\(L í: • • Bfe-- ^m^ r%\ 1 #k 1 ^*rÁ mvíy --^ ■:■ - ]■-' ~~ ■^M» «- I ,-S s V .'(//*/* y ' > 3 ►#/" ,ry -wO-; y * 'j n l -4- *VK i- W IUI -— A REMARKABLE NEW BAEDEKER OF THE TOONS/ —GARRY TRUDEAU, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK. REVIEW I f ACTUAL!.-) A/C7- „__-1 FAieTHER y \ \ i ! i ICtaD 1 I7D0 l8po 1 1900 1 1 1 1 HERE'S A PIECE OF THE 70/ty CONTAINED :e-colum8ian ■£ MA/Yl/SCK/rr EKED" BY COKTE'S ound /s/9. THIS 36-FOOT LONG, &R/<5wrzy-coio/?£~£>, PAINTED SCREFNFOLP TELLS OF THE GREAT AUL/TAXY AND POL/T/CAL řfEKO s-oem -T/Gexr's-CLAw."*. IS IT COMICS?' VOU &ET IT IS/ WE CAN EVEN X£AO SOME.'' 12 KEAD1NG IFFľ TO KrGŕfT J SEE THE EVENTS OF THE CONQUEST, IN PELIBEFATE CtfXO/VOLOGtCAĹ ORPEK UNFOLD BEFORE OUR VERY as with the MextcAN cooex, THERE AKE NO PANEl g&ROeßS PER SE, SUT THERE ARE CLEAR DIVISIONS OF SCENE by čiz&sEcr /HArrex. Ot/KS UlLUAr! iiZnOVliS HIS féLHĚT TC 'ZUU* '■"!■ SCLDJěRS HAAOL05 Awy is cur to Pieces 6* MAYSF I SHOULDN'T SAY "INVENT" EUROPEANS WERE A BIT LATE IN DISCOVERING PRINTING. AND SO, COMICS' LOW SELF-ESTEEM IS S£LF-PEZPETUATING! THE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE NECESSARY TO cowrexACT comics' NEGATIVE 1MAQE IS OBSCURED BY THAT NEGATIVITY. WOODCUT ARTIST IY/VD WARD IS ONE SUCH WirSS/KG Á.WJV. WARPS SILENT -WOOPCl/TWOVSI-S' ARE POWERFUL MOPEKN FABLES, NOW PRAISED BY COMICS ARTISTS, BUT SELDOM RECOGNIZED AS COMICS. "•'iiSiapH^TitfffiSffl« ©ujď mmmmm ARTISTS LIKE WARD AND BELGIAN ^7 THEIR 2359SV/7JKÍV P=PAN$ /HASBAreFt. SAID MUCH THROUGH , OF COMICS, THEN AS THEIR WOODCUTS ABOUT THE POTENTIAL OF ' COMICS, BUT FEW IN THE COMICS COMMUNITY OF THE DAY COULP <5ef T/ZfMfSSAGF. MOW, WAS SIMPLY TOO NARROW TO INCLUDE SUCH WORK. FROM FRANK MASEREEL'S PASSfONATSJOUZ/V£TY, '919. A ľ/tVf GENERATION WIlLNODOUBTyWjTO' WHATEVER THIS ONE FINALLY DFCIDESTO ACCEPT ANP TRY ONCE MORE TO ^ C-&A1/CS. A 23 THIS IS NOT A COMPANY. this is not a FACE. FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS CHAPTER, I'M USING THE WORD "/COW TO MEAN ANY IMAGE USED TO REPRESENT A A PERSON, PLACf, THING OR IDEA. THAT'S A BIT BROADER THAN THE DEFINITION IN MY DICTIONARY, SUT IT'S THE CLOSEST THING TO WHAT I NEED HERE. THEN THERE ARE THE ICONS OF i/WGUAGe, SC/EJVCe AND COM/VU//V/CŘT/0N. r-;--.''niiw:':yiii!''.,.iy!'-n' " A | B C 0 ? ; i * s Ä m H + — x -i- $ % © | t T tt t m R ▲ = Oo Q $ S R. AND FINALLY, THE ICONS WE CALL PICTURES: IMAGES DESIGNED TO ACTUALLY RSSE/VlgLe THEIR SUBJECTS. BUT AS RESEMBLANCE VARIES, SO DOES THE LEVEL OF ICONIC CONTENT. OR TO PUT IT SOMEWHAT CIV/HS/LY.^ SOME PICTURES ARE JUST MORE ICONIC THAW OTHERS. 26 27 DEFtNtNG THE CARTOON WOULD TAKE UP AS MUCH SPACE AS DEFINING CO/Vt/CS, 8UT FOR /VOW, I'M GOING TO EXAMINE CARTOONING AS A FORM OF AMPL/F/CAT/ON THROUGH S/MPl /F/CATrON- 30 C|LM CRITICS WILL SOMETWfS DESCRIBE A i/ye-AcnoN film aS a "CARTOON" TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE STRIPPED-DOWN MTFWSITr OF A SIMPLE STORY OR VISUAL STYLE. THOUGH THE TERM IS OFTEN USED P/SPARA/SrNGLY, IT CAN BE EQUALLY WELL APPLIED TO MANY TWIB-TeSTED CiASSTCS. SIMPLIFYING CHARACTERS AND IMAGES TOWARD A PURPOSE CAN BE AN EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR STORYTELLING IN Afl/y MEDIUM CARTOONING ISNT JUST A WAY OF DXAWWG, IT'S A WAY OF čee/fl/Gf _^y &S, r* -fit j^l. foiwi. ■' ft T CAP OUI AN AN OF rov A ■iE f .TO C ! AT IDE? IMP THE JER. MD 1 GE «1LITYOF INS TO fOCZ/S TENT ION ON v IS, I THINK, ORTANT PART 1R SPECIAL BOTH IN COMICS N DRAWING ■4ERALLY. A 3 í> s:.". i>-,f:— -4 t------ \ ť i 1 F--L-+ SUT I BELIEVE THERE'S SOMETHING MORE AT WORK IN OUR MINDS WHEN WE VIEW A CARTOON-ESPECIALLY OF A HUMAN FACE — WHICH WARRANTS FURTHER INVESTIGATION 6 © SEEING? THE FACT THAT YOUR MIND IS CAPASIB OF TAKING a arciF, two pots AND A ITN£ AND TURNING THEM INTO A fACe IS NOTHING SHORT OF //VCRE-D/BLB' BUT STILL WORE INCREDIBLE IS THE FACT THAT XJU CANNOT /IVOfP SEEING A FACE HERE. YOUK MIND WON'T ÍST YOU/ a 31 BOTH ARTIST AND WRITER BEGIN, HANDS JOINED ACROSS THE OAP, WITH A COMMON PURPOSE: TO MAKE COMICS OF 'QUALITY' THE ARTIST KNOWS THAT THIS MEANS MORE THAN JUST ST/CK-F/Gl/RFS AND Cfii/Pe CAPTOO/VS. HE SETS OFF IN SEARCH OF A H/GHeR ART. THE WRITER KNOWS THAT THIS MEANS MORE THAN JUST OOF/ FVlľ.'fZ/tM,' AND ONF-A-ZTAY GAGS. SHE SETS OFF IN SEARCH OF SOMETHING DFEPSR. in museums and in libraries, the artist finos what he's looking for. he studies the techniques of the great masters of western art. he practices N/6HTANZ>Z>Ay. SHE TOO FINDS WHAT SHE'S LOOKING FOR, IN THE GREAT MASTERS OF WESTERHUTERATURF. SHE READS AND WRITES CONSTANTLY SHE SEARCHES FOR A VOICE un/oufi y hers. FINALLY, THEY'RE READY. BOTH HAVE MASTERED mew ARTS. HIS BRUSHSTROKE IS NEARLY WV/S/8ÍE IN ITS SUBTLETY THE FIGURES PURE /W/CNAFCAM6FZO. HER DESCRIPTIONS ARE Z>AZZL/N&. THE WORDS FLOW TOGETHER LIKE A SHARFSPFARFA/V SONNET. _TZT THEY'RE READY TO JQfH HANDS ONCE MORE AND CREATE A COMICS MASTERPTFCF. h\JO EYES, Myyy^l- + ONE NOSE,* ZŽtZ&T* ONE MOUm. eniFZiurr., 48 PICTURES ARE KECE/Y£D INFORMATION. WE NEED NO FORMAL EDUCATION JO'GET T/TE MESSAGE' THE MESSAGE IS /NSTANTANEOl/S. OUR NEED FOR A unified IAN6UA6E OF COMICS SENDS US TOWARD THE CENTER WHERE WORDS AND PICTURES ARE LIKE TWO SIDES OF ONE CO/TV/ 8UT OUR NEED FOR SOPf//S77CAT/OA/ IN COMICS SEEMS TO LEAD US OtmVAFP, WHERE WORDS AND PICTURFS ARE MOST SEPARATE. both are worthy asp/^attons. both stem from a love of comics and a devotion to its FUTURE I SAY THE ANSWER is yes, sut since THE REASONS BELONG IN A P/FFEFENT CHAPTER, WE'LL HAVE TO COME BACK TO THIS Z AT F P. 49 USUALLY THE WORP "ABSTRACTION" REFERS TO THE ľ AfO/V-ZCO/WC VARIETY, WHERE NO ATTEMPT IS MADE TO CLING ^TO RESEMBLANCE OK MEANING. O % 'ill 50 f,cXuA* fitann- O /Ä\ / / /V. / t aš // / ~ť w seiow me, THE AREA DESCRIBED SY THESE 3 VERT1CES-- "REALITy; LANGUAGE ^ND THE PICTURE PLANE ~ REPRESENTS THE TOTAL PICTORJAl V0CA8MAXY, OF COMICS OR OF/"// OF THE VISUAL AKTS. /li © 0\ FACE -------,---------------• MOST COMICS ART LIES NEAR THE Ä777ZW—THAT IS, AL0N6 THE /CONIC ABSTRACTION SIDE WHERE EVERY LINE HAS A MEANING. tfčAR THE LINE, BUT NOT NECESSARILY ON IT.' FOR EVEN THE MOST S7RA1GH7-FORWARD LITTLE CARTOON CHARACTER HAS tK-MBANINGLeSS-LINE OR TWO/ IF WE INCORPORATE LANGUAGE AND OTHER ICONS INTO THE CHART, WE CAN gEGiN TO BUILD A COMPREHENSIVE MAP-- — Of:Tri£ UNIVERSE CALLSD COM/CS. 51 I. yARY FLEENER at her most abstract. 2. MAROCAĽ» P**r. 3. DAVE McKEAN emptying on* o' Ih« meny styles lound m hla series CAGES. 4. MARC HEMPEL's GREGORY. 3. MARK BEYER. 8. LARRY MARDERs Beenish from TALES OF THE B6AMWORLO. "Resembling- nothing ever seen (hence all lha way to the right], Msrdefs beans iná from design to maaning. 7. SAUL ST1ENBERG. 8. PENNY KORAN VAN-HORN from THE LIBRARIAN. 9. LORENZO MATTOT1 m FIRES (O Editions AlOin Michel S.A.) combines deeply impressionistic lighting tis and strong, design-oriented oomposrtions. In other words, he's 3 hard one lo place. 10. ALINE KOMINSKY-CRUMB. II. PETER BAGQE's Chuckie-Boy fro NEAT STUFF. Compare to 39. 12. KRISTINE KRYTTRE- 13. REA IHV1N. THE SMYTHES O Field Newspaper Syndicate. 14. STEVE WILLIS'S Moity. 15. PHIL YEH"s FRANK THE UNICORN. IB. JERRY MORIARTYs ( Survives". Based tůsuiy on real world light and shadow, bul decomposed into rough shapes. Similar effects are found in no.s fl.18.19,20 and 34. 17. JEFF WONG'S art tot Scat! Russo's JIZZ 18. ROLF STARK's expressiomstic RAIN. IS. SPAIN'S TRASHMAN. 20. FRANK MILLER'S THE DARK KNK3HT RETURNS. Batman O D.C Comics. Batman created by Bob Kane. 21. WILLIAM MESSNER-LOEBS's Wolverine MacAllstair from JOURNEY. 22. DON SIMPSON'S MEGATON MAN. Beginning from a realistic anatomical base. Simpson distorts and exaggerate* MM. s features to Ih* brink of abstraction. 23. MICHAEL CHERKAS from SILENT INVASION, e Cherka* and Hancock. 24. RICK GEARY. 25. PETER KUPER. 2«. GARRY TRUDEAU's OOONESBURY. 27. LYNDA BARRY. 28. SAMPEI SHIRATO. 2«, CHARLES BURNS's BIG BABY. 2« 1/2. (WhoopsJ CLIFF STERRETT. The character pictured here (from POLLY ANO HER PALS) might belong a bit lower, but Starren'* art, like Fleener's otten heads upward toward the wildly abstract. PA.H.P. is O Newspaper Features Syndicate, Inc. 30. SERGIO ARAGONES's GROO THE WANOERER. Simple, straightforward, but with a strong gestural quality lhal always reminds us of the hand lhal holds the pen (also true of 14,28.31.41). 31. ROBERTA GREGORY'S Bitchy Bitch from NAUGHTY BITS. 32. DAVID MA22UCCHELU from BATMAN: YEAR ONE. Commissioner Gordon O D.C. Comics. 33. JOSE MUNOZ from -Miner Conrad. Mister Wilcox'. O Munoi and Sampayo. 34. CAROL SWAIN. 35. CHESTER GOULD s DICK TRACY O Chicaga Tribune-New York Syndicate Inc. 38. JACK KIRBY's Darksaid. O D.C. Comics. 37. BOB BURDEN. 38. DANIEL TORRES's Rocco Vargas from TRITON. 38. PETER BAGQE's Buddy Bradley from HATE. Compare lo 11 «0. SETH. 41. MARK MARTIN. 42. JULIE DOUCET. 43. EDWARD GOREY. 44. CRAIG RUSSELL * Mowgl. from IGpangs THE JUNGLE BOOKS Russell's characters are as finely observed and realistically baaed as Hal Foster's or Dave Stevens' Out with an unparalleled s> ol design thai draws ihem toward the upper vonní! Lately. Russell naa Oaan moving 3 bn higher and toward the right in some cases. 45. GOSEKI KOJtMA from KOZURE OKAMI ("Won and Cub") O Koike and Kojirria. 46. EDDIE CAMPBELLS ALEC. Realistic in tone. but also gestural and spontaneous. The pmc»sa of drawing isn't hidden Irom view. 47. ALEX TOTH. Zorro C Zo rroP re-auctions. Inc. Art ů Wan Disney Productions. (Zorro created by Johnston McCulley) as. HUGO PRATTs CORTO MALTESE -Ů Casterman. Pans-Tourmai. 48. WILL EISNER from TO THE HEART OF THE STORM. 50. DOfll SEDA. 51. R. CRUMB swings between realistic and carloony characters, usually slaying about this high bul occasionally venturing upward. 57. STEVE DITKO. 53. NORMAN DOG. 54. VALENTINO* NORMALMAN srts a bit to (ho right and up from his current SHADOWHAWK Iwhose iconic mau made him a bit harder to place). 55. ROZ CHAST. 58. JOOST SWARTE'i Anion Makassar. 57. ELZIE SEGAR's POPÍ1 YE- O King features Syndicate, Inc. 58. GEORGE HERRIMAN's "Olfissa Pupp" from KRAZY KAT O Iniarnational la. ServK*. Inc. 5». JIM WOODRING's FRANK. SO. HEAL ADAMS, from X-MEN © Marvel Entertainment Group. Inc. (X-Uen created by Lee *-?J Kirby,. «1. GIL KANE from ACTION COMICS o D.C. Comics. Inc. &2. MILTON CANIFF's STEVE CANYON. 63. JIM LEE. Nick Fury appearing in X-MEN ú Marvel Entertainment Group. Inc. 84. JOHN BYRNE. Superman C DC Comics. Inc. (Supairr 0 by Jerry Siegel and Joe Schusler). 65. JACOUES TAROI from LE OEMON DES GLACES O Oargeud Edtieur. 86. JEAN-CLAUDE UEZIERES. Lauieline VALERIAN series, o Oargeud Ed.leur. 87 BILL GRIFFITH'S ZIPPY THE PINHEAO. 66 JOE MATT. 60. KYLE BAKER from WHY HATE SATURN.70. TRINA ROBBINS ; MISTY. O Marvel Ensertainmenl Group, Inc. 71. RIYOKO IKEDA's Oscar from THE ROSE OF VERSAILLES. 72. GEORGE McMANUS. BRINGING UP FATHER O Wem et on el Feature Service. Inc. 73. CHARLES SCHULZ's Chsrtie Brown Irom PEANUTS O United Features Syndicate. Inc. 74. ART SPIEGELMAN Irom MAUS. 75. MATT FEAZELL's CYNICALMAN 76. The company Logo. The picture as symbol. 77. Title Logo. The word as object. 78. Sound Eflvct. The word as sound. 7». TOM KING'S SNOOKUMS. THAT LOVABLE TRANSVESTITE. a photo-come. 80. DREW FRIEDMAN. 81. DAVE STEVENS. 82. HAL FOSTER. TARZAN created by Edgat Rice Buiroughs. 83. ALEX RAYMOND. Flash Gordon 0 King Features Syndicate. Inc. 84. MILO MANARA. 85. JOHN BUSCEMA. The Vision e Marvel Entertainment G'Oup. 86 CAROL LAY'S Irene Van de Kamp Irom GOOD GIRLS. A butane characier. but drawn rn a vniy straightforward styl*. 87. GILBERT HERNANDEZ. 83. JAIME HERNANDEZ. 89. COLIN UPTON. 00. KURT SCHAFFENBERGER. Superboy C O.C Com«». »1. JACK COLE'S PLASTIC MAN. Ů DC. Comics. »2. REED WALLER'S OMAHA THE CAT DANCER C Waller and Wbrley. 83. WENDY PINI's Skywise from ELFOUEST. O WaRP Graphics. 04. DAN DE CARLO. o Archie Comics. 95. HAROLD GRAY's LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE. 0 Chicago Tribune- New York News Syndicate. 06. HERGE's TINTIN ů Editions Casterman. »7. FLOYD GOTTFREDSON. Mickey Mouse O Walt Disney Productions. 08. JEFF SMITH'S BONE 04. Smile Damm«. 190. COLLEEN DOflAN's A DISTANT SOIL. 101. ROY CRANE's CAPTAIN EASY O NEA Serve*. Inc. 102. DAN CLOWES. 103. WAYNO. 104. V.T. HAMUNs ALLEY OOP O NEA Serve». Inc. 105. CHESTER BROWN. 106. STAN SAKAI's USAGI YOJIMBO. 107. 0AVE SIM's CERE8US THE AAflOVARK. 10«. WALT KELLYs POGO O Setby Kelly. 10». RUDOLPH DIRKS') I JANS ANO FRITZ O King Features Syndicate. Inc. 110. H.C. 'BUD" EISHER's Jeff Irom MUTT AND JEFF O McNaught Syndicate. Inc. 111. MORT WALKER'S HI AND LOIS O King Feature* Syndicate. Inc 112. 09AMU TEZUKA'* ASTROBOY 113. CARL BARKS. Scrooge McDueK. o Wilt Diiney Productions. 114. CROCKETT JOHNSON'S Mister O'Melley liom BARNABY O Field Newspaper Synduie. Inc. 115. PAT SULLIVAN'S FELIX THE CAT O Newspaper Featur« Serve«. 116. UDERZO. ASTERIX by Goscinny and Udeno ô Oargaud "tfea/Úf