Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Amadeo & Maladeo Signed by R. O. Blechman

I finally got to meet R. O. Blechman at the MoCCA Arts Festival in April. He signed a copy of his new book Amadeo & Maladeo and made a small drawing.

Book Signing at MoCCA Arts Festival 2016

R. O. Blechman, Amadeo & Maladeo:  A Musical Duet, 2016

Inscribed with a drawing of a bust "Cheers!/R. O. Blechman"



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Monday, November 28, 2016

Character Sketches in Ben Katchor's The Jew of New York

Yesterday I shared my copy of Ben Katchor's The Jew of New York (1998) signed by the artist with a small drawing of a folded ticket. It had been signed at the Alternative Press Expo in 2012 for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and I picked it up at this year's MoCCA Arts Festival in New York. Early in the evening, I received a note from reader and contributor David from Manhattan.

Seeing you're in a Ben K. frame of mind...
The 2000 is a first ed signed at the sorely missedN.Y. Book Fair on 5th Ave. The '99 is a 2nd printingfound on the often reliable Strand shelves years ago.Both are opposite the title page.

Drawing of Enoch Letushim inscribed
"To David,
from
Ben Katchor
9/29/00
NYC"
in Ben Katchor, The Jew of New York, 1998 first edition


 The character appears as a cut-out on the book's title page.
 
Enoch Letushim, second from right


Drawing of Mr. Marah signed
"Ben Katchor
2/29/99
The Strand"
in Ben Katchor, The Jew of New York, 1998, second printing


Cartoonist Ben Katchor and one his character's Mr. Marah, the importer of Jewish religious articles in NewYork City, 1825. BY ERIC LUSE/THE CHRONICLE


Mr. Marah


Prior to yesterday, cartoonist Larry Rippee posted perhaps the only original sketch from this book to appear online. Like the ticket, it was drawn at the Alternative Press Expo 2012 in San Francisco and it again features the character Enoch Letushim.
Drawing of Enoch Letushim inscribed "To Larry, from Ben Katchor Oct 14, 2012 SF, APE"

Note:  Thanks yet again to David from Manhattan for sharing more gems from his collection. There are now more original sketches from Ben Katchor's The Jew of New York available online than ever before.

Original sketches by Ben Katchor that he made in this book or other books are not that rare, but they are seldom posted online. If you'd like to share yours here, just get in touch.


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Sunday, November 27, 2016

The Jew of New York Signed by Ben Katchor

At the MoCCA Arts Festival held in April of 2016, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) offered a copy of Ben Katchor's The Jew of New York (1999) signed by the artist with a rudimentary drawing of a folded canal boat ticket. The date and San Francisco location indicates the book was signed on the second day of the Alternative Press Expo in 2012. Has the CBLDF has been carrying it around to comics conventions for four years? I was happy to relieve them of this burden.

Ben Katchor, The Jew of New York, 1998, first paperback edition

Signed with a drawing of a folded canal boat ticket "Ben Katc[hor]/S.F./Oct 14, 2012"

Note:  This is Ben Katchor's first appearance on the blog.


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Saturday, November 26, 2016

Funny Ladies Signed by Liza Donnelly

The cover of Liza Donnelly's Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons (2005) depicts a half dozen female cartoonists dressed as The New Yorker's mascot Eustace Tilley. This copy was purchased on the second day of the MoCCA Arts Festival 2016. It was spotted at the table of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and contains a signed drawing of a funny lady who again happens to be dressed as Eustace Tilley.

Liza Donnelly
Funny Ladies: The New Yorker's Greatest Women Cartoonists and Their Cartoons, 2005

Signed by Liza Donnelly with a drawing of a funny lady



Note:  Which is correct, women cartoonists or woman cartoonists? Or should we just avoid using a noun to modify another noun? We would probably never say men cartoonists or, even worse, man cartoonists, would we? We would call them male cartoonists. But what about boy cartoonists...?


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Friday, November 25, 2016

Groo: Friends and Foes, Volume I with Bookplate Signed by Sergio Aragonés

At MoCCA Fest this past April I stopped by the table of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, always a good source for books I didn't know I needed to have. I'm not too familiar with the character Groo, but I like Sergio Aragonés well enough to take a chance on Volume I of Groo: Friends and Foes published in 2015. The story is by Mark Evanier and the art of course is by Aragonés. The book is colored by Tom Luth and lettered by Stan Sakai. With a signed bookplate, it seemed a reasonable time to experience Groo.

Sergio Aragonés, Groo:  Friends and Foes, Volume I, 2015

CBLDF bookplate signed by Sergio Aragonés


Note:  This is Groo's first appearance on the blog.


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Thursday, November 24, 2016

2016 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloon Inflation

Preparing for the 2016 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the balloons are inflated the evening before. Here's the action on E. 81st Street.

Overhead view looking east toward Central Park with Trolls, Harold the Policeman, Harold the Fireman, Sinclair Oil's Dino, and Eruptor

The Hayden Planetarium


Trolls, new for 2016

Harold the Policeman

Sinclair Oil's Dino

Eruptor (from Skylanders)


Angry Bird





Scrat from "Ice Age"

Scrat and Pumpkins

The Pillsbury Doughboy

Spongebob Squarepants


Spongebob Squarepants

Spongebob Squarepants

Chippey from Elf on the Shelf

Elves



Macy's Red Stars




Note:  See more of Attempted Bloggery's Thanksgiving Day posts.

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Wednesday, November 23, 2016

My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #546

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #546 for November 21, 2016. The drawing is by Michael Maslin.

"Boy, have they got your number!"

Here are the captions that were lost at sea:
"Seriously, do I have a bottle-nose?"
"I'd rather see them do a lifeboat."
"They just love a captive audience, don't they?"
"Does that dolphin make my butt look fat?"
"You call it playful; I say it's smug."


Now cartoon editor Bob Mankoff has chosen ten top entries as informed by the crowdsourced rankings, and we can allow ourselves some amazement at how relatively close my caption is to the first of these (they're actually in random order).
https://www.research.net/r/546MC

November 28,  2016 Update:  The Finalists



 December 5, 2016 Update:  I forgot to vote. I like the third caption.


December 12, 2016 Update:  Winning Caption


Note:  Last week cartoonist Paul Noth promoted a houseplant to the top corporate job. My caption got stuck in the mailroom. Come meet the Chief Executive Officer in Contest #545.

If you're ever stuck on a desert island, you'll be oh so grateful for this link.

If you stay for more than a three-hour tour, you can also bring along a link to posts about Michael Maslin.

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Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads Signed Print by Nick Hayes

"We are all Woody's children."
                           —Pete Seeger

In 2016 as in previous years, MoCCA Fest was largely a venue for independent comic artists, but there were also some big publishing houses in attendance offering beautifully-made books with outstanding production values. Abrams Comic Arts, for example, offered the brand new Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads (2016), a gorgeous volume by Nick Hayes in distinctive sepia tones. A signed promotional print was included with the book.

Nick Hayes, Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads, New York:  Abrams Comic Arts, 2016

Nick Hayes, Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads
Signed print, 2016

 Woody Guthrie and the Dust Bowl Ballads
Abrams Books


 Note:  Nick Hayes is new to this blog. Welcome.


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Monday, November 21, 2016

Masterpiece Mini-Comics Signed by R. Sikoryak

The MoCCA Arts Festival, or MoCCA Fest, was held this year on April 2nd and 3rd at a new venue, Metropolitan West, not far from the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. On the second day I had barely two hours to spend there so regrettably I did not attend any of the programming. Instead I picked up a number of signed books. It's time I shared them with you. First up is Masterpiece Mini-Comics (2013) by R. Sikoryak. He signed my copy and included a drawing of the hero of "Popysseus and His Journey Home." Homer would be so proud.
R. Sikoryak, Masterpiece Mini-Comics, 2013

R. Sikoryak, Masterpiece Mini-Comics, 2013
Inscribed with a drawing of Popysseus "Ahoy Stephen!/—Best, R. Sikoryak/2016"


Note:  This is cartoonist R. Sikoryak's first mention on the blog. My bad.


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Sunday, November 20, 2016

eBay 101: Here is New York by E. B. White

When selling a book on eBay, the item description should correspond to the book. An eBay auction from August offered a copy of E. B. White's Here is New York while mistakenly describing a signed first edition of Jim Bishop's The Day Kennedy Was Shot. This is clearly an example of the confusion that can occur when one seller has multiple listings on eBay.

Here is New York (1949) by E. B. White with Insert of "A Report by Clifton Fadiman"


eBay Item Description is for The Day Kennedy Was Shot by Jim Bishop




Here is New York (1949) by E. B. White with Insert of "A Report by Clifton Fadiman"



Note:  This is the first mention of writers Jim Bishop and Clifton Fadiman on the old blog.


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Saturday, November 19, 2016

Peter Arno: Once a Year~The Mid

The stag at eve had drunk his fill,
Where danced the moon on Monan’s rill,
And deep his midnight lair had made
In lone Glenartney’s hazel shade;
But, when the sun his beacon red
Had kindled on Benvoirlich’s head,
The deep-mouthed bloodhound’s heavy bay
Resounded up the rocky way,
And faint, from farther distance borne,
Were heard the clanging hoof and horn.
—Sir Walter Scott, The Lady of the Lake, Canto 1

These lines by Sir Walter Scott were at one time part and parcel of a good education. Peter Arno, back when he was still known as Curtis Arnoux Peters, Jr., was familiar with them when he attended the Hotchkiss School in Connecticut. At age 17 in 1921, he created a full page, six-panel illustration for a school publication, possibly The Mischianza, the school's yearbook. Entitled Once a Year~The Mid (short for the midterm dance), Arno shows off his budding command of illustration and his—shall we call it sophomoric?—sense of humor. Thus the panel titled "The stag at eve had drunk his fill, etc." is set at the punch bowl table. "The last belle for breakfast" is a verbal and visual pun on the school breakfast bell. "Divine Services," has the two sexes distractedly eying each other in chapel, a focus that would serve Arno well for his entire cartooning career.

It's a nice energetic piece reminiscent of the mainstream illustration of the time. It's still a work of juvenilia though and probably shouldn't be offered at a price commensurate with that of the artist's later classic New Yorker work.

Peter Arno, Once a Year~The Mid, 1921

AbeBooks Listing as of November 19, 2016
Item Description

Peter Arno, Once a Year~The Mid, 1921


 Note:  This artwork is reproduced in Michael Maslin's biography Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist, New York: Regan Arts, 2016, p. 13.

Speaking of Michael Maslin, he was kind enough to mention my post "Peter Arno: Wedding Belle" on the Ink Spill blog.



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