Bob Mankoff: Against Advice of Counsel

Last year an original drawing by Bob Mankoff, The New Yorker's cartoon editor from 1997 to 2017, was offered for sale on eBay. 

"Your Honor, against advice of council [sic] my client has decided to defend himself."
Bob Mankoff
Original cartoon art

The courtroom cartoon has heavy penciling under the crude ink drawing, suggesting that it's in its rough state. The caption has a misspelling—council instead of counsel—and the humor is a bit unsubtle.

"Your Honor, against advice of counsel my client has decided to defend himself."
Bob Mankoff
Original cartoon art

Bob Mankoff's signature

Bob Mankoff
eBay listing accessed October 20, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/286881879844?_skw=mankoff+original&itmmeta=01K81GKJ9YNX8QE4SZVPW6RB0R&hash=item42cb7e1724:g:V5wAAeSww11o8YzG&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1eBoAt9DoMysmJFjL%2BtbDxN7i9JUBm1s0z%2BH52MHWTVuBwN%2BLmogoAQuUkX9

L4C5AZV5A9Vl6K5RjjpNhmbKoddVhjph9Jz3W8DXaTdYlcSev8t4dOF4%2BObTK1Yu9HtO9KNQFsYU1eaAtPsLNHuXAqJD8amk3RfnKRjURwFdu%2F7dPqtrwFYlDZfwa5r1TdPG%2BZVD6Ra3at%2BsnPor4j0ks3oWyIANGjMi0PPF4TY5Xy26oabKDK1tV4DrSSNKoIAwRQ%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6SlzrDAZg

Bob Mankoff
eBay item description

Note:  I don't believe this cartoon was ever published, but please let me know if I'm wrong.

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Peter Arno's Side-Show for April 1937

Arno's work for College Humor has long fascinated me. The April 1937 number of the magazine includes three Peter Arno cartoons making up his "Side-Show" feature. As it happens, each of these has been seen previously on this blog, in one form or another.

"All right—I take the key, to to your hotel, go to the twelfth floor and walk down one flight, and go                                                        "—And then he assaulted me without so much as a 'Thank you'!"       

                        in your room and wait till you come—and then what do I do?"                                                                            "Am I to understand this is not the Forty-ninth Street crosstown 'bus?"

Peter Arno

College Humor, April 1937, pp. 10-11

The original art to the first drawing was offered by the Nicholls Gallery of New York in 1985, but the caption was then unknown. As it turns out, it's quite a mouthful. One wonders whether it could have been sold sans caption. I suspect it could.

["?"]

Original art to the second one was sold on eBay in 2016 and appeared on this blog an inexplicable two years later. I had something to say about prevailing attitudes in the 1930s towards nonconsensual sex in my post here, although I'm sure I didn't say it as well as I meant to. At the time I was thinking a lot about Byron but in no way living up to his example.

"—And then he assaulted me without so much as a 'Thank you'!"
Peter Arno
Original art
College Humor, April 1937

The third cartoon is far and away my favorite of the trio. There is a photo on the Nicholls Gallery contact sheet of the original art and the caption was then known. But was it sold?

"Am I to understand this is not the

        Forty-ninth Street crosstown 'bus?"               

November 22, 2025 Update:  Yes, it was sold.

"Am I to understand this is not the Forty-ninth Street crosstown 'bus?"

Original art

Peter Arno

College Humor, April 1937

Note:  That exceptional Nicholls Gallery contact sheet I keep referring to may be seen on my 2016 post here.

Not surprisingly, much of Peter Arno's original art is hidden from public view. Any collectors willing to share original Arno works on this blog are welcome to submit scans or photographs. As you may be aware, I accept even contact sheets.

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Peter Arno: In the Opinion of the Court

Peter Arno's 1954 New Yorker cartoon gets quite a bit of mileage out of one word.

"What does he mean, 'ilk'?"
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, November 6, 1954, p. 34

We can call this cartoon from seven decades ago sexist, even stereotypical, but I don't think we can call it unfunny. Arno's blonde bombshell has a wonderful earnestness as she tries to understand what is being said of her.


The artist is such an accomplished storyteller. It takes just an instant for us to understand the setting. We take in the impassive judge, the crowded courtroom, and the sexpot exiting the premises with her lawyer. The doors serve as a framing device for the speaker, and the space between the two is just narrow enough to push her into the foreground, as if she weren't three-dimensional enough. The negative space behind her black dress is white.


The light source is on the left. The speaker is highlighted with just a thin line of shadow. Her legs are visible through the dress; Arno just can't help himself. Far more shadow falls on the attorney because he is the less important figure. His expression is muted and we can't see his eyes, but his head is turned toward the speaker, bringing our eyes back to her. His hands are twice the size of his petit client's and his waist is at least three times as wide as hers. Cartoonists wield such awesome power.

"What does he mean, 'ilk'?"
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, November 6, 1954, p. 34

Peter Arno's signature

Peter Arno
The Potomack Company listing for November 17, 2018

https://www.potomackcompany.com/auction-lot/peter-arno-american-1904-1968-what-does-he-mea_D244FA0A7E

Peter Arno
The Potomack Company item description

Sold!



Here's what New Yorker readers saw:

"What does he mean, 'ilk'?"
Peter Arno
The New Yorker, November 6, 1954, p. 34

"What does he mean, 'ilk'?"
Peter Arno
Original art
The New Yorker, November 6, 1954, p. 34

A cartoon by Peter Arno and a spot drawing by James Thurber

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1954-11-06/flipbook/034/

James Thurber
Spot drawing

Note:  Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my client, this blog, is in need of an ongoing supply of original art by Peter Arno.

Small world! I've already commented on the spot drawing by James Thurber here.

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #794

This week I tried to land my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #794 from the issue of March 14, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Charlie Hankin.

"They're suing for peace."

These captions were too alienating:

"Archie! Phone home!"
"It's about time they abducted some lawyers."

 

March 21, 2022 Update:  The Finalists

March 28, 2022 Update:  I voted for the caption from Staten Island. I've always wanted to say that.

April 10, 2022 Update:  The Winner

 

 

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Alan Dunn: A Fender Bender

Readers of Michael Maslin's Ink Spill learned last week that over the course of his career cartoonist Alan Dunn (1900-1974) published an astonishing 1,981 cartoons in The New Yorker. Today we look at one that got away. 

In 1948, Dunn sent an original cartoon along with a typewritten letter to "Brother Hodgson," apparently a fellow Phi Gamma Delta, or more commonly Fiji, fraternity brother known either from his days at Columbia University or from the national organization. Dunn explains that the cartoon nearly saw publication. "The New Yorker once okayed the idea but asked for a few minor changes. Being long repressed about 'changes' I decided to assert myself. 'Either take it as is or don't take it at all[,]' I meekly shouted. 'Very well, they rejoined, 'We won't take it at all.' So here it is."

Hodgson was evidently affiliated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, because Dunn offered the original drawing to him for publication in Tarnation, the student humor magazine. They should have been thrilled to publish it, but did they? Quite possibly. An exhibition on humor at the library of the University of North Carolina notes that Tarnation was published between 1947 and 1954, so there was adequate opportunity to get it into print.

Dunn ends his letter with the motto "Perge!" It is this that identifies him as a Graduate Brother, as one is called, of Fiji. It means "Press on!" or "Persist!" There can hardly be a better creed for a cartoonist, particularly one of Dunn's prolific achievement.

The cartoon itself shows Dunn's fascination with newfangled technology. Car phones were first introduced in the United States in 1946. In Dunn's gag, set at the site of a downtown fender bender, the new invention is already being exploited by lawyers. But how would they manage to obtain the correct phone number in less time than it would take to walk down the stairs? One wonders what "few minor changes" The New Yorker had insisted on. Were the editors eager to change the silly name of the law firm, perhaps?

"Good morning, sir—I represent the law firm of Lolly, Mire and Fish..."
Alan Dunn
Tarnation [?]

Alan Dunn's signature

Alan Dunn
TLS

Alan Dunn
eBay listing ended August 31, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vtg-1948-Alan-Dunn-cartoonist-New-Yorker-original-comic-artist-signed-w-letter-/363091177049?hash=item5489ebae59%3Ag%3AE1MAAOSwJCJfQwsp&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Alan Dunn
eBay item description 

Note:  Can any Tar Heels tell me whether this cartoon came to be published, and when?

Perge!

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #786

Sign on the dotted line for my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #786 from the double issue of January 3 and 10, 2022. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Pia Guerra and Ian Boothby.

"My client keeps full custody of you."

January 17, 2021 Update:  The Finalists

January 29, 2022 Update:  I voted for the caption from Rocklin.

February 1, 2022 Update:  The Winner

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #770

I tried to reach new heights with my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #770 from the issue of September 6, 2021. My surefooted caption is shown below. The drawing is by P. C. Vey.

"When do you think he'll realize there's no cell service?"

These captions didn't reach the summit:

"You never know when you'll need a personal injury lawyer."

"Just ignore him unless you plan to lose me in the woods."
"You're right, I don't need a defense attorney—yet."

September 17, 2021 Update:  The Finalists

September 20, 2021 Update:  I voted for the caption from Mount Horeb.

September 28, 2021 Update:  The Winner

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #732

Please don't take me to court over my entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #732 for November 9, 2020. The drawing is by P. C. Vey.

"If it please the court, may I take the defendant home?"

These captions were dismissed as hearsay:

"And what did little Johnny confess to in his sleep?"
"Your Honor, permission to treat the witness as cuddly but hostile?"

November 16, 2020 Update:  The Finalists

November 23, 2020 Update:  I thought these captions were pretty good. I voted with the Big Apple.

November 30, 2020 Update:  The Winner

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Louis Jamme: The Prosecution Rests

A tense courtroom is the setting for an original cartoon by Louis Jamme (1913-1949). But wait—does the nervous defendant know about his Fifth Amendment rights?

"I remember hearing a voice say, 'Stick 'em up!'...then suddenly it came to me, 'Why, that's my voice!'"
Louis Jamme

Detail of defendant with eight fingers

Detail of court officer, court reporter, and prosecutor

Paper loss along the top edge

Louis Jamme's signature

Typewritten caption and printer's marks indicating a 5" vignette

Louis Jamme

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/-1-c-32B4F07A1E?utm_source=inv_kwalert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=keywordalertlive&utm_term=2

The five original cartoons by Louis Jamme in summary:

Note:  This is the fifth and last of the original works by cartoonist Louis Jamme that came to the art auction market late last month. As with the other four examples, I am eager to hear from anyone in the know about where this cartoon may have been published.

The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that no person shall be compelled to testify against himself in a criminal case, among other elucidated rights.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Louis Jamme

Original Cartoon Art (not from The New Yorker)

Attempted Bloggery's Confessional Index

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