Books are my Life!

The arrival of a new and unexpected, if only because I wasn't paying attention, hardback book about one of my favourite comic book artists of the mid-1970's.

The Art of Ploog is a very enjoyable romp through the prolific career of Michael Ploog and I recommend it.

There are some small quibbles with the book but only dealing with the size of some of the images and the use of, what appear to be, photostats and poor ones at that, in places where the original art could not be located.

Up and coming, although exactly when is anybody's guess,
since IDW have a history of missing their publication dates,
is :



I was never completely enchanted by Ingel's work,
unlike many of my compatriots but I must admit to being
intrigued by the pages shown in the Diamond Preview and depending on the price, I may just grab one of these!

In the past week, I also reacquainted myself with the work of one of the pioneers of the Cartoon Course business, 
Eugene Zimmerman, better known as
ZIM.

In the early 1900's, he was a super star in the cartooning fraternity
and his mail order Cartoon Course did a booming business.

 

Cartoons and Caricatures, which I believe was the only book on cartooning that he published:



was a best seller among cartoonists of the day
and it is worthwhile pointing out that:

"It’s worth noting that the price tag on the cover is an important clue to the value of these lessons to contemporary artists. According to the Consumer Price Index, $5 in 1910 is equivalent to $116 today. Five dollars represented a full day’s labor to many of the cartoonists who bought this book. Zim’s name in gold letters on the cover was the selling point that made so many aspiring cartoonists part with the “five plunks (in real Money)” as Zim so colorfully puts it in his introduction."

 

The above piece was copied from the AnimationResources web site.

I have a copy, bought many long years ago at an Old Paper show here in Toronto and I was unaware that it is slightly rare these days.  At the time I was struck by how contemporary the instruction appeared to be and I loved the cartoon style of the author.  If you see one, I recommend it for purchase too.