Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists

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Series
  
Attitude

Genre
  
anthology

Media type
  
paperback

Author
  
Ted Rall

Subject
  
Political Cartoons

Publication date
  
June 2002

Originally published
  
June 2002

Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenthumb3

Publisher
  
Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing

The Attitude series of books is a series of anthologies of alternative comics, photos and artists' interviews edited by Universal Press Syndicate editorial cartoonist Ted Rall. The books were designed by J. P. Trostle, news editor of EditorialCartoonists.com. Two sequels and three spin-off titles have been published to date. A group of cartoonists featured in the Attitude series formed the organization Cartoonists With Attitude in June 2006; the group hosts slideshow and panel events around the country to promote the series and alternative political cartooning. Ted Rall created the compilation with the intention of publishing artists who were hard-up for work or otherwise had difficulties relating to the public.

Contents

Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists

Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists focuses on cartoonists whose work appears in alternative weekly newspapers with a view toward defining a new genre of political comics that, in Rall's words, are "too alternative for the mainstream and too mainstream for the underground."

The Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote: "Some of the cartoons are type-dominated (Don Asmussen's); many are not artistically pleasing; several would not pass the standards for a family newspaper." "There is moral rage, drama and righteousness that are both breezy and mortally serious," wrote The Baltimore Sun. "This is provocative, if often still rough and immature, stuff. And if history is still a guide, many of these artists will emerge as the best of the next generation of mainstream newspaper cartoonists." The American Library Association's Booklist wrote that "Whereas old-school editorial cartoonists rely on timeworn traditions, topics, and techniques, the new breed tackles contemporary concerns, such as commercialism and environmentalism ... Their drawings are usually subservient to their scripts, and both take a back seat to their attitude ... The best of them possess so much lacerating wit and unswerving commitment that they fairly shame their hidebound mainstream counterparts into retirement."

Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists made The Progressive's list of "Favorite books of 2002."

The artists included and their comics are:

  1. Lloyd Dangle: Troubletown
  2. Andy Singer: No Exit
  3. Don Asmussen: The San Francisco Comic Strip
  4. Tom Tomorrow: This Modern World
  5. Clay Butler: Sidewalk Bubblegum
  6. Peter Kuper: Eye of the Beholder
  7. Jen Sorensen: Slowpoke
  8. Scott Bateman
  9. Tim Eagan: Deep Cover, Subconscious Comics
  10. Derf: The City
  11. Lalo Alcaraz: La Cucaracha
  12. Joe Sharpnack
  13. Eric Bezdek: Corn Valley
  14. Ruben Bolling: Tom the Dancing Bug
  15. William L. Brown: Citizen Bill
  16. Ward Sutton: Schlock 'n' Roll
  17. Stephanie McMillan: Minimum Security
  18. Mickey Siporin: America Outta Line
  19. Jim Siergey: Cultural Jet Lag
  20. Ted Rall: Search and Destroy
  21. Matt Wuerker: Lint Trap

Attitude 2: The New Subversive Alternative Cartoonists

Attitude 2: The New Subversive Alternative Cartoonists followed Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists' by two years. For the second book in the series, Rall turned to alternative weekly-oriented cartoonists whose work leaned more toward general humor than the original volume. It also includes several political cartoonists.

The San Diego Union-Tribune described Attitude 2 as "the ribald, self-righteous comix in the best alternative weeklies ... 'Question Authority' is their collective motto, and as long as they're making people mad as hell, they must be doing something right." The United Kingdom's The Observer wrote that "This is satire in an angry-youth-with-piercings mode. The spiritual forebears are the cartoonists of the 1960s-70s underground (Robert Crumb et al.) but the use of clip art and scratchy line techniques mark this out as a very contemporary collection, and happily the humour is of high quality." Publishers Weekly wrote that "These cartoonists are, generally, writers who use the medium to get across verbal puns or simple, angry screeds, regardless of visual style or any other comics-based concerns. ... This worthy compilation of cartoonists who otherwise wouldn't be seen outside of their local weeklies showcases the continuing vitality of comics as social criticism."

The artists included and their comics are:

  1. Keith Knight: The K Chronicles
  2. Neil Swaab: Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles
  3. Emily S. Flake: Lulu Eightball
  4. Tak Toyoshima: Secret Asian Man
  5. Brian Sendelbach: Smell of Steve, Inc.
  6. Jennifer Berman: Berman
  7. Alison Bechdel: Dykes to Watch Out For
  8. Shannon Wheeler: Too Much Coffee Man
  9. Mikhaela B. Reid: The Boiling Point
  10. Aaron McGruder: The Boondocks
  11. Tim Kreider: The Pain – When Will It End?
  12. Barry Deutsch: Ampersand
  13. David Rees: Get Your War On
  14. Max Cannon: Red Meat
  15. Eric Orner: The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green
  16. Greg Peters: Suspect Device
  17. Jason Youngbluth: Deep Fried
  18. Steven Notley: Bob the Angry Flower
  19. Justin Jones: Soda-Pong
  20. Kevin Moore: In Contempt Comics
  21. Marian Henley: Maxine!

Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists

Attitude 3: The New Subversive Online Cartoonists is the third volume in the Attitude series. Whereas volumes one and two of the series concentrated on print cartoonists with an alternative bent, Attitude 3 focuses exclusively upon webcomics.

The artists included and their comics are:

  1. Rob Balder: PartiallyClips
  2. Dale Beran and David Hellman: A Lesson Is Learned But The Damage Is Irreversible
  3. Matt Bors: Idiot Box
  4. Steven L. Cloud: Boy on a Stick and Slither
  5. M.e. Cohen: HumorInk
  6. Chris Dlugosz: Pixel
  7. Thomas K. Dye: Newshounds
  8. Mark Fiore: Fiore Animated Cartoons
  9. Dorothy Gambrell: Cat and Girl
  10. Nicholas Gurewitch: The Perry Bible Fellowship
  11. Brian McFadden: Big Fat Whale
  12. Eric Millikin: Fetus-X
  13. Ryan North: Dinosaur Comics
  14. August J. Pollak: XQUZYPHYR & Overboard
  15. Mark Poutenis: Thinking Ape Blues
  16. Jason Pultz: Comic Strip
  17. Adam Rust: Adam's Rust
  18. D. C. Simpson: I Drew This & Ozy and Millie
  19. Ben Smith: Fighting Words
  20. Richard Stevens: Diesel Sweeties
  21. Michael Zole: Death to the Extremist

References

Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists Wikipedia