Showing posts with label Gags Magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gags Magazine. Show all posts
Saturday, February 13, 2021
Stanley, I Presume
Saturday Leftover Day.
Just a small contribution today, but if it is what I think it is, it's pretty rare.
John Stanley is a revered comic book creator. He wrote (and for the first few years) drew the Nancy comic books, as well as lot of other comical fare. From his biography (by the greatly missed Bill Schelly) I know that he also dabbled in cartooning, at least at the start of his career. I had only seen some of the work he sold (or tried to sell) to The New Yorker. But before that, apparently, he tried out his chops in less respectable magazines. I found three cartoons signed Stanley in two issues of Gags Magazine a (then still broadsheet sized) cartoon magazine that was famous for buying up unsolf cartoons cheaply. I got most of the later ones for the three to ten Mort Walker cartoons you can find in then from 1948 onward), the earlier ones I bought just to see who was in them. If I was lucky thet had cartoons by Hank Ketcham or even Jack Cole. Other regulars were Reamer Keller, Paul Murray and Henry Boltinoff.
Anyway, I am not enough of a John Stanley connaisseur to recognize the style or even the signature (most of his work in the forties and fifties wa unsigned and the (later) ones I have seen are too generic to compare). I am just putting this out there to see if anyone can help me with that.
The gaps in the cartoons are because Gags in it's broadsheet format often put cartoons over each other, shifting hem every which way. I accidentally left out the caption of the first cartoon, but I add it later.
Saturday, October 31, 2020
Early Bird Special
Saturday Leftover Day.
For todays post I prepared something small but rare to add to my online collection of Hank Ketcham cartoons: some of what I believe are his first cartoons. They were published in the March and April issues of Gags and were probably drawn before he was drafted. We know Ketcham worked for Disney and left after the strike of 1942. Soon after he was drafted, and the first cartoons we know are from when het did a series about Half-Hitch, a demunitive sailor who he revived in the late sixties with a strip of his own. But these odd looking cartoons suggest he may have sold a couple before Uncle Sam got him as well. Three of these are in the multi panel format, which probably link back to his work as a gag cartoonist for Disney, along Virgil Partch (who also left and ended up being a free lance funny man).
He did more for Gags all through the forties, mst of which you can find if you follow the link below. I have collected Hank Ketcham cartoons everywhere I came across them (including in the Laff-A-Day series of posts I have been doing the last few months. In fact, I stil have a bunch to clean. I believe I now have more of his cartoons together than are collected anywhere. And I know I am still only scratching the surface.
Friday, October 05, 2018
The Original Grinder
Friday Little Bit Extra.
Before Mort Walker created Beetle Bailey, he did cartoons. Between 1946 and 1952 he drew about 3500 cartoons and sold half of them. WE know that, because the Walker family kept his records and I have (confidential) copies of them. I like Mort Walker's cartoons. They are sometimes a bit dated, but always funny. Even the unsold ones. In many cases, I can't see the difference in quality.
I got in touch with the Walker family (and Mort) because I have been putting his cartoons on this blog from day one. And one day I hope to have every one of his cartoons here. From the records we can see he tried to sell his cartoons to the biggest and best paying magazines first. The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's bought a lot, others less. After that, he repackaged them and offered them to leeser paying but more inclined to bulk buying magazines such as 1000 Jokes and Gags. I have quietly collect many of those 1949-1952 monthly Gags magazines and found three to four in each issue. Still, I haven't yet got all of them. I am especially low on issues from 1950 and 1949. Last month I bought three magazine, one from 1950 I already have, one I didn't yet have and one from 1949 that was new to me. The 1949 one did not have any Mort Walker cartoons, but the May 1950 one had three. You will see them below.
I also went throough Morts ledgers, where he kept a description of every (numebered) cartoon and some notes. And after some leaving and squinting, I found all three of them. So here it is: an exclusive look into the accountancy of Mort Walker. In the order in which they appeared.
This one was in Mort's ledger as #1354: 'won't resemble either'. It was sold to Gags on January 12 1949, so it took more than a year to get published. The next number, by the way, #1355 is titles: 'who does he resemble' so there must have been some inspiration going on. It is noted as being sold to WSW, without a date. I would say that is Woman's Weekly if such a magazine exists. If not, I am open to suggestions.
The second one is noted as #1514: 'chocolate base' and was also sold January the 12th. Possibly of the same year although this one was first offered to RWR, another unknown magazine. Number 1513: 'So or (?) telling story' was first offered to NRD and finally sold on May 25th to Gags. I should go through my collection to see which one that could be.
The third one is #1509: 'you order this' and was also sold to Gags on January 12th. Number 1508 was called 'parrot + palmist (?)', and offered to AS, but probably unsold.
Although Mort's ledgers run well in 1951, he decided in 1949 that he needed to get out of the cartooning game if he wanted to earn some real money. He has always told the story that he saw he made the list of best selling cartoonists and when he proudly told his wife she told him": "Well, if that is what the best selling cartoonist earns, you should find another job." In 1950 Beetle Bailey started and four years later he sold his last cartoon.
Among the copies of Mort's papers is also the list of 'best selling artists' he mentions. It's not exactly what he remebered it was, but it supports the story at least partly.
Before Mort Walker created Beetle Bailey, he did cartoons. Between 1946 and 1952 he drew about 3500 cartoons and sold half of them. WE know that, because the Walker family kept his records and I have (confidential) copies of them. I like Mort Walker's cartoons. They are sometimes a bit dated, but always funny. Even the unsold ones. In many cases, I can't see the difference in quality.
I got in touch with the Walker family (and Mort) because I have been putting his cartoons on this blog from day one. And one day I hope to have every one of his cartoons here. From the records we can see he tried to sell his cartoons to the biggest and best paying magazines first. The Saturday Evening Post and Collier's bought a lot, others less. After that, he repackaged them and offered them to leeser paying but more inclined to bulk buying magazines such as 1000 Jokes and Gags. I have quietly collect many of those 1949-1952 monthly Gags magazines and found three to four in each issue. Still, I haven't yet got all of them. I am especially low on issues from 1950 and 1949. Last month I bought three magazine, one from 1950 I already have, one I didn't yet have and one from 1949 that was new to me. The 1949 one did not have any Mort Walker cartoons, but the May 1950 one had three. You will see them below.
I also went throough Morts ledgers, where he kept a description of every (numebered) cartoon and some notes. And after some leaving and squinting, I found all three of them. So here it is: an exclusive look into the accountancy of Mort Walker. In the order in which they appeared.
This one was in Mort's ledger as #1354: 'won't resemble either'. It was sold to Gags on January 12 1949, so it took more than a year to get published. The next number, by the way, #1355 is titles: 'who does he resemble' so there must have been some inspiration going on. It is noted as being sold to WSW, without a date. I would say that is Woman's Weekly if such a magazine exists. If not, I am open to suggestions.
The second one is noted as #1514: 'chocolate base' and was also sold January the 12th. Possibly of the same year although this one was first offered to RWR, another unknown magazine. Number 1513: 'So or (?) telling story' was first offered to NRD and finally sold on May 25th to Gags. I should go through my collection to see which one that could be.
The third one is #1509: 'you order this' and was also sold to Gags on January 12th. Number 1508 was called 'parrot + palmist (?)', and offered to AS, but probably unsold.
Although Mort's ledgers run well in 1951, he decided in 1949 that he needed to get out of the cartooning game if he wanted to earn some real money. He has always told the story that he saw he made the list of best selling cartoonists and when he proudly told his wife she told him": "Well, if that is what the best selling cartoonist earns, you should find another job." In 1950 Beetle Bailey started and four years later he sold his last cartoon.
Among the copies of Mort's papers is also the list of 'best selling artists' he mentions. It's not exactly what he remebered it was, but it supports the story at least partly.
Saturday, June 16, 2018
A Blessed Event
Saturday Story Strip Day.
I have always been interested in the early days of the Saint newsoaoer strip, which were drawn by journeyman artist Mike Roy. He has a pleasant enough style, which is a variation of the Milt Caniff school. But most interestingly, somewhere in 1949 or 1950 he hired a young Jack Davis to do is his inking. This was Davis' first job after leaving the army and coming to New York. He also tried to sell cartoons, which we know because he sold one to the monthly magazine Gags (which you can see by following the link). And soon after, he also started working for EC, where he made his name, first as a realistic artist, later as one of the key figures in the development of Mad. When he started inking for Roy, is not really recorded. Alan Holtz, in his excellent and essential book on American Comic strips, credits him with one month only. But having seen samples from all over the 1949/1950 period I had my doubts.
Recently I bought a near complete run of The Saint Sundays (from the New York Herald), in their full three tier half page version even. I have my own thought about when his inks start to appear and I will note that. The ending is less clear, but it will take us four of these posts before we get there. I hope you will chime in.
In the meantime enjoy one of the forgotten gems of American newspaper history, Leslie Charteris and Mike Roy's The Saint. The colors may seem a bit garish, but that is not (totally) the fault of my cleaning. These strips have a weird color palette, with lots of greens and not many primary colors. Not something you see in a lot of Sunday strips.
I have always been interested in the early days of the Saint newsoaoer strip, which were drawn by journeyman artist Mike Roy. He has a pleasant enough style, which is a variation of the Milt Caniff school. But most interestingly, somewhere in 1949 or 1950 he hired a young Jack Davis to do is his inking. This was Davis' first job after leaving the army and coming to New York. He also tried to sell cartoons, which we know because he sold one to the monthly magazine Gags (which you can see by following the link). And soon after, he also started working for EC, where he made his name, first as a realistic artist, later as one of the key figures in the development of Mad. When he started inking for Roy, is not really recorded. Alan Holtz, in his excellent and essential book on American Comic strips, credits him with one month only. But having seen samples from all over the 1949/1950 period I had my doubts.
Recently I bought a near complete run of The Saint Sundays (from the New York Herald), in their full three tier half page version even. I have my own thought about when his inks start to appear and I will note that. The ending is less clear, but it will take us four of these posts before we get there. I hope you will chime in.
In the meantime enjoy one of the forgotten gems of American newspaper history, Leslie Charteris and Mike Roy's The Saint. The colors may seem a bit garish, but that is not (totally) the fault of my cleaning. These strips have a weird color palette, with lots of greens and not many primary colors. Not something you see in a lot of Sunday strips.
Tuesday, January 09, 2018
Loose Cannon
Monday Cartoon Day.
I am selling my issues of Gags magazine on eBay. Which means I am done scanning. I had quite a few, starting from the first issue in 1941 to the last five (under the title Here!) in 1952. For the first eight years my run was spotty, but after that it is virtually complete. They are chuck full of pretty funny cartoons by such name artists as Paul Murray, Henry Boltinoff, Mort Walker, Hank Ketcham, Lariar, Al Ross, Sivic, Machamer, Dave Gerard, Mace, Crenkshaw and of course the gloriously prolific Reamer Keller. I have not even cleaned a quarter of the scans, and here is just the first lot of what I have scanned. Follow the link for more of his later work.
I am selling my issues of Gags magazine on eBay. Which means I am done scanning. I had quite a few, starting from the first issue in 1941 to the last five (under the title Here!) in 1952. For the first eight years my run was spotty, but after that it is virtually complete. They are chuck full of pretty funny cartoons by such name artists as Paul Murray, Henry Boltinoff, Mort Walker, Hank Ketcham, Lariar, Al Ross, Sivic, Machamer, Dave Gerard, Mace, Crenkshaw and of course the gloriously prolific Reamer Keller. I have not even cleaned a quarter of the scans, and here is just the first lot of what I have scanned. Follow the link for more of his later work.
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