Tag: Joe Dator

Between You & Me &… Eustace Tilley; Peter Steiner’s Hopeless But Not Serious on ICE; Latest New Yorker Cartoons Rated

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Between You & Me &…Eustace Tilley

Here’s a fascinating addition to the Spill‘s archives: the Korean edition of Mary Norris‘s truly wonderful book, Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen. As you can see it sports Rea Irvin’s iconic cover from the New Yorker‘s inaugural issue. This usage of the cover is, to my knowledge, a first (Ms. Norris told me the cover came as “a complete surprise” to her). As you see below, Mr. Irvin’s clouds and green vertical border (the “strap”) were carried around on the back cover as well.  

 

Below: the US cover of Between You & Me (Norton, 2015), and to the right, the paperback edition. You’ll note that these covers use an adapted Irvin typeface. 

Mr. Irvin’s entry on the Spill‘s A-Z:

Rea Irvin (pictured above. Self portrait above from Meet the Artist) *Born, San Francisco, 1881; died in the Virgin Islands,1972. Irvin was the cover artist for the New Yorker’s first issue, February 21, 1925. He was the magazine’s first art editor, holding the position from 1925 until 1939 when James Geraghty assumed the title. Irvin became art director and remained in that position until William Shawn succeeded Harold Ross. Irvin’s last original work for the magazine was the magazine’s cover of July 12, 1958. The February 21, 1925 Eustace Tilley cover had been reproduced every year on the magazine’s anniversary until 1994, when R. Crumb’s Tilley-inspired cover appeared. Tilley has since reappeared, with other artists substituting from time-to-time.

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Peter Steiner’s Hopeless But Not Serious on ICE

The great New Yorker cartoonist and author, Peter Steiner weighs in on ICE and children. See it here. 

Mr. Steiner’s entry on the Spill‘s A-Z:

 

 

 

 

Peter Steiner (above). Born, Cincinnati, 1940. New Yorker work: 1979 – . Collection: “I Didn’t Bite the Man, I Bit the Office” ( 1994).  Mr. Steiner is responsible for one of the most famous (and most republished) New Yorker cartoons in modern times, “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” (published July 5, 1993).  An indication of its enduring popularity in our culture:  a wikipedia page is devoted to it.   He has also had novels published, as well as the limited edition “An Atheist in Heaven.” Website: www.plsteiner.com/

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Latest New Yorker Cartoons Rated

If it’s Friday then it’s time for the Cartoon Companion’s latest look at the brand new drawings in this week’s issue (June 25, 2018). Joe Dator’s colorful Abe Lincoln drawing is awarded the CC‘s Top Toon ribbon, and rightfully so!  Read the post here.

The Monday Tilley Watch, The New Yorker Issue of June 25, 2018; A Few Images Posted from the Upcoming New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons

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Noted that this week’s cover (above right) is by Harry Bliss, one of the New Yorker‘s cartoonists.  Noted because the majority of the magazine’s covers were once handled by its cartoonists (somewhat more than 60% a year by my iffy calculations). The number of cartoonists contributing covers these days can be counted on one hand: Mr. Bliss, Roz Chast, Bruce Eric Kaplan, Danny Shanahan, and George Booth.

The change came, as so many changes did, with the arrival of Tina Brown as editor in 1992.  At a meeting of cartoonists called by Ms. Brown just before she took the reigns as editor of The New Yorker, a bunch of us sat around a large table in an upstairs conference room at the fabled Algonquin. Arriving late (Amtrak issues), I sat next to then art editor Lee Lorenz and asked him what I’d missed.  He leaned over and whispered, “She’s going to bring in a lot of illustrators.” He then added something else, which you’ll have to wait to read in my memoir.

Some of Mr. Bliss’s cover has that Hitchcockian “Rear Window” feel to it; the structure of the cartoon (using balconies) has been put to good use by a few cartoonists over the years. Here’s an example that readily came to mind: a Liza Donnelly drawing that appeared in the January 20, 2014 New Yorker:

To read what Mr. Bliss had to say about his cover, go to this mini-interview here on  newyorker.com.

From the Depart of Just Sayin’:  The number of illustrations in this issue outweigh (in space) the number of cartoons appearing.  Sixteen illustrations (not including Tom Bachtell’s wonderful drawings that are laced through the Talk of The Town). Three of the sixteen are full page. Seventeen cartoons this week, one a full page by Liana Finck. 

The sizing of cartoons in this issue is generally very good. Most every drawing  gets some breathing room (just one is shoe-horned into a tight space).  

Three drawings noted: Ben Schwartz‘s bargain hunter’s mounted big game is fun. Charles Addams had a field day with this scenario throughout his spectacular New Yorker run.  Here’s one example .

Love Edward Koren‘s restaurant drawing. Some New Yorker drawings are referred to as evergreens — they always work, no matter the year, the trends, the political landscape, the whatever. Mr. Koren’s drawing is an evergreen.

The Spill‘s candidate for New Yorker drawing of the year (thus far) is Joe Dator‘s Abe Lincoln cartoon. (You can find it here on the magazine’s slideshow of the current issue’s cartoons. It’s number 13.)  When Harold Ross, the New Yorker‘s founder and first editor was asked why his magazine did not run color cartoons his response was, “What’s so funny about red?”* Mr. Dator’s drawing is a perfect example of what is funny about pink and orange, and yellow, and green and purple.

A  Spill round of applause for the above drawings.

*The New Yorker did run one color drawing in Ross’s time, Rea Irvin’s two page color spread, The Maharajah of Puttyput Receives a Christmas Necktie From the Queen. It was in the issue of December 12, 1925.

Still missing: Rea Irvin’s iconic Talk of The Town masthead. Here’s a Spill piece about its disappearance and replacement.

This is what the real thing looks like:

 

 — See you next week

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A Few Images Posted From the Upcoming New Yorker Encyclopedia of Cartoons

The above from the publisher’s website. Well it’s not much, but it’s better than nuthin’.  I could only get the middle image to open up for a better view. Will post more when there’s more to post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Monday Tilley Watch, The New Yorker Issue of June 18, 2018

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Ah, a Father’s Day cover.

 I find this cover puzzling. The sink is dripping, yet the repair work seems to be going on under the sink.  My understanding is that a dripping faucet is repaired within the faucet itself — it’s usually just a gasket replacement. Work below the sink is reserved for clogged, damaged or leaking pipes or water lines.  As the father and daughter shown on the cover are working under the sink you might assume they are doing something along those lines — something involving the pipes or water lines.  Yet anyone working below the sink would not begin working below the sink until first turning off both the hot and cold water (which only involves reaching in under the sink and closing the water valves). Thus they would not be set to work, such as they are, below the counter with the water still running. I know, I know, lighten up, Ink Spill — it’s not an illustration from a manual describing how to fix a dripping faucet.  As a cartoonist who has only worked on dripping faucets and leaking pipes in a non-professional capacity, I admit I could be completely wrong about all of the above.

From the Department of Just Sayin’:

# of illustrations in this issue: 20 (including photographs, but not including Tom Bachtell’s wonderful drawings that appear regularly in The Talk of The Town).  5 of the illustrations are full page.

# of cartoons  in the issue: 14 (none are full page).

As in previous weeks, I’m not going to go cartoon-by-cartoon, but will instead note a few.

Interesting that for two of the cartoons the humor involves walking through or onto something.  That is to say, the act of walking itself is the core of the drawing.  In Julia Suits cartoon (p.16), a  blindfolded fellow is being led to step onto an upturned rake. Ka-pow, right?  In Will McPhail’s drawing (p.39), a just arriving visiting couple will momentarily walk through hot coals. Ouch!

  The New Yorker cartoon subway series is back after a hiatus; this week’s subterranean drawing courtesy of Roz Chast (page 34). 

 The Spill does not rate cartoons like they do over on the Cartoon Companion, but it does applaud exceptional work, such as Joe Dator’s drawing (p.21) and Bruce Kaplan’s tight graphic treat (p.42).

Finally, as has been the case for just over a year now, I’m showing Rea Irvin’s spectacular Talk of the Town masthead.  Why show it?  Because it was replaced last spring by a look-alike.  To read a Spill piece about Mr. Irvin’s drawing and its unnecessary replacement, link here.

Here’s the real thing:

To see all of the cartoons in this issue, link here and scroll down to the slideshow, “Cartoons from the Issue”

— See you next week

 

 

 

 

 

Profile of Interest: The “Sistine Chapel of Comic-Strip Art”; Liza Donnelly to Speak at Ireland’s Inspirefest; Cartoon Companion Rates the Latest New Yorker Cartoons

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“The Sistine Chapel of Comic-Strip Art”

From the New York Times, May 11, 2018, “The Sistine Chapel of Comic-Strip Art” — this piece on a mural of various cartoon characters in a sports bar (James Thurber is mentioned here and there as the sports bar’s lineage includes Costello’s, where Thurber famously drew a mural in the mid 1930s. That mural, restored in 1972*, vanished in 1992**). 

*”Thurber Creatures Live Again in Bar Here,” NYTs,  April 9, 1972

**“Drawing Attention to Great Thurber Heist,” New York Post, November 9, 2005

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Liza Donnelly to Speak at Ireland’s Inspirefest

 “Liza Donnelly on art and activism: ‘Change Comes One Person At a Time'”

–this short piece on Ms. Donnelly as she prepares to head across the pond.

Link here to Liza Donnelly’s website.

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Cartoon Companion Rates the Latest New Yorker Cartoons

“Max” & “Simon” are back with their takes on the cartoons in this week’s New Yorker (the “Innovators Issue”).  The guys dig into drawings of snails, Death, Frankenstein, mice, a mime and more. Joe Dator is awarded Top Toon of the week.  See it all here.