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ik i mostly carry a spumco rep in terms of my influences but truthfully one of my earliest inspirations as a child- even b4 i started drawing- was the work of Hank Ketcham. i thought id share some of his artwork with you all since i find his art to be rlly great.
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when i was a kid my great grandfather used to go to auctions a lot and buy a bunch of useless crap that he didnt need but liked anyway. a lot the stuff he ended up just giving to us great grandkids, which- coincidentally- a bunch of em being old comic books.
i didnt really read most of them but one of them that i really liked and still have kept to this day was a misc collection of Dennis the Menace comics by Hank Ketcham.
i dont know why, but i really liked looking at the nicely illustrated pictures and the overall 1950’s aesthetics of it as a little kid. also unsurprisingly, i really liked the pretty girls he used to illustrate in particular.
something about the simplicity of the black and white one-panel comics really appealed to me, and truth be told i think was what really pushed me to want to draw cartoons now.
(that, and also the illustrations of stephen gammell- but that’s a whole thread in itself for another day)
i should also add that something else i thought was really interesting abt these comics was how each one actually went in chronological order- as in they went from month to month with the year progressing as the book went on despite being individual comics.
additionally- it should be mentioned that these comics are also really great in particular bcos they’re a good lesson in one-panel punchlines; not every comic needs an overarching story with deep characters or even detailed drawings, simplicity can work wonders if u do it right.
then again it really depends what kind of comic ur going for- but even in ”detailed” or “deep” comics simplicity can b helpful (remember that simplicity creates subtly folks!!!!)
being “dennis the menace” u would think the punchline would always just b the typical “uh oh he’s such a bad kid!” but its actually pretty varied (and still funny) each time w/o straying from the main joke.
yes- a lot of times the punchline is rooted in “uh oh he’s such a menace!”- but when it does it never says or plays it outright. it works good in different situations, with sometimes the punchline not being directed @ dennis or my fav, “wow these adults sure are horny” (lul)
speaking on the contrary, the humor is pretty dated (not in the “woke” “offensive” sense btw) and yes it is a typical boomer comic you’d prolly find in the newspaper but the illustrations really make it stick out imo. they just look so candid and nice, yet are well drawn.
i like spumco n all but i enjoy doing threads like these bcos not only do i get to talk more about my own influences, but it also just reminds me that its ok to look in different places for inspiration. inspiration diversity is actually really good and can help u grow an artist.
dont worry if u dont practice what i preach nor want to take my silly advice, im completely hypocritical in saying all of this btw
