Saturday, January 2, 2016

CARTOONISTS WHO CHANGED THE WORLD

For my birthday, I got Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World by Monte Beauchamp [Simon & Schuster; $24.99] from my friends Terry and Nora Fairbanks. I had previously read and reviewed this book via my local library system. This copy is signed by Gary and Laura Dumm who drew and colored the chapter on Hugh Hefner.

Here’s my review of the book from October, 2014:

If you’re a comics history enthusiast or a comics fan just starting to explore that tapestry of creativity, Monte Beauchamp’s Masterful Marks: Cartoonists Who Changed the World is a must-have volume. The hardcover book features sixteen graphic biographies of the giants of the comics art form: Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Jack Kirby, Chas Addams, Winsor McCay, Herge, Charles M. Schulz, to name but six of the entries.

These compact biographies are a great starting point to anyone who wants to know more about these creators. They fanned my interest in Addams, early graphic novelist Lynd Kendall Ward and Edward Gorey. I’ve already requested works by these men from my local library and will likely buy others.

The range of subjects is impressive, including Walt Disney, Robert Crumb, Al Hirschfeld, Osamu Tezuka and Dr. Seuss. The artists and writers telling the stories of these creators is also impressive: Peter Kuper, Drew Friedman, Arnold Roth, Dennis Kitchen and others. I was particularly knocked out by Beauchamp and Gary Dumm’s look at Hugh Hefner’s cartooning career and lifelong interest. That piece also boasts striking colors by Laura Dumm.

ISBN 976-1-4516-4919-2


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I’ll be posting more than one bloggy thing every day for the next couple weeks. The idea is to post a bloggy thing for every day that I missed in December. Once I “catch up,” I’ll drop back to just one per day.

I’ll be back soon with more stuff.

© 2016 Tony Isabella

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