The Education Of A Comics Artist

289 Pages·2005·6.94 MB·English

by  Michael Dooley

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The
Education of
a Comics
Artist:
Visual Narrative in Cartoons, Graphic Novels,
and Beyond
edited by Michael Dooley and Steven Heller
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© 2005 Michael Dooley and Steve Heller
All rights reserved.Copyright under Berne Copyright Convention,
Universal Copyright Convention,and Pan-American Copyright
Convention.No part of this book may be reproduced,stored in
a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form,or by any means,
electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwise,
without prior permission of the publisher.
08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1
Published by Allworth Press
An imprint of Allworth Communications,Inc.
10 East 23rd Street,New York,NY 10010
Cover and interior design by James Victore
Page composition/typography by SR Desktop Services,Ridge,NY
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The education of a comics artist:visual narrative in cartoons,
graphic novels,and beyond / edited by Michael Dooley and
Steven Heller.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 1-58115-408-9 (pbk.)
1. Caricatures and cartoons—United States—History—
20th century. 2. Cartooning—Study and teaching.
3. Cartooning—Vocational guidance. I. Dooley,Michael
(Michael Patrick),1948– II. Heller,Steven.
NC1320.E29 2005
741.5'071—dc22
2005005865
Printed in Canada
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Contents
01: Dedications x
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction xii
02: The Most Popular Course in Art School
Steven Heller
Foreword xvii
03: What’s So Funny about Comics (and Understanding)?
Michael Dooley
Section I: The Comics Field 1
Magazine Cartoons
04: Cartoons at The New Yorker 2
Bob Mankoff
05: Wednesday “Look Day” and the Freelance 4
Magazine Cartooner
R.C.Harvey
06: In Praise of Offensive Cartoons 8
Paul Krassner
Editorial Cartoons
07: Stop Them Damned Pictures 15
Ben Sargent
Interview 17
08: The Obligation to Be Honest
Tony Auth
09: Caricature: Biting the Face that Feeds You 21
Steve Brodner
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Political Comics
10: Learning from the Political Cartoon 24
Paul Buhle
11: Launching World War 3 28
Peter Kuper
Interview 32
12: My New Distribution Technique is Unstoppable
David Rees
Comic Strips
13: Comics Vérité 36
Stan Mack
Interview 39
14: Gut Feelings and Waves of Intuition
Mark Alan Stamaty
Interview 43
15: Zippy, My Alter Ego
Bill Griffith
Interview 46
16: Sylvia, My Role Model
Nicole Hollander
Kids’ and Teens’ Comics
17: Katy Keene: Forgotten Comic Icon 49
Teal Triggs
18: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and 56
Love Archie Andrews
Jessica Abel
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19: A Passion for Top Cat 58
Barbara McClintock
Action/Adventure Comics
20: Superhero Artists of the Twenty-first Century: Origins 60
Arlen Schumer
Interview 67
21: The First Rule: There Are No Rules
Jim Steranko
Interview 73
22: Illuminating the Darkness
Barron Storey
Interview 79
23: Learning to Get “Real”
Bill Sienkiewicz
Interview 83
24: The Need to Do Something Different
Dave McKean
Interview 86
25: The Whole-Brained Approach
David Mack
Alternative Comics
26: The Education of an Editor 91
Monte Beauchamp
Interview 93
27: Arranging Sights and Ideas
Gary Panter
28: Learning from the Master 95
David Sandlin
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29: The Birth of Leviathan 98
Peter Blegvad
Interview 101
30: What’s the “Big Idea”?
Mark Newgarden
Graphic Novels
Interview 104
31: Revelations of a Pluralist
Chip Kidd
Interview 106
32: Acme Graphic Novelties
Chris Ware
Interview 110
33: A Novel Graphic
Art Spiegelman
Interview 115
34: Memoir of a Revolution
Marjane Satrapi
Interview 117
35: Out of the Inkwell
Kim Deitch
Interview 121
36: The Power of Old-Fashioned Storytelling
Rick Geary
37: Career Tips for Control Freaks 124
Ho Che Anderson
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Miscellany
Interview 127
38: The Education of an Educational Comics Artist
Leonard Rifas
39: Mini-Comics: Comics’ Secret Lifeblood 133
Tom Spurgeon
40: Fort Thunder: a Comics’ Art Collective 138
Dan Nadel
41: The European Comic Book Industry: a Guided Tour 141
Bart Beaty
42: Manga in America, Manga in Japan 144
Bill Randall
Section II: Widening the Field 147
Comics in Art and Illustration
Interview 148
43: That Old Time Religion
Elwood Smith
Interview 152
44: Representational Art to the Forefront
Robert Williams
Section III: Education Illustrated 157
Dan James
Nicholas Blechman
David Heatley
Rick Meyerowitz
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Section IV: The Comics Profession 165
The Business of Comics
45: Surviving the Convention Circuit 166
Heidi MacDonald
46: Popularizing the Comics 170
Todd Hignite
47: Growing Pains 174
Eric Reynolds
The Creation of Comics
48: Bring out the Dead! 177
Craig Yoe
49: Street Smarts 183
Colin Berry
50: Write Ways: an Unruly Anti-Treatise 186
Dennis O’Neil
51: Throwing the Book at Comics Artists 189
Tim Kreider
52: Common Sense on Giving Offense: 193
A Brief Guide to What You Can Get Away with
Robert Fiore
53: Contradictions of Character 195
Ward Sutton
54: What’s Love Got to Do with It? 198
Trina Robbins
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Section V: Comics Studies 203
Teaching Comics
Interview by Gunnar Swanson 204
55: The Four Tribes of Comics
Scott McCloud
Interview 210
56: Dedication, Commitment, Talent
Joe Kubert
57: Some “Contemptible” British Students 214
Roger Sabin
Interview by Joel Priddy
58: To the Heart of the Medium 221
Will Eisner
Lesson Plans
59: The Importance of Teaching Comics 229
Ted Stearn
60: Portrait of a Comics Artist as a Graphic Designer 232
James Sturm
61: Experimental Comics in the Classroom 235
Matt Madden
62: Funnybook Lit 101 238
Rich Kreiner
63: Resources List 243
64: Contributor Biographies 246
Index 257