Cracked Madness of Crazy Lampoons & Sick Satires

Local Hero: Boston’s Francis W. Dahl

November 17, 2023October 31, 2024gasp656 Comments

« I’m going to Boston to see my doctor. He’s a very sick man. » — Fred Allen

My turn to spotlight a recent find: last month, during a fruitful visit to Ellsworth, ME’s The Big Chicken Barn, I spotted — among others — an item of interest in the humour section: a hardcover volume entitled Dahl’s Brave New World, published 1947. Spare but effective cartooning, plenty of imagination and wit. See what you make of it.

Replace ‘miniature plane’ with ‘drone’ and you’ve got a cartoon for these here times.

While the ordinary citizen has been waiting for his long-promised, personal jet pack for decades on end, a ready-to-wear helicopter would be, it seems to me, a reasonable substitute.

I love knowing that there’s a world of talented folk I’d never gotten wind of. Even if a lifetime is too short, even if I’ll miss out on some great art, both capital A and lower-case, I prefer to hold the optimistic view and raise the half-full glass in a heartfelt toast.

By way of biography, Mr. Dahl (1907-1973) thankfully rated an obit in the New York Times on May 7, 1973. Allow me to quote liberally from it:

« Francis W. Dahl, Boston’s best‐known cartoonist, whose works have appeared in newspapers here for 45 years as well as in a series of books, died today at his home in Newton. He was 65 years old.

Mr. Dahl’s cartoons focused on Bostonians and their politics, customs, costumes and foibles, with most of his subjects growing out of local news items.

From 1928, when he began his newspaper career as an $20‐a‐week illustrator, until last June, Mr. Dahl drew his cartoons for The Boston Herald and its successor, The Herald Traveler. When the paper was purchased by The Record‐American last June, he joined The Boston Globe.

Collections of the cartoons also appeared in a number of books, including “Left Handed Compliments,” “Dahl’s Cartoons,” “What, More Dahl?” “Birds, Beasts and Bostonians,” “Dahl’s Boston” and “Dahl’s Brave New World.”

Stories about Mr. Dahl have become part of Boston’s journalistic legends. Once, for example, a Herald engravers’ plate broke just before deadline and 144,000 copies were printed without his cartoon. A printed box asked readers if he was missed, and 4,000 letters were sent to the editor saying yes.

On another occasion, Mr. Dahl broke his right arm — his drawing arm — but rather than miss a day the paper had him draw left‐handed for six weeks. »

While the NYT piece itself draws heavily from a 1946 Time Magazine profile of Dahl, it left out the juiciest part of the anecdote: « Since draftsmanship is the least of Dahl’s assets, the switchover didn’t show much. »

It’s refreshing to see — especially in light of the era it was produced in — the lady take the amorous initiative.

I couldn’t pass this one up: I mean… mushrooms, bats, moles and skinks!

And here’s some insight into Dahl’s relative obscurity: « Because he concocts his cartoons out of local news items, and refuses to change his ways, mild-mannered Francis Dahl has never been syndicated. But for his collections of reprints, he would be unknown outside New England. » [ source ]

-RG

Hallowe’en Countdown VII, Day 28

October 28, 2023October 27, 2023gasp656 Comments

« If anything, I consider myself non-violent. I’m from the hippy era, peace, love, groovy. » — Rick James

1968 wasn’t exactly a banner year for Harry Shorten and Wally Wood‘s Tower Comics (1965-69); Wood’s flagship title, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, was down to running a mixture of reprints and inventory, and a mere two issues were cover-dated 1968. A final number, the 20th, limped onto newsstands a full year after its predecessor.

So it’s understandable that Wood started casting around for plan B. He gave Archie a try. It didn’t take… surely his fellow Tower editor and Archie refugee Samm Schwartz must have tried to warn him. Oh well.

« *Our Monster Is Hip. Oh, Where Did We Slip?* », most likely scripted by Archie mainstay George Gladir (1925-2013), appeared in **Archie’s Madhouse no. 64** (Oct. 1968).

As far as I know, this was the only story Wood drew for Archie Comics, at least in their usual humorous mode. In the ’70’s, he would provide finishes over Jack Abel‘s pencils on one story (« Devil Rider », Red Circle Sorcery no. 10, Dec. 1974) for the interesting but short-lived, Gray Morrow-directed Red Circle Comics Group, a more ‘mature’ Archie offshoot… and that’s it.

-RG

Hallowe’en Countdown VII, Day 25

October 25, 2023October 25, 2023gasp65Leave a comment

« Je suis American / Please cook my steak again. » — Ben Folds

Serge de Bechetch (1946-2007) and Jean-Marc « Loro » Laureau (1943-1998)’s Déboires d’Outre-tombe was an off-and-on (1969-75) series of short pieces parodying horror movie tropes. It took its (clever!) title from diplomat-author François-René de Chateaubriand (1768-1848)’s Mémoires d’Outre-Tombe (« Memoirs From Beyond the Grave »); “Déboires” signifies ‘a run of bad luck’ or, originally, ‘an unpleasant aftertaste’ from drinking wine. Nowadays, Chateaubriand is mostly associated with his chef’s favourite steak recipe.

To be honest, while Loro’s artwork was often inspired, Déboires’ gags mostly fell flat; I presume that the creators had no idea how hoary these monster jokes had become, not having been exposed to the likes of Famous Monsters of Filmland, Topps’ ‘You’ll Die Laughing‘ card set, Mad, Cracked, Sick… and all the glut of parody mags. However, Loro was for a time — and right from the start — editor of the French edition of Warren’s Creepy, which was, imho, superior to the original thanks to better printing and, most significantly, its brand-new, first-rate documentary material created by Midi Minuit Fantastique alumni, replacing Warren’s cool, but repetitive in-house Captain Company adverts.

Here are the strips I consider standouts. Just a few years on, Loro would attain his peak with the early cases of gumshoe Abel Dopeulapeul, whom we’ve featured a few years back. Contrast and compare!

Volume one of **Déboires d’outre-tombe** (1981, Éditions du Cygne).

Volume two of **Déboires d’outre-tombe** (1982, Éditions du Cygne).

« *You can tell a good workman by his tools!!!* »

Loro was clearly catching a lot of Hammer films of the era.

The plot, in a nutshell: Bertille constantly henpecks her husband because of his general rakishness and lack of gainful employment. Oh, but he’s found a job, he claims. Just then, she’s anonymously denounced as a witch. « *I told you, Bertille. You see… I’ve found some work.* »

« *So, what have you done today as a bad action?* »
« *I took the orphans from the youth club to the beach for a swim…* »
« *And what’s so evil about that?* » « *The sharks…* »

-RG

Hallowe’en Countdown VII, Day 18

October 18, 2023October 17, 2023gasp65Leave a comment

« Life swarms with innocent monsters. » — Charles Baudelaire

Few things evoke Hallowe’en so vividly to me as Gold Key’s The Little Monsters, one of the publisher’s relatively scarce non-licenced properties…

The series had its unlikely début as a backup feature in The Three Stooges no. 17 (cover-dated May 1964 — meaning it hit the stands in January) — months before The Addams Family (Sept. 18) or The Munsters (Sept. 24) reached television. Which is meaningless, of course, since the source for all of these fiends was Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons, wherein the clan did not even bear his name. Monsters everywhere! There must have been been something in the water.

Oddly enough, while Orvie, Annie, Demonica and Mildew soon (Nov. 1964) earned their own book, they remained loyal to Moe, Curly and Larry, retaining their backup slot to the very end of the Stooges’ run (no. 55, June 1972). And while the regular Little Monsters title often comprised reruns — as early as 1971’s issue 13 — the Stooges-sponsored backups never were reprinted.

I was all set to run with a furry little yarn from 1965, but then, just a few days ago, my nice mail lady fatefully handed me a box of comics that included The Little Monsters’ titular inaugural appearance.

And, having mentioned it, here’s the story I had originally slated for this post: Moondust and the Werewolf from The Three Stooges no. 26 (Nov. 1965, Gold Key).

– RG

Hallowe’en Countdown VII, Day 12

October 12, 2023October 11, 2023gasp65Leave a comment

« There are no innocent bystanders… what are they doing there in the first place? » — William S. Burroughs

I’ve sung the praises of The American Bystander before, and I do believe it could still use whatever publicity it can get. And so here are some choice excerpts from the magazine’s Hallowe’en-themed issue — no. 13 (naturally), Fall 2019… starting with its unfathomably gorgeous double-spread by Armando Veve.

The editor wrote: « Some of our covers are so good they could conjure an entire book, and when Armando Veve delivered his art, a whole story blossomed in my brain. This wired witch is speeding to her digs downtown, a well-appointed brownstone on West 11th between Bleeker and West 4th. She received the deed some years ago from a grateful secretary of state Seward, in exchange for “Mr. Stonewall Jackson’s unfortunate accident.” More recently, she’s occupied herself by magically manipulating the stock market; she delights in dropping enormous, anonymous college scholarships into the laps of earnest high school Wiccans. Most afternoons she can be found at Tartine, eating pastries and slipping love potions into unsuspecting patrons’ teacups. She agrees that the neighborhood isn’t what it used to be but — being 227 — knows it never was. »

Horror is around all the year ’round… we just celebrate it more fervently in the Fall. A strip by Brandon Hicks.

I certainly hope that’s not Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio‘s spectre on the right, since he couldn’t handle that scene in real life. A cartoon by Matt Percival.

I love that extra second-level chuckle (hint… ‘spell’). A cartoon by The New Yorker cartoonist Mick Stevens.

A low-key guide to lethal passion in the suburbs from WOT? favourite Stan Mack. And I’m with the squirrels; that neighbour got what he deserved.

The kids’ grapevine is utterly unforgiving. If you’re *very* fortunate, your ill repute will turn over with the next generation. A strip by Jim Siergey (b. 1949).

-RG

Hallowe’en Countdown VII, Day 6

October 6, 2023October 22, 2023gasp651 Comment

« In old New York it was Turkey Mike, Muggsy and the Big Six.
In San Francisco, Baby Bull, Stretch, and the Say Hey Kid.
Then came the Count, the Hackman, Jack the Ripper
and Will the Thrill.
Barry and Jeff Kent, but a dearth of nicknames,
that is, until… The Giants got the Panda. » — Scott McCaughey, “Panda and The Freak“

This year’s Major League Baseball playoffs are about to begin.

In those callow days of youth when I still cared about big league baseball — having lost interest in such matters when Montréal lost its team — the post season was over and done by, say, the 20th of October. Nowadays, with all the extra teams and trimmings, it just seems to go on and on.

I long for the days when only ball players and little kids wore baseball caps, to be honest. Ah, but the sport yet holds some fond memories for me. I recall most fervently the rather outré facets of it, fostered and amplified by the sport’s scads of iconoclasts and loonies*.

And while we’re on the subject, here are some highlights of Leaf/Donruss‘ 1988 card set Baseball’s Greatest Grossouts, illustrated by the busy yet ever-dazzling B. K. Taylor (Sick Magazine, The National Lampoon, The Muppet Show — he designed Dr. Teeth! — Sesame Street, Dynamite, Mulan…).

I’m mostly featuring the front of the cards, but the backs were also a treat. Love that grotesque wraparound artwork!

-RG

*splendidly — and catchily! — eulogised by supergroup The Baseball Project, featuring members of REM, The Young Fresh Fellows and Dream Syndicate. Four albums on, and their latest, Grand Salami Time!, may just be their finest hour. End of commercial, play ball!

Hallowe’en Countdown VII, Day 4

October 4, 2023October 3, 2023gasp653 Comments

« … so I’d work on it until three or four o’ clock in the morning — that is the time to do Loevecraftian machinations. » — Tom Sutton (2001)

If you ask me, Marvel’s attempts at humour never came off*, being both strained and generally directed at superheroes, who are ridiculous in the first place. It’s like mocking pro wrestling — What’s the point?

Marvel did half-try its clammy hand at a horror humour comic book midway through the 70s, and while much of it looked decent, it was consistently unfunny. You can give it your best Will Elder, but it won’t stick if you don’t have that rare magic comical gene.

And while I’d love to say that Tom Sutton (1937-2002) had it, I’m afraid he didn’t. But Gerald’s World was a story close to his heart, to the point where he actually remembered creating it and having fun doing so.

« Right, and I did “Gerald”, who stayed up all night watching Fay Wray or something like that. I had fun with those! You know there were people who really didn’t like those things? » (Comic Book Artist no. 12, 2001)

It’s overstuffed, but it’s brimming with mood and solid craft. Take it away, Tom!

For a dose of real-life, depressing horror, read the definitive, late-in-life Tom Sutton interview, ‘An Odd Man Out‘. I’m afraid it’s unlikely to leave you swooning with affection and goodwill for the comic book industry.

And here’s Marie Severin‘s cover for that issue. This is **Arrgh! no. 2** (Feb. 1975, Marvel). By issue five, the final one, Marvel were down to licencing 1954 **Get Lost!** material from Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.

-RG

*there’s always an exception, isn’t there? I’ll proudly vouch for Scott Gray and Roger Langridge‘s Fin Fang Four stories, circa the late Oughties. Recommended? You bet.

Edward Sorel’s Exquisite Distortions

August 30, 2023July 6, 2025gasp651 Comment

« If you take drawing seriously, you never quite feel you’ve arrived. » — Ed Sorel

This time out, I’m pinch-hitting for my co-admin ds, who’s burning the midnight oil these days.

Just about a month ago, when I wrote a piece about Seymour Chwast (b. Aug. 18, 1931), it occurred to me that I should also devote post-haste (just in case) some column space to his fellow surviving Push Pin Studios co-founder, Edward Sorel (b. March 26, 1929). Let us celebrate the living while we can. The dead don’t appreciate nearly as well such gestures .

Opting for a freelancing career, Sorel left Push Pin, just a few years after its founding. He made it, all right, becoming one of the greatest caricaturists of the century. But he was every bit as accomplished a writer, which elevates his work above the ‘merely’ visual.

I’ve always been blown away by how deceptively easy he makes it all look, and that’s what’s so impressive: very loose on the surface, but with an underlying, laser-sharp precision. I could easily go on at some length, but Sorel’s career and art are well-documented themes. Check out, for instance, The Enigmatic Edward Sorel (From The Comics Journal), or this fine New York Times review of his recent memoir (circa 2021), Profusely Illustrated.

And now, some of the man’s work:

« *My long association with* Penthouse was unique. They bought every idea I submitted to them, and never changed anything except my spelling. This solipsistic strip appeared in 1990. »

He can draw *anything*! This one appeared as *The New Yorker*‘s Jan. 31, 1994 cover illustration.

I suppose every cinephile has his favourite Hitchcock film; mine’s ***The Lady Vanishes*** (1938). An entry in Sorel’s “Movie Classics” series, published in the March, 1981 issue of Esquire.

« **The General,** starring Buster Keaton, is the only silent movie I included in my “Movie Classics” series. Based on an actual incident in the Civil War, it often has the look of a Mathew Brady photograph. » From Esquire, Dec. 1980.

« *Tenor Enrico Caruso is a guest at the St. Francis Hotel when the 1906 earthquake hits San Francisco. He vows *never* to return to a city* “where things like this are permitted”. From Sorel’s pictorial essay “Keyhole History” (GQ, Oct. 1984).

More rollicking blasphemy for *Penthouse* (Dec., 1992).

Ah, yes. « The 1973 Academy Awards are remembered for Marlon Brando’s refusal to accept his Oscar for The Godfather. His emissary, Apache tribe member Sacheen Littlefeather, explained that Brando’s rejection of the award was to protest Hollywood’s depiction of Native Americans. Backstage, John Wayne was apoplectic. As John Lahr wrote in his article “The Birth of the Oscar“, “The Duke, who had dispatched many an Apache on film, didn’t take kindly to Brando’s protest… Wayne had to be restrained by six men from yanking Littlefeather off the stage.” From *The New Yorker*, March. 21, 1994.

And speaking of Brando… « Marlon Brando is sent up to Cape Cod to read the part of Stanley Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire for Tennessee Williams‘ approval. First he fixes the nonfunctioning electricity and plumbing, then he auditions. His performance was stellar in every role. From Sorel’s “First Encounters” series, this entry appeared in *Atlantic Monthly*‘s July, 1994 issue. Note the kitty’s rapt expression.

« *Exodus revisited: an educated guess as to what Moses endured as he led his people through the Red Sea. A cartoon for* Penthouse, the only mass-circulation magazine to welcome my blasphemy. » Penthouse (like the man said), Apr. 1995. Oh, and **Plotz**: To burst from strong emotion; often used humorously to express minor shock or disappointment (פּלאַצן, platsn, ‘crack’; cf. German: platzen;) and **Schlep**: To drag or haul (an object); to walk, esp. to make a tedious journey (שלעפּן, shlepn; cf. German: schleppen;).

« *Another of my egocentric ramblings, this one a rationalization for not becoming a great artist.* » It appeared in the Aug. 21/28 issue of *The Nation*.

« *How Was I Supposed to Know?* », from *The Nation*, Sept. 24, 1990. Oh, the sequels just write themselves.

Here’s a rather famous one: « Back in the mid-sixties, my friend George Lois had an idea for an Esquire cover that couldn’t be done with photography. He asked me to do it, and I panicked — i.e. I tightened up. When I handed him my finish, he rolled his eyes and said he’d give me until the next morning to do it over. I went beyond panic, but nevertheless did a drawing we were both happy with. » It appeared on the cover of Esquire’s April, 1966 issue, with the caption of “The problems of power for Frank Sinatra”.

« *Director Michael Blakemore, at a rehearsal of Woody Allen’s one-act contribution to* Death Defying Acts, watches in horror as Allen scribbles copious stage directions for him to execute. (Caricaturing Woody Allen is so easy that after drawing him, many an amateur comes to think of himself as a pro.) » From *The New Yorker*, June 3, 1996. Look at that pen move!

-RG

The Insult That Made Charles Atlas Famous!

June 28, 2023February 29, 2024gasp653 Comments

« I opened my magazine (What did you see?) / I saw Mr. France (What did he have?) / A girl on each shoulder (What else?) / And one in his pants » — 10cc, Sand in My Face (1973)

You may think of this post as a companion piece, a spinoff of its predecessor. I’d had for some time, in the back of my mind, the notion to showcase some obscure French ‘human sculpture’ ads, but it needed more. Comments on the previous post provided the spark.

Is there a more classic “humble immigrant makes good in the USA” yarn than that of Angelo Siciliano, born in 1892 in the tiny Italian town of Acri? The Smithsonian has told the full, colourful story, so I’ll spare you a rehashing of it.

Let’s just say that young Siciliano worked hard to overcome adversity and redeem his puny physique, and the rest is the stuff of legend. The principles of ‘dynamic tension‘ and his immortal moniker aside, Angelo’s finest brainstorm was to employ the lowly but then-ubiquitous medium of comic books to introduce his product and its natural audience to each other. Let’s take the tour!

While the Charles Atlas ads began running in the 1930s, this is probably their classical expression. This one saw print as the back cover of **Mad no. 14** (Aug. 1954, EC). Its opening insult even inspired Miles Heller’s 1995 salute to the great old comic book ads, Hey Skinny!

There was inevitably fierce competition in the self-improvement field. This entry, from the U.S. Nature Products Corp., appeared in Stan Lee’s oh-so-macho **Man Comics no. 10** (Oct. 1951, Atlas).

Lots and lots of copy — but the all-important cartoon hook is present and accounted for. From the pages of **Firehair no. 9** (Fall 1951, Fiction House). The Jowett Institute of Physical Training wants you to get buff! To be fair, George F. Jowett got there first.

This is surely the definitive version, with the unforgettable tag line and ‘hero of the beach’ conclusion. I pulled this one from **The Witching Hour no. 25** (Nov. 1972, DC), which hit newsstands just a few months before Mr. Atlas passed away, aged 80, on Christmas Eve.

I can’t help being amused: French publisher Arédit, whose digest-sized collections of (mostly) reprints of US comics proudly bore the tag « Comics for adults », featured very few outside ads… and those were almost exclusively for self-defense and body-building systems. Here’s a sample trio. This one appeared in **Maniaks no 4** (Fall, 1971). This title featured reprints of DC Silver Age ‘humour’ comics… all but the only actually funny one (that would be Sugar and Spike, of course).

Oh, I’m *sure* the ERB Estate got their cut. And who might that R. Duranton fellow be? Four times Mr. France, for one thing! Here he appears with Louis de Funès in a famous scene from **Le Corniaud**, a 1965 farce starring beloved stars André Bourvil / De Funès and directed by Gérard Oury.

This one’s from **Kamandi no. 4** (Summer 1976, Artima), which featured reprints of various 60s and 70s DC adventure comics. It was an affordable way to catch up on material one might have missed — or couldn’t afford!

This refreshing gender-switched lampoon comes from the pages of **National Lampoon no. 26** (May, 1972), the ‘Men!’ issue, guest-edited by Anne Bats, No other credits, dammit.

The opening page (of four) of Steve Skeates and Sergio Aragonés‘ wacky satire, from the pages of **Plop! no. 2** (Nov.-Dec. 1973, DC). There have been truly countless spoofs of the Atlas adverts… most of them quite dire. Once more, I’ll spare you.

By the mid-1970s, with America in the kung-fu grip of martial arts fever, it’s understandable that many a young man was envisioning Bruce Lee‘s lithe, compact physique as an alternative to the hulking musclemen of yore. The Charles Atlas company tried to cover all bases with this ad; from — speaking of old-time musclemen — **Doc Savage no. 2** (Oct. 1975, Marvel).

Then here’s a parody by Lou Brooks:

Ah, yes — those days when ‘Bruce‘ was the stereotypical gay name. From the ‘Playboy Funnies’ section of the magazine’s November, 1977 issue.

And for something a bit off the beaten path: this is *The Insult That Made a Musician Out of Mel*, scripted by Rebecka Wright, illustrated by Blanche Santa Ana, with 3-D effects by Ray Zone, from **Wimmen’s Comix no. 12** (Nov. 1987, Renegade Press), edited by Angela Bocage and Rebecka Wright.

Does this look familiar? This is the first page of Flex Mentallo’s origin tale, as it appeared in **Doom Patrol no. 42** (Mar. 1991, DC), written by Grant Morrison, with art by Mike Dringenberg and Doug Hazlewood. I have no idea whether Atlas had a sense of humour, but his successors sure didn’t, as evidenced by the lawsuit they filed against DC Comics over this clear — if brazen — case of satire. I much prefer the TV show version of Flex, I confess.

Peter Kuper deftly used the cliché to take a jab at George Bush Sr.’s image and the first Gulf War. Dated and irrelevant? Trying to prove your ‘manhood’ remains distressingly *au courant*… just consider these two schmucks, to cite but one recent example. And hey, here’s “*Stormin’ Norman lying on T.V.*” From **Bleeding Heart no. 1** (Winter 1991-92, Fantagraphics).

Art Spiegelman digs deeper and makes more discerning use of the raw materials at hand with *The Insult that Made a Man out of “Mac!”*, first previewed in The Virginia Quarterly Review and then collected in **Breakdowns Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@?*!** (Oct. 2008, Pantheon).

-RG

Arnold Roth: Cartooning Is Fun!

May 25, 2023redscraper3 Comments

« The kind of guy you’d love to have at your next cocktail party, he’s got a million hilarious anecdotes and he’s more than happy to tell them. »

In the early days of this blog, we talked about American cartoonist Arnold Roth (see « All cartoonists are geniuses, but Arnold Roth is especially so. »). But this was some 6 years ago, and back then I wasn’t too generous with images. Roth has now made it to the venerable age of 94, and hopefully with us for many years to come! Even without dipping into his contributions to Harvey Kurtzman‘s Humbug and (unfortunate name association aside) Trump magazines, there is plenty of material to showcase and giggle at.

Did you know Roth not only illustrated many jazz LP covers, but was also a sax man himself? Check out this awesome gallery of some of these covers on Drew Friedman‘s blog!