Tag: Frank Cotham

The Monday Tilley Watch, The New Yorker Issue Of May 18, 2020

News

The Cover: a sign o’ the times graduation piece by Anita Kunz. This is the tenth out the last eleven covers that is coronavirus-related.

The Cartoonists:

The Cartoons:

An even dozen cartoons & cartoonists, with a thirteenth, Ed Steed, as this week’s Spot drawing artist. The newbie in the crowd, Oren Bernstein, is the sixth new New Yorker cartoonist of 2020, and the fifty-ninth new addition to the stable since Emma Allen became cartoon editor in the Spring of 2017.

Some fleeting thoughts on a few of this week’s drawings:

…The aforementioned newbie’s drawing style looks to be in the school of John O’Brien (although this drawing carries a caption; Mr. O’Brien is one of the masters of the captionless cartoon).

…I was hoping to see a horse in Roz Chast’s ranch drawing, but alas! (I’m a fan of Ms. Chast’s horse drawings).

…two drawings, two very different styles, caught my eye: Mitra Farmand’s cats in bags (p.62)… and Liana Finck’s moonbeam in a jar (p. 40).

…Emily Bernstein’s racoon drawing caption is swell & funny.

…the rhythm of the wording in the boxed title of Maddie Dai’s gameboard drawing (p.37) vaguely echoed (for me) the wording in John Held, Jr.’s New Yorker work (with maybe a dash of Glen Baxter tossed in).

…I like seeing the George Boothian rug in Frank Cotham’s cartoon (p. 44). When I began studying Mr. Booth’s work, I noticed how many of his carpets never quite sat completely flat on the floor. I found this touch of reality (just one of many in Mr. Booth’s work) inspirational. Example (in this May 25, 1998 New Yorker drawing):

The Rea Irvin Talk Masthead Watch

The above iconic design by the great Rea Irvin was ditched in the Spring of 2017 in favor a redrawn(!) version. Hopefully, one day, someday, the above will return. Read all about it here.

 

 

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The Monday Tilley Watch, The New Yorker Issue Of May 4, 2020

News

The Cover: In Francoise Mouly’s Q&A with this week’s cover artist, Chris Ware, she informs us that the issue is anchored by “a kaleidoscopic account of a single day in New York.”  And so we see a cover, in Mr. Ware’s patented style, loaded with snapshots of the city —  a cover nearly devoid of people.

The Cartoonists:

Liza Donnelly, Robert Leighton, Amy Hwang, Roz Chast, Mick Stevens, Liana Finck, Julia Suits, Frank Cotham, Lars Kenseth, Peter Steiner, Karl Stevens, Edward Steed, Elisabeth McNair, Ali Solomon

The Cartoons:

First thing I noticed zipping through this week’s cartoons (via the slideshow on newyorker.com) is that 9 of the 14 drawings contain non-humans. Is this unusual? I don’t know; haven’t kept track of the human/non-human ratio of the cartoons over the years [if anyone has, please let me know — I’d love to see the numbers]. What may be unusual are the three drawings in a row containing two animals apiece: Ed Steed’s two cows, Elisabeth McNair’s pig and squirrel, and Ali Solomon’s two seals.

The remaining half-dozen cartoons featuring non-humans: Peter Steiner’s shark (fins), Lars Kenseth’s multitude of rabbits, Roz Chast’s cow, Liana Finck’s dog(?), and Amy Hwang’s snails. This week’s lead cartoon, by Liza Donnelly, is a direct nod to NYC’s shut-down (it features a none-too-pleased caged subway rat).

The high percentage of animals in the issue reminded me of this passage from Brendan Gill’s Here At The New Yorker:

“Once, Geraghty [the magazine’s Art editor from 1939-1973] mentioned to me that the art department ‘bank’ contained a deplorably high number of jokes featuring conversations between animals. I proposed that the artwork of an entire issue of the magazine be devoted to talking-animal jokes, thus reducing the bank and just possibly causing our readers to lose their minds.  My proposal was accepted, the issue came out, and as far as the magazine could judge, the prank went largely unobserved.” 

Other Cartoons That Caught My Eye:

It seemed pre-ordained that Roz Chast would do a panic buying drawing. Love her (signed) photo drawing of “Der Bingle.” Mick Stevens’s me time drawing is a fine/fun piece of work; applause applause for the way Frank Cotham handled the damned in his splendid media attention drawing. I’ve no idea how Mr. Cotham’s cartoon is sized (I don’t have access to the digital edition yet) but this cartoon would certainly work beautifully on a half-page.  (Update, now that the digital issue is available:  Mr. Cotham’s drawing has been run a bit larger than most of the issue’s cartoons…not a half-page tho.)

The Rea Irvin Talk Masthead Watch:

Without having the digital issue in front of me I’ve no idea if Mr. Irvin’s classic Talk masthead (below), shown the door, and replaced by a redraw in the Spring of 2017, has finally returned.  Here’s more information on it.(Update: the redraw still appears. The classic remains in storage)

Behold the real deal!

 

 

 

 

The Monday Tilley Watch, The New Yorker Issue Of April 27, 2020

News

The Cover

The new issue’s cover, by Homer Hanuka, is the seventh of the last eight covers that are coronavirus-related.  You can read a Q&A with the artist here.

The Cartoonists

Joe Dator, Sam Gross, Harry Bliss, Farley Katz, Roz Chast, Ellis Rosen, Glen Baxter, P.C. Vey, Emily Flake, Frank Cotham, David Sipress, Liana Finck, Lars Kenseth, Johnny DiNapoli, Carol Lay, Kate Curtis

The Cartoons

Not to be missed: Peter Kuper’s “Little Donald’s Sneeze (After Winsor McCay’s ‘Little Sammy Sneeze’)”

Random thoughts after going through the cartoon slide show: seeing a Sam Gross drawing in any issue is always a blast. Mr. Gross, having begun contributing to the magazine in 1969, is the veteran of the week (with Roz Chast next — she began contributing in 1978)…… always interesting to see a Glen Baxter drawing in the magazine, especially if it involves cowboys (this one does)…… Joe Dator’s olden days binge drawing caught my eye as did Ellis Rosen’s social distancing magic trick……Especially fond of Farley Katz’s solo parader (reminded me, strangely enough,  of Ringo Starr’s wonderful segment in “A Hard Day’s Night” when he goes “paradin”). Enjoyed two cartoons employing turns on old chestnuts: David Sipress’s version of “What do I look like, a mind reader?” and Kate Curtis’s on “Try to get some sleep. Everything will be better in the morning.” ….. P.C. Vey’s cave people are a hoot.

…And: there’s a newbie: the aforementioned Kate Curtis is the 5th new cartoonist added to The New Yorker‘s stable this year, and the 58th added under cartoon editor, Emma Allen.

The Rea Irvin Talk Masthead Watch

Without the digital issue posted as yet (2:00pm), I’ve no idea if Mr. Irvin’s iconic masthead (above) has returned. If I had to guess, I’d say nope, it hasn’t. Read all about it here.

 

 

 

 

The Monday Tilley Watch, The New Yorker Issue Of April 13, 2020; Today’s Daily Cartoonist & Cartoon

News

To my readers: This being the time we’re in, the online issue has not yet been posted (as of 11:00am), so what follows is a shortened version of The Monday Tilley Watch. Long-time visitors might recall I prefer first sightings of new cartoons in situ, but in order to provide at least some basic info, I’ve gone to the slideshow (it’s posted here — scroll way down).

The Cover: The last time we saw a Pascal Campion cover (Jan.6, 2020) the Spill pointed out its uncanny resemblance to an Arthur Getz cover from 1965. This week Mr. Campion speaks with The New Yorker‘s art editor, Francoise Mouly, about Mr. Getz’s (and Sempe’s) influence on his work.

 

The Cartoonists:

The Cartoons:

Just as The New Yorker ran a good number of war cartoons during World War II (enough to fill an Album of war cartoons), we are beginning to see a number of corona virus-related cartoons during this particular war. In the latest issue, five of the eleven cartoons are tied-in to the virus, with another few possibly so.

Update after the digital edition was posted: a color strip by Ed Steed is also virus-related.

The Rea Irvin Masthead Talk Masthead Watch:

Without access to the digital edition, I can’t say for sure that Christoph Niemann’s Talk masthead redraw(!) still appears instead of Mr. Irvin’s iconic masthead.  If I had to guess, I’d say the real deal (just below) is still on a shelf, waiting to be dusted off.

Update after the digital edition was posted: the redraw remains…for now.

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Today’s Daily Cartoonist & Cartoon

Jeremy Nguyen on what everyone’s doing again.

Mr. Nguyen began contributing to The New Yorker in

2017. Visit his website here.

 

 

 

 

 

The Monday Tilley Watch, The New Yorker Issue of March 23, 2020: No GOAT

News

The Cover: This week’s cover, by Christoph Niemann is right on the money. The New Yorker‘s art editor, Francoise Mouly, has a Q&A with the artist here.

Historical Note:  this is the first issue of The New Yorker  not to include a Goings On About Town section. A notice appears on this week’s Table of Contents.

A potted history of GOAT (as it’s sometimes affectionately called)

The very first issue of The New Yorker  included a “conscientious calendar of events worth while” called Goings On.  The very first Goings On was just one page, near the back of the book. Below is the heading of that first Goings On.

The Goings On heading survived up through the issue of October 31, 1925. Goings On About Town was used for the very first time in the next issue (November 7, 1925). Goings On About Town was moved to the very front of the magazine in the issue of January 23, 1926.

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And now back to the present…and this week’s issue.

The Cartoonists:

Once again, I’ve posted the entire listing of artists as this week’s Spots are by the fab cover artist, Marcellus Hall.

There is a newbie this week: Matilda Borgstrom, who is the third new cartoonist to enter The New Yorker‘s stable of cartoonists this year, and the fifty-sixth new cartoonist brought in under Emma Allen’s cartoon editorship, begun in the Spring of 2017.

The Cartoons:

There are, as you would expect, a number of cartoons (“Drawings”) this week reflecting directly or indirectly the times we’re in: Roz Chast’s store front sign referencing hand sanitizer and face masks, Frank Cotham’s castle cleaning crew, Liza Donnelly’s kitchen full of fermented food, Emily Flake’s monster coming out of a closet.

The remaining cartoons take us away for awhile– as we’d want them to; the variety includes a mermaid, a couple of cowboys, a typing kitty, stargazers…and more.

The Rea Irvin Talk Masthead Watch: Virus, or no virus, the watch continues. Read about Mr. Irvin’s moth-balled iconic Talk masthead here.

Here’s what we’re no longer seeing: