The Daily Theme: Essays: Topic 174: The Humor of Cartoons

Carol:

The Laugh’s On Us

I was going to write about Gary Larson today because he’s one of my favorite humorists. But, over the years I’ve spent a ton of money on Gary, giving out Far Side memo pads and Far Side calendars to friends and family members as gifts. He doesn’t need my money or my publicity, so today I pay homage to several more of the family whose Gemini birthdays I mentioned earlier this week in Topic 173.

Brother Hugh (June 9) was born on his maternal grandfather’s birthday. I don’t know when Grandpa Fike started scribbling in words and pictures, but his letters from the 1930’s and 40’s showed an almost whimsical flair for language. And, he loved Hugh’s cartoons. In 1945, Grandpa Fike wrote to my mother in Texas: “Hate to have you so far away. We will just be a name to your boys. I expect to see Hugh develop into an artist or cartoonist even if it is hard working crawling up hills.” In 1947 Grandpa Fike sent Hugh and Doug a birthday letter typed in red (For a Red Letter Day) along with “a little money so that you can have the fun of spending it just as you wish, foolishly or wisely, as you prefer.” Hugh’s thank-you note included illustrations of his purchase:

By the early 1950’s, Hugh had gone public—with cartoons for the “Queensboro Quack” newspaper and then as art editor for his high school newspaper. His drawings also began to take on political overtones. In response to the McCarthy hearings, Hugh created a fake ID that made him a “card-carrying member of the Communist Party,’ almost getting himself expelled when the Principal found out. By the time, Hugh finished College, my mother had started a collection of his illustrated letters which she put in a box with the letters she kept from Grandpa Fike.

Brother Doug (June 11) is a scribbler too although he is more of a word guy than a picture guy. He designed a fake ID in high school too; it made him a "card-carrying member of the Mickey Mouse Club,” and it matched the large Mickey Mouse he had painted on the front of his junkie old sedan. And, that same box of treasured letters that belonged to my mother contained hand-made Valentines and birthday cards Doug had sent over 30 years.

I guess it was inevitable that he and Hugh would find a way to combine their talent with words and pictures to start a greeting card company. They conducted their own market research at a family gathering, waiting until my mother was busy in the kitchen before unveiling some of the more risqué messages for our review. Hugh designed the cartoons, Doug designed the messages, and they achieved enough success to catch the attention of a major card company and national distribution.

That box of letters and pictures my sentimental mother kept eventually came to me when she died, and I keep it next to the boxes of letters and drawings I saved from my big brothers and other family members. My two children may not be Geminis, but they also have a unique gift for capturing humor into word and picture.

Somewhere in all of those complex maps of human DNA, there has to be a marker called “scribble and doodle.” I would create a cartoon to illustrate—a humorous doodle—but I only got the “scribble” part of that DNA inheritance.

Megan:

Cartoons are distractions too

If you've spent any time on this website, you've probably gotten to know me quite well.

(If you spend any time on this website, there's a good chance you already know me quite well).

I have problems with motivation and procrastination. For quite some time now (like since I was a teenager), I've intended to get in shape and generally be a healthier person but I haven't been properly motivated. There's just too much to distract me:

Like spending time with my friends.

And going to the movies.

And now that I'm planning to take the GRE and apply to MFA programs, I've suddenly lost all interest in writing. It's sort of like how I'll go days without doing basic chores like laundry and the dishes, but as soon as there's a job to apply for, I have to get all the cleaning out of the way.

So, this is what I've been doing instead of working on my MFA applications (or applying for jobs):

I take the dog for a walk every day.