Hoosier Cartoonists

Sunday, May 1, 2011

In the News-Michael Molinelli

Michael Molinelli Featured

In news of another architect and cartoonist, Michael Molinelli, a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, was recently featured in The Observer (Feb. 18, 2011), the independent newspaper serving Notre Dame and St. Mary's. (You'll find the article here.) Between 1977 and 1982, Mr. Molinelli drew a five-day-a-week comic strip called "Molarity" for the paper. Despite the strip's popularity (his three collections sold thousands in the university bookstore), Mr. Molinelli brought Molarity to a close after graduation--until recently. Molarity Redux now appears periodically online on the website of Notre Dame Magazine (here) alongside reprints of the original strip.

Mr. Molinelli now runs his own architectural firm and lives in Briar Cliff, New York, with his family.

In the News-Herman Terzino

Architect and Cartoonist Herman Terzino Dies

Herman J. Terzino, a prominent architect in LaPorte, Indiana, died on April 17, 2011, at age 89. Between 2004 and 2010, he drew a cartoon called "Full Moon" for the LaPorte Herald-Argus. His second wife Mary wrote a column for the paper at about the same time.

Mr. Terzino was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on March 9, 1922. He was a decorated Army veteran of World War II and graduated from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., with a degree in architecture in 1950. Mr. Terzino married a LaPorte native, Nancy Rumely, in 1951 and returned with her to that city. His career in architecture and his life in Indiana spanned fifty years. Mr. Terzino designed buildings for a number of clients in the eastern United States. In addition to drawing architectural renderings, Mr. Terzino doodled and cartooned. In his work for the Herald-Argus, he became one of a rapidly disappearing breed: the local editorial cartoonist.

A drawing by Indiana cartoonist Herman Terzino.

I didn't know Mr. Terzino. Nonetheless, I honor him. They don't make men like him anymore.

In the News-NCS Awards

Two Hoosiers Nominated for Awards by the National Cartoonists Society (NCS)

The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) has announced its nominees for awards to be presented at its annual banquet to be held in Boston on May 28, 2011. They include at least two Indiana cartoonists. Gary Varvel, cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star, is nominated for his editorial cartoons. Jared Lee is nominated for book illustration for The Three Wise Guys by Mike Thaler. You can read more about the awards at the website of the National Cartoonists Society. Gary Varvel also has a blog, here. You'll find the website of Jared Lee here.

In the News-Rube Goldberg Competition

Purdue Hosts Annual Rube Goldberg Competition

The University of Wisconsin-Stout were repeat winners at the 24th Annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest held March 26, 2011, at Purdue University. In a mere 135 steps, the Wisconsin team watered a plant in a model of creativity combined with "inefficiency and complexity" as required by the competition. In consolation for the home team, a Purdue University machine completed an unassisted run of 244 steps, surpassing Ferris State University's world record. You can read the full story and see a video of a machine re-staging the world's history in its goal of watering a plant, at the website of the Purdue University News Service.

The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest is named for the American cartoonist, sculptor, and author, Rube Goldberg (1883-1970). Born in California, Goldberg graduated from the University of California Berkeley with a degree in engineering. Despite his education, Goldberg went into cartooning and became famous for devising ridiculously complicated machines that accomplish extremely simple tasks. For that, his name passed into common usage so that even today, we talk about "Rube Goldberg devices." Goldberg also won a Pulitzer Prize for his editorial cartooning. Perhaps more significantly, the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) hands out its annual Reuben Award to "The Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year" in his honor. Goldberg designed the award himself, but the original was sculpted by Hoosier cartoonist Bill Crawford (1913-1982). Today, four decades after his death, Rube Goldberg has an official website. It's only fitting that he should. After all, isn't a computer just one more Rube Goldberg device?

The Reuben Award, the highest award given to a cartoonist by the National Cartoonists Society (NCS), designed by Rube Goldberg and sculpted by Bill Crawford of Hammond, Indiana.

In the News-Joel Bustamante

Wabash College Student Wins Editorial Award

The Indiana Collegiate Press Association awarded Wabash College student Joel Bustamante first place for an editorial cartoon in a small college newspaper at its annual convention, held April 1-2, 2011, in Bloomington, Indiana. The award was for a cartoon depicting President Barack Obama and an injured elephant representing the GOP. "A classic cartoon treatment of a national topic," judges wrote. "Clear caricatures and few words make this the most powerful of the bunch." Mr. Bustamante's award was one of twenty-two awards, including ten first place awards, picked up by The Bachelor, the Wabash College weekly newspaper. Wabash College, located in Crawfordsville, Indiana, is the alma mater of several other Hoosier cartoonists, including Allen Saunders (Mary Worth), Dave Gerard (Citizen Smith), Frank Beaven, Bandel Linn, Tom Henderson, and Don Cole.

In the News-Ben Hatke

Ben Hatke's Zita the Spacegirl in Print

First Second Books recently released Zita the Spacegirl, the first graphic novel by Indiana cartoonist Ben Hatke. Hatke's Zita is a young adventurer in outer space. In addition to appearing in print, Zita can also be found online, on her own website, Zita the Spacegirl, and on her creator's blog, Art and Adventure. Finally, Mr. Hatke has a website for his fine art and illustration, here.

Although native to Indiana, Ben Hatke lives in Front Royal, Virginia, with his family. He attended Christendom College and spent two years studying art in Florence, Italy. He was recently the subject of an article (Feb. 26, 2011) on the website of the Northern Virginia Daily. His websites and blog are well worth a look.

In the News-Dele Jegede

Nigerian-American Dele Jegede's Art on Display

Artist and cartoonist Dele Jegede is holding an art exhibit, called "Peregrinations," in his home country of Nigeria, beginning yesterday, April 30, 2011, and on display until May 12 at the Nike Gallery in Lagos. Born in Ikere-Ekiti, Nigeria, in 1945, Mr. Jegede graduated from the university in 1973 and worked as art editor for the Daily Times in Nigeria. In 1979, he migrated to Bloomington, Indiana, to study art at Indiana University. Since graduating with a doctorate in 1983, he has been back and forth between Nigeria and the United States, working in journalism, art, and academia, including a stint at Indiana State University from 2002 to 2005. Mr. Jegede is a pioneering cartoonist in Nigeria. He started drawing a daily comic strip, Kole the Menace, in 1976. In the early 1990s, he assembled a team of cartoonists who put together the first color Sunday comics section, called Funny Cords, in a Nigerian newspaper. You can read more about him with a simple Google search and by looking at his website, here.

Dele Jegede's Kole the Menace, reprinted from Glendora Review: African Quarterly on the Arts, 1997 (Vol. 2, No. 2).

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