Michael Updike Looks For A Cartoon
Michael Updike contacted the Spill recently in search of a multi-panel New Yorker drawing, published in the 1970s, similar to the one (shown below) his father, John Updike, did for The Harvard Lampoon in the early 1950s.
After a thorough search through The New Yorker’s database the only drawing I found that came somewhat close — funnily enough — was my own drawing (shown below) that appeared in the magazine May 11, 1987.
Mine, though similar, was not the one Michael remembered — close, but no cigar. There’ve been a number of New Yorker “merge” cartoons over the years (approximately 60), but the vast majority are centered on business mergers. Most of those use “merge” conversationally, within the caption. None of them, other than Lewley-Belden, have that sort of Charles Addams-ish feel about them we see in John Updike’s 3 panel.
If anyone out there can identify a muti-panel drawing very similar to John Updike’s Harvard Lampoon multi-panel, please let me know. It would most likely have run in another magazine (the New Yorker database is not perfect, but it’s proved to be reliable). Unfortunately, the many magazines running cartoons in the 1970s do not have searchable databases. If someone does come up with a match, I’ll post it here.
— My thanks to Michael Updike for permission to post John Updike’s Harvard Lampoon drawing.
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The Tilley Watch Online, September 25-29, 2023
An end of the week listing of New Yorker artists whose work has appeared on newyorker.com features
The Daily Cartoon: Paul Noth, Emily Flake, Mick Stevens, David Sipress, Adam Douglas Thompson.
Daily Shouts: Julia Wertz, Liana Finck, Emily Flake.
Barry Blitt’s Kvetchbook: “Republican Debate Opus No.2”
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Note to Readers: Due to a server issue, two of this week’s posts were lost (gone! vanished!): Thurber Thursday’s “A Thurber Bio…By Thurber” and Friday’s “Back To Ed Koren’s Vermont.” I will attempt to reconstruct both and re-post them sometime this coming week.