Saturday, October 29, 2005
Obscurity of the Day : Goofus Animals
Goofus Animals was a panel cartoon with verse series, a popular form before poetry in newspapers was deemed old-fashioned. Here the poet, one Herbert Kirk, supplies odes to imaginary creatures, while the great Nate Collier adds the visuals. The feature ran 1930-31.
Nate Collier is one of the great forgotten cartoonists. His obscurity, I suppose, is deserved since he never managed to produce anything of truly memorable value in his many years of producing magazine cartoons and newspaper art. He always seemed to be working for the grade-B magazines and newspaper syndicates, though his wonderful artwork should have led him to greener pastures. Ah, well, that's life.
Too bad on these samples his signature is printed so small. Collier's signature is a wonder to behold.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
I ran across the Goofus Animals panels when I was working at the library in Troy, NY. I collected a number of them and cleaned them up to reprint in a pamphlet. Silly fun stuff.
# posted by 
: 11/11/2005 4:51 PM
: 11/11/2005 4:51 PM
A full-size version of one of his strips can be seen in "Sherlock Holmes in America" by Bill Blackbeard, page 127. His signature is pretty impressive.
Post a Comment
