This Sunday is St. Valentine’s Day – that holiday most of us Europeans have learned about from American sit-coms and films. Thinking of all the rumors about how it is basically an invention of the greeting-cards industry leaves me amazed at the fact that there is such a thing as a greeting cards industry in the first place.
Of course there are plenty of comments on Valentine’s Day by toonpool.com’s members. Some are little more than greeting cards (so, if any gc business talent scouts are out there…). Others are pretty good. I liked this mix-up of Thomas Eakin’s Agnew Clinic and that long-haired, bowler hat guy I’ve seen somewheres before. Then there’s the traditional guys- don’t-like-Valentine’s Day cartoon, a confusing greeting card with an explanatory note by the artist that only adds to the confusion, and a pretty sad cartoon about naked couples in balloons. Finally, there’s the political branch of V-Day cartoonists providing us with a romantic Berlusconi and a hearty Burkha.
This last cartoon’s jab at the globalizing power of the greeting cards industry somewhat resembles Centifolia’s cartoon on the globalizing power of carnival. I think the latter is the funnier of the two. But that’s probably because of the century-old resentment for West German carnival held by Berlin people. Other noteworthy carnival cartoons include Adam West in a photobooth, a Heinz-Edelmannesque carnival cartoon and a nod to the present weather conditons in Germany.
Introducing…
In his profile Italian artist Giulio De Vita writes that he is working for “French Comics”. Which is more than credible since that guy is obviously a professional comic-book artist. I don’t have a clue what his juvenile work “La Citta Prigione” is about, but he sure knew what he was doing. With the possible exception of the 2nd panel on page two the whole thing has a superb layout and makes amazing use of shadows. I hope that over the next few days Giulio will provide more classic cartoons . In the meantime, check out these cool characters.
Cartoons of Interest
This week’s favourite, “Buzz” by Romanian artist Axi, is an illustration rather than a cartoon. But it is a great picture of a giant fly. Be sure to note the drosophilae melanogaster the artist put in there for scale.
There were also some cool portraits added this week: The late J.D. Salinger, actor Vince Vaughn, India’s premier Manmohan Singh and, last but not least “Arsene Wenger in a Puffa Jacket”.
© toonpool.comTags: Carnival, last week, letzte woche, St. Valentine's Day
