A Signed and Serpentine Copy of Love & Vermin by Will McPhail

I'm no expert on cartoon book titles, but I believe love sells better than vermin—so why mix the two? Are snakes even considered vermin? I would tell Will McPhail probably not, but they don't exactly fall on the love side of the equation either. The context here is Love & Vermin:  A Collection of Cartoons by The New Yorker's Will McPhail, from 2022. A copy on AbeBooks is signed by the artist and includes a drawing of a somnolent—or is it lovelorn?—snake protruding its forked-tongue. 

The U.K. seller is Widney Manor Books. I wonder if they serve high tea.

Will McPhail
AbeBooks listing accessed March 1, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Love-Vermin-Collection-Cartoons-New-Yorkers/32298689834/bd

Will McPhail
AbeBooks item description

Currency exchange rate as of March 1, 2026

https://wise.com/us/currency-converter/usd-to-gbp-rate

The book remains available at the time of posting.

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The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 203

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 203, a girl lying in bed looks down from her cellphone at a monster on the floor. The creature is the speaker. The cartoonist is Sofia Warren.

The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed: 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 $240 into the first forty-eight pay-to-play contests and this forty-ninth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $245. Having achieved runner-up status with three previous entries, I've collected $300 from CartoonStock, so I'm still playing with the house's money, thank you very much. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds may generally be considered favorable even for less-gifted caption writers. My three entries this round are shown below, above the break.

"There was no room in your closet."
"I can't be as scary as whatever it is you're doing."
"Well, thanks for finally noticing."

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #980

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #980 from the issue of March 2, 2026, a king's robe doubles as a red carpet for the Oscars. The king's attendant speaks. The drawing is by Tyson Cole.

"They don't recognize you without your new clothes."

These captions didn't win any awards:

"I'll make sure the photographers don't cut your head off."
"You can't throw them in the dungeon for being photogenic."
"You can't chain them up for pleasing the crowd."
"Face it, Sire, benevolence just isn't box office."

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Jacques Louis David's Copy of Color and Light by James Gurney

Color and Light:  A Guide for the Realist Painter is Dinotopia author James Gurney's 2010 art instruction book, the follow up volume to Imaginative Realism. Naturally, Gurney brought copies of it with him to the artists's gathering Baby Tattooville's Fifth Anniversary Celebration in 2011 and personalized a number of them. This is the story of one of those books.

Bladesmith (and, let me repeat, not French neoclassical painter) Jacques Louis David is the recipient of this personalized book. Gurney's wonderful drawing of a dinosaur riding a bicycle is just what any devotee of realist painting would want to see. In David's copy of the book, Gurney reassures him that "It's OK to be a dinosaur." Let this blog be a testament to that.

The signed book, with its drawing, was sold last year on AbeBooks.

James Gurney
AbeBooks listing accessed November 2, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/SIGNED-Color-Light-Guide-Realist-Painter/32333976245/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook#&gid=1&pid=2h

James Gurney
AbeBooks item description

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Jacques Louis David's Copy of Imaginative Realism by James Gurney

Imaginative Realism:  How to Paint What Doesn't Exist is Dinotopia creator James Gurney's 2009 art instruction manual. Gurney teaches how to ground one's fantasy art in seeming reality, something he himself excels at. It is the first of two volumes. Did he have copies of this book with him at Baby Tattooville in 2011? Why, yes, he did, thanks for asking.

Jacques Louis David, it will be remembered from yesterday's post, is the unhyphenated Hollywood bladesmith and not the hyphenated painter friend of Marat, so don't go accusing me of committing any anachronisms. Gurney's dinosaur drawing in David's copy of the book is full of great lettering and imaginative . . . mischief.

This copy of the book was sold last year by Book_Mob on AbeBooks.

James Gurney
AbeBooks listing accessed November 2, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/SIGNED-Imaginative-Realism-Paint-What-Exist/32333978879/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_low

James Gurney
AbeBooks item description

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Jacques Louis David's Copy of Dinotopia: Journey to Chandara by James Gurney

Dinotopia:  Journey to Chandara (2007) is the fourth book in James Gurney's Dinotopia series. An interesting copy was sold last year by Book_Mob of Santa Clarita.

At the artist gathering Baby Tattooville in 2011, Gurney met Jacques Louis David, not the hyphenated 18th century painter of The Death of Marat but a 21st century bladesmith whom he painted in profile. David posed wearing a pair of steampunk goggles made by his employer, Hollywood armorer Tony Swatton, that Gurney then borrowed for his own profile picture. Thus Gurney's drawing in David's copy of Journey to Chandara includes steampunk-inspired fantastical contraptions in the guise of a "cave exploration suit for a T. rex."

James Gurney
AbeBooks listing accessed November 2, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/SIGNED-Dinotopia-Journey-Chandara-Gurney-James/32333979854/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_high

James Gurney
AbeBooks item description

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First Editions: Redrawn—The BFG Illustrated by Quentin Blake

Roald Dahl's The BFG—it stands for Big Friendly Giant—was published in 1982 with illustrations by Quentin Blake. For a charity auction in 2014 entitled First Editions: Redrawn, Blake has added five pages of original drawings to a first edition of the book. That copy of the book is available on the market again from Lucius Books in London.

Quentin Blake
AbeBooks listing accessed February 21, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/BFG-DAHL-Roald-illustrated-BLAKE-Quentin/32395896500/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=img_high

Quentin Blake
AbeBooks item description

Currency conversion as of February 21, 2026

https://wise.com/us/currency-converter/usd-to-gbp-rate

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