The Cover: I see destructive tourists at the core of this cover, yet destruction doesn’t come up in Joost Swarte’s interview with The New Yorker‘s art director, Francoise Mouly. Odd?
The Cartoonists: 
The Cartoons:
Almost a theme issue, of sorts: Amy Hwang (cats), Roz Chast (dogs), Farley Katz (flamingos), Joe Duffy (pigs), Kendra Allenby (deer), Frank Cotham (a snake), Shannon Wheeler (snails), Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell (a rat).
Steering briefly away from the Spill‘s focus, I have to note that Salman Rushdie’s piece in the issue is titled “The Little King” and the accompanying illustration (by Nico Schweitzer) is a play on Otto Soglow‘s famous character. The illustration seems even closer to the toy Little King than the drawing of the King :
Applause for Bob Eckstein‘s shuttlecock drawing on page 48, and Ellis Rosen‘s heralded fellow drawing on page 42.
From the Department of fun coincidences. Liana Finck’s lifeguard drawing (p. 33) immediately reminded me of an obscure original Lee Lorenz drawing hanging here at Spill headquarters. The Lorenz drawing (its barely legible caption: “Help!”) was not in The New Yorker. I’ve yet to figure out where it was published, or how old it is. Mr. Lorenz, visiting here and seeing the drawing, could not recall where it had appeared or its vintage. It appears to be in an earlier Lorenz style (but not the earliest), so we can at least place in an early-to-mid 1960s time frame.
Ms. Finck’s drawing and Mr. Lorenz’s are in some ways opposites of each other. Mr. Lorenz’s beach is overcrowded, while Ms. Finck’s beach is empty. Ms. Finck’s life guard offers help (if helped); Mr. Lorenz’s life guard is crying out for help. What ties them together, at least for me, is the graphic core of each drawing: the exceptionally tall life guard stand. Fine fun work by both.
Rea Irvin: Mr. Irvin’s iconic Talk masthead (below) left us in the Spring of 2017 after 92 years of service — it was replaced by a redraw. Let’s hope the real thing returns before long. Read about it here.
________________________________________________________
Today’s Daily Cartoonist And Cartoon
Brendan Loper makes good use of oven mitts. Mr. Loper began contributing to The New Yorker in 2016.
_______________________________________________________
A Julia Wertz Daily Shouts
“Conversations With Ma: Paint The Toenails And Board-Game Gripes”
— A series? by Julia Wertz who began contributing to The New Yorker in 2015.
___________________________________________________________
Fave Photo Of The Day
A crowd of folks who draw got together yesterday in Rhinebeck, New York. Left to right: myself, Peter Steiner, John Cuneo, R.O. Blechman, Liza Donnelly, Bill Plympton, Danny Shanahan and Elwood Smith.
