Tuesday, October 6, 2020

Ten Items Signed by Eight Cartoonists

A group of ten items signed by eight comic strip cartoonists was sold at auction this past March in L.A. First day covers signed by a cartoonist unassociated with the stamp's subject matter don't generally do much for me unless the cartoonist interacts in some way with what is already printed, stamped, or postmarked. A signature even by the great Charles M. Schulz gains nothing, in my opinion, from its placement on a Walt Disney cover postmarked with the first day of issue. I'd prefer to keep the Disney cover and the Schulz signature separate, or better still, of course, to have the Schulz signature in a Peanuts book. I suppose any oddball, signed cover becomes an instant rarity, but so what? Among the sample of covers shown here, I give Bo Brown the highest mark. Chester Gould drew one of his ubiquitous Dick Tracy profiles on an unstamped Canadian Papineau cover; I don't see how this is in any way preferable to a sketch on a plain blank card or sheet of paper. The signed cards with printed cartoon images are nice enough, sure, but Marge's hand-drawn and personalized sketch of Little Lulu seems more thoughtful and therefore more desirable.

Cartoonists


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