My Copy of Insectopolis by Peter Kuper

I stopped by the Society of Illustrators on Thursday night to attend the opening reception for the new book and exhibition Insectopolis: A Natural History.

The artist, Peter Kuper, brought along a rubber stamp and colored pencils for book signing during the event. The stamp has an image of a butterfly with the artist's name. Here is the copy that he signed and embellished to me:

Here he is signing a copy of his book:

Peter Kuper proudly holds his latest published work:

Kuper's backstory:

The exhibition is on the second floor:

The near end of the exhibition hall . . . 

. . . and the far end:

The exhibition has original drawings and color prints:

The Rose Main Reading Room is in the New York Public Library:

Butterflies:

Vladimir Nabokov, entomologist and author of Lolita:

Rachel Carson, the author of Silent Spring:

Charles Henry Turner:

Charles Darwin:

The men's room door:

The stairwell:

The exhibition "Insectopolis:  A Natural History" will be on display through September 20 at the Society of Illustrators in New York.

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The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 189

In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 189, a doctor engaging in high risk, unhealthy behavior is talking to his patient in the examining room.

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 $170 into the first thirty-four pay-to-play contests and this thirty-fifth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $175. 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, above the break. The cartoonist is Peter Kuper. 

"How about something to warm your insides?"
"I don't see any red flags."
"Any second-hand exposures?"
* * *
"And you don't look like much of a patient."
"I didn't get my break."
"Have you considered vices?"
"Take it from me."

February 22, 2025 Update:  The Winner

The Judges Deliberate

Video added March 9, 2025

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My Copy of At Wit's End: Cartoonists of The New Yorker by Alen MacWeeney and Michael Maslin

On November 21 at the Rizzoli Bookstore on Broadway, At Wit's End: Cartoonists of The New Yorker received its official launch. The book includes Alen MacWeeney's striking photographs of more than fifty New Yorker cartoonists past and present with accompanying profiles by Michael Maslin and a select sampling of cartoons. This is the first book celebrating the centennial of cartoonists at The New Yorker. One hopes there will be more. 

Seen on the panel at the event, left to right, are moderator Charles Traub, MacWeeney, and Maslin. Justin Sheen's photograph from the book is up on the screen behind them.

The half title page of my copy is signed by the two principals, Maslin and MacWeeney.

Many New Yorker cartoonists included in the book were present at the event. Should I have asked those cartoonists to add their signatures to that half title page? Maybe, but the cartoonists I approached all gravitated toward signing their own pages on the first (of two) spreads without any coaching. Here then are their pages alphabetically as signed, sometimes with a drawing, starting with that of David Borchart:

Note:  As you see, at the event I got fourteen people in total to sign my copy of At Wit's End. Although other cartoonists were also present at Rizzoli, I missed out on obtaining the signatures of Ellie Black, Akeem Roberts, Justin Sheen, and Victor Varnado. I suppose I have no one to blame but myself. If anyone did obtain signed pages from these cartoonists at the launch event or elsewhere and wishes to share them here, I'd be happy to append photos or scans of the relevant pages to this post.

As of this writing, Rizzoli still has books signed by the authors available on its website here.

Cartoonist Michael Maslin posted an extensive account of the book launch event on his Ink Spill blog here.

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Spy vs. Spy: Antonio Prohias et al.

If one were fortunate enough to obtain an original "layout for a published project" (so we are told) illustrated by Mad's Antonio Prohias of an agitated White Spy sitting in a movie theater, should one have other artists and luminaries of the magazine also sign—and draw on—the page? Perhaps not, but it's hard to argue that a "jam page" fitting this description didn't turn out extremely well. Sergio Aragonés put his contribution (including a sketch of Alfred E. Neuman) on the projected screen. Kelly Freas, Marie Severin, and Peter Kuper added other faces: respectively, of Freas himself, of William M. Gaines, and of one of the spies. That's quite a coup: having spies drawn by both Prohias and Kuper, his successor, on the same page. As a bonus, there are signatures by Jack Davis, Will Elder, Mort Drucker, Kyle Baker, Al Feldstein, Angelo Torres, Annie M. Gaines, Al Jaffee, and Paul Peter Porges. Is it any wonder the eBay seller is asking $1,600 for this? 

The usual gang of idiots
eBay listing accessed July 1, 2022

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225043365202?hash=item3465a13d52:g:ezIAAOSw-YZip6TU

The usual gang of idiots
eBay item description

Note:  I'd love to hear from anyone who can identify the published source of this Spy vs. Spy layout drawing.

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Peter Kuper's Spy vs. Spy: The Top Secret Files!—Signed

Congratulations to cartoonist Peter Kuper, the 2021 recipient of the Reuben Award for the category of Magazine/Newspaper Illustration. Among his many accomplishments, Kuper has been drawing the comic strip Spy vs. Spy for Mad magazine since 1997. The series was originally created by expatriate Cuban cartoonist Antonio Prohías and first appeared in Mad #60 dated January 1961. Spy vs. Spy has been a perennial feature of Mad since the days of the Cold War. In his current interview on the Cartoon Pad podcast, Kuper reveals that he has completed what he expects is the final new strip of the decades-long run. A signed book and souvenir drawing of the two spies back to back are herein archived as they appeared not all that long ago on eBay.

 

Peter Kuper
eBay listing ended October 15, 2021

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203608140712?hash=item2f67fdaba8:g:KpcAAOSwN01hQ41n

Peter Kuper
eBay item description

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184982633377?hash=item2b11d2fba1%3Ag%3AzkAAAOSwhE1hCzzL&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252

FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Best Newspaper/Magazine Illustration 2021 Reuben Awards

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