J. C. Duffy
eBay listing ended April 24, 2022

https://www.ebay.com/itm/284775221514?hash=item424ded090a%3Ag%3ASRMAAOSwad9iM%7EOw&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

J. C. Duffy
eBay item description

J. C. Duffy
eBay bid history
One bidder places only one bid, and doesn't even bother to wait till the last minute.

Note:  Try as I might, I have been unable to come up with any puns of my own for this piece.

07021