Richard Oldden: Call Me George

The final quartet of original drawings by Richard Oldden were sold on eBay earlier this month. The artist visits several well-traveled cartoon tropes and puts a new twist on each of them. One of the gags is wordless and in four panels on two sheets of paper. We aren't told where any of the cartoons were published.

          "My name is Kenzaburo Toramichi . . .           "At first we thought we would be swamped with tourists,

                 You may call me George."                           —but somehow it never caught on."

"What's this you've been telling my daughter?"                        Hunting the Lion                  

Versos with Dick Oldden's New York and Laguna Beach stamps

Richard Oldden
eBay listing ended May 6, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/374666219984?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc

Richard Oldden
eBay item description

Richard Oldden
eBay bid history
Three bidders make seven bids over seven days. It's the last one that counts.

Note:  It's likely that many or all of the Dick Oldden cartoons in these eBay groupings of four were published somewhere in a mainstream magazine. But where? And when? It's questions like this that cry out for answers. Help if you can.

04328

Ailene Fields: Frog Prince

On July 23, while walking past Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, I couldn't resist photographing Frog Prince, a bronze by Ailene Fields. Her "Once Upon a Time" Wood Fairy sculpture can be glimpsed in the background.

Ailene Fields
Frog Prince
Bronze

03499

Gahan Wilson's Frog Prince

What bride hasn't asked this question? This original color artwork by Gahan Wilson bears stamps indicating it was published in 1974, apparently on October 13, and almost certainly in "the Spirit section"of the Sunday paper distributed by the Des Moines Register and Tribune Syndicate.

Gahan Wilson, "Now are you going to turn into a Prince Charming?"
The Register and Tribune Syndicate, October 13, 1974

Gahan Wilson signature

Copyright and publication information

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-Hand-Colored-Gahan-Wilson-Drawing-Illustration-Cartoon-/231054538500?pt=Art_Drawings&hash=item35cbec7704&nma=true&si=UB68sj2DvLx%252F9kdb54zXrlCgzYs%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Note:  If you should just happen to be sitting next to a copy of "the Spirit section" newspaper comic book insert for Sunday, October 13, 1974, please send a scan or photo of the page on which this drawing appears.

I have more blog posts regarding Gahan Wilson here.

His New Yorker work may be enjoyed, licensed, and purchased in the Cartoon Bank here.

The website for the documentary "Gahan Wilson:  Born Dead, Still Weird" by Steven-Charles Jaffe is here. The film next will be screened in Beverly Hills, California from November 22 to 28.

Interested listeners shouldn't miss Gahan Wilson's 2009 radio interview on the Leonard Lopate Show here.

For news updates about Gahan Wilson, follow Ink Spill here.

There are a couple of great Gahan Wilson illustrations on The Pictorial Arts blog here.

0919