Overview
Acclaimed cartoonist Mark Newgarden debuted in the first issue of RAW magazine in 1980 and his work subsequently found its way into a variety of high and low profile media. He co-created the '80s pop culture fad "Garbage Pail Kids," wrote, drew, and syndicated a weekly humor feature in the '90s, and created a "Web Premiere Toon" for The Cartoon Network called "B. Happy." Newgarden is currently developing an unconventional Christmas special for The Cartoon Network.Newgarden's comics are hilarious, alarming, and masterful uses of the medium, alternating between old-time gags and avant-garde storytelling, often on the same page without missing a comedic beat. His syndicated strip in such publications as L.A. Weekly and The New York Press encouraged a fervent following and exerted a fresh influence on the medium. Today they remain as vital and entertaining as when they first appeared. Those syndicated comics will make up the bulk of this book, the balance drawing on Newgarden's long form stories from various anthologies, including the much-lauded "Love's Savage Fury."
In addition to compiling his comics, this book will be a full picture of the artist, his influences, and his many other careers. An avid collector and historian of 20th century ephemera, Newgarden has achieved the rare distinction of both contributing to and furthering the mediums he collects: novelties, comics, and cartoons. Newgarden remains a great link to the past while moving ever further into the future.
We All Die Alone is edited by Dan Nadel, founder and editor of The Ganzfeld, and a regular contributor to The New York Times, Print, Metropolis, and more. It isdesigned by Helene Silverman, who has designed books for Abrams, Random House, Penguin, Chronicle and many other publishing companies. She has been the Design Director for the Red Hot Organization since 1990 and is a former Design Director of Metropolis.
We All Die Alone will be an uproariously funny and fascinating book that will appeal to comics readers, pop culture buffs, and any appreciator of the graphic arts.
Author Biography: Mark Newgarden has long brought his uniquely warped vision to a wide variety of media, most notably creating the non-PC icon the Garbage Pail Kids for the Topps Bubblegum Co. He lives with his wife in an ex-funeral parlor in Brooklyn, NY.
Synopsis
Acclaimed cartoonist Mark Newgarden debuted in the first issue of RAW magazine in 1980 and his work subsequently found its way into a variety of high and low profile media. He co-created the '80s pop culture fad "Garbage Pail Kids," wrote, drew, and syndicated a weekly humor feature in the '90s, and created a "Web Premiere Toon" for The Cartoon Network called "B. Happy." Newgarden is currently developing an unconventional Christmas special for The Cartoon Network.
Newgarden's comics are hilarious, alarming, and masterful uses of the medium, alternating between old-time gags and avant-garde storytelling, often on the same page without missing a comedic beat. His syndicated strip in such publications as L.A. Weekly and The New York Press encouraged a fervent following and exerted a fresh influence on the medium. Today they remain as vital and entertaining as when they first appeared. Those syndicated comics will make up the bulk of this book, the balance drawing on Newgarden's long form stories from various anthologies, including the much-lauded "Love's Savage Fury."
In addition to compiling his comics, this book will be a full picture of the artist, his influences, and his many other careers. An avid collector and historian of 20th century ephemera, Newgarden has achieved the rare distinction of both contributing to and furthering the mediums he collects: novelties, comics, and cartoons. Newgarden remains a great link to the past while moving ever further into the future.
We All Die Alone is edited by Dan Nadel, founder and editor of The Ganzfeld, and a regular contributor to The New York Times, Print, Metropolis, and more. It isdesigned by Helene Silverman, who has designed books for Abrams, Random House, Penguin, Chronicle and many other publishing companies. She has been the Design Director for the Red Hot Organization since 1990 and is a former Design Director of Metropolis.
We All Die Alone will be an uproariously funny and fascinating book that will appeal to comics readers, pop culture buffs, and any appreciator of the graphic arts.
Author Biography: Mark Newgarden has long brought his uniquely warped vision to a wide variety of media, most notably creating the non-PC icon the Garbage Pail Kids for the Topps Bubblegum Co. He lives with his wife in an ex-funeral parlor in Brooklyn, NY.
Publishers Weekly
Exploring the detritus of our consumer culture, Newgarden reworks comics cliches to show the lighter side of despair. Back in the '80s, he created the Garbage Pail Kids, satirizing the lovable cuteness of products manufactured for children. Since then, in a variety of underground publications, he has subverted everyday icons and parodied traditional "joke" merchandise. Most people would merely glance at a trite cartoon showing two big-nosed guys in a bar, a man on a desert island, a clown with a psychiatrist, etc.; Newgarden is fascinated by why those images became the stock in trade for cheap, disposable humor productions. He wonders if laughing at a stupid hillbilly, an alienated drunk or a prisoner on death row lets us repress the pain of our own frustrations. The drawings here work perfectly as quickie cartoons, but they also extend themselves, turning into desperate, hysterical rants.. From an ad for the Little Nun's stigmata gloves and edible rosary to an exhibition of real toilet paper wrappers, Newgarden treats nothing as sacred. In fact, he suspects that we cherish whatever distracts us from our problems. Beautifully produced-the covers are black velvet-this book shows the results of his study aren't exactly comforting, but they are fascinating and funny as hell. (Jan.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.