Here’s another example of Frederick Opper’s strip Happy Hooligan from June 18, 1905. 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’s another example of F.M. Howarth’s strip The Love of Lulu and Leander from 1906. Click the image to read the strip.
You can see more examples of this strip (and many other classic comics) at Barnacle Press.
J.H. Williams III collaboration with writer Alan Moore on Promethea was beautiful and mind-bending… some of the most gorgeously drawn meta-comics ever attempted. Being a super-genius, Moore gets much of the (well-deserved) credit for the success of Promethea, but few other artists could have done so much with his psychedelic scripts.
Click the above image to see the full-size version on the site I found it on.
Archer Prewitt‘s Sof’ Boy is hilarious and beautifully drawn and designed… Sof’ Boy is perpetually the victim of extreme violence, but to our semi-oblivious hero, this violence comes as naturally as the breeze going by. Sof’ Boy is kind of like if Casper the Friendly Ghost couldn’t figure out how to die, and was forced to walk among the living as a goony ball of dough in limbo, with bowery bums, prostitutes and hungry sewer rats. Like his friend Chris Ware, Prewitt has a great eye for design, and the Sof’ Boy books always look beautiful. Unfortunately, a new issue only happens every couple of years or so… they are always worth the wait, though.
Click the above image to see the full-size version on the site I found it on.
Click here to read the entry on Archer Prewitt at lambiek.net.
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.
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.
Here’s another example of F.M. Howarth’s strip The Love of Lulu and Leander from 1906. Click the image to read the strip.
You can see more examples of this strip (and many other classic comics) at Barnacle Press.
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.
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).
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.