Looking At Ever-Popular Gag Cartoon Collections. (If you don't like these, then the joke is on you.)

A picture may be worth a hundred words, but a funny caption can also go a pretty long way.

As a lover of comics and cartooning, one of my favorite types of cartoon is the single panel gag cartoon. Successful practitioners have the ability to pack a lot of subtlety into a single panel and a line or two of caption. Even when they aren’t going for subtle--and going for a straight gag, it’s good for a chuckle.

This week I’m going to look at five primo collections of single panel cartoons.


First up...

The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
September, 2004

I was very excited about this collection when it first came out.

Sure, it was pricey as hell (now it can be had dirt cheap in most bookstores), but it was not only a huge collection of some of the best single panel cartoons ever printed (2,004 fine examples), but it also included two CDs with all 80 years of The New Yorker’s cartoons. I think I can say without fear of contradiction that The New Yorker publishes the best cartoons out there.

Works by such favorites Peter Arno, Charles Addams, Sam Gross, Syd Hoff, George Booth, George Price, and Gahan Wilson. It’s the market all cartoonists aspire to.

Over the years I’ve amassed several of their cartoon anthologies, but never before had there been a collection as complete as this. The book is divided into decades so you can get a good sense of the history of funny, and an interesting perspective on American culture over the years.

That said, I’m sorry to say it’s not as perfect a collection as it could be. For one thing, it’s massive--over nine pounds. This doesn’t make for casual reading. Trying to will result in sore arms and a broken binding.

This is something to read either hunched over the coffee table--or better yet on one of those library dictionary stands. They could have broken up the volume into three and put them in a slipcase. As for the cartoons themselves (and I speak for the hardcover edition in this case--the newer, cheaper softcover edition may have fixed some of this), a few were reproduced in low resolution, and at least one multi-panel arrangement has the panels in the wrong order. Poor proofing on someone’s part--and something one doesn’t usually expect from The New Yorker. As for the CDs, The New Yorker sells most of their cartoons as high resolution prints, so it’s no surprise that the two CDs included in this volume are low-res files.

This wouldn’t be a big deal for viewing on a computer screen, but some of the images are too low-res and the lettering cannot be easily read in some cases. They really needed to exercise some quality control here.

Other than that, I’m still very happy with the collection, and look forward to seeing them push out another such collection come their 100th anniversary.


The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker
The Rejection Collection Vol. 2: The Cream of the Crap
Simon Spotlight Entertainment
September 2006 and October 2007

I’m hitting you with a two-fer-one, and talking more about New Yorker cartoons here. Hold on, don’t close your browser yet.

With the many submissions as The New Yorker receives--even from it’s established corral of regular contributors--it should be no surprise their rejection pile gets pretty high.

Editor Matthew Diffee gathered up some of these regular contributors and invited them to discuss their work, fill out some silly questionnaires, and share cartoons that were not accepted.

Even a brief thumbing through one of the two volumes will make it clear why these were rejected. Some themes were just too tasteless for the paragon of taste that is The New Yorker, some too racy, some just too plain odd.

My only complaint with these volumes is they could have been twice as long. Some of the cartoons are funny beyond belief, but you don’t feel like you’re getting a full meal of them with this collection. Still, it’s a collection worth having for true cartoon aficionados. Highly recommended. Even for you sickos out there.


Playboy: 50 Years: The Cartoons
Chronicle Books
March 2004

After The New Yorker, one of the best markets for gag cartoons was undoubtedly Playboy. (Interestingly enough, one could make the same argument about short fiction.)

When I was a kid, after I memorized the pictorials, but before I’d familiarize myself with the political and cultural articles, I’d read all the cartoons. I may not have always gotten them (Key parties? Were they trading cars? Huh?), but I got enough of them to enjoy them immensely and the drawings were quite naughty.

Even as adult (pre-Internet explosion and all the free porn there) Playboy was a great source for enjoying good cartoons. And they were a glimpse into the underground, subversive nature of cartoons--in a relatively mainstream market.

This collection, selected by Hugh Hefner, features the works of such luminaries as Jules Feiffer, Gahan Wilson, Shel Silverstein, and Doug Sneyd. There are even a few by the incomparable Jack Davis. There are over 450 cartoons in this collection , and it can be often found in the bargain shelves of many bookstores. Cheap at twice the price.

The only criticism is there is no particular order in which the cartoons are presented, nor any sense of time period in which they were published. What was funny thirty years ago isn’t as funny now, and vice versa. It would have been interesting had they, like the New Yorker collection provided some kind of timeline context.

Still, it’s highly recommended. Not for the kiddies, of course, but if you catch little Johnny paging through it--go easy on him. It’s a cultural education.


My Crowd by Charles Addams
Fireside
November 1991

Who could forget Charles Addams--easily one of the most recognizable cartoon artists of the past century. Not only did he turn middle America on its head with his 1932 creation of the Addams family (although they were not known as that until the 60s TV show) with its darkly humorous take on family life, but he played with fears and dreads and tropes of horror and mixed chuckle with shudder. (I call it a chuddler.)

This collection takes some of the very best from his previous six collections--heavy on the Addams, but not exclusive to, and presents them in all their gory glory. It’s good to be reminded of the source material for the TV show and the later movies.

The original family had a delightful creepiness that can be imitated, but never fully duplicated. And Pugsley is the kind of rotten kid I’d have liked to have been with the stealing of road signs and frequent use of explosives. Nowadays that would just lead to a prison sentence. No fun there.

It’s an inexpensive collection to purchase these days, and not that hard to find. Sadly, like many other gag cartoon collections, they often get relegated to bargain tables--quite unfairly.


The Pre-History of The Far Side:: A 10th Anniversary Exhibit by Gary Larson
Andres McKeel Publishing
September 1989

What discussion of cartoons could be had without including the modern master of the single panel gag, Gary Larson.

There are a lot of collections out there, but this one is my personal favorite as Larson not only presents a great Best Of collection, but also discusses the genesis and development of the whole Far Side world. He includes some samples of cartoons that were too out there for publication, and some amusing instances in which captions got switched when published in certain newspapers. He shares some reader responses, and even shares how he develops a gag--making a good gag better.


All in all it’s a must-have for any serious fan of cartooning. Whether you want to become a cartoonist yourself, or just a fan of the medium, there’s a lot both on the scene and behind the scenes to enjoy--something we rarely get to see.


And that’s this week’s look at gag cartoon collections.

Before I sign off, lemme just share that I recently finished yet another Douglas Coupland novel. I don’t know what’s up with me and his books. I’ve just been grooving on them lately.

Anyway, if you’re looking for a really weird read, check out All Families Are Psychotic where everyone’s broken in one way or the other, but even broken people can get it together once in a while.


Cheers!

For information on how to get your book, comic, movie, whatever reviewed on Falling Off the Shelf, or to send hate mail, feel free to contact me at john (at) johnteehan (dot) com.