Here’s something you’ve never seen before. Few have. I produced these vignettes in 1997, why I can no longer remember. I am pretty sure that whatever the reason, they were never used. One of my favorite files (using that word very loosely!) contains such art; there isn’t as much as you might imagine. I’ve never been the kind of compulsive sketcher that most cartoonists seem to be. I’ve always taken that as a sign I missed my calling, as a sign I am not a born cartoonist. Please! I’m not saying I’m not good at it. I think I’ve done rather well. However, it has never come easy, and it can seem suspiciously like work at times, albeit not very strenuous work. Now, where was I going with all this? Well, if I remember, I’ll get back to it tomorrow.
Scenes from the Morgue
By Jimmy Johnson
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105 responses to “Scenes from the Morgue”
JJ, thanks for sharing.
Here is a short history of t-shirts: http://gizmodo.com/how-the-t-shirt-was-invented-1646047645
Hmmmm… the one on the left has the NEA copy write…. Both are really good, but my favorite is the one on the right. The detail is amazing.
Actually, either one of those images would look *great* on a T-shirt.
Not quite sure why Arlo looks so apprehensive in the first one, considering what he’s doing.
Yeah, right…this cartooning gig of yours could dry up and blow away any day now. I suppose you could always go back to being a newspaper reporter. Oh, wait. A study published by Forbes earlier this year shows that “newspaper reporter” is currently rated as the second worst job in the US. Right after “lumberjack”.
Yes, thank you for sharing these. I would not say that it is a sign at all. Some people who are not talented at all sketch and doodle all of the time. I think that for them it is more of a nervous habit. I think that we would love to see some of the stuff that you crumble up and throw away. I know a few artists that just file those away and re-visit them later.
GR6, thanks for the insights on lumber jacking. I need to find a retirement career. Had thought of taking the Acme School’s lumber jack course. What’s third up on that list?
sand, I swear I’m not making this up…third worse job on this list was “military enlisted personnel”.
Thanks GR6, thinking I need to be raising my sights; seems I am hitting the target low and to the right.
I think Arlo’s look of apprehension stems from a loss of balance as Janis reaches for the next blossom.
Those two cartoons would both make excellent t-shirt designs. I love both and they are SO well drawn, animation is superb.
Mark, that side of island is best side. Sea Life Park and the staff were incredible. Lindberg was alive then and Mike came home, said he’d been talking to Charles L. (he was on the board) and I said what in the world were you talking about? He replied, puupuu sticks, he was eating some I was cooking on the outdoor grill. That was such a great job, Mike loved it but I told him he was being paid in sunshine.
The beach there and the bay were so unbelievable. The guy who did all the daily sterilization of the kitchen was a devoted surfer and periodically he’d have to get in the water. Mike would tell him to go grab his board and take a surfing break.
Now people know why we/I love the restaurant arcs and the beach arcs in A and J. Mike, me, our girls have all been doing the stuff Jimmy writes and draws all our lives. He knows his subject matter and it is all true to life.
And he knows his gardening and Janis’ cleaning obsession, gardening obsession.
The big singles today are just so right!
Love, Jackie
the A&J art is so great; clothes, bodies, expressions, everything, we all know the strips that are just stick figures
“Yum! Pairs well with rabbit!” Meg will fit right in when they move to Gai Paree.
Who remembers the TV series “Dave’s World” from about 20 years ago, a fictionalized version of Dave Barry’s life? One episode had them hosting a cute young exchange student from France who volunteered to prepare French cuisine for them one evening. After they greatly enjoyed a slow-cooker stew she had cooked, they realized the main ingredient was their younger son’s pet rabbit that she had innocently found in the hutch in the backyard. (As she explained, in France the rabbits kept out back in hutches are usually NOT pets.)
Wanting a replacement for little Willie’s missing rabbit before he realized it was gone, they went to a pet store to buy one, but the clerk refused to sell it to them when he realized from her accent that the student was French. “I know what they do with rabbits there!” he told them.
They returned home to find Willie had discovered his pet was gone. “Daddy, did he run away?” Willie asked plaintively.
“I’m sure that he tried,” Dave replied sadly.
Good afternoon, Villagers. Long, sad case this morning. Don’t worry, I am not going to talk about it. Had a great run in the nice cool morning. I am puzzled by Gene’s garden in The Dark Side cartoon. I have had kale that I liked; lettuce, I love; cabbage is not on our menu as The Man In My Life can’t digest it, but why would anybody raise turnips?
Turnips are delicious, Lily, raw or cooked. My favorite way to cook them I got from New York Times cookbook (I think) which is thinly sliced, sautéed lightly in butter and olive oil mix, liberally sprinkled with fresh ground coarse pepper. I don’t salt much of anything.
Consider them a giant radish. Which they are probably!
Love, Jackie
Naturally, I love Dave Barry and remember “Dave’s World” but not that episode. My aunt did a similar thing with her grandson’s pet rabbit, which they served for dinner. He realized they were eating his rabbit, think he had agreed to do so. He plaintively said “I wish we hadn’t eaten Fluffy.”
His mom is a vegetarian, life long, but his grandparents aren’t/weren’t, nor any of children. In fact, they hunt quite a bit and eat their kills.
Didn’t Dave play himself?
Love, Jackie
Hm, well, I’ll look into it. I do the shopping this week so I’ll buy one and play with it. *blush* I was at a fancy French restaurant once and one of the sides they served was turnip puree, I din’t even taste it!
Totally wrong, Dave was played by Harry Anderson from “Night Court” which I also loved. I am getting senile.
Turnip greens are excellent also, they do not have to be boiled to death for 9 hours like my mom’s version. Fast sauté, with olive oil and butter, some fresh red pepper flakes is how I like them and maybe some balsamic vinegar sprinkled on.
I leave the stems, do a coarse chop and eat them all.
Another favorite I used to do was chopped, sautéed in EVOO like what’s her face and mixed with a heavy amount of crisp bacon and sautéed onion (small amounts onion) and all of this encased in butter based pie crust, little “hand pies” folded over and baked crisp and hot. Works good with mustard greens too. Great party appetizers.
Love, Jackie
From my comment on today’s Fox Trot to somebody who said “The Dr.’s eyes look like Bill is channeling Picasso”: The difference between Bill Amend and Picasso is that Bill Amend can’t draw but does and Picasso could draw but wouldn’t.
Confession time, my garden is full of turnip greens, both the traditional purple tops and the Seven tops which don’t do roots. I keep trying the black Russian ones and the white Russian ones without much success. Also mustards of all persuasions, tendergreens, kale, Swiss chard, spinach, lots of leafy green stuff.
I have leftover turnip greens and turnip roots with enough bacon to count as a meat but I added some Cajun sausage to kick it up.
Love, Jackie
Wowsers, I am really proud of myself. I went to That Is Priceless and said to myself immediately, “Botticelli,” even though I have never seen that particular work before. I saved it, though it’s not the “Primavera,” what is?
We accidently wound up with many, many rabbits while in college, so we talked to our friend from Haiti who was in the same school with us about his miniscule budget, and our abundance of rabbits. The deal was take all but our son’s favorite, we won’t eat any rabbit, we don’t want to see them in any stage of prep, and they are all yours. He was very happy to accept the deal as a way of treating his wife, and 4 sons to something special. He brought by a large bucket, and a very sharp knife, carried the rabbits into a nearby field and prepped them all in one shot. No rabbit for me thank you, they were too close to being pets.
I remember an episode of Dave’s world in which he encountered the real Dave Barry while shopping for an air conditioner… I think they ended up in a fight over the last remaining one! If that’s not true, then like GR6, I am also losing my memory.
Yep, turnip greens, slow cooked and seasoned with bacon or fatback (sorry, Lily), and served with vinegar-based “pepper sauce”. (I make my own, from white vinegar and fresh cayenne peppers.)
Why, Ah done hear’d that some o’ them there Yankee stores sell the danged turnip roots and throw away the tops! ‘Magine that!*
Although in fairness, I must add that I have prepared an excellent Creamy Turnip and Paprika Soup, the recipe for which I obtained from someone in Idaho. Also, halved turnip roots are a delicious substitute for potatoes in a slow-cooker pot roast. Or as an addition to potatoes.
*True story that, told to me by a Lutheran minister who had pastored up in Wisconsin or Minnesota or one of those cold states, whose Southern-born wife was hungry for turnip greens and had gone hunting for some. The tops had been discarded and were piled on the ground out back of a country store, and the store owner told her to help herself to all she wanted. And looked at her very strangely when she offered to pay for them.
Could these pieces be ideas for a “4 seasons” kind of thing? It looks like Spring (or maybe Summer) and Fall to me, anyway. 🙂