News from the (not so) Funny Pages
by David Gutherz · 07/15/10
It has been a roller-coaster week in the cartoon world. First, the anti-Lebron comic-sans catastrophe, then the tragic loss of Harvey Pekar, whose groundbreaking autobiographical series American Splendor and The Quitter beautifully captured the experiences of so many second-generation immigrants and totally redefined the graphic-novel medium. In New York, however, there is a glimmer of hope emanating from the Joyce Theater, which has just unveiled a stunning collaboration between Pilobolus–one of the most innovative, athletic, and divisive contemporary dance troupes–and Art Spiegelman. In this piece, Spiegelman–whose epic Maus obliterated popular conceptions of what cartoonists should or could do–offers a stunning demonstration that cartooning still has a bright and exciting future as an art form. The piece, entitled Hapless Hooligan in “Still Moving,” will be at the Joyce through August 5.
