Archive for the ‘National Cartoonists Society’ Category

Creig Flessel

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

I’ve been lucky enough to have called Creig Flessel, a cartoonist whose work dates back to comics “Golden Age,” a good friend. Creig was the first person I met when I joined the Berndt Toast Gang. His talent was truly incredible and he was a kind and wonderful friend. The members of the group adored him so much to have deemed him the “Infallible Creig Flessel.” His professional work spanned over 70 years. From “The Sandman” in Adventure Comics, to the David Crane comic strip, and even Baron von Furstinbed for Playboy. Creig passed away at 96 in 2008.

In honor of what would have been his 100th birthday on February 2nd, the Berndt Toast Gang is sponsoring a display of his work at the Art league of Long Island now through January 30th. Some pieces have never been publicly displayed before.

On January 27th, the Gang will be at the Art league for a closing reception displaying our work and drawings of Creig and his characters.

Hope to see you there!

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Team Cul de Sac

Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

Fellow cartoonist Richard Thompson, the creator behind “Cul de Sac,” was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I met Richard at last year’s Reuben Awards. He and I were listening to hilarious stories from Arnie Roth. Richard is up for the “Cartoonist of the Year” and Cul de Sac is up for Best Strip at this years Reubens.

Chris Sparks is running a”Team” as part of Michael J. Fox’s efforts to raise funds for research. Team Cul de Sac will be producing a book of drawings submitted to the effort and the originals will be auctioned off. You can find out more here and visit the “Team Cul de Sac” blog here.

Here’s my submission, influenced by the Oct. 02, 2007 strip where Danders the guinea pig explains why he hates hermit crabs.

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Spooky

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

The Berndt Toast Gang had a “Spooky Drawing” drawing at our last meeting. Everyone brings in a “spooky” drawing and gets to trade for someone else’s.

Here’s mine (click for a larger version):

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Smug

Thursday, September 23rd, 2010

It happens to all of us. Those snappy comebacks we needed at that crucial moment never appear in our brains until hours later. By then it’s too late to call up the offending person and share the brilliance of your razor sharp, if somewhat tardy, wit. Now to savor real snappy answers, you’ll need to see the Al Jaffee exhibition at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art.

Now that's one for the Al Jaffee Exhibit!

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Draw 50

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Whenever a member of the Berndt Toast Gang faces a major event in their life, we make up a card for the gang to sign. Lee J. Ames, is one of the Berndt Toast Gang’s founding members, and the person that coined the term, “a Berndt Toast!” Lee has recently moved back to NY to be near his daughter so we’ve done up a card for him. Lee is probably best known for his series of “Draw 50″ books but he has worked in many parts of the industry, even for Walt Disney (be sure to read his biography page) during the Pinocchio and Fantasia era. Some of Lee’s books include Draw 50 Aliens, Draw 50 Beasties, and more. A number of them were done with other members of the group. Creig Flessel, Andre LeBlanc, Tony D’Adamo and more. All that’s missing is Draw 50 Cartoonists!

Draw 50 cartoonists? No one will buy that!

And the card:

About halfway to 50 Lee Ames'

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Georgetoon

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

My friend and fellow cartoonist, Mark Szorady, has announced his new cartoon-related blog at georgetoon.com. There’ll be postings of Mark’s strip, “George,” and other bits of useful information with a humorous twist.

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