THIS MODERN WORLD

I’ll be putting my Chicago posters up for sale Wednesday at noon EST in the Posters For Sale section. This is a signed and numbered edition of 100, with 90 posters actually for sale (I’m setting aside the rest for friends and family). Cost of the poster will be $70, with $10 flat rate postage, including mandatory insurance. (These are domestic postage rates– overseas customers, go ahead and purchase at this price, with the understanding that you will receive a second invoice for the balance of actual postage costs.) Limit one per customer. Shipping will probably take 4-6 weeks — I’m a one-man band, and there are only so many hours in the week.

… forgot to mention, these are 9-color silkscreened posters, not standard offset litho.

… also, I have absolutely no idea what to expect for sales here — I may end up with a big stack of these things sitting in my flatfiles for years to come — but I’m told there’s at least a chance they’ll sell briskly, for whatever that may be worth.

The Nobel announcement should make for an interesting day in right-wing crazyland.

Secret Agent Beck vs. the menace of A.C.O.R.N!

… some notes on this one: the ACORN logo is based on the United Underworld logo from the 1966 Batman movie (in the original, the tentacles belong to an octopus at the center of the design). The volcano headquarters are taken from “You Only Live Twice,” as are George Soros’ facial scar and Chairman Mao jacket (based on James Bond’s archnemesis from that movie, Ernst Stavro Blofeld). Agent Beck’s predicament at the end of the cartoon is of course based on the classic scene from Goldfinger, leading to my one regret about this cartoon. The movie’s original dialogue goes something like this:

BOND: Do you expect me to talk?

GOLDFINGER: No, Mister Bond — I expect you to die!

I was originally hoping to end the cartoon with this exchange:

BECK: Do you expect me to talk?

SOROS: No, Mister Beck — I expect you to cry!

Had to cut it due to space, but in retrospect, I kind of wish I’d figured out a way to squeeze it in.

You can enter the contest here.

There’s a clause in my contract which states that I am to receive copies of all merchandise using my art. I wish my attorney had thought to include the phrase “and contest prizes…”

The Very Silly Mayor Tom Tomorrow Ig (Consortium, dist.), $16.99 (36p) ISBN 978-1-935439-01-1
Tom Tomorrow (a penname for cartoonist Dan Perkins), whose This Modern World comic strip skewers government follies, brings his gee-whiz irony and clip art–style panels to this parable of sorts, his picture book debut. The wild-eyed title character presides over “a medium-sized city.” Smiling a leprechaun’s overeager grin, he instructs police officers to dress as clowns, firefighters to substitute peanut butter for water and citizens to paint their homes green and purple. Sparky the penguin and Blinky the terrier, two sensible smart-alecks from Tomorrow’s strip, expect public outrage. Instead, clean-cut, dimwitted TV talking heads praise their leader: “Peanut butter sounds like a delicious way to fight fires!” When Sparky asks his neighbors why they would conform to ridiculous, even dangerous policies, they admit, “I didn’t want anyone to laugh at me.” They suggest that Sparky replace the mayor, but the pro-election, anti-coup penguin chooses instead to be the mayor’s adviser. While children can appreciate the absurdities, adults are most likely to chuckle at the satire. Followers of Gan Golan and Erich Origen’s parody Goodnight Bush will snap this up. Ages 4–7. (Oct.)

Not a bad review, though I would reiterate once again that this is genuinely a book written by a parent, for children — it wasn’t secretly aimed at adults, as so many kid’s books are.