Edward Gorey, Maria Scrivan, James Sturm, Jerry Fearing, Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud, Michael Maslin, Bill Watterson and Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, The Stanleys, and encouraging developing cartoonists.
Rich Johnston shares news of the print run for Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud’s forthcoming book:
The Cartoonists Club, a new graphic novel by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud for the 1st of April next year, was announced with a print run of 750,000. Well, it seems that’s not enough, as Scholastic Graphix, the biggest comic book publisher in the English language, have bumped it up ahead of publication to 800,000.
“With more than 26 million books in print, in 34 languages, and 639 weeks on the New York Times bestsellers list, Telgemeier’s legion of fans have been eagerly waiting since 2019 for her next book. So to pair her with comics powerhouse, Scott McCloud, the man who literally wrote the book on comics, is a marriage made in comics heaven. Fans will eat up this dynamic collaboration written from both of their hearts,” adds Saylor, Vice President and Publisher of Graphix.
“Collaborating with Raina on The Cartoonists Club has been one of the most exciting and rewarding experiences I’ve had in all my decades of making comics. She understands the power of comics in her readers’ lives like no one else. I hope that the love we have for these kids and their journeys shines through on every page,” concluded McCloud.
Partnering with Raina is rewarding both creatively and financially.
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Partner the new one with your 1990 tin.
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A West Coast Calvin and Hobbes Exhibition
A six-year-old boy with a limitless imagination and his stuffed tiger brought to life have been making readers laugh, dream and ponder life’s big questions for decades. Millions of people have known and loved this pair, and now students and Eugene locals have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a selection of Bill Waterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strips at [University of Oregon’s] Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.
Previously, the “Calvin and Hobbes” original comics had exclusively been shown at Ohio State’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, where the vast majority of the collection resides. Kelp-Stebbins was asked to visit Ohio State for a curator talk and inquired about the possibility of borrowing some of the strips, not expecting a positive answer due to the exclusivity. To her surprise, the team reached out to Waterson, who granted permission for a portion of the comics to go on loan to the JSMA.
Is a traveling Calvin and Hobbes original art exhibit in the future for the rest of the country?
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Jerry Fearing Profiled
Jerome “Jerry” Walter Fearing was a staple in Twin Cities journalism. He was the longtime editorial cartoonist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch from the 1960s until he retired in 1994, and he produced books, comic strips and other works throughout and after his newspaper career.
He died early on Oct. 12 of natural causes in Rochester, Minn., at age 94.
Maddie Robinson writes the obituary/profile of Jerry Fearing for The Pioneer Press:
Fearing’s drawings not only involved politics — they also recounted his many camping trips to the Arctic Circle or depicted Minnesota’s natural landscapes and animals. He wrote and illustrated several books, including “Christmas on West Seventh Street,” “Campfire Tales” and “The Story of Minnesota.” He also illustrated several series, like “The Fish of Minnesota” and “The Animals of Como Zoo.”
On top of these ventures, “Rooftop O’Toole,” a nationally-syndicated comic strip Fearing made with former Pioneer Press writer Bill Farmer about a kid delivering newspapers to the White House, ran in over 120 newspapers at its peak.
This item wasn’t part of The Daily Cartoonist’s obituary for Jerry.
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Maria Scrivan is a powerful voice in the world of comic strips and graphic novels. She first started publishing Half Full comics over ten years ago. While still running her successful daily comic strip in nationwide newspapers, Scrivan created Nat Enough, the first book in her graphic novel series aimed at middle-grade readers. Although targeting different audiences, Scrivan’s worldview is equally noticeable and meaningful in both Half Full and Nat Enough. Right now, with Half Full back to online publication exclusively, she’s committed to keeping both projects running at the same time.
Arantxa Pellme for CBR interviews Maria Scrivan about her Half Full panel and Nat Enough books.
Nat loves art but has self-doubt, like so many aspiring artists. As someone who had the dream of becoming a comics artist as a child, did you feel encouraged to chase it professionally?
I did, because I have very supportive parents. However, they did have that mentality that I needed something to fall back on. When I got to college, — I was a Fine Arts major in a liberal arts school — the Head of the Art Department said cartooning wasn’t art. So I drew him into the fourth book: Mr. Kroger in Nat for Nothing is basically my experience with this person. So, yes, there was a lot of adversity, but this was my fall-back. I had to keep going. Odds can be stacked against artists, but I don’t buy into the “starving artist” mentality. I think there are more opportunities than ever now.
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On a related note…
Art & Courage: A Guide to Sustaining a Creative Path
With David and Ted’s blessing, the Applied Cartooning Lab created a comic book based on their book. Art & Courage also offers comforting practical advice and philosophical perspectives from two working artists and teachers (Emil WIlson ’21 and James Sturm). As David and Ted write, “the difficulties artmakers face are not remote or heroic, but universal and familiar.”
We hope Art & Courage, like Art & Fear, will help readers feel a little more prepared for whatever creative journey they embark upon.
Self-assurance is of ultimate importance to an artist’s life and work. Maybe if I had some, I would not have quit trying to be a cartoonist. But how—and by whom—criticism is dished out to an artist/designer is at the heart of a healthy view of one’s work. Art & Courage: A Guide to Sustaining a Creative Path, published by The Center for Cartoon Studies (CCS), is based on the 1993 book Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Since its release, that book has become an underground classic helping artists across various disciplines persevere through uncertainty and self-doubt.
Steven Heller interviews James Sturm about encouraging creativity and previews Art & Courage.
You have a page on “What Makes Art Good Or Bad?” Is not all creativity created equal?
For artists, being preoccupied with whether one’s art is good or bad is profoundly unhelpful. How we assess work is constantly changing depending on shifting cultural trends or one’s current blood sugar levels. Plus there’s the fact that in order to make good art you have to make a lot of not-so-good art. Art isn’t like mathematics, where one answer is correct and accepted. One person’s masterpiece is another’s junk store donation. And that’s what makes art so special, so alluring, so exciting. There are so many different kinds of art that shock or feel unfamiliar, made by artists who see the world uniquely but maybe don’t have an audience who can appreciate their work—yet.
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Also related.
A youthful Michael Maslin tries his hand at drawing.
… our home had comic books (mostly Batman and Superman). In my earliest grammar school years, I tried, for a while, to copy the art. It didn’t take long to realize I couldn’t draw as well as the comic book artists. My attempts at free-hand copying (that is, drawing without tracing) were frustrating. I could see how awkward my figures looked. One small mistake, and the drawing was ruined, the comic world shattered as the amateur effort was exposed. I found that drawing what I made up was a better way to go. If I drew something I made up, it looked the way I wanted it to look. Even if it appeared stilted, at least there was nothing else to compare it to: no well-drawn dog, or well-drawn ship.
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The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey is a visual and intellectual treat: part biography, part meditation on the artistic process, and part “mini art exhibit” of previously unpublished material. [Carol] Verburg collaborated closely with Baker and the Trust to create a “lavish sampler of whole texts and excerpts, notebook sketches and polished works of art.” She meticulously braids her first-person account and Gorey’s archival photos with rare sketches, unpublished scripts, and anecdotes from friends and collaborators to create a comprehensive, visually vibrant book.
I keep coming across books that I missed in our October Hey Kids! Comics! listing.
Elizabeth Marshall at Pop Matters reviews Carol Verburg’s new The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey.
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