Monday Cartoon Day.
Bud Blake is a cartoonist's cartoonist. I know many people who like his style and have been influenced by it. But most of them won't dare admit it, because his most famous strip, Tiger, is also a bit dull. It is no Family Circus, but it didn't sparkle with wit either. What didn't help was the fact that it seems to have stayed the same for over forty years. Much more interesting is the eleven year running daily panel Bud Blake did. Sarcastic and downbeat in a way that typifies the late fiftiesmodern style I like so much - and in total contrast with the ultimately sappy kid humor (however nonconformist he may have thought it was) he was creating with Tiger.
3 comments:
To a notable extent, this panel is derivative of the work of H.T. Webster. Over at Hair Green Eyeball, sections of The Best of H.T. Webster have been made available:
The Timid Soul
The Thrill that Comes Once in a Lifetime
Life's Darkest Moment
I agree, but I get the impression it is more sarcastic, almost like a parody of Webster. Or is it just a update. Wasn't Webster also a big influence on Schultz?
Indeed, Blake's humor is just generally “broader” — inclined to overstatement and slapstick where Webster was understated and otherwise restrained. I do think that this difference is more and attempt at up-dating than of parody.
I don't know whether the similarities between Webster and Schulz are a result of the former influencing the latter. While important similarities are discernible discernible, they are of a different, more subtle sort. And I have only fragmentary understanding of Schulz's background.
Post a Comment