There has been, however, a remarkable accumulation of portraits showing two of the 20^th century’s iconic posers: John Lennon and Salvador Dalí. As for Lennon, I simply forgot about the anniversary of his assassination on December 8. Be sure to check out some of the portraits. The most interesting one for me was this realistic portrait by Joachim Rick. Mullet-Lennon is a rare sight these days. Would this part of his image have survived if had lived? Probably not. Sir Paul has been pretty good in suppressing people’s memories of his mullet. Or of the fact that he used to have grey hair. Other interesting Lennon caricatures are these two by Doru Axinte, this blank-eyed version by Zed and Ben Heine’s triangular kitsch.

While the mystery about the Lennons has been solved pretty quickly thanks to Wikipedia, the forces behind the Dalís remain unknown. If anyone finds out why everybody did Dalí last week, tell me. As with most series of portraits, monotony develops amazingly fast – all the wide-eyed, mustachioed mock-madness, you know. So here are the highlights in quick succession: ear-hair Dalí, insane midget Dalí, Handface Dalí and geometrically deconstructed Dalí. Enjoy.

Introducing…

Eoin Coveney actually joined toonpool.com last week. But he started uploading pictures only this Wednesday, so I think it’s OK to mention him here. Eoin is from Dublin, Ireland and he’s a professional. I really like the contrast between the furry cat and the smooth snowman in this one, or the line-art in this portrait. Peter Stringfellow turns out to be a kind of British Rolf Eden, if that’s any help to you. If it isn’t, take a look at Amy Winehouse in a psychedelic shirt or Dracula sporting a slipover. They’re both good.

Cartoons of Interest

My favorite cartoon this week is “Son of Rita” by George. It nicely captures the two hens’ coldness toward H.D. Bailey’s great fall. I am sure that it will only take half an hour or so until everyone in the neighborhood knows what happened. Then, they will probably seem full of sympathy, but this cartoon unmasks their initial calculation: ‘Who is this’ and “Can I make a good story out of it’.

This is, of course, only my second-to-favorite Humpty Dumpty cartoon. It will be hard to beat Gary Larson’s classic one about how the horses want another shot at putting him back together again.

Paul Hellmich