For Richer and Poorer

Saturday Leftover Day

In 1998 Fantagraphics published a book with all of Arnold Roth's Poor Arnold's Almanac cartoon Sundays. The series, which ran for a short period in 1959/1960 was lovingly and completely represented in black and white. Arnold Roth was still a beginning artist at that time, who worked for many of the largest magazines, including the British Punch, Playboy (but that may habe come later) and Harvey Kurtzman's Humbug. I believe he was even one of the co-financiers of that magazine. That Poor's Arnold's Almanac, a compendium of gags, drawn around a new theme each week in a destincly modern cartoon style, got sold at all tells you something about the period (and illustrates very nicely why I represent so many cartoons from those four years around 1960 in a blog called The Fabulous Fifties). The book itself is still available from Amazon and I highly recommend it as one of the best Fantagraphics ever put out (along with their Humbug collection). It seems to have been shot from the originals or at least some very good proofs... which means it is in black and white. And how even much Mr. Roth's style can be enjoyed in that form, it is always noce to see them in color. So here you go.