* All items are pen and ink on artist board except where otherwise indicated.
* Items are unframed and unmatted except where otherwise indicated.
* All items are signed except where otherwise indicated.
AHERN, GENE - 1937 Sunday page of THE NUT BROTHERS. Gag involves the brothers trying to get their upstairs neighbor to leave their building. They light a smoke-pot and yell at the man to get out of the building, but turns out he is an aspiring fireman and wants to fight the fire (shades of Herriman's Family Upstairs strip). Last panel has Ahern's little bearded fellow in the background saying "Nov shmoz ka pop". Title stat is missing but left no glue stains. Very clean piece. Image size 20.5" x 13". $200 SOLD
BAKER, A.Z. - wonderful 1904 cartoon, probably for Puck or Judge, of two anthropomorphic rats. One rat has looped his tail around his neck to attempt suicide. The caption is "A Dire Threat". This cartoon was used with Baker's entry in the World Encyclopedia Of Cartoons. One long blind tear in heavy board is practically undetectable without very close examination. Image size 14" x 11". $200
BART - wonderful cartoon, possibly for Puck or Judge by the well-known Roosevelt bears artist. Papa bear is sitting down to read a book, rockets out of the chair when he sits on a porcupine. Nicely lettered verse below in children's primer style. Some soiling, doesn't really take away from the piece. Blind tear extends 1.5" into blank area of the drawing. Image size 13" x 17". $185
BELLEW, CHIP - Circa 1890's large cartoon of a very fat fellow. Probably used in Life, probably had a real funny caption. Much better than average figure work from Chip. Image size 8.5" x 10.5". $45
BERRYMAN, JIM - a superb 1953 editorial cartoon. Depicts a battered British lion perched on a circus pedestal. The lion is frightened by a mouse with legend "Chang's Army" on its back. The lion figure especially is a knockout. A fine example from a Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist. Image area 11.5" x 11.5". Top margin is very small, others are okay. $175 SOLD
BINDIG, BOB - Cartoonist and comics historian Bob Bindig did a neat pantomime strip titled "The Mischievous Twin Bears" for his camp newspaper in Korea in 1946. The art is polished, very Disneyesque. This eight panel two tier strip depicts the bears getting into all kinds of mischief with a dresser drawer and a vase. The panels are sequenced right to left as an homage to their Korean hosts. Three very small tape discolorations on the corners. Image area 16" x 7.5". $50 SOLD
BUSHNELL - large square-format 9 panel comic strip titled "Foiling The Pesky Book Agent - A New Spring Moving Picture In Nine Reels". Neat sequence has a book agent (that was a fellow who sold books door-to-door) approaching a house - housewife spots him coming and puts her pet bulldog (and a really evil looking example of the breed) on the porch to greet him. Salesman beats a hasty retreat. Entire sequence is done in pantomime. This example is not at all stiffly drawn like some of Bushnell's work - he obviously spent a lot of time on this piece. Dated 1919. Image area is 15.75" x 18.5". Image area is in good shape, outside margins are a bit tattered but have been well stabilized with paper tape on the reverse. $150
COWAN, DENYS - large and detailed specialty piece done for Jim Ivey in 1978. Conan sits on a pile of original art and holds up another piece. He points out some detail of the drawing to Jim Ivey who is looking on. The Conan figure is beautifully done. This piece is in pencil only, not inked on cream colored artist board. Image area is 10" x 11.5". $30 SOLD
COX, WALT - a neat color specialty piece done for the Orlandocon comic convention circa late 70's. Nice busts of Jim Ivey and Fred Lasswell, plus Snuffy Smith figure, mentions Jim getting the NCS Silver T-Square award and the Landon art course. Hard to describe - it's sort of done in a Ripley's Believe It Or Not format. A neat piece. Image area 10.5" x 14". $30
DALRYMPLE - cover to "Puck's Quarterly" circa 1904. This issue of the magazine was titled "Helter Skelter" and this is lettered in jaunty style at the top of the piece. Depicts a farm-boy in overalls loosing a pig on an older bearded fellow who is carry a basket of eggs. The pig trips up the fellow and this drawing shows him up in the air about to have his dignity, and his eggs, crushed. 17" x 20", has a corner missing which just barely touches the edge of the H in Helter, easily repaired. $225
DAY, CHON - very nice little pen sketch of Brother Sebastian, 3.5" x 2.5" on 5" x 3" stiff paper. Perfect condition. $25
DODD, ED - Daily panel of BACK HOME AGAIN from 1936, titled "The Night Hawks". Three kids in their all-together crouched behind a bush next to a river. There is a bridge a short distance away, and they are waiting for a moment with no cars on the bridge to make their dash into the water. Nice subject and good art by Dodd from long before he started MARK TRAIL. This piece has been professionally matted and framed, nice black frame with bronze detailing. Image size is 11.5" x 11.5", with frame 15.5" x 15.5". $125.
DRAKE, F.C. - This lovely oil painting is undated but is circa 1918-20. It depicts an older fellow reading a magazine (the magazine is open to an ad for Chandler automobiles). He sits in what is probably a general store - there is a large bottle of cider, a soap box and a box of apples next to him. He has one foot up on an old pot-belly stove. There are shelves in the background with other general store goods. Mostly done in grays, red highlights on the apples, the old fellows arm garter and the Chandler ad really stand out nicely. Although I don't know for certain how this painting was used, I'd be willing to bet that it was a magazine cover. The upper background does not continue the detailed motif of the lower portion, presumably for a title or possibly an advertising blurb. Could have also been an ad for Chandler cars. Either way, this is a wonderful painting. Drake is listed in Who Was Who In American Art and he was a pretty hot property in his day - he worked as an artist for the Baltimore American and NY Herald and art director for the McClure Syndicate and the NY Tribune. He also freelanced and that's the probable genesis of this painting. Painting is 22" x 14.5" and is framed to 27" x 20". Frame is lovely but has seen its better days - there are a number of small bits of scrollwork chipped off. Painting has two professional repairs that are invisible on the painting (both are in the upper undetailed section). $750
EHRHART - Detailed political cartoon for Puck, circa 1900's. Not knowing German or Latin I can't really decipher much about what's going on here, but apparently we have the German king (complete with spiked helmet) making a pronouncement , maybe something about requiring that all official documents be in Latin (I'm REALLY guessing here). There are a number of servants bowing solemnly before him, three of them are named; Baiern, Sachsen and Wurttemberg. I may not understand the cartoon, but it sure is pretty! Image size 13.5" x 14". There is no margin on the verticals but a matte wouldn't cover anything important in the drawing. $125
FORREST, HAL - Sunday page of TAILSPIN TOMMY with FOUR ACES topper, undated circa 1935. Betty's plane has crashed and she and Jerry are lost in the wilderness. A cougar attacks but they are saved by their dog Socrates who battles the cougar. In Four Aces, June is trapped in a runaway balloon and Larry attempts a rescue in his plane. I love Forrest's very pulp-style art - while not particularly great on a technical level, he knows how to wring ever ounce of drama out of a scene. "Tailspin Tommy" and "Tailspin Tommy Flying Club" logos are stats, but unstained. Piece has some soiling in the story recap text panel and glue stains in a few spots plus a blind tear that comes about 1/2" into one panel. Image area 22" x 29". $185 SOLD
GOLDBERG, RUBE - 1920 "Rube Goldberg's Boobs" daily strip. As with all of Goldberg's dailies of this era, there are two features. This one has a hilarious four panel cartoon about cheap versus expensive cigars plus a one panel Mike & Ike cartoon. Usually the two features are cut apart and sold separately by dealers - luckily this original did not meet that fate. This daily is signed THREE times by Golberg, once on the four panel strip, initialed on the Mike & Ike panel, and inscribed to Nate Collier (an excellent cartoonist of the era) between panels 1 and 2. Art is in excellent condition. Image area is 17" x 6" and is professionally matted and framed to 23" x 12". $875. SOLD
HEILMAN - I bought this neat caricature assuming it was by Dan Heilman, but being dated 1929 that's quite impossible as Dan was 5 years old at the time. Nevertheless, this is a wonderful caricature of a silent movie star. I think it is Joe E. Brown but I'm not knowledgeable enough about silents to say for sure. Image size 8" x 11", very light watermark along top and right edges (would mostly matte out). $25
HOBAN, WALTER - 1922 JERRY ON THE JOB daily. Jerry in all five panels. Jerry shows his boss how to stop losing money in the business - stop keeping books! Kind of a neat item - all the balloons are paste-ups as Hoban would reuse the art and just change the gags. Image area 22" x 5.5". Very little matting area on the vertical edges, plenty on the horizontal. $65 SOLD
HOFF, SYD - 1972 published New Yorker gag cartoon, excellent piece with lots of detail. Two bums sitting on a bench in a park . One says to the other "I'm a miser with nothing to count". Very typical New Yorker style humor. Image area 8" x 6", signed twice by Hoff, once with inscription. $75
KEMBLE, E.W. - Superb circa 1880s book or magazine illustration titled "The Possum And The Coon". A possum is biting the fellow in the leg and he has the possum by the tail. Who will win? Detail on this piece is phenomenal, the man's expression in particular is priceless. Despite the title, the black man is drawn with humorous realism, not racism. Piece is professionally matted and framed - image area 10" x 6.5", frame 14.5" x 10.5". Art is in good shape, a little minor soiling around the edges. Also included is s second professionally matted, framed piece with 4 different prints from the work in question (including the Kemble). Two of the prints are by Kemble, the other two are by another artist. Each has blacks as the subject matter. Both pieces for $1250.
LINK, STANLEY - 1951 daily strip of THE DAILYS. Dad goes to his workshop but discovers his golf clubs there, decides to go golfing. Mom exclaims "It worked! Now I can sit and enjoy a little peace and quiet for a change!". Charming daily with a golf theme. Image size 20" x 6", nicely matted in black to 24" x 10". $40 SOLD
MCCAY, WINSOR - Excellent large editorial cartoon from the early 20's. Uncle Sam is holding a bunch of papers saying "WAR DEBTS DUE JULY 1ST". He is knocking on a door and peering out the windows at him are figures named Greece, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, France and Rumania. Obviously the subject is the unpaid war debts of these countries which was a major news story throughout the early 20's. Piece shows McCay's facility with architecture and his great figure work on Uncle Sam who is dressed in the standard garb of vertical striped stirrup trousers, star-covered vest and top hat. A lot of McCay's editorial cartoons regard events that we are unfamiliar with 75 years later, this cartoon is a wonderful exception. As with most surviving McCay work, the artist board is badly tattered along the edges. Luckily, McCay used an extra large board and the image area is in wonderful condition right to the art border (undamaged McCay art is very hard to come by). This piece is framed and matted to 24" x 20", image area is 16" x 11.5". $1325. SOLD
MCGURK, J.W. - a superb 1929 sports cartoon from the pen of one of the form's masters. This is a three panel cartoon, one large panel in the middle flanked by two smaller ones. Titled "Knee-Deep And Still Piling", if you are a baseball fan you'll appreciate the subject - McGurk depicts the new breed of sluggers and the reaction of many fans that they may be ruining the game. Great large middle panel has a slugger at the plate surrounded with piles of baseballs on which is written DOUBLES, TRIPLES, HOME RUNS. Smaller side panels have a fan reacting, slugger in the clubhouse complaining that he only feels up to a few singles so won't bother playing today. I always intended to frame this with some repro baseball cards of Ruth, Gehrig and so on. Until I get the time to do that it's available. Image size 26" x 14". $375
MILLER, FRANK - Two consecutive 1941 BARNEY BAXTER dailies both featuring Gopher Gus (no Barney), quite possibly the most weirdly drawn human of all time. I could look at Miller's crosshatching work for hours! Gus confronts a fifth columnist grandma (!) in both dailies. Image sizes 20" x 5". Either one $75. SOLD
MOMAND, POP - Circa 1932 KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES Sunday. Cookie and her beau are parked out in the country, he tells her of his adventures hunting tigers in India. He claims to run out of gas and she sends him off with a gas can. After a long wait she goes after him to find that he's been treed by a 'ferocious' dog that promptly licks her hand. Super art on this Sunday. On two boards as original. Full image size when assembled 19" x 21". $250 SOLD
NANKIVELL, FRANK - A wonderful huge 28" x 21.5" 1909 cartoon for PUCK titled "Rewards of Second Childhood". Depicts a young fellow being fitted for a much-too-large suit, then series of progressive figures showing him at different ages, in all but the middle age version of which he wears an ill-fitting suit, then another large scene with him as a withered old man having his oversize suit taken in. A superb example of Nankivell with great details and excellent page design. A little soiled around edges which would mostly matte out, worn edges and 1.75" blind tear, all of which don't take away from this great piece. $225
NEWELL, PETER - a nice book illustration for "Love In A Lion's Den" of a very dapper gentleman giving a speech, his arm raised in an exaggerated pose. Gouache en grisaille on board, 1901. The book quotation has been pencilled at the extreme edge of the board "I was instructed to declaim some celebrated oration at the top of my voice". 9.5" x 6" image area on 11.5" x 16" board. $200 SOLD
OPPER, F. - Nice 1893 Opper cartoon, probably for Puck, unfortunately I don't know the gag line but it's a very nice piece. Army general-type with handle-bar mustache sits at his desk looking surprised as a fairly raggedy fellow points his finger accusingly. Poster on wall reads "Men Wanted For US Army". Very detailed piece. Image size 12" x 12". $175 SOLD
OPPER, F. - Nicely detailed 1890 Puck cartoon. A scruffy looking fellow (probably meant to be Irish - he's smoking a clay pipe) is pulling what looks like newspapers out of a hollow tree while a dandy stands looking the other way unaware of what's going on. Don't know what the gag is. Image size 8" x 8". Matted but matte is dirty and should be replaced. $150 SOLD
OPPER, F. - Two panel cartoon for Puck circa 1880's titled "The Early Closing Movement - Looking For Tillie's Place". Two fellows feeling their way around in the fog in the first panel, second panel shows their intended destination - a row of stores with signs Dance House, Gambling House, Gin Mill, Pool Rooms. This early Opper does not have near as much detail as his later work, so priced accordingly. The reverse is neat too - Opper did a number of preliminary sketches for another drawing plus one fully inked figure! Image size 14" x 5". $50 SOLD
PATTERSON, ROBERT - Large dramatic watercolor illustration from a WWII era Woman's Home Companion magazine. Patterson is a noted illustrator and though I haven't seen a great deal of his work, this is the best, by far, of what I've seen. Six aviators in a lifeboat are hurriedly clambering up the ropes of a cargo net into a waiting rescue ship. It's a night scene, but a searchlight has been trained on the aviators making for some great lighting effects. Very detailed and colorful for a watercolor. There is a water stain on the side of the ship - I didn't notice this flaw until I re-matted the piece (I assumed it was an intentional detail). Image size is 20" x 14", matted and framed. $575
PETERS, C.F. - Wonderful cartoon from Life magazine circa early 1920s. A drawing room scene with a man and wife conversing. He - "By jove! My dear, if business continues to improve I shall buy a seat on the Stock Exchange next year." She - "Good gracious! Harry, you don't mean to say you've been standing up all this time." The real charm of this piece is in the details - there is an ornate tea set in the foreground, a fancy coffee pot on a table, a large folding screen with tapestry in the background. This large piece (image area 12" x 16") has been beautifully matted with a printed caption in a separate beveled cut-out, framed in pretty wood frame (frame size 19" x 24.5"). $225
ROBINSON, PAUL - 1925 EMBARRASSING MOMENTS panel by a very young Robinson (pre-Etta Kett). Kid is caught passing a love note in class, he has to stand in front of the class as teacher reads it out load. Image size 8" x 8". $50
RUSSELL, C.D. - 1956 Sunday page of PETE THE TRAMP. An excellent joke - Pete wants to go skating on a frozen pond, but sign says "Thin Ice". He asks a kid how deep the pond is ("hip deep"), so he constructs stilts with his ice-skates on the end. He skates out on the pond safe in the knowledge that if the ice breaks he will remain high and dry. The ice does crack and he goes down with only his head out of the water. The final panel leaves him yelling at the kid who looks on from the lake edge. This strip is exceedingly well-drawn and in good shape. There is discoloration to the paste-up title panel. The art board has been pasted on to a black backing board for some unknown reason. Image area is 19.5" x 14". $175 SOLD
SPARLING, JACK - 1942 HAP HOPPER daily. Hap and Benny get wise to a Nazi spy posing as a cook. I was never too impressed with Sparling's work based on tearsheets. Turns out he was a much better artist than I thought and this daily explains why - he did great detail work that all turned to mud or dropped out completely in printed versions. Good stuff! Image area 20" x 5". $45 SOLD
VAN ARSDALE, WALTER - 1930 cartoon for Judge, very nice wash drawing of a fellow in a bulky diving suit standing at the bottom of the sea with fish swimming around him. Caption is "I think we're going to have a shower with all this humidity". A delightful piece. Image size 10" x 14". $85 SOLD
WHEELAN, ED - Circa 1930 MINUTE MOVIES daily from the "Sun And Sand" serial. Episode 16 has our heroes in an Algerian bar whooping it up with some French soldiers. Image size 23.5" x 7". Not signed by Wheelan, probably ghosted by Nicholas Afonsky. $150
WILLIAMS, J.R. - 1943 OUT OUR WAY daily panel. Commanding officer is making an inspection of an army kitchen, finds the cooks preparing beans for the camp and steak for themselves. Needless to say, the cooks look pretty nervous as he chews them out. Nice daily with lots of detail. Image size 12" x 11". $150 SOLD
WILLIAMS, J.R. - 1952 OUT OUR WAY daily panel. Dad and his son are taking the door off of a garage, apparently one that dad rents pretty cheap. Sonny is telling his dad that he could rent a nice garage for $3, about what it would cost to have a carpenter put this garage door back on. Charming panel, lots of detail. Image size 12" x 11". $150 SOLD
WILLINGHAM, KEITH - 1964 BLAST BLAIR daily strip. This was a fine humor strip about an astronaut - I've never understood why it didn't catch on. This daily has Blast landing his space capsule on a beanstalk - he meets a kid and asks where he is. As we hear "Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum" from above, the kid replies "Are You Kidding?". Image size 19.5" x 5". $40
UNKNOWN (probably MO LEFF) - 1943 daily strip of Curley Kayoe (formerly Joe
Jinks). Features Dynamite Dunn discussing his next fight with a bed-ridden pal.
Nice art. Image area 20" x 5". $35