Arf

    (Fantagraphics, 2005)
™ and © 2005 Gussoni-Yoe

Delightfully subversive, Modern Arf draws readers in with what they know—Mad’s Alfred E. Neuman and Jack Kirby—and then exposes those readers to visual comics delights they’ve never seen: the beautiful graphics of Italian artist Antonio Rubino, the 1906 worm’s eye cartoons of Hy Mayer, the literally Hellish Sunday pages of Jimmy Hatlo’s Inferno, and many more.

Arf is a mix of articles, reprinted stories, and single cartoons as well as new and unpublished art—all on the theme of comics as art and the creative process. These range from a group of cartoons on creating art by everyone from the Captain & The Kids’ Rudolf Dirks to Robert Crumb; to surrealistic mainstream comics by Jack Kirby and Klaus Nordling’s Lady Luck; to articles by Milt Gross and a collection of early pre-Mad appearances of Alfred E. Neuman on postcards and ads.

In an industry often divided by genres and periods, it is wonderful to see a book that celebrates all of comics’ quirky genius. The integrating force behind the book and its beautiful design is the talented Craig Yoe. In 50 years of reading comics, I rarely see anything new and exciting. Modern Arf introduced me to three wonderful artists or series that I had never seen. This is one book that I hope will become a series.

— George Hagenauer
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Cover Price: $19.95
1 copy available for $16.00 		Craig YoeChris “Coop” Cooper, Colleen Coover, Dan DeCarlo Sr., Jack Kirby, Patrick McDonnell, Salvador Dali, Jimmy Hatlo, Hy Mayer, Milt Gross, Antonio Rubino