Archive for the ‘playboy’ Category

Wednesday, August 9th, 2023

Magazine Cartoons: Kurtzman and Elder’s Little Annie Fanny

Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny

Today, we are featuring the work of two giants of cartooning… Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder.

KurtzmanKurtzmanHarvey Kurtzman made a name for himself in his early years with the one page "Hey Look!" comics, as well as his work editing EC Comics’ war comics. His style was detailed and thorough. His layouts and continuity breakdowns left little room for deviation. When EC decided to create a humor line, Kurtzman was assigned the job as the founding editor of Mad. Beginning as a ten cent comic book, and eventually switching to a twenty five cent magazine (to avoid review by the Comics Code Authority), Mad became a huge hit in the five years it was under Kurtzman’s leadership. Much of the sensibilities of Kurtzman’s work for Mad are shared by "Little Annie Fanny" for Playboy.

Will ElderWill ElderWill Elder worked as an artist under Kurtzman at EC and on Mad, expanding and elaborating on Kurtzman’s detailed layouts. They were a great team, and the combination of Kurtzman’s foreground action and Elder’s background gags became a standard device for them throughout their collaborations. Other artists who worked on the "Little Annie Fanny" series were Jack Davis, Russ Heath and Al Jaffee (all former Mad alumni).

The "Little Annie Fanny" series debuted in the October 1962 issue of Playboy magazine. The comic was a parody of the Playboy image itself, vaguely based on the "Little Orphan Annie" theme, with lots of topical references and pokes at popular culture. The strip was the first fully painted comic in American magazines, and was very time consuming to produce. Kurtzman continued the series until 1988- its 100th episode- when he retired it, stating that all of the possible story ideas for the character had been exhausted.

January 1963

Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny

April 1964

Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny

March 1966

Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny
Kurtzman and Elder Little Annie Fanny

Little Annie FannyCheck out these great "Little Annie Fanny" collections at Amazon.com!

We’ll have more great Playboy cartoons for you soon.

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

Magazine CartoonsMagazine Cartoons

This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.

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Tuesday, July 18th, 2023

Magazine Cartoons: Erich Sokol’s Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
Well, I’m glad she’s finally getting interested
in something besides running around with boys.

During the 1960s, Playboy magazine employed some of the best cartoonists around at the time… Eldon Dedini, Gahan Wilson, Phil Interlandi, Jack Cole, Doug Sneyd and Erich Sokol.

We start out with a biographical feature on the cartoonists who worked for Playboy in the mid-1960s.

Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Next up is a Sokol feature that highlights his remarkable ability to caricature…

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Sokol was arguably the most gifted artist who ever worked for Playboy, with a keen eye for all of the elements of good drawing- composition, clear silhouettes, original color harmonies, interesting staging and a keen sense of light and shade. There’s a lot to be learned from these masterful cartoons. His style evolved as time went by, and his images became more and more beautiful. This group of cartoons is arranged in a more or less chronological manner. Compare the first one from the mid-1950s to the last one from a decade later, and you’ll see how much he progressed…

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoonist

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
Well, how do you like married life so far?

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
I came up to complain about the noise.

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
What the hell kind of pacifist are you?

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
Take off your clothes… take off your clothes!
My goodness, don’t men ever think about anything else?

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
Mother will be disappointed if you don’t come in for at least
a few minutes, George. She’s expecting to meet you tonight.

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
You got the part.
Now would you care to try for an Academy Award?

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
You’re welcome.

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
You were wrong…. I’m NOT old enough to take care of himself.

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
I believe the new nurse is going to do wonders for him.
He’s already learned to count to two…

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
Tuck my shirt into WHAT shorts?

Erich Sokol Playboy Cartoons
Why don’t you bug out now and I’ll call you Friday.

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Wednesday, May 10th, 2023

Pinups: Alberto Vargas

Alberto Vargas

Alberto VargasAlberto VargasWe’re very grateful to archive supporter, Chad Coyle for allowing us to digitize his collection of cartoons and illustrations from 1960s Playboy magazines. You might remember our previous posts on Erich Sokol, Eldon Dedini, Doug Sneyd and Phil Interlandi. Today, we focus on the "Grand Old Man" of pinup art, Alberto Vargas.

Vargas was born in Peru in 1896, and travelled to Europe with his family in 1911. His father was a photographer, and Vargas was exposed at an early age to the airbrush as a retouching tool. He studied to be a photographer, and worked in New York as a retoucher for a time, but Florenz Ziegfeld hired him as an illustrator for his Follies in 1917. He scraped by through the depression illustrating for various publications and movie studios. When George Petty left Esquire in 1940, Vargas took over his position with the magazine. Even though this brought much-needed exposure for Vargas’ work, the contract with Esquire was extremely unfair. The magazine even trademarked the name Vargas had been working under… "Varga" and wouldn’t allow him to use it for any other work. Vargas sued and broke the contract in 1950.

Alberto VargasAlberto VargasVargas added the "s" to his name and proceeded to rebuild his career, illustrating playing cards and taking freelance work for True magazine. In 1960, he was hired as an illustrator for Playboy, the venue that made him famous. The "Vargas Girl" represented a high level of perfection in beauty, erotic- but never vulgar. Even when Playboy would have allowed him to depict full frontal nudity, Vargas always kept his models discretely draped. He worked for Playboy until his 90th birthday in 1976, when he retired. Vargas passed away in 1982 at the age of 96.

Completing this group of postings on the Playboy artists of the 1960s, here is the work of the great Alberto Vargas…

VARGA IN THE 1920s

Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas

VARGAS IN THE 1960s

Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas
Alberto Vargas

Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

Magazine CartoonsMagazine Cartoons

This posting is part of the online Encyclopedia of Cartooning under the subject heading, Magazine Cartoons.

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