Wednesday, September 7th, 2022
Notice the way they start some movies nowadays?… No title at the beginning… The movie starts right in with a scene…
Many thanks to Animation Resources supporter Amir Avni for this fantastic Wally Wood story, Wild 1/2 from Mad magazine (Sept. 1954).
Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources
This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.
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Thursday, August 11th, 2022
My mother passed away a few years back, and I’ve been going through some boxes of things she left behind. I found a book of crafts, games and puzzles from 1927 that must have been given to her when she was very young. It included these “What’s Wrong With This Picture?” cartoons by Joe McIntosh. They appear to be created as one panel magazine cartoons.
I don’t know anything about the artist, but this style of cartooning was very popular in the 20s. Just about every college newspaper and humor magazine had cartoons that looked very similar. The leading proponent of the simplified round head style was John Held Jr. Early Puppetoons by George Pal also had a similar feel. Although Joe McIntosh’s cartoons aren’t nearly as sophisticated as those of Held or Pal, they’re still very clever and fun.
Whenever I see straightforward, appealing cartoons like this, I wonder… Why are modern animation designs are so needlessly complex and realistic? And why are Flash characters so flat that it limits their ability to be posed? Here are cartoony, stylized designs that have volume and work well within the perspective of a three dimensional environment. These sorts of characters would be easy to animate expressively using just about any technique- hand drawn, CGI, puppet, clay or Flash. Naturally, the subject matter here is dated, but the basic proportions and shapes could easily be applied to a more modern context. I’d love to see contemporary cartoons that are this simple and fun again.
See how many mistakes you can spot!
How many mistakes did you count?
Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources
This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.
by Monday, July 11th, 2022
Jack Davis was a cartoonist from a very early age. His first published work appeared in Tip Top Comics in 1936. He was twelve years old at the time. In 1949, he packed up and moved from Atlanta to New York City, where he was hired by EC Comics to draw for The Vault of Horror and Two-Fisted Tales. At EC, Davis met Harvey Kurtzman, who liked his work and used him in Mad magazine. Kurtzman and Davis also worked together on Little Annie Fanny in Playboy.
Davis went on to become one of the most sought-after illustrators and caricaturists in America. His caricatures of public figures appeared on the covers of Time magazine and TV Guide, as well as record covers, movie posters and bubble gum cards. Davis is currently one of the best-known and recognizable cartoonists in the world.
Here is an early Davis story from Mad magazine that shows his immense talents at their absolute best. Every panel of this comic is drop-dead brilliant!
Many thanks to the talented cartoonist, Amir Avni for contributing the copy of "Son of Mad" from which this great story was scanned. Also thanks to the stalwart archive supporter Eric Graf for lending us record covers from his extensive collection to digitize.
Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources
This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.
Jack Davis: Drawing American Pop Culture: A Career Retrospective
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