R.I.P., Gabriel Laderman
Late last week, Terry Keegan, informed me of the death of a mutual friend, Gabriel Laderman. In the midst of my moving, I was not paying attention to many news sources, and so had missed the announcements in numerous quarters. Gabriel Laderman (seen left), born December 26, 1929, was a painter and art critic of [...]
Pre-YK Talkies: Robert Seymour’s 1830 “The Heiress”, Part 1
In today’s twin-themed installment of Women’s History Month and Pre-Yellow Kid “Talking” Comic Strips (multi-panel sequential comics conveyed via pictures combined with in-panel dialogue), we present Part 1 (of 6), of artist Robert Seymour’s March 1st, 1830 comic graphic novelette, The Heiress. Consisting of six over-sized plates/pages, each containing five+ cartoons, The Heiress at first [...]
Pre-YK Talkies: Women’s Domestic Advertising Strips
Returning to both the themes of Women’s History Month, and Pre-YK “Talking” Comic Strips (sequential cartoons wherein the story is conveyed via pictures combined with in-panel dialogue, published prior to the supposed “invention” of same format in the October 25th, 1896 episode of The Yellow Kid), we have a few cartoon advertising strips, each aimed [...]
McFadden’s Row of Flats
In honor (a day early) of St. Patrick’s Day, a pair of (non-Outcault authorized) Yellow Kid ephemera. Above, a rear cover advertisement, found on the back of an 1890s music sheet, featuring an obvious Yellow Kid rip-off. Below, the front & back covers plus interior from a flyer advertising one (of several) theatrical versions of [...]
“The Flight of Abraham” (Lincoln), March 9th, 1861
Continuing our series of American Civil War cartoons, we present — on the 150th anniversary of its first publication — The Flight of Abraham, by cartoonist John McLenan. Appearing on the rear outside page of the March 9th, 1861 issue of Harper’s Weekly, this cartoon parodies how President-Elect Abraham Lincoln (on February 21-23, 1861) snuck into Washington, D.C., [...]
This Day in Arf History: R.F. Outcault’s Birthday
On this day in 1863, the man who jump started the American newspaper comic strip was born. Richard F. Outcault’s Down in Hogan’s Alley starring the Yellow Kid debuted in May 1895. Check out a bit of this punny strip below. And don’t forget there’s a plethora of previously undpublished paintings of the Yellow Kid [...]
This Day In Arf History: The Yellow Kid Goes Yellow
On this day in 1896, The Yellow Kid first appears in his signature yellow nightshirt. Previously, his shirt was pale blue or just plain white. Here is the illustration from January 5, 1896. BTW, the second volume of “Arf”, “Arf Museum” proudly presents eleven unpublished paintings of the Yellow Kid by his creator R. F. [...]
Arf Lovers High Fives Tom Heintjes of Hogan’s Alley!
Tom Heintjes is the editor of the absolutely wonderful comics magazine, Hogan’s Alley. HA covers both old skool and contemporary cartooning and always does so with an terrific entertaining and lively flair. Both the writing and design in Hogan’s is top notch. I always wanted to find out a little more about the talent behind [...]
It’s Cartoonists Day!
(click for a closer look) Today is Cartoonists’ Day and Dirk Deppy over at Journalista has a great take on it: “Today is also Go Down On A Cartoonist Day. If you know a cartoonist, are the gender that the cartoonist in question prefers and said cartoonist finds you attractive, then on this day you’re [...]
Eddie Campbell: Artist FOR ARF’S SAKE
Being a long-time and huge fan of the comics by Eddie Campbell I’m happy to see that we might both be a members of "The Mutual Admiration Society". On Campbell’s most excellent blog The Fate of The Artist he talks kindly about Arf: "I just noticed Craig Yoe plugging (Jan 30) his recent Arf Museum [...]
