I am a complete sucker for Charles Addams, and will defend him as the greatest of them all.
If I had a top three, it would include Peter Arno
And George Booth.
Roz Chast is the grande dame right now.
I love so many of them, I couldn’t pick.
George Booth ftw.
Definitely Addams and Arno.
I hate to say it but I really think the quality is going downhill.
I do love my Roz Chast, though.
mmm
Chas Adams the best, and Booth next.
I have a great fondness for John Caldwell.
I just Googled, and learned that he had passed away in 2016. I’m terribly sorry to learn that. I wrote him a fan letter once, and he wrote back, with an original cartoon. I’ll miss him.
Chas Addams was in a league of his own.
Of the current roster, I really like Matthew Diffee, especially for the quality of his drawing.
Edit: for Mrs. Cretin, it’s George Booth by a mile.
Shout out to two of the old masters, James Thurber and Helen Hokinson.
My current favorite is Emily Flake.
No arguments with any of the above, but Sidney Harris is at the top of my list.
Yeah, i adore her stuff. She is SO damn weird! And her drawing style is so soft and mild, such a contrast to her captions.
I’ve never been much of a Roz Chast fan. I accept crappy art if you’re consistently funny, and I don’t get that from her. Kate Beaton, for example, often has a thrown-out-there style, but she’s hilarious…and is quite good at facial expressions, whereas Chast uses the same blank stares or bilious rages over and over.
So I’m not the only one.
^ This.
For me, Addams and Thurber are beloved classics, and Emily Flake is most successful at doing the up-to-date version.
Wow, so many! A few favorites:
George Booth: http://imgc-cn.artprintimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/61/6128/UDRF100Z/posters/george-booth-whistle-you-dumb-bastard-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg
Mick Stevens: http://imgc-cn.artprintimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/60/6065/88AD100Z/posters/mick-stevens-recess-is-over-your-honor-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg
Danny Shanahan: http://imgsrc.art.com/img/print/print/danny-shanahan-tuesday-nights-are-ed-s-kabuki-league-bowl-offs-new-yorker-cartoon_a-g-9180282-8419447.jpg?w=895&h=671
Zachary Kanin: http://imagecache5d.allposters.com/watermarker/77-7717-LUQ1300Z.jpg?ch=775&cw=775&type=cns
Joe Dator: http://imgc-cn.artprintimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/76/7652/1KAG300Z/posters/joe-dator-sometimes-i-feel-the-only-thing-keeping-us-together-is-our-fear-of-the-ch-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg
Thanks for this thread. Based on the mentions of a couple of cartoonists here, I’ve been reading Matthew Diffee and Kate Beaton all morning long. They’re both hysterical!
Gluyas Williams and Otto Soglow.
Some more good 'uns:
Peter Arno: http://www.latinodawah.org/newsletter/images/whereismecca.jpg
Michael Crawford: http://imgc-cn.artprintimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/77/7791/ZLV5300Z/posters/michael-crawford-and-closer-to-home-your-wife-is-doing-shots-with-some-dutch-sailors-on-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg
Roz Chast: http://imgc-cn.artprintimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/76/7683/C371300Z/posters/roz-chast-as-the-dryer-spins-one-sock-confronts-its-partner-about-where-it-has-been-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg
David Jacobson: http://imgc-cn.artprintimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/60/6064/5UCD100Z/posters/david-jacobson-james-joyce-s-refrigerator-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg
Kim Warp: http://imgc-cn.artprintimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/77/7791/JLV5300Z/posters/kim-warp-sometimes-i-think-we-want-this-more-than-he-does-new-yorker-cartoon.jpg
If I’ve led anyone to the work of Kate Beaton, my place in Elysium is secure!
The homepage of Kate’s website is plastered with a big cartoon about how she’s not updating, because she got a big fancy graphic novel contract, but you can go to the “Archives by Category” section and pick and choose literary figures and historical hero(ines) that tickle your fancy; there’s enough there to keep you happy for days.
(“Gorey Covers” and “Nancy Drews” are great gateway drugs, you’ll be hooked before you know it)
I loved her surly Wonder Woman!