The Cover: How great it is to see a J.J. Sempe cover.  A very short Q&A with Mr. Sempe here.

The Cartoonists & Cartoons:

Some random thoughts:  Enjoyed Amy Hwang’s guillotine/watermelon drawing (p. 30) — guillotine drawings are rare but usually memorable (Tom Cheney’s from February 24, 1997 for instance, or this one from George Booth, also published in 1997, in the June 9th issue).  Ms. Hwang’s hooded henchman is not alone in the issue.  Another appears in Emily Flake’s court jester drawing (p.39).  It’s sort of a first cousin to another Cheney guillotine drawing published November 1, 2010.

Much enjoyed Robert Leighton’s frogs drawing (p.63). I just had to look up previous lily pad frog drawings and came across this beauty from the great Warren Miller published March 5, 1990 (one of several frog on lily pad drawings referencing Monet).

There’s a lot going on graphically in Bruce Eric Kaplan’s very funny drawing (p.45) but a wee meatball is the star.

The Rea Irvin Talk Masthead Watch: Mr. Irvin’s classic heading shown below is still a-missin. Read about it here.