Thursday, August 7, 2025

Rea Irvin Inducted into the Eisner Hall of Fame (or Molly and Larry go to the Comic Con International)

Molly was informed earlier this year that her grandfather, Rea Irvin, was to be inducted into the Eisner Fall of Fame at the Comic Con International in San Diego.


This was great news to us since her grandfather was an extraordinarily talented artist who has largely managed to fly under the cultural radar despite his influence and impact on comic art, illustration and graphic arts in general. We’re not aware of him ever receiving an award during his lifetime.

If you spent anytime reading this blog you may have heard of Rea Irvin. Molly’s grandpappy was a career long cartoonist and, most importantly, the art editor and person most responsible for setting the New Yorker’s visual aesthetics. He designed the logo, the typeface, drew the heading and oversaw the selection process for cartoons to be used in the magazine.  He illustrated over a hundred covers including the very first issue featuring the fop with monocle, Eustice Tilley.

Every year the Comic Con honors cartoonists, both living and dead, into the Eisner Hall of Fame. The inductees are selected by a panel of judges made of of comic art professionals and scholars.

We flew down to San Diego for Molly to accept the honor for her grandfather at the Hall of Fame ceremony held on Friday, July 26th.

Here is a transcript of Molly’s acceptance speech:

I am so pleased that my grandfather has received this recognition and induction to the Eisner Hall of Fame.

Throughout my lifetime it seemed he was solely known for the iconic first New Yorker magazine cover of Eustace Tilley, which has eclipsed a long and creative career of diverse, wonderful and lively art.

Rea’s life was full and varied, he travelled much of the country in his youth as an artist and actor and loved being around fellow artists such as his very good friend Rube Goldberg.

Born in San Francisco and raised in the Mission district, Rea started life needing to earn his way at the early age of 15. He bounced between newspapers from San Francisco to Honolulu, Portland and Pittsburg, drawing everything from sports cartoons, courtroom art, caricatures, magazine ads and comic strips. I believe there is a new book coming out later this year on his comic strip - The Smythes - by Lucas Adams, R. Kikuo Johnson and Dash Shaw.

Rea also drew for many different publications like Red Book, Green Book, Judge and the humor magazine Life. The covers he created for Life magazine are among my most favorite of his work.

When he left Life magazine he was approached by Harold Ross with Ross’s idea for a new literary magazine which also focused on humor.

My grandfather was skeptical but intrigued and agreed to come on board as a de facto art director, willing to teach Ross what a humor magazine was and what it could contribute to a literary magazine. He was responsible for the overall look of the New Yorker magazine including the logo, typeface, which is known as the Irvin Font, headings, the development and selection of New Yorker cartoons, as well as having control over the covers for many years. I think he rather enjoyed this as it led to his creating over 169 New Yorker covers of his own.

My grandparents had purchased an old button factory in New Town Connecticut which they renovated into a wonderful home with a pond. Artists and writers such as Peter Arno and James Thurber would come out to New Town for big weekend parties. Rea would work in his studio every morning for several hours after his daily morning swim in the pond. My mother has said that as a small child she used to go into his studio and climb on his lap when he was drawing to watch him.

Once a week my grandfather would take the train into New York for the Tuesday morning meetings at the New Yorker, and then spend time at the Player’s Club, a club intended for artist and actors, which was his home away from home.

I remember my grandfather as a genial and quietly introverted man who smoked cigars and wore bowler hats, much like the many bowler hats his characters wore in his illustrations.

That my grandfather’s work is being honored now, for the amazing, humorous, subtle and masterful artist that he was, is wonderful. It’s a great honor to be here to represent my grandfather, Rea Irvin, and accept this award for him.

Thank you.

Karen Green, Curator for Comics and Cartoons at Columbia University introduces Molly.




Other deceased creators inducted this year were Peter Arno, Gus Arriola, Wilhelm Busch, Richard “Grass” Green, Jack Kamen, Joe Maneely, Shigeru Mizuki, Bob Oksner, Bob Powell, Ira Schnapp and Phil Seuling.
                                                                            
           Happy Hall of Famers                       

The living creators are The living Kyle Baker, Steve Bissette, Eddie Campbell, Lucy Shelton Caswell, Roz Chast, Dan Clowes, Philippe Druillet, Phoebe Gloeckner, Junji Ito, Todd Klein, John Romita, Jr., Joe Sacco, Bill Schanes, Steve Schanes, Frank Stack and Angelo Torres. 

Eddie Campbell

Cartoonist Paul Karasik accepting the award for Roz Chast

Curator Caitlin McGurk accepting the honor for curator Lucy Shelton Caswell

Renowned graphic novelist, Dan Clowes

Molly holding her grandpappy's award. Behind us are (Lee Marr's knee), Phoebe Gloeckner, Todd Klein, Eddie Campbell and unidentified human. 

Friday, July 4, 2025

Cartoonists Deserve a Happy 4th of July, Too

 Happy 4th of July.

The 4th of July is just the right day to contemplate and celebrate freedom. That’s what I’ve been doing today.

We might as well kick off the celebration with this little clip by that freedom loving Republican president, Abraham Lincoln:

Letter to Joshua Speed, 1855

One moment to celebrate is that Turkish cartoonist Zehra Ömeroğlu, after five years of court hearings, doesn’t have to go to prison for drawing a cartoon. The Istanbul courts ruled that her cartoons were protected under the Intellectual and Artistic Works Act.

Good news for her, not so good news four other Turkish cartoonists and staff members of the Turkish satirical magazine, LeMan, who were just arrested this week and charged with “inciting public hatred”.

If anything, making cartoons has become an increasingly perilous activity.

In recent years, around the world, ink slingers have been censored, fired, arrested, imprisoned, and in some cases, tortured and killed.

Some make the news globally like the horrendous Charlie Hebdo magazine attack of a decade ago. But most travel under the mass media radar. 

The struggles of Ali Ferzat, Atena Farghadani, Pedro Xavier Molina and many others are rarely known beyond the borders of their own countries.

But beyond outright repression, more and more cartoons of edgy social and political content are disappearing simply because print media editors are backing away, fearful of upsetting one of their few precious remaining subscribers.

Walt Handelsman

In the US, the subtle threat is the incremental censorship and outright abandonment of cartoons.

And publishers aren’t just jettisoning cartoons but the staff cartoonists as well.

Editorial cartoonists are losing their jobs right and left (actually, I guess we could say more left than right).


One of the finest editorial cartoonists in this country,
Kal, (aka Kevin Kallaugher), was just dismissed from the Baltimore Sun (after a 31-year run with the paper!). The new publisher said he found Kal’s work “ultra-liberal’.

Ann Telnaes

Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonists like Ann Telnaes and Rob Rogers have left positions after conflicts over content with their home papers.

Of course it’s not just editorial cartoonists taking the heat.  Graphic novels/ Graphic Memoirs continually make the banned book lists around the country.

Books such as Gene Luen Yang’s American Born Chinese, Maia Kobabe's Gender Queer --and amazingly Art Spiegelman’s Maus experienced a resurgence in repressive interest.

(If you’re wondering why cartoons get more heat, raise a greater ruckus, than the written word, I recommend reading The Art of Controversy by Victor S. Navasky).

If you’re interested in the plight of cartoonists and cartooning as an art form, here are a couple of sites you can check out:

Cartoonists for Peace

Cartoonists Rights

Freedom cartoonists Foundation

Happy 4th of July.

I leave you with this:  China has banned the use of puns.  The government is concerned that punning leads to “Cultural and linguistic chaos”.


Cartoons copyright by their respective holders


Tuesday, July 1, 2025

Molly's Turn: Robert Kingsbury--A Celebration of the Man and His Art


 Robert Kingsbury 

Oct 19, 1925 - June 25, 2025

R.I.P.


Loving, Amazing, Wonderful Man
Here are some images of his creations







     Kingsbury with then wife Linda and their daughter Megan (circa late 1960's)



Robert Kingsbury with Anne Lebowitz and Ben Fong-Torres
(courtesy of Ben and Diane Fong-Torres)








This life size lion and horse are stored in his basement, they are amazing to behold. 

 

One of Kingsbury's life's goal was to make it to 100 years of age. He daily walked Potereo Hill, played baseball with a developmentally disabled baseball team, and taped danced to keep in shape while also doing his daily N.Y.Times crossword puzzles to keep his mind sharpe. He was determined.  Here Kingsbury, his friend Linc, Larry and I are celebrating his 100th birthday with his favorite chocolate cake and wine.
He was so pleased to hear Megan's voice saying
" Happy Birthday Dad. "


I was very very lucky to have Kingsbury in my life from the age of one. He was my favorite "Uncle" all of my life. When the pandemic started to lift, I called his daughter Megan to see if it was okay to come by, she let me know that Kingsbury had developed dementia and most likely would not recognize me. It was one of my greatest delights to walk through the door and have him say "Molly Hagopian !, I haven't seen you in a long time!!'  He did say this over and over :-) as he explained and showed Larry and I many things of importance to him. I am so honored that he had not forgotten me and obviously looked upon me with joy. 
How lucky am I.

To see a full interview with Kingsbury about his life please go to the March 19th 2014 interview under Molly's Turn

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

RIP Al Ardelle circa 1934—2025

Early in his career, Al worked in graphic art and advertising and was a creative director in New York.

He later received a MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in video art.     Al was a photographer, printmaker, painter and videographer. 

He participated in probably a few dozen art shows during my time as visual arts coordinator at the San Geronimo Valley Community Center.  Al was a good guy. 

Here's a sampling of his diverse endeavors.

"Aiko". Woodcut

"Walt Whitman", Woodcut

"Anonymous", Multi-media

A flyer for one of the many documentaries Al worked on


Al with his work at a Spring Art Show opening.
(Photo courtesy of Donn DeAngelo)

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Psychedelic: Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960's

 

Two posters, under alternating lights, by the masterful Victor Moscoso.

The Portland Art Museum's "Psychedlic: Rock Posters and Fashion of the 1960's" continues until June 15, 2025

Tuesday, May 13, 2025

Made by Human Hands

Now that I'm retired, I'm no longer Visual Arts Coordinator for the San Geronimo Valley Community Center's Maurice del Mue Galleries, but they're still letting me show in the annual Spring Art Show.

I decided to do a cartoon regarding something that is weighing on my mind--the status of hand made drawings.

I started with this doodle in my sketchbook.

After resketching and enlargements, I finally put it on a lightbox for transfer to Bristol Board.


You would think it's one simple cartoon (maybe I'm feeling a bit rusty) but I even did a sample wash rough before applying an India ink wash to the original.




"Made by Human Hands" is hanging in the 35th annual Spring Art Show until May 25.



c Rippee 2025

Monday, May 5, 2025

Happy National Cartoonist Day

 Yes, it’s National Cartoonist Day.

It always seems best to celebrate National Cartoonist Day with the great B. Kliban's classic cartoon.


There's never been a tougher time (or perhaps a better time) to be a cartoonist.

Newspapers in this country are running scared, editors and publishers are dumping cartoonist's work and eliminating staff cartoonist positions. (Or in the case of renowned Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes, quitting in protest over censorship).

This May in London, bizarrely and apparently with no sense of irony, the 'License to Offend' cartoon exhibition was cancelled because of concern that the show might offend. Contributors included cartoonists Morten Morland (of The Times), Mac and Pugh (The Mail), Patrick Blower (The Daily Telegraph) and Martin Rowson (The Guardian).

Morland stated in the press that "These weren’t offensive cartoons. They were cartoons that had already been printed in national newspapers. I’ve never experienced anything like it. It’s an idiotic decision on so many levels.”

Here's the article:

Around the planet we've seen that drawing a cartoon can lead to threats-- and prison. In years past it was cartoonists such as Ali Frezat or Pedro X. Molina. Currently, it includes Atena Farghadani, Zehra Omuraglu, Fahmi Reza and handfuls of other cartoonists in China, Russia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America  (And if you're a British cartoonist don't plan on backpacking around in this country).

And let's not forget the domestic book banning of graphic novels from Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe to Maus by Art Spiegelman.

But cartoonists continue to amuse and annoy...so Happy National Cartoonist Day

Zim

Here's just a few Hall-of-Famers:

The great Golden Age comic book artist, Lily Renee, and magazine cartoonist, Eric Peters (aka Eric Gold/ Goltz). Both of these artists fled the Nazi's during World War II. They met and married in the United States.

One of America's greatest cartoonists, Art Young

Editorial cartoonist Etta Hulme

Jon Kennedy

A. John Kaunus

The wildly creative George Carlson

Harry Lambert, the original artist of "The Flash"

Herb Roth

'Teena' creator Hilda Terry

Magazine cartoonist Mary Gibson

Disney gagman, Roy Williams

Leo Salkin

Curtis Swan

Ed Nofziger

Tom Zib

Magazine cartoonist Merrylen Townsend

Barney Tobey

Husband and wife team "Corka" (Jon Cornin & Zena Kavin).
Both talented artists in their own right.

New Yorker cartoonist Richard Taylor

Helen Hokinson as drawn by cartoonist Chuck Thorndike

Dorothy McKay

Bill O'Malley

Peggy Bacon

Caricaturist Aline Fruhauf
Obit cartoon for Rube Goldberg by Karl Hubenthal

Virgil (Vip) Partch

'Cap Stubbs and Tippie' cartoonist Edwina



'Winnie Winkle' creator Marin Branner 

Ed Wheelan

Gustavo A. Bronstrup

Ray Rohn drawn by H.T. Webster

Pinto Colvig

A. E. Hayward

Fay King


Charles R. Macauley

Billy DeBeck

Gaar Williams
J.R. Williams

Everett Lowry



Copyright the respective copyright holders