Suspended Animation Review
Will Elder: The Mad Playboy of Art/$49.95 from Fantagraphics/sold at comics, book shops, and at www.fantagraphics.com.
This comprehensive sampling of the work of zany master cartoonist Will Elder is simply magnificent.
It is so because of the size, format and quality of reproduction of this 391 page "trade paperback" that reprints this artist's groundbreaking and influential work from the early '30s to the present. A extensive biographical essay, and the inclusion of "paintings, portraits, still lifes, caricatures, and sketches" certainly recommend the volume as well. But this retrospective is simply magnificent for one primary reason. There is no cartoonist living or dead better than wacky Will Elder.
Whoa, there, Nellie. Gushing a bit?
Yep.
So, what distinguishes a great cartoonist from a competent one? Including a grasp of artistic technique and visual storytelling, there is:
1) Versatility--Elder mastered any style required by its subject, from 'big-foot'cartooning to abstract painting to photographic realism;
2) Unique personal style--his is instantly recognizable;
3) Unique viewpoint--there is no other way to write it: Elder drew crazy funny, and was extremely influential for his "eye-pops"—little visual and verbal puns peppered everywhere.
4) Mastery of many mediums including pencil, ink, wash, watercolor, and acrylic or oil paints;
5) Influence—in comics, television, editorial cartoons and motion pictures.
In a nutshell (his natural habitat), there is only one "Villie" Elder, and the history of comics is much richer because of his great gift.
The Mad Playboy… receives the highest recommendation for adult readers (because of nudity) in the seventeen year history of Suspended Animation. MV
MINIVIEW: Chicken Fat by Will Elder [Fantagraphics] "Drawings, sketches, cartoons and doodles" from master cartoonist Will Elder, most famous for his work with Harvey Kurtzman on Mad, Trump, Humbug, Help and Little Annie Fanny in Playboy. Highly recommended. Why? Because Elder is k-razy!!! MV
Order you copy of the all-Vance horror paperback Apocris 1 at
http://www.lighthousemediaone.co.uk/FutureProjects.html
Interested in the exciting Oklahoma Cartoonists Collection and Toy and Action Figure Museum? Go to http://fourcolorcommentary.blogspot.com/
Shudder at Michael Vance's "Light's End" audiotapes narrated by legendary actor William Windom. Star of 18 Broadway plays, 200 TV shows (Murder She Wrote, Star Trek, etc) & 50 movies, Windom will chill you as Vance's prose curdles your blood! Light's End #1: "A Change of Heart" and "Cross Purposes" or #2: "Fall Guy" and "The Zoo" plus the song "The World Roars On". $10 unsigned. $20 signed by Windom and Vance. Cassette or CD from: Vance, 1427 S. Delaware Ave., Tulsa, OK, 74104, or http://www.starbase21OK.com!
