Rants & Raves

FROM RAIL-SPLITTER TO ICON: LINCOLN'S IMAGE IN ILLUSTRATED PERIODICALS, 1860-1865

by Gary L. Bunker, 398 pages, 8 x 101/2 , b/w, Kent State University Press, hardcover, $45

Culling from a dozen or so mid-19^th Century periodicals — comic weeklies and illustrated news magazines, British as well as American — Bunker offers over 200 caricatures and drawings of Abraham Lincoln, and he supplements the pictures with an extensive text that rehearses the history of attitudes about Lincoln’s presidency and Lincoln himself as well as the history of many of the periodicals plus short biographies of some of the cartoonists. Pictures and text reveal the evolution of public opinion about Lincoln and “the complex dynamics of the Civil War, popular art and culture, the media, political caricature, and presidential politics.” While Bunker’s focus is on the development of Lincoln’s graphic image, he also resorts to “relevant magazine content from editorial essays, satire, doggerel, and news articles,” weaving it all together “to help the reader better understand the substance of Lincoln’s changing public profile.”

As an example of scholarship the book is impressive, but it is flawed. Captions for every picture identify it by title and cite the source, giving the name of the magazine and date of publication. But the cartoonist is not identified. Often he is mentioned in the text, but the usefulness of the book as a ready reference would be greatly enhanced if we didn’t have to plow through paragraphs of gray matter to find out who drew the pictures.

Surprisingly in a book in which the images are the raison d’etre, the pictures are badly reproduced: all are half-toned, which converts white background to gray and reduces even the sturdiest linework to a pattern of tiny dots.
The result is some loss of detail and an over-all grayed-out appearance.

But the most disappointing of the book’s shortcomings is that it includes none of the images that appeared after Lincoln’s assassination. Lincoln’s eminently caricaturable visage was turned into a derisive portrait, mocking the 16^th President all during his public life, from his campaigns through his administration, but his image in the press after his death, Bunker says,  was almost universally respectful, doing homage to the man and honor to his achievements. That this image of Lincoln should be missing in a book purporting to record his evolution from “rail-splitter” to “icon” seems an oversight of more than casual dimensions.

GUERILAS: Volume 1

by Brahm Revel, 168 pages, 6 x 9, b/w, Oni Press, paperback, $14.99

Set in Vietnam during the “war” there, this is the first of a reputed trilogy about a private in the U.S. Army, the frightened (not to say cowardly) John Clayton, who is the only survivor of a Vietcong attack that wipes out all the rest of his unit. As he contemplates his prospects for continued survival in the surrounding jungle, he is joined by a band of chimpanzees — gun-toting, cigar-chomping, military trained chimps — who effectively rescue him by taking him under their collective wing because they need someone who can light their cigarettes.

Revel’s drawing style is clean and clear and as realistic as his simplified manner can be. And it is happily enhanced with gray tones. As satisfying as it is to gaze upon his rendering of apes (at which he achieves simian perfection), it is his storytelling that is the chief distinction of this book. He often writes in counterpoint, paralleling the pictorial action with contrasting (and sometimes ironic) narrative captions. The maneuver emphasizes the way words and pictures can blend in comics to achieve a meaning neither makes alone without the other, a startlingly dramatic example of which occurs early in the novel when Clayton is calmly discussing father’s military career in captions as his unit is being attacked by a sniper in the accompanying pictures.

Later in the novel, another sort of parallel narrative transpires: we meet another bunch of soldiers whose adventures while assigned to a mysterious mission in the jungle alternate with developments in Clayton’s case. The mysterious assignment, we eventually conclude, involves tracking down the chimps that a scientist has trained as soldiers but who have probably gone off the rails and started killing and dismembering human soldiers. But that, we assume, will be revealed in the ensuing volumes of this series.

 

THE COMPLETE PEANUTS: Dailies and Sundays, 1981-1982

by Charles M. Schulz, 346 pages, 6.5 x 8, landscape, b/w, Fantagraphics, hardcover, $28.99

The sixteenth volume in the projected 25-volume reprint monument to Schulz’s humanity and cartooning genius takes us through the first two years of the Reagan administration without mentioning Reagan, no small achievement when we remember than Reagan was shot at in the second month of his White House occupancy. But Schulz was never political in Peanuts: he was too busy being profoundly human. The Foreword for this volume comes from Lynn Johnston, who, as auteur of For Better or For Worse, another comic strip about the human comedy of the human condition, was one of Schulz’s most avid admirers. And a friend. She writes:

“The most memorable friends are the ones you learn from. Sparky [Schulz’s friends called him Sparky] taught me to expect the best of myself and to push myself hard. He taught me to give my audience something uplifting. There are too many negatives in the world, and we get far too much of it. He complimented, reinforced, and encouraged me when I lacked confidence, but his friendship said it all. It was what kept me going. If Sparky liked what I was doing, then I’d be okay.”

Perpetuating Seth’s low-key design, the book concludes with an index, of all things for a comic strip reprint collection, citing page numbers from “Aaugh!” to “zamboni,” and including along the way Cato the Elder, Citizen Kane, “A Man for All Seasons,” Sweet Babboo, and Billie Jean King. The index actually begins with a number — “5" (555-95472), which, it sez here, can be found on page 98, but I can’t find it there. Or anywhere else.

Billie Jean King, on the other hand, can be found mentioned on page 251 in Peppermint Patty’s rant about women athletes in which she lists 19 notables of the fair sex whom sports news programs routinely overlook. Page 251 is also where "A Man for All Seasons" is mentioned. Marcie, after patiently listening to Patty’s tirade attacking the chauvinism of tv sports reporting, changes the subject by suggesting that they watch some old movies on tv — choosing from among “The Men,” “A Man for All Seasons,” or “All the King’s Men.” Patty falls over and mutters: “I can’t stand it.”

THE LIVES OF SACCO AND VANZETTI

by Rick Geary, 80 pages, 9 x 6, b&w, NBM, hardcover, $15.99

Another in Geary's Treasury of XXth Century Murder series, this one eagerly awaited by Your Faithful Reviewer. The Sacco and Vanzetti “case” in which two Italian immigrants were tried, convicted and executed in 1927 for a crime they didn’t commit, has hovered over the otherwise fun-loving Roaring Twenties as a stark instance of a shameful triumph of blind, unthinking American bigotry. I’ve always been curious about the details of this notorious episode in American history, and now, thanks to Geary, my curiosity is assuaged. After checking a couple of general histories of the period, I’m happy to say that Geary seems to have done a thorough a job of researching and presenting all aspects of this national disgrace.

The ostensible crime committed in South Braintree, Massachusetts, on April 15, 1920 by Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti is a payroll robbery and the accompanying murder of two couriers. The actual crime perpetrated by the two is that they are Italian immigrants who were avowed anarchists. Geary assembles and presents evidence both pro and con on the matter, but it is clear that, based upon the evidence and the testimony of witnesses, the pair were scarcely guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of their ostensible crime. They were guilty of no more than being immigrants at a time when Americans were loudly prejudiced against immigrating Europeans (wherein, lest we forget, the nation is firmly rooted) and being anarchists at a time when Americans were foaming at the mouth in unreasoning fear of anarchists, who, in the popular mind, roamed the alleys and byways of the country carrying round, black bombs with fuses ominously fizzing. Compounding the pair’s plight was their trial, which was turned into a judicial farce by a judge whose anti-radical prejudice is vividly apparent from the perspective afforded in the hindsight of history.

Not all Americans were against Sacco and Vanzetti: thousands protested the outcome of the trial, and the case dragged on, in and out of the courts with appeals, for years after the initial verdict was rendered in June 1921. To no avail. The unfortunate immigrant anarchists were electrocuted on August 23, 1927.

Geary’s documentary style is augmented by his meticulous pictures and his low-key, unemotional storytelling. He begins with maps of the crime scene and vicinity, then relates the particulars of the crime itself. Sacco and Vanzetti do not show up until the end of the opening chapter, whereupon Geary supplies the biography of each. Throughout, his technique is lawyerly: he tells the story much as it might emerge in court. And his drawing mannerisms — the fustian texturing and shading of clearly outlined figures and surroundings, the haunted, staring faces of the accused and their accusers, the diagrammatic presentation of evidence — all combine to enhance the effect of objective distance that we look for in a documentarian’s work. In short, another all-around treat from Geary.

TOO SMALL TO FAIL: A New (TH)INK Anthology

128 6x7.5-inch pages, b/w
Keith Knight Press paperback
$16 plus $4 p&h from Knight at kchronicles.com

KEITH KNIGHT, in case you haven’t been keeping up (distracted, perhaps, by the impositions committed by Pecos Perry and Michele “Crazy Eyes” Bachman), draws three cartoon features: a weekly strip called K Chronicles, a syndicated daily strip called The Knight Life (about which Garry Trudeau said: “Keith Knight is mapping out a previously unknown vector of the vast cartoon universe”; and Dave Eggers said: “It’s hard to make a comic that is this funny while also so frequently profound. Keith deals with so many issues with both gravitas and such a light touch, while never missing a chance at a cheap laugh. This is the work of a master.” — both comments that apply to Knight’s third enterprise), and a single panel cartoon called th(ink). 

The first two are semi-autobiographical and have been reprinted in book form; the volume at hand is the third collection of the third feature, an African American cartoonist’s comment on the passing socio-political scenery, another of those first drafts of history. Herein you’ll find Knight’s sharp elbows poking at the economy, New Orleans, police brutality, corporate corruption, the first African American U.S. president, and so on.

Knight pulls no punches in th(ink). Race and the social injustices that abound even in post-MLK America insinuate themselves into all his work, but in th(ink), such matters are the chief comedic fodder. Knight inserts his dagger and then twists it gleefully. But he doesn’t overlook the small stuff of chuckles. Never does. For this book, the cover design incorporates a symbol signaling “too small to fail” — namely, a cent sign. Not a dollar sign; a cent sign. And then there’s the Keith Knight Press logo — a tiny sheep, sheepishly embedded in a toilet (symbolizing sheep dip?). This book is available at Keef’s website and nowhere else, so go there now and get your copy. “Failure,” as the man sez, “is not an option!”

TABLET WARS

In a move seen as retaliation against DC Comics’ deal with Amazon giving its new Kindle Fire a four-month exclusive on digital versions of 100 DC graphic novels (including perennial bestseller Watchmen), Barnes & Noble, the world’s largest bookseller, is removing those 100 DC bestselling backlist titles from its 705 retail stores in the U.S. Books-a-Million, which operates 211 stores in 23 states, followed suit almost immediately, reported ICv2.com.

The bookstores say they won’t sell any versions of the popular graphic novels if they weren't allowed to sell the digital versions as well.

But there’s a little more to the story. DC’s Amazon maneuver made its digital editions off-limits to Barnes & Noble’s Nook e-reader, which is being introduced this month, and Amazon priced some of the Kindle Fire books at $9.99, half the price of the print editions. In effect, DC seriously undermined the competitive environment.

Quoth ICv2: “We haven’t heard what the term of the DC exclusive with the Kindle is, but there will be a window of at least some months, including the all-important holiday season, with vastly reduced availability of those titles in chain bookstores. This will offer an opportunity for all of B&N’s competitors, and will undoubtedly hurt DC’s graphic novel sales through the end of the year.”

THREE ITEMS

A documentary entitled “Wham! Bam! Islam!” that aired October 13 on PBS examined the fate and fortunes of The 99, a comic book team of Muslim superheroes who exemplify the 99 attributes of Allah, concocted by a Columbia University educated Kuwati psychologist.

In Seattle, a member of the Rain City Superhero Movement, a group of masked crime-fighters who patrol the streets of the city, was arrested for assault after he allegedly pepper-sprayed a group of people outside a nightclub, saying he was breaking up a fight. But police said he started the fray. He goes by the name Phoenix Jones.

In the Phillippines, Herbert Chavez has been having plastic surgery done for more than a decade, seeking to make himself look like Superman. Chavez, a fashion designer by trade, has had his skin lightened, a cleft put in his chin, and additional work on his nose, cheeks, lips and thighs. Next he plans to have metal rods inserted into his legs to make him taller; he’s 5-foot seven-inches at present. “Anyone can become a superhero,” he says.

BALDO

Hector Cantu and Carlos Castellanos’ comic strip about a Latino family with an emphasis on the eponymous teenager, ventured into the disputation about illegal immigrants during the last week in October. As you can see, the strips focused on Baldo’s young sister Gracie and her friend Nora. Without raising voices, the maneuver seems to me effective because it viewed the issue entirely in its human dimension. Our benighted legislators too often forget that people have to live under the laws they pass, and sometimes the results are not the intended ones.

The week ended with Gracie back home, confiding to her father that the kids at school have been taunting her with “illegal”accusations. He’s alarmed, even aghast, but he reassures her by saying: “Gracie, we have nothing to worry about. You’re safe here in our home. You, too, Nora.”

It’s a pat response. Too pat. And all of us know — as Cantu surely expects us to by offering so lame a resolution to the problem — that no one with a Latino name or complexion is safe at home. Or anywhere else anymore.

THINKING VISUALLY

Here's a treat, a "Tau au Tac" show with Jean Giraud (aka Moebius), Hugo Pratt and Jim Steranko drawing live. It's fascinating to watch them thinking visually. It's a particular joy to watch Pratt as he draws Corto Maltese behind the lettering across the top of the panel.

 

NO MORE INJUN SUMMER

Indian Summer is the term we apply to the especially balmy stretch of days that often occur during the middle weeks of autumn. One of the profession’s most famous cartoons celebrates Indian Summer: it appeared on the front page of the Chicago Tribune on September 30, 1907. John T. McCutcheon, who would be denominated the “dean of American editorial cartooning” a half century later, was stuck for an idea and his deadline loomed. And then, inspired by a string of beautiful warm autumn days and remembering his youth in Indiana, he conjured up the illustration at hand and wrote the accompanying text. An exercise in sentiment and memory, the cartoon struck a chord. And three years later, by popular demand, it was published again, this time on page 4 of the Trib. And every autumn thereafter, McCutcheon’s “Injun Summer” cartoon appeared in the Tribune.

As early as 1919, said Stephan Benzkofer recently at the Tribune (October 16), the “famous” cartoon had become a “much-loved” annual event, and the Trib produced a high-quality copy “ready for framing” for purchase by enamored readers.”

But those days have evaporated. Said Benzkofer: “As early as 1970, readers wrote letters complaining that the Tribune was running an ethnically insensitive feature that misrepresented the brutal reality of Native American history in the United States in the 18^th and 19^th centuries. Letter writers also were unhappy with the text claiming that ‘they ain’t no more left,’ pointing out that Indians still lived and worked in Chicago.”

In the 1990s, the Trib’s editors decided to end the annual ritual, public editor Douglas Kneeland said: “‘Injun Summer’ is out of joint with its times. It is literally a museum piece, a relic of another age. The farther we get from 1907, the less meaning it has for the current generation.”

I disagree. Some of the notions in the text accompanying the cartoon may be insensitive in our politically correct age, but the imagery — the stacks of corn stalks morphing into teepees in a kid’s imagination — is still full of meaning for anyone who has ever been a kid. No matter. “Injun Summer” with its insensitive corruption of the name of the group it invokes is gone. But not, apparently, forgotten.

Said Benzkofer: “The cartoon has a powerful hold over many Chicagoans. For generations of readers, ‘Injun Summer,’ despite its flaws, became synonymous with the magic and peacefulness of those last warm days of the season. And just last week, the Tribune received another request to publish it.”

Thanks be.

BAHADIR BARUTER

From Hurriyet Daily News. A Turkish cartoonist will be put on trial for a cartoon he drew in which he renounced God. The Istanbul chief public prosecutor's office charged cartoonist Bahadır Baruter with "insulting the religious values adopted by a part of the population" and requested his imprisonment for up to one year.

In a cartoon published in the weekly Penguen humor magazine, Baruter depicts an imam and believers praying in a mosque. One of the characters is talking to God on his cellphone and asking to be pardoned from the last part of the prayer because he has errands to run. But the renunciation occurs on the wall decoration of the mosque, where Baruter hid the words, "There is no Allah; religion is a lie” (circled in red, below). 

Turkish Religous Affairs and Foundation Members' Union and some citizens filed complaints against Baruter, and the public prosecutor's office accepted the complaints and filed a lawsuit against the cartoonist.

That’s what life is like in a country the government of which is operated at the whim of the nation’s major religion. Keep it in mind the next time some aspirant for residence in our White House is criticized for not being religious enough. Or for adhering to the wrong religion.