Caricature Books

Cartoonist Greg Irons was killed in 1984 at age 37 by a bus in Thailand so he never received the recognition he could've achieved over the decades, but YOU CALL THIS ART?! Provides a fine collection of his entire works; from the rock posters he designed for Bill Graham to his graphic comics and examples from his children's illustration and tattoo art work. The blend of black and white and color reproductions accompanies a survey of Irons' life, talents and achievements in a retrospective not to be missed!

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This is the book I've been waiting for, and now I can retire all my old Greg Irons undergrounds to bags and boxes and display this volume proudly on my shelf, and have it at easy access for constant consultation. About the only thing I don't like about this book is the weird day-glo cover design. For some reason it almost makes the book look like an advance copy, as it appears unfinished. Aside from that I couldn't love this book more. Mr. Rosencrantz is generous in his biographical details, family photos, snapshots and art from every phase of Mr. Irons' too short career. This book is well worth every penny it costs, and so few books are these days. If you have an interest in anything from old San Francisco Rock posters, to underground comix, to record album design to book illustration to tattoo art....This is the book for you!!! Can't recommend this book highly enough!!!!

In the Summer of 1974, Back in my "Starvin' Artist Daze", I had been working on 30 Pages of Comix Art for months. One August morning, I gathered up my Guts and Drove To Berkeley, and The Print Mint. Shaking like a Leaf, I walk into The Folger Ave. Office. Inside is Bob DeRita, The Owner, at his desk talking to a Lanky Young Guy with an Long, Long Blonde Hair and a Scruffy Beard. He's calling him Greg, I have walked in to the office right in the Middle of an Pay Dispute. DeRita, is not in a Good Mood (To say the least!) and Croaks: "Well, Whatta You Want"??? Well, by now I'm about to lose Breakfast, Right in The Print Mint Office, and Silently shove my Art at him. He looks it over (Quickly) and gives it back. "Two Words, Kid... Art School" was his reply. I'm lookin' at the Door, when the Other guy, Greg, say's: "Hey Man, Let me see your Stuff". At this Point I'm ready to Crawl under a rock and Die, But, I gave this Friendly Stranger my Art, kinda hoping he was the Owner of The Rip-Off Press. He looks it over for Many long minutes (Seemed like hours) and gently hands my Art back. Greg, tells me: "You are Good Man, But, you are readin' too Much Crumb, and you are trying to draw Crumb", (He had me Cold)..."But, I see a liitle of my Stuff in your Work as well". "Your Work?" I whispered. "Yeah", he continued, "Slow Death & Deviant Slice". Now, I Knew who this was, Greg Irons was Checking my Work.

Now, it's summer of 2007 and I'm readin' this Great Book, "You Call This Art?! and it's a Fitting Tribute to an Amazing Artist. Lot's of his Comic Art is in here, Many of The Filmore West Posters as well & lot's of his Tattoo Art. I had no idea that Greg had done Illustrations for Children's Books, but, they are here as well. I Own many Books about the Underground Greats...Crumb, Shelton, S. Clay, etc. BUT, "You Call This Art", is one of the Finest Publications I have seen in years, I learned a lot about the Man, as well as the Artist by reading this one.

Looking, Now at Greg's work, Three Decade's on, it's even better than I remember it way back from The Early 70's. There is a lot in that Art, You will see the EC influence, that he grew up with and he Brought that Love of Great Horror into the Underground for us to enjoy. This Book brings me Right back to that time Long Ago. Times have Changed, The Underground Comix Business is Kaput, and Greg is Gone as well.

Oh, Yeah...I attended some Art Classes, and my Comics ARE in print in a Small Mountian Newspaper in South Lake Tahoe, Ca. Greg, was a Good Guy and FANTASTIC ARTIST...This Book tells his Story with Ton's of his Wonderful Art...FIVE STARS.

More amusing practical tips. This man is quite ingenious in coming up
with sensible and not so sensible things to do with the stray corpus
felinus that you might have lying around, or are thinking of producing.

Really very funny, indeed. Worth a look for a chuckle.

A continuation of his first book. His ideas are so stupid, that they are funny. A book for cat haters and lovers.

40 Hour Man is an unusual style of graphic novel narrative, telling the true story of a working stiff's 30 years struggling with the minimum wage American dream, from being a mini golf lackey to going under with the Internet boom and bust and much more. Each page features a paragraph of text and a black-and-white cartoon illustration. Although there is a small amount of adult content - 40 Hour Man is definitely for mature readers only - the primary focus is on frustrations of the working world, petty co-workers, vengeful bosses, bean-counters in suits, and other employment-related hazards. There isn't an overreaching moral to the memoir, other than that happiness in the working world is fleeting and should be enjoyed while it lasts but not depended upon to stay, but the story itself is all too sympathetic and cannot be put down. Highly recommended.

I got my copy of this book in the mail the other morning. As a former co-worker of Mr. Beaupre's, his description of at least one of the dot-bombs he worked at is amazingly accurate. Also, it made me realize why I will still always call this just a job and not a career, regardless of what I may be I'm doing.

This spoof of field guides really shows the wit and ingenuity of its creators. You'll laugh through the entire guide.

I have owned a copy of these books since I first heard them reviewed on NPR. I still laugh every time I pull them from the shelf. Excellent gifts for your naturalist friends and others!!

This is a collection of one-page stories without text and unrelated to each other. The drawings are deceptively cute and more or less traditional. But the scripts are completely refreshing and read like something written in another planet. I don't know how to compare it to anything else, it is THAT original. The closest parallel I can find is to very old stuff like the Rarebit Fiend series by Winsor McKay or his Little Nemo, surreal and dream-like. But here there are no words, ever.

Some of the stories are laugh out loud funny. Some are surreal. Some are just very cute. A few I just don't get and read to me more like a zen mantra. This is no Garfield, it is unlike any other type of humor you've ever encountered.

Entertainment Weekly chose it #1 on their "Must List" in their April 8, 2005 issue and had this to say:
"Sublime and silly: Nothing's lost in translation in these wordless Japanese strips and their bone-dry Zen humor."

Publishers Weekly gave it a starred review in their May 9th issue:
"The strips always begin with a simple premise: the man walking, fishing, talking or looking, and then, around panel six or seven, a surreal twist takes shape, revealing itself in the very last panel for maximum effect. Each development is wonderfully hallucinatory and inventive--­never monotonous or predictable."

Volume 2 is already in production and readers can expect more of the same twisted humor. Give it a try!

The Architects Of Rap: Poison In Our Culture by Les Taha is a stinging, articulate, timely denouncement of the negative influences that rap and hip-hop culture and lyrics have on African Americans today, ranging from its portrayal of stereotyped violence, to promiscuity, to criminality among black people, to its glorification of despicable and inhumane behavior. Pen-and-ink cartoons add a satirical punch to this strident, much-needed "wake-up" call concerning how prejudice and poisonous values influence our impressionable youth through the guise of rap and hip-hop.

It has been a while since I have heard from someone who have entered the world were most are afraid to go, HIP HOP. My salutation to brother Taha for being bold enough to tell the truth. We as older A/A men have failed our communities and the disgusting words of rap music are the result our negligence. Our young men who are making grand theft money are really destroying themselves and the young fertile minds that are listening to these sick words due to their lack of knowledge of self. You can't know you self and say the the disrespectful lyrics that come out of their mouths. You can't know yourself and display their bodies in the manner that they do and realyy think they have sense because they make money. Reality with common sense does not exist in the world of Hip Hop. As Brother Taha so eloquently stated the music is what brings us to the table but the vulgar and immorale language is disgusting. Our true make up as humans are really words. We are merely a culmination of words that our minds have heard over the years from birth to now. Every single word that goes into our heads must have a reaction. If we feed negative and immoral words into our KING(dome) what comes out are the same negatives that go in especially if we don't have a good knowledge base.
As the old saying goes you are what you eat that is physically as well as mentally. We must began to war against the powers that be to fight off this destruction of the A/A mind an that war starts at home. Gathering troops will be difficult when you find millions of young women who are still children in their thinking and are bring more young troops into this hip hop battle becasue they don't have a clue. We have very little to fight with except the truth. We as OG's must find a way to attract these gifted young men and women to the table and began to share with them a master plan that we all can support are this battle will be lost and we will continue this immoral downfall. The Architect of this detrimental behavior have also infected other cultures now so they have a powerful Army standing up for what they think is right.
If we are to save our babies and put the forces of wrong on the track to retreat we have some serios times ahead of us that will not reflect a rosy future for any of us.
It is time for the MODERN DAY ACHIEVERS to stand up and lets remake our world with a new way of thinking,speaking and wearing our clothes and let those so called brothers and sisters who take your money and give it right back to the Master. We must began to pool our resources to create food centers, mechanism to buy the housing in our communities so that we will have communities and develop clothing thats demonstrates class and not a thuggish look. We should began to boycott all foolishiness and negative influences and quit letting people with our own color continue to sell us bags of garbage Lets Tell Ebony,Essence,Vibe etc. an any other Magazine to quit promoting these people,quit promoting alcohol/cigarette ads, and showing our beautiful women and men half naked in thier publication and respect our childrens minds for the future. Onces and for all lets quit telling people that sex sales. We have a long way to go to reestablish morality and common sense back into the minds of society. We should create a National Cortisium with a twenty-fifty year plan to change our condition. I am working with brothers on such a program currently.
Let us quit being used by the MASTER ARCHITECT!!!!!! Thank you Bro Taha for letting us all know that the truth shall set us free.
R.A Salaam

This isn't just one of the best comic strips of all time, it is one of the best books of all time. Do whatever you can to find a copy, and then treasure it for the rest of your life.

It is a crying shame that Barnaby is now out of print, except for the reprints in Comics Revue magazine. This is a book that deserves to be kept in print forever. Write to Dover, and urge them to reissue it.

The only way to safely express the feelings Bill Clinton's conduct produces is the editorial cartoon. The man just defies words. So this was a vintage year for cartoonists - and it shows. The cartoons in this book are just great. They canalise wrath into laughter, but also - on social issues - create the awareness that some matters are too serious to be laughed at.

A very good reason to buy this book: it features some of my own work. Really, this is reason enough to buy this excellent volume. Trust me.

Charles Brooks edits the 2003 edition of BEST EDITORIAL CARTOONS OF THE YEAR, a powerful and pointed collection which packs in political commentary and cartoon renditions of major events of 2002. Newspaper readers will find these satires hilarious.

Best Editorial Cartoons Of The Year 2003 Edition is a superb collection of black-and-white political and social cartoons that aptly summarize the turning points of the year. Including numerous award-winning cartoons among its 420 selections, Best Editorial Cartoons Of The Year 2003 aptly captures the range of political turmoil, governmental indecisions, social ills, and sardonic looks at the near and far future. Highly recommended, especially for political science students in need of a little levity showcasing what are often keen political insights.

I love editorial cartoons and love Brooks' collection. It is aklways a treat to review the year this way. I could not give his collection a bad rating and admit to being biased in that way.

The cover of the Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year, 2006 edition just about says it all as a blimp is pictured with the words "Bad Year" as its message. No one can disagree there as 2005 began with the aftermath of the Tsunami on the other side of the world, and continued the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, the failing economy, and various political scandals. Not a year to be remembered. These truly are the best political cartoons leading off with Pulitzer and other prize winners and covering a variety of subjects such as those various natural disasters, terrorism, congress, the economy, sports, foreign affairs, and more, from some of the leading newspapers in the nation.

As one would expect, President Bush is the target for many of the cartoons, lampooning his handling of Iraq, Katrina, the nomination to the Supreme Court, the economy, and, well...just about everything else. Several cartoons take Bush to task for his seemingly uncanny ability to be on vacation whenever a disaster strikes.

Two great cartoons take opposite sides and use the name of the fallen soldiers in Iraq as their ammunition. One, from Mike Luckovich of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, uses the names to spell out in big letters, "WHY?" On the other end of the spectrum is Bob Englehart of the Hartford Courant whose cartoons show a version of the Constitution which reads, "We the people of Iraq should get down on our knees and thank..." with the list of names following. Both are well done.

The topic of racism is dealt with frequently, particularly in regards to Katrina and there are several humorous, yet sadly tragic cartoons that deal with last August's hurricane. Other subjects that get deservedly skewered are Michael Jackson, oil companies and their gross (as in disgusting) profits, and the Bird Flu. The bulk of the sports cartoons cover the ongoing steroid scandal in baseball.

It's a brilliant collection from beginning to end with cutting edge cartooning and biting political statements. A real gem!

Reviewed by Tim Janson