Monday, December 04, 2023

BOOK REVIEW! LAUGH IT UP --- FUN WITH CARTOONS BY MARVIN TOWNSEND (Xerox Education Publishing, 1974)

Yup, here's the third and I believe last of the Marvin Townsend paperbacks that the smarter turdburgers in school spent their begged pennies on. Like with LAUGH OUT and GHOSTLY GHASTLY CARTOONS, you know what's in store which is mainly a whole lot more of them great badgag panels done up by a guy who I believe only had one other admirer not counting his mother and that's me for doggone sure!

Being the kinda guy who still has a soft spot in his even softer brain for POOCHIE, another dose of Townsend sure takes my mind off the fact that I'm existing in a world where comics like these are outright scorned while people of my generation fondly wax reminiscence upon the works of Lynda Barry. Some mighty good snickers are in store for ya here with even a few that I think were good enough to appear in a few bigname mags. Who knows, but I get the idea that maybe one or two of 'em would have snugly fit into any seventies-vintage NEW YORKER perhaps getting the same amt. of chortles that one could outta Sam Gross! Well, they coulda gone down swell with the upnosed sophisticated ones that even read the wretchy Ellen Willis columns that usedta appear in it.

This book's also noted for a few hippie gags which, given this 'un came out '74 way, were a wee bit outta the timeframe and thus were what the "cool" types woulda called "not relevant". Well, I don't think that Townsend was about to do any glam decadence-oriented generation gap cartoons, though his handling of some Karen Quinlan situations woulda brought up a few chuckles 'round here. 

A nice collection that might make you forget that things like ZITS and BABY BLUES exist. But I doubt it.

1 comment:

Paddy Smith said...

1974? He could've done some proto-punk cartoons.