Here We Go Again!

Posted on December 12, 2009 by Howard
Above: A pre-winter preview of coming attractions. Sigh.

My Dr. Seuss Letters of Note

An unexpected side benefit arising from the posting in my last blog entry of more correspondence between the late, great Theodor Seuss Geisel and myself was the discovery of a great blog called Letters of Note, whose editor, Shaun Usher, wrote from his web perch in the UK to ask if he could reproduce the letters that Dr. Seuss sent to me in his December 4 installment.

Regular readers of this blog have already had a look at my treasured Dr. Seuss letters. But those of you who wander further afield in Usher’s blog will most likely find it as dangerously addictive as I have, what with its scanned letter composed by the 1923 version of Walt Disney, a disturbing eight-page-long combination j’accuse and cri de coeur from the distressed father of Brian Wilson to his Beach Boy son, and at least two letters from J. D. Salinger (one concerning the inappropriateness of Catcher in the Rye for film; the other a courteously withering response to a young aspiring writer with a typewriter-ribbon deficiency).

Detroit’s Linocut Whiz

"Those silly boys, breaking their backs shoveling snow out there!" thinks Lulu. "Don’t they know that if they just sit by the window looking beautiful like I’m doing, somebody will go outside and do it for them?"

Last week Eddie and I received this year’s round of holiday cards from my pal from Detroit John Benson, whose beautifully crafted linoleum-cut prints have been adding to the atmospheric majesty of Michigan’s Renaissance Festivals for years and whose artistic contributions to AIDS-related causes have saluted AIDS activists and commemorated those lost to the disease since the epidemic’s early days. As the link above indicates, John’s cards can also be found among the many gems offered by the Biddle Gallery in Wyandotte, Michigan.

I’ve been intending to call attention to John’s work in this blog for quite a while, and since he’s on my mind as I write this, let’s make it today!

In keeping with sensibilities John has borrowed from centuries past, he doesn’t maintain his own independent web site, which makes me feel a little guilty about tantalizing you with tidbits of his work here without being able to link you to a lavish presentation of his prints. But if you want to learn more about the range of his artistry, just email him directly and express your interest.

Below:
Much as I appreciate the cathedral-ready symmetry of many of John’s prints and cards, the perverse side of me loves it when he gets grisly!

At left:
Just for fun, John and I collaborated in 1993 on this limited edition print depicting two angels in a state of, uh, sublime arousal.

About Howard

I'm a cartoonist and writer, best known for my graphic novel, Stuck Rubber Baby, and my comic strip from the 1980s, Wendel.
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3 Responses to Here We Go Again!

  1. Martha Thomases says:
    December 13, 2009 at 9:13 am

    One can never have too many Howard Cruse mugs.

  2. Carlo Quispe says:
    December 13, 2009 at 5:30 am

    Oh no I can’t deal with all that snow. Just getting back from the Los Nutcrackers final night… The play is written by my boss Charles Rice-Gonzalez. Look him up he’s amazing. Yawn! Time to cuddle up with my boy Mike. Lots of love!
    PS – Such cool cards. And I did a sexy after-party dance, soon to be seen online!
    Carlo

  3. Kevin Moore says:
    December 12, 2009 at 1:09 pm

    You draw the best erections.

    (And you have a damn cute dog, too.)