Interesting Links: May 6th, 2008

And the cute li’l guy of the month of april is…

LUTEFISK SUSHI VOLUME C OPENS TONIGHT!

I’m participating in and co-curating the Lutefisk Sushi Volume C show, which opens tonight. It features the work of over 50 Minnesota cartoonists, including the previously mentioned Kevin Cannon, who is premiering the limited print edition of Far Arden. If you can’t make it tonight, it will be up all month, with special events during Art-A-Whirl May 16th-18th.

The box set includes a copy of the first collection of my Rogues’ Gallery strips. A number of other rare and obscure mini-comics I’ve made will be available for sale there as well.

Hope to see you all there!

Lutefisk Sushi Volume C Opening, Friday May 2nd, 7PM-10PM
Altered Esthetics (alteredesthetics.org)
1224 Quincy St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Crumbling Paper: Record of An Early Jam Comic and Billy DeBeck’s Hints on Pen Handling

Kirk Taylor of the previously mentioned Taylor-Morse Collection website sent a couple of very interesting scans to share. First of all, here is an article from a 1915 issue of Cartoons Magazine, about a jam drawing made by a number of cartoonists including Carl Edward “Bunny” Schultze (Foxy Grandpa) and Claire Briggs (Mr. and Mrs.. I’m happy to report that I recently scored a stack of his wonderful work that I will scan and post here eventually. You can see a large sampling of his early work at Barnacle Press here.). Click here to read the article.

Second of all, Kirk sent a wonderful Billy DeBeck tutorial called “A Few Hints on Pen Handling.” Apparently, DeBeck did a regular series of tutorials in Cartoons Magazine… boy would these make a great book. If anyone has more of these to post, I would sure love to post them. I’m definitely going to harass Kirk for some more!

About these, Kirk says:

Cartoonists of the ’20s were a clubby bunch,
I’ve been surprised at the camaraderie among them,
guys like DeBeck serving as mentor to so many younger
unknowns. He’d even invite unpublished comikers from
across the country to write into him from his
instructional editorials in Cartoons Magazine,
encouraging them to submit samples.

Click the image to see a larger version.

Go here to view scans from the January 1916 Cartoons Magazine at the ASIFA Animation Archive.

Here is a large collection of Cartoons Magazine from 1915 at Google Book Search… wish the resolution was a little better, but still a treasure trove.

Read examples of Billy DeBeck’s Barney Google at Barnacle Press.

Read STWALLSKULL’s previous posts on Billy DeBeck and Barney Google.

Check out the Yahoo GoogleGang group that sporadically posts Barney Google strips.

Read more about Barney Google at Toonopedia.

Read more about Billy DeBeck at Lambiek.

Interesting Links: May 2nd, 2008

You still have time to vote for your favorite cute li’l guy of the month for April! Polls close tomorrow! Roller Raccoon and Ollie the Elephant are now tied with a new contender! Trixie is now tied as well! Note that there are numerous “third party” candidates to choose from as well.

Please go and vote, or this cute thing could get ugly! Comment! Harass your friends to fill the ballots for your favorite cute li’l guy!


Trixie says:

“Vote for me and I bake a cake! Yummy, yummy! I will eats it good too, you betcha. Oh boy! Thankee!”


Roller Raccoon says:

“I see rocky roads ahead! Glad I do not have great big green elephant feet which step on rocks and go ouchy ouchy!”


Ollie the Elephant says:

“Again, I do implore you to cast your vote for me. Although any of my opponents would most likely do an exemplary job of serving as cute diminutive fellow for the month of April, I postulate that I could bring a seriousness and, dare I say, sense of honor to the position that perhaps you may find my opponents to be lacking in. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration. Your humble servant, Ollie the Elephant.”

Click here to do your civic duty!

Crumbling Paper: The Awful Result of Having Too Much Curiosity

Here’s a primitive and twisted strip I scanned of what is presumably a one-shot strip titled The Awful Result of Having Too Much Curiosity by an unknown artist… I don’t know the year, but it is over 100 years old. If you think you know who drew it, please enlighten us in the comments.

Click the image to view the full strip.

Interesting Links: May 1st, 2008

Happy May Day!

You still have time to vote for your favorite cute li’l guy of the month for April! Roller Raccoon and Ollie the Elephant are currently running neck and neck. Vote! Comment! Harass your friends to fill the ballots for your favorite cute li’l guy!


Roller Raccoon says:

“I would say I hope it is all uphill from here, but I’m on skates.”


Ollie the Elephant says:

“My opponents have many fine traits that more than qualify them for this esteemed position; many perhaps moreso than myself. Nevertheless, considering me for this honor would be most appreciated, kind readers. I should note that although I am an elephant, I am a green elephant, and in no way associated with the pachyderm rapscallions that choose to ignobly align themselves with the Republican party.”

Click here to do your civic duty!