WARNING: i am a complete and total nerd for cartoons:WARNING
i had a few hours in new york to myself, so i went where i always do, the strand!
i love the strand. i want to live in it. I found a used copy of the 3rd griffen and sabine book, the golden mean for 3 dollars, and an OOOOOLD (1945!) copy of a book by one of my favorit all time cartoonists, Abner Dean. I fell in love with abners work because,
1: i dont fully get why he does what he does. his work confuses and intruiges me. its all one page visual metaphors. its a stark featureless world filled with naked but groinless people. each piece has a short title and thats it. not word balloons or speech. its very thoughtful work.
2: theyre unusually dark for the time period. in post world war two america, all cartoonists seemed to be working with eith stock millionaires and thier foibles or crass lower class cab drivers and such. abners cartoons have such an angst about them, a feeliong of missing something or losing something. and with the metaphorical setting is even more unusual.
3: he draws a bit like me, so its narciscistic. im pretty sure i had penned a few of the dogmen (early as 99) and when i found the first book, 'what am i doing here', i felt id found a kindred cartoonist.
so: my find is called, 'its a long way to heaven'. Like the other book, its filled with metaphorical (naked yet groinless) people all done in the post war inkwash style. BUT, and heres the best part, the cartoons are gently tinted in one color, so the blacks are not black but a dark dark whatever. and the pages are so fragile, that i made small tears in a couple of pages turning them in starbucks.
finding something rare that only you appreciate has got to be one of the best feelings in the world.
i had a few hours in new york to myself, so i went where i always do, the strand!
i love the strand. i want to live in it. I found a used copy of the 3rd griffen and sabine book, the golden mean for 3 dollars, and an OOOOOLD (1945!) copy of a book by one of my favorit all time cartoonists, Abner Dean. I fell in love with abners work because,
1: i dont fully get why he does what he does. his work confuses and intruiges me. its all one page visual metaphors. its a stark featureless world filled with naked but groinless people. each piece has a short title and thats it. not word balloons or speech. its very thoughtful work.
2: theyre unusually dark for the time period. in post world war two america, all cartoonists seemed to be working with eith stock millionaires and thier foibles or crass lower class cab drivers and such. abners cartoons have such an angst about them, a feeliong of missing something or losing something. and with the metaphorical setting is even more unusual.
3: he draws a bit like me, so its narciscistic. im pretty sure i had penned a few of the dogmen (early as 99) and when i found the first book, 'what am i doing here', i felt id found a kindred cartoonist.
so: my find is called, 'its a long way to heaven'. Like the other book, its filled with metaphorical (naked yet groinless) people all done in the post war inkwash style. BUT, and heres the best part, the cartoons are gently tinted in one color, so the blacks are not black but a dark dark whatever. and the pages are so fragile, that i made small tears in a couple of pages turning them in starbucks.
finding something rare that only you appreciate has got to be one of the best feelings in the world.
abyssia:
this entry brought a giant grin to my face. and now i'm actually interested in a cartoonist. so i'm happy for you, and surprised at myself! thank you! and yay for you!!!