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Crumbling Paper: Happy Hooligan (1904) by Frederick Opper (strip #14)

Here’s another example of Frederick Opper’s strip Happy Hooligan from March 6, 1904. Click the image to read the strip.

You can see more examples of Happy Hooligan (and many other classic comics) at Barnacle Press. Here are some other Opper strips at Barnacle Press.

Here are some other Happy Hooligan examples from Bugpowder.

Here are some other Opper strips from Coconino Classics.

Obscure Images: The Flaming Fire Illustrated Bible

The Flaming Fire Illustrated Bible is an attempt to illustrate the entire bible, verse by verse, online… it is an ongoing project that has been around for a few years now and that you can participate in… see their faq for more information. I was poking on there and thought I’d share some of the illustrations by cartoonists that I enjoyed. Click on them to go to the large versions on the Flaming Fire site.

Illustrated by Patrick Smith. (see more of his Flaming Fire illos here)

Psalms 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Illustrated again by Patrick Smith. (see more of his Flaming Fire illos here)

Matthew 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

Illustrated by Jeffrey Brown. (see more of his Flaming Fire illos here)

Numbers 26:46 And the name of the daughter of Asher was Sarah.

Illustrated by Brett Von Schlosser.

II Chronicles 25:1 Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem.

Illustrated by Dame Darcy. (See more of her Flaming Fire illos here).

Judges 4:21 Then Jael Heber’s wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.

Illustrated by Danny Hellman. (See more of his Flaming Fire illos here).

Revelation 20:7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,

Illustrated by Kevin Cannon (also see Big Time Attic). Kevin got the one on the back of all the Chick Tracts!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Illustrated by Nick Joseph.

Acts 23:13 And they were more than forty which had made this conspiracy.

Illustrated by Rick Geary.

I Kings 19:19 So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him.

Illustrated by Shad Petosky.

Exodus 22:19 Whosoever lieth with a beast shall surely be put to death.

Illustrated by Tim Hodler. (See more of his Flaming Fire illos here).

Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.

Illustrated by Tom Hart. (See more of his Flaming Fire illos here).

Jeremiah 20:7 O LORD, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived; thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed: I am in derision daily, every one mocketh me.

Illustrated by Tony Millionaire.

Psalms 143:3 For the enemy hath persecuted my soul; he hath smitten my life down to the ground; he hath made me to dwell in darkness, as those that have been long dead.

150 Greatest Cartoonists Countdown: #141 Al Hirschfeld

#141 Al Hirschfeld

Pictured above: Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Count Basie and Duke Ellington… click the image to see a larger version on the site I found it at.

Al Hirschfeld did more with a few lines than any other cartoonist in history. His caricatures captured the essence of people perfectly, simplifying them and stripping them down to the bare essentials. They were always immediately recognizable in spite of this extreme distillation. Anyone who has attempted caricature knows how difficult it is to do well at all, let alone using so few lines. His ability to do this consistently regardless of the subject is nothing short of amazing… that he did it that well for 70 or so years is mind-blowing.

Hirschfeld has no competition as the greatest caricaturist of all time.

There’s an excellent gallery of some of his work here.

Here’s a video of him drawing at age 99…


Click here to read the entry about Al Hirschfeld at lambiek.net.

Interesting Links: May 22, 2007

150 Greatest Cartoonists Countdown: #142 Harold Gray

#142 Harold Gray

I’ll start with saying I haven’t read nearly as much Harold Gray’s Little Orphan Annie as I would like… I’ve picked up some reprints recently that I haven’t got to yet that I’m looking forward to. That said, what I have read has been extremely impressive. I love Gray’s bleak, straightforward art, his sparse, simple backgrounds, and his sense of composition. His storytelling skills made Annie one of the most popular comic strips of the thirties. Fantagraphics did some reprints a while ago… recently IDW Publishing picked it up. A number of different Annie reprints can be found here, including some very cool facsimile editions of her old reprint books from the 20’s and 30’s that were published by the Pacific Comics Club.

Click the above image to see the full strip at comicartfans.com. One other interesting thing I ran across at comicartfans.com while making this post… the last Annie strip by Harold Gray (from 7/20/68).

Click here to read the entry on Harold Gray at lambiek.net.

Crumbling Paper: Happy Hooligan (1911) by Frederick Opper (strip #13)

Here’s another example of Frederick Opper’s strip Happy Hooligan from 1911. Click the image to read the strip.

You can see more examples of Happy Hooligan (and many other classic comics) at Barnacle Press. Here are some other Opper strips at Barnacle Press.

Here are some other Happy Hooligan examples from Bugpowder.

Here are some other Opper strips from Coconino Classics.

700 Things: (Zombies) #369: Hello Gimpy

Here’s my contribution to the 700 Zombies project from the larger 700 Things project.

Zombie #369: Hello Gimpy

Hello Gimpy was killed by zombies in a shopping mall, of all places. Mercifully, his left arm tattoo was left in tact, fueling his inevitable moniker (the tattoo of the Lone Ranger on his right forearm was lost, unfortunately… if it had not been eaten, he would have most likely been called the Bone Ranger). Much like Hello Kitty, he stares forward blankly… his true emotions and thoughts remain inscrutable. Perhaps somewhere in his rotting brain, he longs secretly to have his ghastly visage appear on stickers, lunch pails, folders and other sparkling and shiny plastic geegaws like his iconic inspiration? If so, he sublimates these obscure desires into his anti-social hobby of consuming human flesh.

Note that my good friends at Big Time Attic just added some excellent pirates to the 700 Pirates project!

150 Greatest Cartoonists Countdown: #143 Rick Altergott

#143 Rick Altergott

Rick Altergott’s Doofus and Henry Hotchkiss are the Laurel and Hardy of modern “alternative comics.” Doofus’ obliviousness to and pride in his unintentionally anti-social behavior is always hilarious. Altergott’s style is clean and realistic, which makes his comics that much more effectively unsettling. Click the above image to view the whole Doofus strip at comicartcollective.com (where he sells original art)… more Doofus strips can be found on Mr. Altergott’s website, although the image quality there is terrible, unfortunately. You are much better off doing yourself a favor and buying the Doofus Omnibus anyhow.

Click here to read the entry on Rick Altergott at lambiek.net.