…in the Arf Universe, anyway. A little while back Donald V. Cook of the delightful printed fanzine, The Funnies Paper, sent a bunch of comics and cartoons with the word “arf” in them which I ran on the blog. Been keeping my eye out for more. Strange Adventures has one of those covers when even adventure comic books would sport charming or humorous covers. Note the martian’s/dog’s exclamation.

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Now Popeye is supposed to be humorous, but this strip by the usually great Bud Sagendorf is nothing short of bizarre. Popeye’s saying “arf, arf”, but if it was just that I probably wouldn’t show you this strip because that’s pretty typical of the one-eyed sailor. What makes this interesting is the “gag” of Olive Oyl feigning suicide. And standing next to Olive is a woman that looks like pretty much a twin-except she has boobs! Who IS this character?!? Arf? Arf?

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BTW. for info on subscribing to Donald’s fine The Funnies Paper the fanzine about comic strips and cartoons email him at [email protected] . And if you have any comics or cartoons with the word “arf” in them, send them in!

Zowie, I still haven’t finished my series of photos of 1920s cartoonists. I even forget which “Part” we’re on. Oh, well, here’s the great TAD. Thomas A. Dorgan doesn’t get enough recognition today. He was a major figure in comics back then, did brilliant work, was pals with and an influence on George Herriman. TAD invented or popularized innumerable phrases like “hot dog” or “23 skiddo” in his cartoons. Though comics fans no longer give him the recognition he deserves he hasn’t been forgotten in other fields. He WAS recently inducted into the Boxing Hall of Fame for his sports cartoons!

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Mike Gold over at the always interesting http://comicmix.com recently reviewed the new “Arf” book, “Arf Forum”:

Craig Yoe is not the most unusual man I’ve ever met. However, this is a statement that reveals more about me than it does about him, and since this is a review of his work I’ll try to stop scaring people.

Craig Yoe runs this place called Yoe! Studios, which is really just one single studio filled with talented people, a lot of energy, and great fun. They do all kinds of stuff: they create the Big Boy Comics (yes,
they’re still being published), they do those astonishingly packaged comics figurines that Dark Horse sells and they do design work and create toys and sundry chachkis for such clients as Kraft, Warner Bros. and Microsoft.

One of the many statuesque statues Yoe! Studio has done for Dark Horse…

They hand out Yoe! Studio whoopee cushions and thongs at important business trade shows. He used to run the Muppet Workshop. He actually looks like the Kelly Freas drawing, slightly dispelling the myth that if you don’t look like Corporate America, you won’t fit into Corporate America.

The castle that houses Yoe! Studios, the “Facts of Life” TV show was based on the school that was there before Yoe! took over.

Craig Yoe is also a major, long-time comics fan, among the best and brightest Ohio has had to offer comics, which is saying a lot (the tip of the iceberg: Jerry Siegel, Tony Isabella, Maggie Thompson, Mike W. Barr, Harlan Ellison, ComicMix’s own Martha Thomases and Mike Raub). But, to no one’s surprise, his tastes are as unusual as he is.

For the past couple years, he’s been foisting his line art fantasies on the general public with his Arf series, published by Fantagraphics. There are three such books out right now – in order, Modern Arf, Arf Museum, and Arf Forum. No matter how hardcore a comics enthusiast you might be, there’s a lot of weird stuff in these volumes that you should see, that you would want to see.

(order Arf Forum here)

His roster of reprinted talent includes (in alphabetical order): Ernie Bushmiller, Charlie Chaplin, Robert Crumb, Salvador Dali, Dan DeCarlo, Jack Davis, Rudolph Dirks, Max Ernst, Jimmy Hatlo, Hugh Hefner, Reamer Keller, George Herriman, Frank King, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Patrick McDonnell, Pablo Picasso, Artie Spiegelman, Mort Walker, and Wally Wood. That’s a really eclectic group of cartoonists; and, yes, I meant cartoonists. You might not have perceived some of the above as such.

This is one of the many great images related to reading comic books in the latest “Arf Forum” book…

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There’s tons of comics in each action-packed volume, with a bit of a focus on cheesecake and pin-up. Most of it falls into the “extremely hard to find and I’ll bet you’ve never seen it before” category. Some falls into the “never before reprinted” category. Almost all of it falls into the “holy shit” category. Craig wisely keeps the narrative to a minimum, letting the graphics speak for themselves.

Each “Arf” book features a cartoonist that drew sexy pin-up style cartoons. “Arf Forum” presents the Italian artist Kremos…

“And now get undressed, agent X4781. This document is very compromising and must be sewn in your panties.”
“But, if it were so important, wouldn’t it be better to put it in a more secure place, chief?”
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If it’s possible to put a creator’s most bizarre predilections between the covers, Craig Yoe has done just that in his Arf series. They must be seen to be believed, but if you’re placing an order at your friendly neighborhood comics shop or at Amazon or you’re at one of the better big box bookshops, each book (there will be more) is $19.95 and if you’ve got it to spare, take a shot in the dark. He’s got (surprise!) a website all about it, and he takes orders there.

Artsey-fartsey has never been so much fun. I doubt you’ll be disappointed, and you just might be amazed.

Have some REAL fun and sure ’nuff action, thanks to this 1960s comic book ad!

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This may be the cutest, most desirable, yummiest Wacky Wonder Woman ever! I promised last night over dinner and again during breakfast this morning that I would not give out her phone number, so don’t ask. But, here’s a pic-enjoy!

I’m excited to announce a new weekly feature called “D. J. David B. Spins Comics-Tunes” (we were going to call it Dave’s Car-Tunes but that seems sooo tired) in which Arf Lover Dave B. shares his comics-related recordings. Dave takes it from here:

All anybody talks about anymore is Google. “I’ll Google that.” “Let me Google you.” “I Googled myself last night.” With all this Googling going on, you’d think Google was something new. Nah! Google dates back all the way to 1919, when Billy DeBeck’s seminal comic strip “Barney Google” first appeared. (At least that’s what I found out from a search on Google.) The Barney Google newspaper strip kicked into high gear when his horse Spark Plug was introduced, and it got another boost as hillbilly Snuffy Smith was added to the cast. Snuffy continues to appear in comic strips to this day, but Barney retired and is living on the millions he made from licensing his name to the popular search engine (www.google.com).

Somewhere along the way (in 1923, if you can believe what you read on Google) no less a talent than Billy Rose wrote a song about Barney Google in which he coined the word “googly.” A rather googly version of the tune was recorded in the late 1940’s by Spike Jones (who had that name decades before movie directors Spike Lee or Spike Jonze, don’t get me started!) and it appears here for your listening and dancing enjoyment. (just press the play button on the bar below).

-D. J. David B.

If no Bar appears, please click here.

Below is the popular Barney Google sheet music with the stunning art by Debeck…

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Below is a charming, previously unpublished, 1936 drawing of Barney Google and Snuffy Smith going nose to nose from Craig’s collection…,

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The colorfully-garbed villain, The Minstrel, the Musician of Menace, has tied-up Doll Man to the phalic-shaped clapper with Doll Man’s package prominently thrust out. The Minstrel gleefully stares at Doll Man’s package as he pulls a rope between his legs putting the dong in ding-dong! If you think I’m reading too much into this just chime in!

Life has gotten in the way of my blogging lately but I’m gonna try and get regular again along with a little help from my friends. In fact, tomorrow, if we finally have the technolgy worked out, there will be a special new feature I’m very excited about from D. J. David B. Stay tooned.

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Arf Lover David B. sent in today’s Doll Man cover. Thanks, Dave! Dollman has some pretty big shoes to fill today! They say the size of a man’s package can be judged by his shoe size, but that wouldn’t hold true here, I guess. Though, it must be said, Doll Man has always had a hefty package delineated by his artists in relationship to his stature. Al Bryant certainly drew Doll Man well endowed here. And Al drew lots of nice vagina-y symbols in the shoe Doll Man is stepping into. No wonder Doll Man is so erect and electrified!

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Dean Yeagle. Probably the nicest guy in the business. I consider myself quite lucky to have him as a friend. AND I HATE HIM!!! Let me explain why and maybe you’ll hate him, too. I don’t think that there is an artist alive that knows Yeagle’s work and isn’t insanely jealous of the how good Dean can draw to the point of hating him. I’m just the only guy that is publicly admiting it. Yes, it’s a sad commentary on the human condition, blah, blah, but look at the evidence below and tell me if you, too, aren’t disgusted by the fact that Dean has more talent in his little finger than most artists, certainly myself, have in their whole being!

Below is the cover of his latest “sketchbook”, but Dean ain’t content to merely have sketches that show everybody else up, he has to have the sketches tell endearing, fun little stories, too. What a jerk! The story with the frog and the other one with the dinosaur are especailly hate worthy.

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Below is a piece of unpublished art that Dean gave me for my next my next book, Clean Cartoonists’ Dirty Drawings and a shot of what Dean’s spread in the book is gonna look like. I’m quite afraid that Dean is gonna make the other 68 artists in the book look real bad. And if that wasn’t enough, Dean “kindly” did the cover of the limited edition of Clean Cartoonists’ Dirty Drawings me and the the Last Gasp Publisher is gonna issue. If Dean thinks by giving me all this help on Clean Cartoonists Dirty Drawings and doing the carticatures of Reamer Keller and Kremos for Arf Museum and Arf Forum are gonna change my feelings about him, well, he’s wrong. Geez, I hold him in such contempt. No, really.

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Don’t be a lover, be a Dean hater and if the above art wasn’t enough to make you angry-as-hell-and-not-want-to-take-it-anymore then get in touch with your anger by going to Yeagle’s websites http://gallery.bellefree.com/dabeagle and http://cagedbeagle.com

One of my very fave things about the Comic Con is the sketch books for sale. A lot of people from the animation community self-publish their own sketch books each year and sell them at their own tables or through Bud Plant or Stuart Ng at the con. I wish more comic book, comic strip and alternative cartoonists would do the same. Below’s the best IMHO from the animators at this years show. Tomorrow I’ll highlight Dean Yeagle’s incredible offering which has gone way beyond what a sketchbook is and deserves its own spotlight. But, for now, the top five sketch books and a sample page from each from the comics con…

#5) Robh Ruppel www.broadviewgraphics.com www.broadviewgraphics.blogspot.com

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#4) Seth Reek www.sethreek.com

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#3) Forrest Card www.forrestcard.com forrestcard.blogspot.com

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#2) Chris Sanders www.chrisandersart.com

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And coming in at #1— Alberto Ruiz! www.brandstudio.com processjunkie.blogspot.com

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