The Cartoonist Cookbook

On loan to the Library’s collection from friend DEREK Tague is THE CARTOONIST COOKBOOK from 1966(and no, it is not a book about about cooking cartoonists!). Like the COMICS ON PARADE coloring book from the same era, this features new artwork from many of the famous strip cartoonists of the day (a notable exception is Walt Kelly). Instead of parades, though, the theme here is food. The first half of the book is an alphabetical listing of the creators themselves, giving a picture, a brief bio and usually a food-related anecdote before listing their favorite foods and offering a drawing of their famous strip creation. The recipes themselves appear in the second half of the book. The real treats here are the vintage photos of the various artists as well as the probably never seen anywhere else artwork. Comic book legend Neal Adams was still turning out his BEN CASEY medical strip (long after the source TV series had ended) and so leads off the listing with the page and rare art seen here. Also seen here is Chester Gould’s pasta-loving DICK TRACY, Alfred Andriola’s KERRY DRAKE and Leonard Starr’s lovely ( and soon to be reprinted. Yay!) MARY PERKINS ON STAGE. Elsewhere in the book you’ll find Charles Schulz, Al Capp, Mort Walker, Johnny Hart, Al Jaffee and the rest of the A-list along with more-or-less forgotten creators whose strips were having some success during the mid-sixties. These include Pete Hansen (LOLLY), Bill Lignante (LET’S EXPLORE YOUR MIND) and Harry Haenigsen (PENNY). We’ll revisit this treasure trove of a book again soon with more art and lots of photos. Right now, all of those recipes are making me hungry. Enjoy your meals!