Caricature Books

All of Bentley Boyd's books are wonderful. I have bought all of them and donated them to the library and have a set at home. What a wonderful resource! What an interesting way for people to learn information.

G. B. Trudeau had a long standing practice of having one of the people he skewers in his "Doonesbury" cartoons quoted on the back cover of the paperback collections. For "We're Eating More Beets!" the honor once again goes to George Bush, then Vice President, who admits that when it comes to Trudeau he wants to "go up and kick the hell out of him." This is actually one of the more subdued comments provided by one of Trudeau's targets. What is interesting is that the cartoonist gets in another shot at this particular topic. The cover design, which lampoons the style of "USA Today," which was creating a "new" type of journalism back in 1987-88 when these strips were originally published in the nations less colorful newspapers, includes all sorts of tidbits such as "We're eating less popcorn" and "We're happier, dying later." On the little bit of the back cover where the west coast is displayed, we learn that "Only 21.1 percent of 17-year-olds know someone who has passed math" and "78.3 percent of divorced women say Goerge Bush reminds them of their first husband." Ouch.

George Bush pops up as a target several times in this collection, what with the appearance of his long-lost evil twin Skippy and the calculated move to the center after winning the primaries, but the classic bit here is the existential romp "Waiting for Mario," which compares New York Governor Mario Cuomo's reluctance to declare his candidacy with the Samuel Beckett play "Waiting for Godot." I know this one was probably over the heads of a lot of people, but I got it and it is wicked harsh, to coin a phrase. Democratic candidates Gary Hart, Albert Gore, Prince of the Tennessee Valley, and Dick Gephardt (the man has no eyebrows), take body blows as well.

Other bits this time around has Lacey Davenport going on a first date with Jeremy Cavendish, a prison riot at the minimum security prison when Phil Slackmeyer and the other white collar convicts cannot access their brokers, and Uncle Duke ends up in restraints when he over medicates.. Meanwhile, another mother challenges Joanie's raising of Jeff, Zonker takes down Margaret Thatcher in the House of Lords, and Comandante Less-Than-Zero takes early retirement. In the end we come back to Bush's candidacy and the effort to be his own man because, after all, it is an election year and all "Doonesbury" fans know how much fun that can be. Even with the sub-par Uncle Duke strips, which go no where, "We're Eating More Beets!" is one of the better "Doonesbury" collections.

If ya don't laugh, ya cry. Yakov Kirschen cuts to the nub of the mishugas. Humor reveals Truth.

This book shares "fun facts" about 23 sports personalities. The portraits of each athlete in this collection are created with a collage of toys, objects and illustration. Piven's book is equal parts biography and "I Spy" fun.

Using an odd assortment of objects, he accurately captures each athlete's appearance and comments on their personality and abilities. David Beckham is captured with gold glitz hair, referee whistle eyes and a bottle of pink nail polish for a nose. The amazing assembly looks just like him. Interesting facts about the sports figures are included in the paragraph on the page and a "Did you know" fact crawl across the bottom.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, of long jump fame, is created with hinged measuring sticks for arms and legs and "leap frog" toys as her feet. Joe DiMaggio is featured as a baseball card, his eyelids are Marilyn Monroe coin keepers and his eyes are a rose bud. Baseball bats are his eyebrows and his mouth is a classic Greek column (class act, DiMaggio.)

Baseball, football, soccer, Olympic champions, Formula I, Nascar, and golf are all represented. One of my favorite portraits is Lance Armstrong, His nose is a bicycle seat, bike gears at the top of his head show the mental workout of the Tour de France (a souvineer Tour Eiffel in the background) and a bike chain mirrors the lines on his forehead. His mouth is a "Live Strong" bracelet.

Words do not do the book justice. I can imagine showing this book to a class with an Elmo so they can all see the detail in each portrait. Educators are always looking for material to engage higher level thinking, right? Well, here you go.

"What Kind of a God Would Allow a Thing Like This to Happen?" is a collection of cartoons by John Callahan. This cartoonist has a very distinctive style: his crude line drawings look like they were created by a hospitalized mental patient. Callahan's work has a deranged, bizarre quality. Nothing is sacred when he starts mocking the world.

Callahan finds bitter humor in such subjects as suicide, capital punishment, bestiality, child molestation, eating disorders, Christianity, and ... sex. He often mocks celebrities: Connie Chung, Rush Limbaugh, Madonna (a favorite target), Bill Clinton, George Bush, and more. No group of people is off limits: he pokes fun at men, women, whites, blacks, Asians, gay men, lesbians, Jews, the handicapped, and others.

...If you've got the stomach for this uncompromising vision, you might find "What Kind of God " to be both brilliant and hilarious. I did!

"What Those People Need Is a Puppy!" is the thirteen collection of editorial cartoons from the poisoned pen of Pat Oliphant. These 172 cartoons represent his output from July 29, 1988 to July 10, 1989, which means we are dealing with George Bush winning the Presidential election and taking office. You can also look at it as the end of the Reagan years, so there is definitely a sense of transition here. Oliphant shows why he is the most widely syndicated political cartoonist in the world doing a job akin to hurling dead cates into sanctuaries.

Because these are chronologically arranged it is fascinating to see what catches Oliphant's attention. He is having dealing with gawky George Bush beating up on little Michael Dukakis, but then Bush pick Dan Quayle as his running mate and the cartoonist cannot stop writing and drawing about "Little Danforth" and imaging him someday in the White House. But the election does tend to get important and Oliphant pillories both of the candidates (in one memorable and brutal cartoon Bush and Dukakis are at the foot of the cross gambling over the clothes of Uncle Sam).

Once Bush was in office it was the traditional parade of scandals that make up contemporary American politics. Whether his target is Mikhail Gorbachev's glasnost policy, Oliver North's trial, or the fun with oil with OPEC and Exxon. You might have trouble remembering some of the events from this period, but the issues, from environmental problems to gun control to flag burning, are all going to be familiar. Amazing how little things have changed in so many ways since these fun times. As always, looking through these pages is a fascinating little walk down memory lane. Whatever happened to "Little Danforth"?

Cartoonists are truly a breed apart from the rest of us. Not only must they possess a high degree of artistic ability, but they also must have a point to make. Some of the funniest things that I have ever seen have been cartoons lampooning politicians, who by definition possess more than their share of self-importance. Scientists also take themselves very seriously and therefore are legitimate targets for the cartoonists pen. Nobody does this better than Sidney Harris, and this collection is full of giggles and grins. I have posted many of these cartoons on my office wall and have seen many others do the same. Even though the cartoons are funny, they do have a serious side. Pollution and environmental degradation are serious issues and the author raises them without becoming sanctimonious or preachy.
Sidney Harris is my favorite cartoonist, blending the serious with the hilarious. If you like to laugh while receiving serious messages, then you will love this book.

While I do not play golf at all, I can appreciate the humor of golf jokes and when reading this book of golf cartoons, I did a lot of appreciating. It is hilarious in the sick sense, sometimes gross, and other times engaging in sacrilege against the sacred sport of golf. These cartoons are some of the funniest that I have ever seen, independent of subject matter.

We received the book on a Saturday and read it cover to cover that evening! My husband laughed so hard that the couch shook! As we moved from page to page we chuckled, smiled , and laughed til tears came ....Leigh Rubin is a comic genius!. There are many levels to his insighful, powerful cartoons. The various levels of humor make his books appealing to every person...and also make the books fun to read over and over again. We see different aspects of the 'joke' with each reading..making the purchase a real bargain ! I encourage you to try this one ...and then expand your "Rubes" library...we certainly have ! :)
PS. great for gift giving , too !

The first half of this paperback collection is made up of selected single-panel cartoons from Doug Teaster's Timothy series of the 1970s. The second half contains all Doug Teaster's Wimpel Hall comic strips published in college campus newspapers from 1985 through May of 1987. The early cartoons reflect the cartoonist's youth, but the campus strips are of a completely different genre. Though tame by today's standards, many of the Wimpel Hall strips were actually censored by the Arkansas Traveler before being offered for nationwide syndication. Any fan of the Wimpel Hall series will want this book. If you don't remember the series from college, here's a chance to complete your education.