ON THE MCSWEENEY’S QUARTERLY CONCERN (ISSUE NO. 13)

ON THE CARTOON ART MUSEUM, THE MCSWEENEY’S QUARTERLY CONCERN (ISSUE NUMBER 13), AND TRANSMETROPOLITAN WITH PREDICTION

“A drawing can feel perfect in a way prose never does, and a poem rarely.”
from the essay "Cartoon Magic," by John Updike (as I found it in …Issue No. 13)

Visited the Cartoon Art Museum, today, Saturday, February 12, 2005. It is, as Phaidon’s “History of …” indicates, a collection of ‘not quite art.” I mean it falls under the sub-class of fine art that is straddled by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. Cartoon art self-selects out of high culture because to accume itself in the likes of the Hirshhorn next to Lucian Freud would undercut its essence. It contrasts with “high culture.” It is plebian and crass, and it pleases.

Poetry, an old professor of mine used to say, is and adjective not a noun. Sometimes poetry is experienced in the various fine arts, and sometimes in things that are not supposed to be artful. The Cartoon Art Museum delivers an aesthetic experience of the highest quality.

On the occasion of my visit the Cartoon Art Museum had some prints and mostly originals from the "McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Issue Number 13, Cartoon Edition," edited by Chris Ware on its walls.

In addition to that display it also had its standard fare of Hanna Barbara, Walt Disney, and Warner Brothers originals. The mainstream folks like The Simpsons, Calvin and Hobbes, and Zippy the Pinhead were not neglected in the standard collection. It was also nice to see Marvel and DC there as well as the focused show on Will Eisner.

The best of the standard collection were the works by Garett Izumi and Jim Woodring—truly compelling. Because of its location I actually couldn’t tell if Woodring was part of the permanent collection or a function of the McSweeney’s collection. The Jim Woodring reminded me, to some degree, of The Great American Pinup’s own Scott Brennan.

Two ways of looking at Scott Brenann: 1 & 2.

Thank goodness Love and Rockets was included on the walls of the Cartoon Art Museum. In fact the piece from Jaime Hernandez was absolutely perfect. I spent many college days avoiding studying for Botany by listening to Joy Division and reading Love and Rockets. Love and Rockets was revolutionary! Well, maybe not, but it was really popular.

Though notably missing from the McSweeney’s collection and the “Underground” collection of the Cartoon Art Museum were samplings from the greatest comic book of our generation Transmetropolitan. Let me make a prediction right here and now that will never be heard worldwide.

PREDICTION: Transmetropolitan will be made into a major motion picture within 5 years.

If anybody wants the screenplay have them give me a call ASAP. Spider Jerusalem should be played by a shaved Gary Oldman but Hollywood will probably cast him with somebody like Vin Diesel. I’ve got the action figure. I’ve got my original issues 1-4 of Book 1 well preserved in plastic. The world will never understand!

That said the museums show compelled me to fork over the 30 bucks for the "McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Issue Number 13, Cartoon Edition edited by Chris Ware." I just finished it and the fold-out cover. A lot of this ground was covered on the walls of the museum…but much was not. Plus I got to take with me the aesthetic experience I was so thrilled by at the museum itself.

So, I admit, I was one of those freshman comp teacher’s in grad school that taught “the graphic novel.” My choice was the forever infamous “The Dark Knight Returns.” I regret that decision only because I did it to be alternative…not because I fully understood where art and poetry/literature elide in comic book art.

Pick up Richard Sala’s “Strange Question.” Read it. No, its not quite art. But its also not “not art.” The text, not “not literary.”

I found more poetry in the McSweeney's text and in The Cartoon Art Museum than I have found in many books of poetry I’ve picked up recently. So it is...