Billy Ireland & Jenny Robb, Marshall Ramsey, Ernie Bushmiller, Ward Sutton & Stan Kelly, Paul Gilligan, and Mort Walker, Bill Hoest, & Bil Keane.
Chillicothe, Columbus, and the World — A boy who grew up in Chillicothe and then worked for the Columbus Dispatch to became a world-famous cartoonist was part of the focus of a presentation recently.
Jenny Robb, Head Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art, explained the “Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum,” a part of Ohio State University, at the Ross County Heritage Center on October 16th.
Kevin Coleman for The Scioto Post attended the recent presentation by Jenny Robb of The Billy Ireland.
Ireland’s full-page spreads and single-panel editorials celebrated Ohio and America during his “fabulous career” from 1898 to his death then 1935. Robb recounted his life, as well as the history and efforts of the museum on the main campus of OSU.
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SUMMARY: Famous illustrator Marshall Ramsey visited downtown Tupelo to sign his newest book at Reed’s Gum Tree Bookstore. The book features a little brown dog named Banjo on a mission to find his missing friend, Sam. In addition to the book signing, children enjoyed a story time session with Ramsey. He is recognized as the editor at large and cartoonist for Mississippi Today.
WTVA has a short segment on Mississippi Today cartoonist Marshall Ramsey and his new book Saving Sam.
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Bushmiller and his Nancy have recently been the subject of a biography by Bill Griffith, an exegesis of a three-panel strip by Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden, a reboot by Olivia Jaimes [this link added], and a festival at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum earlier this year. Before this renaissance, the strip inspired a card game designed by Scott McCloud; countless toys, tchotchkes, and ephemera; numerous works by artist Joe Brainard; and a painting by Andy Warhol.
Nathan Gelgud reviews the Ernie Bushmiller collection Nancy & Sluggo’s Guide to Life for Hyperallergic.
Despite all the deserved adulation, it can be difficult to get a book full of the strips in your hands. Used copies of Nancy books are too expensive. In Los Angeles, where I live, the vast public library system keeps their collections stashed exclusively in the central branch, available for reference only.
But this year, along came Nancy & Sluggo’s Guide to Life, a collection divided into sections of comics about money, food, and sleep, with an introduction by cartoonist Denis Kitchen.
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Amid one of the most divisive and chaotic election years in recent history, Ward Sutton brings his diamond-edged satire — often targeting conservative and right-wing politics — to the Subliminal Projects Gallery, in Los Angeles. The four-artist exhibition, American Punchline, running through November 9, features Sutton under his nom de cartoon, “Stan Kelly,” alongside other contemporary artists — including Shepard Fairey, the gallery’s owner and creator of the Obama “Hope” poster — who use humor and unconventional styles to confront and critique America’s current political climate.
Darrick Rainey for NYC’s Village Voice reviews the American Punchline exhibit at LA’s Subliminal Projects Gallery, with a special emphasis on the Ward Sutton/Stan Kelly portion of the show.
Debuting here as a fine artist, Sutton presents the “Stan Kelly” artworks as a MAGA conservative’s fever dream, each canvas depicting absurd and satirical visions from a right-wing perspective. Most pieces are accompanied by commentary from a small self-portrait of Kelly in the bottom-right corner, adding an extra layer of irony. One personal favorite, titled “America the Barbarian” and reminiscent of a vintage Savage Sword of Conan comic-book cover, depicts a burly Uncle Sam wielding giant axes labeled “Exceptionalism” and “Military Might” while confronting parodies of America’s virtues. Another piece…
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When Steven Spielberg’s Jaws came out nearly 50 years ago, the Toronto cartoonist Paul Gilligan (best known for his syndicated comic strip Pooch Café) remembers cowering in the theatre and having recurring nightmares about the movie’s animatronic shark. He was only 10 at the time, but his fear left him with countless questions about what it means to be a man. Ahead of the film’s 50th anniversary, Gilligan has released a new graphic memoir, Boy vs. Shark.
Pooch Cafe cartoonist Paul Gilligan is interviewed by Tom Powers of the CBC about his new book.
The full interview with Paul Gilligan is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power.
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In 1981 seven cartoonists gathered in Oskaloosa, Iowa to receive honorary degrees from William Penn College: Don Wright, Paul Szep, Frank Miller, Charles Saxon, Mort Walker, Bill Hoest, and Bill Keane. Those last three comic strip artists are featured in a segment from The Vault of Iowa News Now.
