This is the 100th anniversary issue, with MULTIPLE covers by Rea Irvin (who created the original signature Eustace Tilley character, the classic NY character looking at butterfly with an eyepiece), Diana Ejaita, Anita Kunz, Javier Mariscal, Camila Rosa, and Kerry James Marshall. Probably a collectors item, so go get one, and then settle down with our dedicated and utterly absurd cartoon review.
The 100th issue contains a great tribute to George Booth from Roz Chast, as does a recent New Yorker Radio Hour.
We are still sinking into the horrific depths of the Drumpf-Mush era, so the hours it takes me to review the cartoons gave me a little respite from rage.
However, this is the LAST cartoon review. I will pretend that my goal has been achieved: the quality of cartoons has increased greatly entirely because of this blog.
But in fact I will convert the several hours this review takes each week into a website that tracks the damage that the Drumpf-fElon administration is doing to this country and to the world.
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Reaction
Potentially erudite commentary:
1
Seth Fleishman has the first cartoon, the rodent coming across a hamster style exercise wheel placed outside a house as a free giveaway.
I like it but have to admit that, although I love cartoons without captions, I was almost wanting one. Maybe I was just too lazy to go inside the rodent’s mind an write my own caption.
Of course, the wheel is human size, not rat size, so it brings up the question of whether a human has given up their own rat race device and that changes the possible reactions by the passing rodent.
I am clearly overthinking this, but that is what looking closely at these cartoons tends to make you do.
And I MUST add that I am about to take my own exercise machine and put it out on the curb…
2
Edward Steed has the next cartoon, the rather tangy one with the whack-a-mole S&M lady. It’s funny, but a lot more crusty than the typical New Yorker.
I love his sketchy, inky, style, which you can see more of at his Instagram page, linked above.
3
Pia Guerra and Ian Boothby did the parents and kid cartoon. It’s a curveball caption that delivers the curve at the last minute. Interesting.
Visit their Instagram, linked above, to see some other engaging cartoons.
4
Victoria Roberts did the dog and frog cartoon, which I really enjoyed. Here are two of our most prominent animals in story and song, and as the frog points out, both are consistently misquoted.
For me, the caption is perfect, but I woul love the cartoon without a caption because the drawing is great, with so much personality.
5
Sara Lautman did the chair cartoon, which is quite “out there” in a great way.
A take off on the “you must be this tall…” rules at amusement parks, but this cartoon goes to entirely other places having to do with aesthetics and society in ways I can’t quite label.
But a very cool cartoon.
5
Brendan Loper did the woman caught in her own thoughts cartoon.
Not sure what to make of this and how to react. She is thinking, he is talking, which suggests she is stuck in a bad date, but I’m not getting her circular thinking. Could be just I’m thick.
6
Roz Chast brings Mickey back to the grimy city to encounter the old gang.
I wonder if she was able to do this because Mickey is out of copyright?
But please do check out what Roz says about Booth, about his work, and about how he welcomed her when other cartoonists didn’t.
I feel rather vindicated in my absolute admiration and affection for Booth by the fact that Roz shares the feeling.
7
Daniel Kanhai brings us two young people not ready to handle a cafe that is right out of a Hopper painting.
This is the kind of pretty darn intellectual New Yorker cartoon that used to dislike for being too New Yorkerish.
But I really get this one, as both a real scene and a great reflection on the great paintings of Hopper.
8
Liana Finck did the Robin Hood cartoon. I have to say that the cartoon is really clever, but maybe more clever than hilarious. I gave it the “witty” designation, which is actually a good one.
9
Amy Hwang did the two cats lunch cartoon. I always want to like dog or cat cartoons, but this one didn’t make me snort my milk…
10
Hartley Lin did the interesting, offbeat wedding (?) cartoon. It’s a neat double-meaning cartoon, commenting on both the wedding situation and the current culture of widespread lies.
11
Frank Cotham did the dogs and asteroid cartoon. As always, I am a sucker for goofy dogs, and these two are wonderfully goofy. It is more timely than superfunny, but funny enough.
12
Bruce Kaplan did the 200 juice places cartoon. Another very New Yorker cartoon that a NY realtor might enjoy… more than I did.
13
Joe Dator did the very… what is the right word for his centaur cartoon? To me it is very enjoyable and funny, but hard to put an adjective on it. I kept going back over it, which is a pretty good thing for a cartoon to demand.
14
Jeremy Nguyen did the guy leaving cartoon. For anybody who has been through a breakup this is quite a bittersweet cartoon because, while funny, it takes place at a painful moment. But still, funny.
15
P. C. Vey did the lamb’s wool cartoon. A clever comment on modern sensitivity to animal suffering.
17
Ellie Black did the medieval king cartoon. A cartoon that could have several hundred thousand captions. The caption here is a bit history-nerd even for a nerd like me.
18
Amy Kurzweil did the train-tracks cartoon, which is taken from a famous philosophy question. For anyone in that field, this will need to be posted in public. It’s pretty clever.
19
Ellis Rosen did the animal heads in the den cartoon. It’s funny in a morbid way and even looks a bit like a Charles Adams cartoon.
19
Jack Ziegler did the unconcealed carry cartoon, but Jack passed away and this final cartoon is a New Yorker tribute to him, publishing it again in their 100 anniversary issue. It’s kinda funny, but the gun thing is so heavy that it is a rueful funny.
The Cartoon Caption Contest
I will leave the caption contest alone. It if for people with more gumption than I can bring to bear. Writing the captions being so difficult. And of course, becoming and STAYING a New Yorker level cartoonist must be quite a challenge. I’m not really jealous.
Bottom Line
The cartoons in this special 100th year issue were not all that funny, but then these are not funny times. Which is why this is my last foray into this absurd effort. I will now sharpen the lance and stick it into the butts of Drumpf and fElon.