Here’s a fascinating photo from a cartoonists’ get-together in 1963. Be the first to identify the cartoonists in it and win a copy of the brand new Arf book, Arf Forum. I’m going to give you some hints. The fella in the far left in the back was not too long ago mentioned on this blog as having a visit to the hospital but, happily, is doing very well. He drew Golden Age comic book superheroes to a doe-eyed orphan in comic strips.The gentleman talking to him is a foo-mas cartoonist. He is featured in the said Arf Forum based on a visit I had to his home and studio and he’s mentioned in the Booklist review below.

The guy sitting and talking to the woman in the funny costume is actually a failed cartoonist whose work you’ll find in Arf Museum, the Arf book that preceeded Arf Forum. The next standing cartoonist won a Silver T-Square from the National Cartoonist Society in 1969. Finally, the inkslinger on the far right: I featured the original art from the first day his popular comic strip on the Arf Lovers Blog recently. He referred to himself as “the world’s oldest boy cartoonist”.

Send in your guesses to [email protected]. I’ll take the names of all the correct guessers, put ‘em in a hat and draw out a winner Friday. I’ll announce the winner then. If you already have an Arf Forum, and God Bless your soul, you can choose another one of my books. Go for it!

(click for a closer look)

Now for some great Arf Forum news: First I am thrilled that arguably the coolest bookstore in the world, St. Mark’s Bookstore in New York’s East Village, features Arf Forum front and center in their window and they have a giant stack prominently displayed right when you enter their fine store. And the Arf books are now proudly showcased in the Museum of Modern Art bookstore, this is a dream come true for me. And Eric Reynolds just sent this advanced review that will be appearing in Booklist, the important periodical religiously read by librarians ordering books for their libraries:

“For his third exploration of “the unholy marriage of art and comics,” cartoonist-designer Yoe unearthed another cornucopia of obscure and delightful artifacts. They include a sampling of Bill Holman’s
singularly screwball newspaper strip, Smokey Stover; excerpts from an experimental 1934 graphic novel in collage by German dadaist Max Ernst; an appraisal of the enigmatic William Ekgren’s bizarre 1950s
horror comics covers; and an assortment of caveman cartoons by early-twentieth-century hands.

Comics themselves are the subjects of some of the most beguiling entries, such as a metastrip in which Krazy Kat and Ignatz Mouse read and discuss their newspaper exploits, a 1941 fumetti in which scantily clad models purport to show how comics are made, an early story by Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee (a beleaguered comicbook editor defends his horror titles against an outraged citizen), and vintage photos of Rock Hudson and Elvis Presley enjoying the funnies. Those of a scholarly bent might wish for more documentation of these intriguing works, but Arf’s focus remains, appropriately, on the visual qua visual.”
— Gordon Flagg/Booklist

For more of a preview of Arf Forum click on the cover in the upper left of the blog. Or click now on the cover below and order one. Better yet, WIN a copy of Arf Forum by entering the contest. Good luck, Arf Lover!

(click here to order Arf Forum)