Jim Unger
(London born, 1940) has given us seven "Herman Treasury" books, first
through seventh, but the always hot buy (if you're hot for any artist)
is the "Best of..." --as if it isn't all great. Herman is back -- though
you've likely been seeing him here & there, since Unger retired in 1992.
There's nothing more grueling than producing a daily feature, whether a column, comic or
web page. Doing it so inventively is what Jim Unger has done seemingly so
effortlessly. Most of us attempt originality; parsecs less brilliantly and achieve it
disturbingly less often. Which is why we're always soliciting contributors, shagging
anything coherent whenever possible, in deep gratitude.
Still, it would be nice to hang out á la Unger, in a beach home in the Bahamas.
He's earned it, after two decades of cartooning and 6,000 comics; he's still at it, though
on a more relaxed scale. Herman, has readers in 25 countries and was twice honored
by the National Cartoonists Society as
"Best Syndicated Panel." In fact, Unger became the first comic
creator syndicated in Communist East Germany, where he's
greatly revered; but read Jim's
version of events on how that wall came down. And let's not forget his Canadian
fans, either. What an incredible demeanor for diplomacy-- that beyootiful Herman
"expressionless" face; more often than not though, we see the back of his head
and Unger let's us imagine thoughts from his inimitably blank & bland
expression. Understatement
at it's finest, graphically. You gotta' love an artist or dramatist, that let's you
do some of the thinking and filling in.
We started collecting Herman workplace humor a dozen or more years back, considering he's so eloquent
in expression (or lack of). He's featured here too: Interviews,
Classified Ads & Work
& AWOL? (clicking his stuff will take you to where you
can get more of him).
Mr. Unger graciously replied to our request that
he recommend sources for his works:
Hello RK: The only way I know of to order Herman
books is from the publisher, Andrews McMeel,
4900 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64112-2630; email. The phone number is
1-800-255-6734. I retired about 10 years ago. Fans can request prints from darren&laughingstock.com--
Best wishes, Jim Unger.
John Glashan (Glasgow
1927 - 1999) moved to London in the 1950's, and began as a portrait painter. To support
painting, he dropped the "Mac" from his name, and became a cartoonist. His first
appeared in Lilliput, the Queen magazine and Private Eye; later in
diverse magazines, books and ads. He was one of the founder members of the British Cartoonist's Association in 1966--
which is about the time we found him through Dial Press: New York, in the 1966 edition of SPEAK
UP YOU TINY FOOL!
In the introduction Jules Feiffer describes him thusly:
"Like any astute observer of our time John Glashan is
paranoid."
Funny, how Feiffer's excellent quote in '66, could be just as true for observers
of the new millenium. In 1978 Glashan began his strip cartoon Genius featuring
Anode Enzyme (IQ 12, 794) and his patron Lord Doberman, the richest man in the world. Genius
netted him the Glen Grant Strip Cartoon award. In 1983 he returned to painting, but later
contributed weekly cartoons to The
Spectator.
Having become hooked via Tiny Fool more than forty years
ago, consulting it and frequently recommending it for as long, you'll find his work also
featured here: On Supervisors, Job Security & Rezoom
Booboos and Support.
Garry Trudeau
(NYC born, 1940) unwittingly satirized a recent 'news' item: Presidential IQs printed by
papers (didn't we catch it in the Virginian-Pilot only
days before the the 'offending' Doonesbury comic strip, of Sunday, 09/02/01?) which was
denounced as a hoax. Apparently, it prompted an apology from Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau
for satirizing Bush, based on the IQ study hoax, FoxNews.com reported. No
apology necessary Gare, we're pretty sure we've heard Duh-B'YA possiblistically
usifinicating some fairly arcane terminology before your 09/02 strip. Hell, we ran through
the house making certain everyone saw it before the funnies folded the coffee grounds.
We laughed at Gare's
strip -- had he checked with the missus? --it sounded as, well-- "Well..."
[in our best "Ronnie" voice] cruelly, first reports of Mr. Reagan's
Alzhimer's affliction we thought "OH, that explains everything." An
Alzhimer hoax woulda' been something to apologize for.
Mr. Trudeau has enjoyed a slew of recognition
for his comic inventiveness and wit.
Gahan
Wilson (Evanston, IL born, 1930) according to Locus,
said he got his big break came when a Colliers editor "like everybody else" told
him readers wouldn't understand his cartoons; the editor left to edit Look:
meanwhile, an art director took over, printing his uh, (unfathomable to the masses) stuff.
The guy at Look saw them in Colliers, and started buying them for Look:
"...and that was it – I was now a big-time cartoonist!
Absolutely foolish, but that's the way it happened."
"Mr. Sherman, you hired our team of
Management Consultants to streamline your enterprise,
and that is precisely what we are doing."
We discovered Mr. Wilson, in Playboy back in the
60's; but you may know him from The New Yorker, Esquire, Punch,
National Lampoon, et al. Sci-Fi fans know him from his fiction in that genre, his
books and even an animated short, Diner --a
macabre/futuristic tale of an evil restaurant and the young man sent to inspect it.
Get to know the acclaimed and treasured Gahan Wilson,
as if that's possible.
©2003 R K Puma rk@rkpuma.com
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