Cartoon America: Comic Art in the Library of Congress

by Harry Katz (Editor)

Like jazz and baseball, cartoons are an indelible, indigenous part of American culture. Cartoon America celebrates 250 years of American cartooning with an unprecedented selection of original art by the best, most accomplished creators in the history of comics illustration, including Thomas Nast, Charles Schulz, Winsor McCay, Jules Feiffer, and many, many others. With accompanying essays written exclusively for this volume by such luminaries as John Updike, Art Spiegelman, and Chris Ware, the book includes many firsts, earliests, and one-of-a-kinds, including cells from classic animated films, vintage editorial cartoons, newspaper strips, comic books, and much more. Published in conjunction with the Library of Congress’s landmark exhibition of original art from the collection of cartoonist J. Arthur Wood, Jr., this is a treasure trove for the comics and cartoon enthusiast and an authoritative survey of this distinctly American art form.

Genres: Comics, History, Nonfiction, Art, Cartoon

324 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2006

Reviews

[Dominick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely collection of selected images from the Library of Congress's comics collections, with accompanying short essays by a diverse array of commentators from practicing cartoonists to scholars. While brief--usually only a page or two--these are usually insightful and informative (exceptions such as Bill Griffiths's bit on underground comix focusing primarily on his own work notwithstanding). Quite a range of cartoonists and comics forms are covered, ranging as far back as figures such as Daumier. There are lacunae, which the book itself acknowledges, noting them as gaps still in the Library's collections, but nevertheless, there is an amazing range here. Inevitably in an oveview project such as this, one wishes that many more images from individual creators or eras could have been included, but it is the rare artist who is represented by more than one or two images. The reproduction is mostly photoreproduction of original art and mostly crisp and clear, though some pieces are reproduced at sizes somewhat too small to be appreciated fully here--and this is an oversize book. Nevertheless, a dandy book to dip into and expore.

[Chris White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the insight into the world of comic strips in the newspaper. The comics have been enjoyed by many with little understanding of their history or the process by which the are produced.

[Russell Mark Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd like to be really critical and give an indepth response to reading this...but there are so many authors and so much thought here that it really would be impossible to make a generalized statement about the whole and I don't have time to sit down and write out a comprehensive review of this book. All I can say is it is a wonderful resource for cartoon thought, history and theme. Its also very romantic...for people in love with cartoons and cartoon history.

[Amy Paget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes we get too pompous celebrating Independence Day so I thought bringing home "Cartoon America" would let our family celebrate America with some humor. I do need to confess that I 'flipped' the pages in this Library of Congress publication, not reading all the historical text unless it was about an event or an artist in which I was particularly interested. Great book for the summer or to start a conversation...

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how it showed how comics have began and how they are today.