How to use this Page

Ranging from the technical to the quirky to the essential, these holiday electives make great presents for animation pros and fans.

The post Cartoon Brew’s Last-Minute Animation Gift Guide appeared first on Cartoon Brew.

This exhibit of works from Craig Yoe’s original art collection has already garnered stellar accolades – tonight you can see why. And that’s not all …

I had the good fortune of seeing an early preview of Is That Art? at the Society of Illustrators a few weeks ago, and it’s a must-see for anyone who wants to connect with the magic and the power of creative design. The exhibit covers much of the first century of comics & cartoon art, and the work is displayed in ways that highlight deep connections and spark new ideas. A original Spark Plug parallel to a Peanuts strip where Snoopy is dismissed as a dog; a landmark portrait of Superman for Siegel-and-Shuster’s syndicate chief near a reflection on a woman’s dual identity by Fay King; the first Pogo newspaper strip; the original Fin-Fang-Foom-awakes page, signed by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Dick Ayers ….

I could go on, but I’ll leave you to discover all the wonders for yourself. The exhibit’s official opening is tonight from 5pm – 10pm at the Society of Illustrators, 128 E. 63rd St. in New York City. If you can’t make it this evening (or at all, alas), you can find some consolation in the extensive Yoe! Books library, which includes lavish and faithful restorations of material ranging from kitsch to classics. One place to start: the latest Yoe! Books/IDW publication, Milt Gross’ New York, which has been receiving impressive reviews.

If you can make it to the Society of Illustrators, don’t miss its other must-see exhibits. The original art from Little Nemo: Dream Another Dream is up through tomorrow (April 9), and seeing it at full size reminded me of seeing the original art for Robert Crumb’s Book of Genesis at the Hammer Museum – a revelation. As for the exhibit on Alt-Weekly Comics curated by Warren Bernard and Bill Kartalopoulos, well, that too deserves a book of its own – this exhibit is important not just for chronicling an influential, if under-appreciated genre within North American comics, but for helping us understand the world today.

IDW Publishing and Yoe Books are set to release John K Presents: Spumco Comic Book in June. The 160-page book reprints the original run of four Spümco Comic Book issues from the mid-90s, which were published by Marvel and Dark Horse. In addition, the book will include an unpublished 25-page story called “Jimmy the Drooling Numbskull in Nutty the Friendly Dump,” which is dedicated to Chuck Jones “for the decades of warmth he’s brought to lovers of cute cartoons everywhere.” The book features the drawings of John Kricfalusi, Jim Smith, Vincent Waller, and Mike Fontanelli, inking by Shane Glines, and stories by Rich Pursel.

IDW provided Cartoon Brew with an exclusive preview of the book including a couple pages from the never-before-published “Nutty” story. Pre-order on Amazon for $22.98.

Tweet Before “meta” was physical, before Modernism became Posted, before Art Popped, cartoonists drew stories about cartoonists and cartooning! Some of it was autobiographical (or possibly semi-auto… I doubt Milt Gross almost became Batman!), some of it was pure fantasy.  (The pygmalian dream of a drawing come to life is represented twice in this volume, [...]