Perpetuum mobile by Vladimir Rencin

Nice to have friends abroad. A collegue (expat) who knows I collect cartoonbooks, sent me from the Czech Rupublic “perpetuum mobile” (2000) by Vladimir Rencin.
The textless black and white cartoons in this enjoyable book all concern science and the relation between mankind and technology. Even God sometimes appears.
Vladimir Rencin (°1941) completed his studies in economics and became a professional artist in 1965. Vladimir became famous drawing for ‘Mlady svet magazine’ and ‘Lidové noviny’.
He published numerous books and callendars and organized more than 100 independent exhibitions. Abroad he helped illustrate Die Zeit, bild der Wissenschaft and GEO (Germany), New Scientist (UK), Time and Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist (USA). Unfortunately there is not so much to find about the artist on the web. His own site is not available in English (what a pitty!).

You can notice some cartoons out of the book on www.rencin.cz

Read more:
Vladimir Rencin's site
You can find the book here
[Perpetuum mobile cartoonbook file]

Ronaldo Cunha Dias - Sorria… Voce Esta em Extincao

Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of Ronaldo. However, many of the cartoons in this book seemed familiar to me. Many of it were published in the catalogues of the Knokke-Heist Festival. Because they were so good, I could still remember them. I was pleased Jean-Marie introduced this book to me.

"Ronaldo Cunha Dias (Brasil), the surgeon, and Ronaldo, the cartoonist, are the same person. He ‘s born in Vacaria (Brasil) where he is practicing as a doctor for over twenty years. He likes to draw since his childhood; this liking became a permanent passion till today. Usually, one says: cartooning is just a pastime, this hobby which gives him a huge pleasure and its all started in 1985 when he won the first prize “Playboy Magazine Finds New Humorists”. As a result: he regularly publishes his cartoons in this magazine.
From then, he was granted more and more awards, in Brazil and abroad, up to the point of being considered as one of the most awarded Brazilian cartoonist in national and international humor festivals.
Since 1995, he is in charge of Pioneiro, a newspaper in Caxias do Sud, and is a collaborator of Zero Hora, in Porto Alegre. He also publishes in the USA, through the Cartoonist & Writers Syndicate, and in Europe, by Joker Feature Service. He published two other books (0 Homem que Ri and Posso Rir Agora, Doutor), in addition to various participations in collective books."

The Doctor and the "Monster" (translated introductory text)

"No, nothing to do with Dr. Henry Jeckill. I refer to Dr. Ronaldo Cunha Dias, well known, devoted and dear doctor of Vacaria where he lives. His activity as one of the important leaders of the community not to preclude his practice of another activity, with the same dedication, being a cartoonist.
Nor I remember Mr. Edward Hyde (may Robert Louis Stevenson forgive me), because the monster I mention is the one rated in Aurelião as "exceptional artist of great talent ... Person of reputation and prestige that by being praised to the extreme, became not open to criticism, myth, untouchable". And here, yes, everything matches, because this applies to Ronaldo, who, as a cartoonist, is a real "sacred monster" (colossus). And one of the most talented artists of our time. His work has been recognized worldwide for creativity, notable quality of humor and for his special skill as designer, which characterized his work as unusual for its personal expression. -
Ronaldo has received the highest prizes, both national and international. I'll say another time, in another place, a summary of his career's awards: it is a catalog of all the cartoon festivals in the world. His work has appeared in the most famous international publications. His cartoons are regularly published by the Brazilian press, and he is considered as one of the most important national cartoonist.
The Ronaldo Cunha Dias interest in every cartoon matter, is notable. He is always ready to exchange opinion and experience with his colleagues. This is the reason why he has been so frequently asked to represent the Brazilian cartoon in famous international events."

Special thanks to Ronaldo and JM Bertin. Texts translated from Portuguese into English with a little help from Google Translate.

Ronaldo has published 4 books. "Cartunismo Médico" is his most recent book:

Learn more:
Ronaldocartoons.com.br
[Sorria... Voce Esta em Extincao - cartoonbook file]

Congratulations Pol Leurs!

Pol Leurs (Luxemburg) won the third prize "Bronze Hat" at the famous International Cartoon Festival Knokke-Heist 2008. Pol has also a cartoonbook collection and already joined our ECC Cartoonbooks club.
Please visit his brand new website Poleurscartoons and enjoy his cartoons.
Click to see award winning cartoon.

Valentine's Day: Say it with a cartoon(book)

I wish everybody a nice Valentine's Day. Here are two suggestions for those who want to "say it" with a cartoon (book).
Try "Love is ... " by Kim Grove
or, for those who like it more naughty "Paartijd" - "Saison des amours" by the French cartoonist Michel Bridenne.

Learn more:
Love is... official website
[Liefde is... cartoonbooksfile]
[Paartijd cartoonbooksfile]

In memoriam Testu Roger "Tetsu" (1913-2008)

Jean-Marie sent me a mail with the message the famous French cartoonist Tetsu died last week-end. He included 2 pictures of drawings out of his private collection. Tetsu was 94.
Tetsu (who was also a painter, illustrator and novelliste) started drawing in the French press in 1951 (in a total of sixty papers and magazines). He has also drawn in the foreign press: Le Soir (Belgium); Lui, Pardon (Germany); Il travaso (Italy).
In France, he has published 12 cartoon books. The last, in 2004, was entitled "Mauvais Desseins."

In Who's Who in Satire and Humour Band1, I found this information about Tetsu:
Testu's father was a railway inspector who had actually intended his son to become a professor. the son who, for his part, intended to become an artist, pursued both courses, graduating from the Lycee Condorcet and the Faculté des Lettres in Paris, whilst simultaneously studying painting from 1931-1933. The pre-war years were not very successful ones for Testu the artist and, after serving during the war and the period of occupation, he worked as a soap-boiler; becoming the first director of a soap factory, then a dealer in paintings with his own gallery and, finally, commercial director of a company supplying kitchen equipment. In 1953 he gave up his previous activities and began quite out of the blue to draw cartoons which were successful from the very outset. They first appeared in "Noir et Blanc" and soon afterwards also in "Le Figaro Magazine", "France-Dimanche", "Paris Match"... as well as in German and Suiss publications. Apart form his work as an artist and illustrator, he draws advertisements for some big companies. The artist belongs to the so-called Paris School which also includes illustrators as Chaval, Bosc, Trez and Mose. His popularity is founded on the fact that he never draws sex bombs and supermen, but rather Mr. an Mrs. Average types with whom we are all fimiliar.


Read more:
Tetsu article on the blog of cartoonist Mike Lynch
More "Tetsu" cartoons on the Mike Lynch blog
[Who's Who in Satire and Humour Band1 cartoonbook file]

Cartoonbooks in local public libraries 1

Once a month, at least, I visit our public library. It’s always a pleasant experience nosing around discovering new and old books.
It was in the library that I discovered, many years ago, that there existed other cartoonbooks than the Knokke-Heist catalogues, the single cartoonbooks I knew at that moment.
I can state that our library (Wevelgem and Moorsele,Belgium) has a fine book collection. They even have a modest cartoonbook collection. You find them under the categorization code (SISO) 738.8 . Recently a new categorization code is introduced. Now the category is named “About (comic) Strips and Cartoons”.
For the most part the cartoon books are Belgian and they are high-quality. (Knokke-Heist catalogue, Karl Meersman, Pil, O-Sekour, …).
Some foreign books and catalogues would certainly be a valuable extension for the current collection. I am thinking of books of Quino, Mordillo, Serre etc. Perhaps there is a role for us collectors.
Maybe we can deliver valuable suggestions for the development of the public library cartoonbook collections in our town.

What ‘s your opinion?
What cartoonbooks do you find in local public libraries in your country?

Learn more:
Seeking cartoonbooks in the public library of Wevelgem, Belgium (online)

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]