Chester Gould: B. O. Plenty Souvenir Sketch for Sam

Almost all of Chester Gould's souvenir drawings include his signature comic strip character Dick Tracy but at least one sketch, made out to a Sam, does not. Instead it has the rather unkempt character B. O. Plenty, who first appeared in the strip in 1945. Perhaps this uncommon sketch came into being because of a special request from Sam. But perhaps not.

Chester Gould
AbeBooks listing accessed May 8, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31164713361&searchurl=kn%3DChester%2BGould%26sortby%3D1&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title18

https://dicktracy.fandom.com/wiki/B.O._Plenty

The numbers don't lie. In the five months since this sketch was first offered by Schulson Autographs, Ltd., of Millburn, its price has been increased to $468. That's inflation for you.

Note:  Other Chester Gould souvenir sketches of uncommon characters would make welcome additions to Attempted Bloggery,  don't you think? Rogues from Tracy's Gallery are always welcome here. See who you can scrounge up.

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John T. McCutcheon: A Chicago Tribute

John T. McCutcheon (1870-1949), who came to be known as "The Dean of American Cartoonists," saw his work appear on the front page of the Chicago Tribune for four decades. The year he turned seventy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist was honored at the annual dinner of the Indiana Society of Chicago. A tribute volume produced for the event, Saga of a Hoosier Boy, includes full-page cartoons specially created by leading political and comic strip artists of the day.

Paul Plaschke

John T. McCutcheon
AbeBooks listing accessed May 8, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31020895241&searchurl=kn%3DChester%2BGould%26sortby%3D1&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title16

Note:  I don't know all that much about John McCutcheon, but I'm willing to be educated with scans or photos of some of his original work. You know what to do.

Michael Maslin's Ink Spill comments on McCutcheon's "The New Yorker's Map of the United States" and its apparent influence on Saul Steinberg's iconic 1976 New Yorker map cover here. 

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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

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/cartoonists-ten-items-signed-by-eight-cartoonists-7b04b10b00#

Ten Items Signed by Eight Cartoonists

https://www.goldbergcoins.com/view-auctions/catalog/id/69/?page=1&key=Cartoonists&cat=&xclosed=no

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Dick Tracy

Here's original art for the newspaper comic strip Dick Tracy by Chester Gould. It was sold on eBay a while back. You know, the golden age of the daily newspaper strip is long over and nothing else like Dick Tracy is is likely ever  to be created again. What's out there now, in other words, is all there will ever be.  Sure, there will be future comic strips of some sort, but many will probably be rendered on computers rather than drawn. Enjoy what original art there is. 


Here's the eBay listing from September 2009, followed by my comments:

Up for auction is original art from the newspaper comic strip Dick Tracy. The strip is dated July 11, 1951. The size of the entire sheet of paper is 21 1/2 x 7 1/4. The image size of the artwork is 16 1/2 x 5.  Written above the strip in pencil is "Dick Tracy-The Decree". There is one correction mark that I see. It is written in non-repro blue pencil. It is a letter S, with a line drawn to where the S should be inserted. Glued over the newspaper in the third panel, is a 1 1/8 x 2/3 inch piece of paper with typing on it that says: "Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.: Copyright, 1951, by The Chicago Tribune." Considering the age of the piece, it's in really nice shape. The margins of the paper have some yellowing, but the art itself seems not to be affected by it. This is a really great piece, with no crinkles or creases. Priority shipping is $10.00. Feel free to contact me with any questions, and check out my other auctions!

DICK TRACY comic strip original art Chester Gould 1951
Item condition:	--
Ended:	Sep 12, 2009 23:34:52 PDT

                                                                      

Chester Gould, Dick Tracy, July 11, 1951

A few observations: Tracy, for once, is not drawn in profile!  But he is there, and it's important I think for collectors to buy strips with the key, leading characters in them.  Gould, by the way, draws hats and uniforms well.  The black-and-white contrast in the first panel seems well-handled. 

That said, the goon's stance in panel 2 looks pretty exaggerated to me, but I suppose it's in keeping with the cartoonish nature of the strip. 

By the way, note how the registration sticker is placed high up so that it's over the newspaper in panel three. Usually these things are stuck in a corner somewhere. King's hands seem to be drawn rather awkwardly here, but I do at least admire the way the window is rendered. 

Now, what exactly are "the steel beams?"  Does this involve hanging? Falling? It doesn't sound like something I'd like to experience. If King's apartment is being shadowed by the police, shouldn't they be able to follow his goons to this encounter with Eddie in panel 4? Or am I getting ahead of the story? (In May, the collected 1950-1951 strips will be published in a chronological collection, so we then can read the whole story.) And, finally, did Chester Gould really not sign his daily strips?

Chester Gould, The Complete Dick Tracy, Volume 13: 1950-51 Dailies and Sundays (2012)

Image added March 11, 2012

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