The Monday Tilley Watch Takes A Glancing Look At Some Of The Art & Artists Of The Latest Issue Of The New Yorker
The Cover: Blitt crossing the Delaware.
The Cartoonists:
Sixteen cartoons, seventeen cartoonists (Barry Blitt has the cover). No newbies, no duos that we know of.
The Cartoons: Two familiar scenarios turn up in this issue: “some day, all of this will be yours” and folks crawling across a desert. It never fails to amaze me how much more these scenarios have yet to give (cartoonists, and in turn, the reader). You would’ve thunk they were drained of possibilities ages ago, but nooooo. As with the desert island, I think these go-to situations, or set-ups are grand challenges for cartoonists. You might wonder how can anyone possibly wring a good 
cartoon out of a desert drawing. Taking on these situations myself from time-to-time, I know I find it amusing when I come upon a reasonably acceptable idea taking place on a desert island or a desert; yes indeedy, there is always more to squeeze out of the tube.
In this issue David Sipress struck gold in the desert, and so did Amy Hwang with her take on “some day, all of this…”
Beyond these two drawings, there’s a lot to chew on in this issue. Sara Lautman’s drawing (p.61) ignores the one-two punch for some other kind of pay-off. Her use of color: different. Her caption: different. Different in this case suggests cartooning going in another area. Different, such as this, is good.
Robert Leighton’s terrarium drawing (p.31) is another kind of different. I’ve wracked my brain trying to remember another cartoon that caused me to feel the way I do after seeing Mr. Leighton’s drawing. What finally came to mind was Charles Addams ultra-classic drawing of the unicorns on shore watching Noah’s ark heading off in the distance. Mr. Leighton’s drawing (and Mr. Addams’) remind us that cartoons can be far more than just guffaw triggers. I have to mention a few other cartoons that delivered the much-hoped-for surprise: P.C. Vey’s couple and tree is fabulous, as is Kim Warp’s snooping kitty (p.53), and William Haefeli’s landline drawing (p.59).
As far as sizing goes in this issue: it’s a mixed bag. As a cartoonist, I want cartoons to win the battle over space on the page with surrounding text (it’s not selfishness, it’s wanting the art to be given its due — let’s see the work without squinting). But also, as a reader, I want cartoons to win the battle. Several of the cartoons are given some decent breathing room (Roz Chast’s for one), but too many, especially up front, exist in a uniform rectangle.
Overall, a fun issue, with many sights to see…
…and you can see them all here in a slideshow on the magazine’s website.
The Rea Irvin Talk Watch
I found this page below listed on Ebay (yes! A stand alone page from the magazine being auctioned). As it is an item for sale, and not me reproducing a page directly out of the magazine, I hope the Conde Nast lawyers don’t come knocking on my door. I’m showing it because it refers several times to the above heading, and to the Eustace Tilley you see here and not the –gasp!– redraw that replaced him in May of 2017. The piece, by Charles “Chip” McGrath was in The New Yorker‘s 68th anniversary issue, February 22, 1993.
— For more on why there even is a Rea Irvin Talk Watch, go here.