I have shared many samples of Virgil Partch's Sunday comic strip version of his daily cartoon Big George, but here are five that are among the earliest I have ever seen. As the story goes, Partch wanted to create his own brand of cartoons in a random cartoon feature, but since Al Jaffee was already doing that with Tall Tales and Arnold Roth had just started his Sunday only Poor Richard's Almanac, the syndicate asked him to come up with something more character based. The result was weird for a family strip, but slightly dull for Partch. The first few years, the drawing was impressive as ever, though.
Showing posts with label Poor Arnold's Almanac. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poor Arnold's Almanac. Show all posts
Monday, October 17, 2016
Something To Wet Your Parched Tongue
Monday Cartoon Day.
I have shared many samples of Virgil Partch's Sunday comic strip version of his daily cartoon Big George, but here are five that are among the earliest I have ever seen. As the story goes, Partch wanted to create his own brand of cartoons in a random cartoon feature, but since Al Jaffee was already doing that with Tall Tales and Arnold Roth had just started his Sunday only Poor Richard's Almanac, the syndicate asked him to come up with something more character based. The result was weird for a family strip, but slightly dull for Partch. The first few years, the drawing was impressive as ever, though.
I have shared many samples of Virgil Partch's Sunday comic strip version of his daily cartoon Big George, but here are five that are among the earliest I have ever seen. As the story goes, Partch wanted to create his own brand of cartoons in a random cartoon feature, but since Al Jaffee was already doing that with Tall Tales and Arnold Roth had just started his Sunday only Poor Richard's Almanac, the syndicate asked him to come up with something more character based. The result was weird for a family strip, but slightly dull for Partch. The first few years, the drawing was impressive as ever, though.
Sunday, December 06, 2015
For Richer and Poorer
Saturday Leftover Day
In 1998 Fantagraphics published a book with all of Arnold Roth's Poor Arnold's Almanac cartoon Sundays. The series, which ran for a short period in 1959/1960 was lovingly and completely represented in black and white. Arnold Roth was still a beginning artist at that time, who worked for many of the largest magazines, including the British Punch, Playboy (but that may habe come later) and Harvey Kurtzman's Humbug. I believe he was even one of the co-financiers of that magazine. That Poor's Arnold's Almanac, a compendium of gags, drawn around a new theme each week in a destincly modern cartoon style, got sold at all tells you something about the period (and illustrates very nicely why I represent so many cartoons from those four years around 1960 in a blog called The Fabulous Fifties). The book itself is still available from Amazon and I highly recommend it as one of the best Fantagraphics ever put out (along with their Humbug collection). It seems to have been shot from the originals or at least some very good proofs... which means it is in black and white. And how even much Mr. Roth's style can be enjoyed in that form, it is always noce to see them in color. So here you go.
In 1998 Fantagraphics published a book with all of Arnold Roth's Poor Arnold's Almanac cartoon Sundays. The series, which ran for a short period in 1959/1960 was lovingly and completely represented in black and white. Arnold Roth was still a beginning artist at that time, who worked for many of the largest magazines, including the British Punch, Playboy (but that may habe come later) and Harvey Kurtzman's Humbug. I believe he was even one of the co-financiers of that magazine. That Poor's Arnold's Almanac, a compendium of gags, drawn around a new theme each week in a destincly modern cartoon style, got sold at all tells you something about the period (and illustrates very nicely why I represent so many cartoons from those four years around 1960 in a blog called The Fabulous Fifties). The book itself is still available from Amazon and I highly recommend it as one of the best Fantagraphics ever put out (along with their Humbug collection). It seems to have been shot from the originals or at least some very good proofs... which means it is in black and white. And how even much Mr. Roth's style can be enjoyed in that form, it is always noce to see them in color. So here you go.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Seven Gags A Week
Monday Cartoon Day
When I showed some of John Stees' Sunday gag collections, I mentioned the fact that he wasn't the first or the last to produce such a Sunday feature. I have already shown some of Gaham Wilson's pages last year. There were the long running pages by George Lichty and Ed Reed's Off The Record. There even was a Laugh In daily and Sunday, which I am showing here with another favorite of mine: Arnold Roth's Poor Arnold's Almanac.
I actually have quite few of these, but I haven't scanned them in for two reasons; first of all, my samples are from the Winnipeg newspaper that did their own color and bad as it is on other strips, it leaves nothing of Arnold Roth's beauty and secondly, there was a comlete reprinting of all strips (in black and white, but from the best of line art possible) by Fantagraphics in 1998. I had a look at their website, but they are offering it now for slightly over $8 and I urge you to go there and buy it, before they run out and you end up payning $30 or more for it in a couple of years. When I came across these two vibrantly colored samples last week, I just had to show them to you. I have added a color sample of Stees Sees and the aforementioned Laugh In.
April 24 1959:
June 14 1959:
May 8 1960:
A random selection from late 1968:
Aug 30 1970:
Sept 6 1970:
When I showed some of John Stees' Sunday gag collections, I mentioned the fact that he wasn't the first or the last to produce such a Sunday feature. I have already shown some of Gaham Wilson's pages last year. There were the long running pages by George Lichty and Ed Reed's Off The Record. There even was a Laugh In daily and Sunday, which I am showing here with another favorite of mine: Arnold Roth's Poor Arnold's Almanac.
I actually have quite few of these, but I haven't scanned them in for two reasons; first of all, my samples are from the Winnipeg newspaper that did their own color and bad as it is on other strips, it leaves nothing of Arnold Roth's beauty and secondly, there was a comlete reprinting of all strips (in black and white, but from the best of line art possible) by Fantagraphics in 1998. I had a look at their website, but they are offering it now for slightly over $8 and I urge you to go there and buy it, before they run out and you end up payning $30 or more for it in a couple of years. When I came across these two vibrantly colored samples last week, I just had to show them to you. I have added a color sample of Stees Sees and the aforementioned Laugh In.
April 24 1959:
June 14 1959:
May 8 1960:
A random selection from late 1968:
Aug 30 1970:
Sept 6 1970:
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