A quick note: It’s student show week here, one of the busiest weeks of the year, so I’ll forgo anything about Thunderbean for this week other than to say I’m looking forward to some quality time catching up with my own little business in a few days. Lots happening there and more on that soon…

So, here’s a cartoon- and a print I especially love the color on. “Flea for Two”

I’m a huge fan of the 50s Don Patterson pictures at Lantz. They are funny, corny, and surprising in their design at times, yeah are completely unpretentious in design. Sometimes the lack of a stronger sense of design sensibilities could be noted and criticized in Lantz’s work generally in this period- but what a revelation it was to me to see some of these films in IB Tech compared to the TV prints I grew up on.

The first one I saw in IB was Red Riding Hoodlum (57). I was especially impressed with both the color choices and how elegant the overall appearance was in a Technicolor print compared to any other version.

Flea for Two is similar. While this vintage 16mm print isn’t the sharpest and has seen some milage over the years, it’s beautiful to see what these films looked like theatrically. Patterson’s timing seems to be influenced a lot by Avery in pose timing and action, and while this isn’t as strong as a good Avery, it’s still all sorts of fun. Micheal Maltese, over at Lantz in this period, wrote this one, and that combination of talents is especially good here and brings some really fun dialogue.

When I was a kid I especially loved the gags involving the flea jumping from dog to dog and discovering a different group of fleas on each based on the dog breed. As a kid I didn’t understand it but laughed at the silliness of the gags. All these years later I really still enjoy this one a lot.

So, watch for a little escapism and enjoy this small cartoon for what it is: a nice break from the world. Thanks to Tommy Stathes for the lend. Wish this was my print!

Have a good week everyone!

Sources and bonus timelapse: https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/miniFantasyTheater/052.html

Transcript:

A comic in four panels.

Panel 1. The adventurer and pink fairy sit on an old wooden bench in a city square, under the sunset light. The adventurer looks guilty while the fairy sits with crossed arms, furious and turned away from him.

Adventurer: "Okay, okay... I spent ALL our gold on that dagger. It wasn't loot. I'm sorry."

Panel 2. The Pink Fairy turns back, angry:

Pink fairy: "And how can I ever trust you after THAT?!"

Panel 3. The adventurer feels sincerely sorry and sad while watching in his hand the purple epic dagger. The pink fairy watches him with wide eyes, pleasantly surprised.

Adventurer: "You can't, but give me one chance: I'll sell the dagger and get our gold back."
Pink fairy: "...Really?"

Panel 4. Inside the shop, the adventurer places the purple epic dagger on the counter. The merchant pushes a single coin across toward them. Both the adventurer and pink fairy stare in disbelief.

Merchant: "I can buy it back for... one gold coin."

Good times. #grickledoodle #dogs #event #cartoon #art #drawing #funny #humor

Secret Panel HERE 🐞 https://patreon.com/posts/121575653

  Another in a series of quick looks at an artist’s very first New Yorker cartoon and their last. 

Looking through the Spill’s A-Z this morning, my attention turned to Richard Oldden (1931-1995).  A search immediately turned up this entry on Lambiak Comiclopedia. The entry included a number of things I hadn’t known before including this:

“On 14 May 1973, Oldden and gag writer Sam Gross launched their daily newspaper comic ‘The Genius’ (1973-1977) through King Features Syndicate.”

Reading this brought memories of speaking with Sam on the phone — sometimes long conversations about cartoonists I knew little about. I can still hear Sam, in his distinctive voice, saying “Dick Oldden” this and “Dick Oldden” that (oddly, Sam never mentioned “The Genius” strip).

Checking The New Yorker’s database, I found that the magazine published 72 Oldden cartoons. Here’s the first, from the issue of July 23, 1966:

And here’s the last Richard Oldden New Yorker cartoon, published in the issue of September 6, 1993: