Photocartoon -the great René Maltête

Are photocartoons cartoons? For me they are. In my collection I have some photocartoonbooks. This kind of books are rare. You don’t find them very easy. In “Le Furet du Nord”, one of the biggest bookshops in Europe, (Place Général De Gaulle, Lille, France) I discovered a delightful specimen: “Des yeux plein les poches” by René Maltête (1930-2000,France).

You can see most of the pictures in the book here.

And? Convinced?

Vagabond photographer, poet, humorist, environmentalist before that time, René Maltête had the talent to grab with his lens unusual situations of our daily lives. Funny, poetic, tender, the photos of René Maltête were published in the world press: Stern, Life, Epoca, Camera, Punch, and many exhibits and postcards helped popularize his work.
His photo-gags are for the first time braught together in this album which pays tribute to the work of this great master of photographic humor. He died Nov. 28, 2000.
So what's your opinion on the photo-gags?

Read more (you can use Google Translate):
Maltete on Glénatbd
Book review
Comments on some photo-gags of Maltete
[Des Yeux plein les Poches - Cartoonbook File]

Ha! LE SKI

It's quarter a century old (1982) but these cartoons are excellent, and as it is the theme of the season, it's time to talk about it.

This is the second thematic anthology published by the “Humorists Associated” -"Humoristes Associés", a group of self-managed cartoonists who published by themselves 8 collective cartoon books. Every cartoon has no caption and they all are high quality level. For this book, Mordillo joined in the group of the best French cartoonists, it is to say!

Read more:
Google search for "Humoristes associés"
[Le Ski - cartoonbooks file]

The Guillermo Mordillo Books - part 1

I am a fan of Guillermo Mordillo and I know many of our readers are Mordillo fans too. There are Mordillo books published in many countries: from Germany and France to Iran, China etc.
But how do all those funny books look like? What was the first real Mordillo book ever published? Where to find Mordillo books? In a series of articles to come, I hope, with your help, to make a list of all the Mordillo cartoonbooks ever published. I'll put a picture of the books online and make cartoonbook files of them if I have the information I need.

How to help? Mail a cover picture of your Mordillo book(s) to ecc.cartoonbooks@gmail.com if the book isn't mentioned in our Mordillo Book List

Click to see a list of all Mordillo book pictures we have for the moment. Later on I'll sort the book pictures by publication date.

See Mordillo Cartoonbook files for detailed information about the Mordillo books.

Learn more:
the Guillermo Mordillo Books Part 2Other cartoon books you should know

Alessandro Gatto

From Jan 6 untill March 18,2008 you can visit the Alessandro Gatto exhibition in the ECC. Don't forget the catalogue.

"Thousands of works arrive at the Satyrikon competition and those of Alessandro are always a surprise, I recognise his style immediately, magnificent ideas, transmitted with an excellent technique. Alessandro has preserved the soul an sensibility of a child. He is my "Italian" magician."
(Elzbieta Pietraszko, organiser Satyrikon Cartoon Festival Poland, on p.32)


Read more:
Alessandro Gatto website
The exhibition at the ECC
Some pictures of Alessandro
[Alessandro Gatto Cartoonbook File]

The Ten "New" Europeans

From october 7th till december 30th 2007 in the ECC Kruishoutem, there was the exhibition "10+2 New Europeans".
A fine exhibition deserves a fine catalogue. The Ten "New" Europeans - Zehn "Neue" für Europa wants to arouse interest and make "readers" or "visitors" enjoy new aspects and thus make sure that a bridging of East and West (Europe) will succeed.



Read more
10+2 New Europeans
[The Ten "New" Europeans - cartoonbook file]

21.780 cartoonbooks and a Happy New Year

One month after the start of the ECC Cartoonbooks Club, I am happy to tell that our first members have, all together, at least a collection of 18.780 cartoonbooks. When I consider the collection of the ECC, another 3.000 books, I come to a number of 21.780 cartoonbooks: 2 1 7 8 0 ! To be honest, I must admit that amongst our members there are some "big" and "very very big" collectors. If you only have a relative "small" collection or if you just started collecting: don't be overwhelmed by all these numbers.
It just tells us that, and that's the point, you can reckon on the expertise and help of our members and relations when you want to know anything about cartoonbooks. Just ask us any question about cartoonbooks or blog article, and we'll search for you the answer.

Above all I want to thank all the people I corresponded with the last months: collectors, especially JM Bertin, cartoonists, people of the ECC in Kruishoutem. Their friendship was and is is a genuine stimulus.

I hope that in 2008 more cartoonbook lovers will join our Club. Cartoonbooks collecting brings together people from many countries. We already have members in Cuba, Thailand, Turkey, France, Germany, Holland, Luxemburg, Belgium... and people from about 30 countries visited our blog.

So if you are a cartoon lover too, let us know and join the Club now!

Happy and Funny 2008!