As esteemed comics librarians, we here at the Cartoon Library pride ourselves in our ability to share our knowledge with the greater blogosphere by highlighting bits and pieces of comics history. However, occasionally we come across a page of comics or a single cartoon in a collection that is so striking (and hilarious) outside of the context of a larger work, that we cant help but want to show you and ask what you think.
Thus is the case with the image below, a single page from an unidentified comic by Paul Kirchner and Ralph Reese. Let’s call it The Tall Circus. A drum and brass band who appear incredibly tall as their shtick by wearing stilts, playing to their adoring audience of beatniks and hippies. As the crowd rushes at the end of their performance, all 5 band members simultaneously run into a tree branch (in true cartoon humor), revealing their actual modest height as the stilts fall away. The hippies in the background seem to transform instantly into an angry mob, until the band plays on and proves that they are indeed just as talented even when they are… less… tall.
Original art by Paul Kirchner and Ralph Reese. From the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
We love this page, and hope you will too. If any readers know what comic it is from, please share in the comments section!
Detail of original art by Paul Kirchner and Ralph Reese. From the International Museum of Cartoon Art Collection, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
-Caitlin McGurk
Recent Comments