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!

Cartoon Puzzles

What’s nice about cartoonbooks collecting is that , over time, you have a very diverse collection. Many different styles, different book sizes, different countries, different artists…
This year, at “Boekenfestijn” in Kortrijk I discovered a cartoon puzzle book: “The New Yorker book of Cartoon Puzzles and Games”. The least I can say about the book is that it’s inventive and original!“It’s a puzzle book until you solve the puzzles – then it’s a book of New Yorker cartoons with pencil marks all over it.”
Some puzzles are quite difficult to solve, especially when you’re not a native English speaker. A few examples of my favourite games and puzzles in the book. (the puzzles that most people can solve with a little understanding of English).
“Once removed” – In some captionless cartoons some details have been removed and placed in a box. The game is to match each cartoon with the missing item in the box. Fun!
“Well-ordered” – put drawings from a multipanel cartoon in the prober order
“caption matching” – match a series of cartoons with its caption…

Afterwards I regretted not buying 2 copies of the book, the price was only 3,95 euro. One specimen to keep clean, and one to fill in the answers to the puzzles and games…

Read more:
Cartoonbank
The New Yorker Bookshop
Extended book review by forewordmagazine
[Cartoon Puzzles Cartoonbook File]

Online cartoonbook experience

I frequently buy (second hand) cartoonbooks on the internet . Veerle Nauts (Belgium) owns a small online bookshop. I bought several cartoonbooks from her and I am very satified of her service and products. I interviewed her for our blog. If you know some nice online cartoonbook addresses, please let us know!

Veerle, you are selling second hand books online, why do you sell cartoonbooks too?
“I am offering a variety of second hand books. So it is logical that among the other books, there are some cartoonbooks.”

Where do you find those older American cartoonbooks for your shop? I am thinking for example of booklets of Playboy, Chas Adams, Steinberg. Is this a well-kept secret, or can you reveil something to us?
“In fact, the truth is very simple. I buy books in bulk and sometimes there are cartoonbooks in between."

Is there much demand for such books?
“Not so very much. Popular are the books of the cartoon festivals (including Knokke-Heist). The interest is also dependent on the actual familiarity or popularity. Cartoons that appear nowadays in newspapers or magazines, reach a wider audience. Older cartoons be searched only by real lovers.”

What kind of people buy your cartoonbooks?
“People with humor .
It are always very pleasant contacts, either personally or through email.”

What tips can you give our readers still in their quest for cartoonbooks?
“Always make an effort to get the state of the book before you decide to buy. There are many charlatans among sellers who ask a lot of money for books in poor condition .Word of mouth advertising is still the best.
Take your time to make a tour on the net. You'll be amazed at the different prices for the same book.
If you can, go and get the book personally, instead of sending it. So you can see immediately what you buy."

What can cartoonbooks collectors still expect from you ?
"Humor and cartoons remain a part of my assortment. My condition is that the books I sell are quality (used) books in excellent condition."

Learn more:
levigon online bookshop
levigon offers books on yezzz
also on kapaza

Some books I bought from Levigon (click to see cartoonbook file):

Chas Addams
Frivolités
Steinberg

Joyeux Noël / Bonne Année

Even if this cartoon book is out of print, it should be - for obvious reasons - the right moment to mention it. This hardcover anthology was published in France by "editions Vents d'Ouest" in 1987 and, who knows, possibly available - as a second-hand book - on some websites like eBay. It's a kind of “two books in one”, as it is reversible: one can read the Christmas part, then one turns over the book and reads the New Year part. Most of these coloured cartoons have a (French) caption. They are drawn by 25 cartoonists. Among them are: Solé (both covers), Bélom, Dany, Pichon, Lerouge, Thomas, Hugot.
Well, it’s my way to wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to every reader of the ECC Cartoon Books Club.
Jean-Marie Bertin.

[Joyeux Noël / Bonne Année cartoonbook file ]

New books December 2007

When there are new cartoon books to be published let me know. I'll put a link to your site. Of course when you send us a copy of your new book we will publish a review on the blog and make a cartoonbook file for our gallerie.

This month, we got a mail from Pierre Balouhey (France) for his new book:
"2007, Chaussettes"
- 46 drawings that appeared in Le Mémorial de l'Isère, The Guardian and Métro.