HA HA HAPPY HUNDRETH!

(Above image: Oscar Brown, Jr. portrait by BRUNI Sablan)

This week I continue on my pace of submitting 2-per-week poetry-themed comics to Poetry magazine, working my way towards submitting 100 total, the 100th submitted the week Poetry’s 100th year of publication ends.

My twe comics this week include a gag panel featuring Sylvia Plath and her father Otto Plath. Though Mr. Plath was a published entomologist, I do not believe he wrote poetry, so I am not counting him towards my total of poets depicted in this series of cartoons. My second comic is about LPs recorded by poets, and features Dylan Thomas, Oscar Brown, Jr., Leonard Cohen and John Hollander. It’s kind of funny.

My tally so far:

Comics: 64/100 (I will ultimately submit 100 comics)

Puns: 24/49 (the maximum number of overt pun punchlines is 49)

Poets: 45/50 (the comics will feature visual representations of at least 50 real or well-known fictional poets)

Poetry Poems: 14/15 (at least 15 comics will reference a work of poetry originally published in Poetry)

Poverty Jokes: 4/20 (a maximum of 20 comics can have a punchline about poets struggling financially)

Maxed Out or Near-Maxed Out Poets: Langston Hughes [3/3], Sylvia Plath [3/3], Edgar Allan Poe [3/3], Ezra Pound [3/3], William Carlos Williams [3/3], T.S Elliot [2/3], Robert Frost [2/3], Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [2/3], Arthur Rimbaud [2/3], William Shakespeare [2/3], Poet Smurf [2/3],Dylan Thomas [2/3] (I will base a gag upon/prominently feature a specific poet in a maximum of 3 comics)

(Above image: Dylan Thomas by Alfred Janes, 1934)

This week, on the last day of the week, I finished my two weekly comics to send to Poetry magazine. I am on a quest to create and submit 100 poetry-themed gag panels to submit to Poetry in honor of their centennial (despite the publication not having a history of printing comics). This is a landmark week, of sorts, as the Poetry submissions acceptor program online has reopened, indicating that a new era with  a new editor is underway. My first fifty or so comics were outright rejected by the old editor, but I’m vaguely confident that I have a chance over the next 16 weeks if I bring my A-game.

Which I’m not sure I did this week, to be honest. I think I submitted some funny comics, but I decided (in part because my inkwell ran dry, literally) to experiment with just using a black gel pen, filling in all the dark areas with scratchy scratchings, which actually looks pretty cool, but may not go over well as a first impression. 

But the gags are decent. My first comic, actually not a gag panel proper because it has four panels (I was inspired by the multi-panel list-based gags in Scott Hilburn’s newspaper gag panel comic The Argyle Sweater) features failed first drafts of iconic poems being written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Langston Hughes, Sylvia Plath, and Dylan Thomas. There is some mild punnery. The second comic champions Haki Madhubuti, and references a funny rhyme of his name (but not a booty joke!).

My tally so far:

Comics: 62/100 (I will ultimately submit 100 comics)

Puns: 24/49 (the maximum number of overt pun punchlines is 49)

Poets: 42/50 (the comics will feature visual representations of at least 50 real or well-known fictional poets)

Poetry Poems: 14/15 (at least 15 comics will reference a work of poetry originally published in Poetry)

Poverty Jokes: 4/20 (a maximum of 20 comics can have a punchline about poets struggling financially)

Maxed Out or Near-Maxed Out Poets: Langston Hughes [3/3], Edgar Allan Poe [3/3], Ezra Pound [3/3], William Carlos Williams [3/3], T.S Elliot [2/3], Robert Frost [2/3], Henry Wadsworth Longfellow [2/3], Arthur Rimbaud [2/3], William Shakespeare [2/3], Poet Smurf [2/3], (I will base a gag upon/prominently feature a specific poet in a maximum of 3 comics)

(above image: Paul Laurence Dunbar by W.M. Farrow, 1935)

This week I have two fresh comics as my entries in my continuing project to submit two comics weekly to Poetry magazine, eventually submitting one hundred poetry-themed gag panels, one for each year of Poetry’s existence.

The first is about Denny’s trying to solve their 1990s race relation problems with public poetry sponsorships, and it not working out well. The second, an oddball one that almost qualifies as not a joke, imagines  Paul Laurence Dunbar crafting a children’s poem in dialect, and making an odd discovery. I realize these two comics bundled together may be more fitting for Black History Month than poetry Month, but months is months! I wanted to do a really striking portrait of Laurence for this but I think maybe I need some better drawing pens. Because a poor craftsman never blames his tools, right?

My tally so far:

Comics: 60/100 (I will ultimately submit 100 comics)

Puns: 24/49 (the maximum number of overt pun punchlines is 49)

Poets: 39/50 (the comics will feature visual representations of at least 50 real or well-known fictional poets)

Poetry Poems: 14/15 (at least 15 comics will reference a work of poetry originally published in Poetry)

Poverty Jokes: 4/20 (a maximum of 20 comics can have a punchline about poets struggling financially)

Maxed Out or Near-Maxed Out Poets: Edgar Allan Poe [3/3], Ezra Pound [3/3], William Carlos Williams [3/3], T.S Elliot [2/3], Robert Frost [2/3], Langston Hughes [2/3], Arthur Rimbaud [2/3], William Shakespeare [2/3], Poet Smurf [2/3], (I will base a gag upon/prominently feature a specific poet in a maximum of 3 comics)

(Above image: Elizabeth Barrett Browning portrait by Field Talfourd, 1859)

I continue my quest to create 100 poetry-themed comics in honor of Poetry magazine’s centennial. My ultimate goal is to be published in Poetry, but with rejections of past submissions pouring in this week, and the project well over half done, my optimism has dimmed a bit. That said, my comics this week are decent enough. Being that I’m in a kind of no man’s land where I’m submitting comics to a journal that is between editors I’m not even sure if the ones I’m currently turning in will even be seen by anyone in a position of authority, but hopefully they can at least give a chuckle or two to Poetry grunts. I also hope I’m honing my chops so that the final barrage of verse funnies that will hit when the new head honcho is firmly in his throne will be top notch.

No actual poets featured this week (the Browning portrait represents an artist riffed upon several weeks back). My first comic features two professors (at least one presumably a poetry prof)  reflecting upon the sad state of America’s mental health system, the questionable quality of today’s undergrads, and pee pee. The other spotlights (literally) an archetypical poet reciting a composition about painful self-awareness. Were this one to be published, btw, it would be particularly satisfying, as in addition to the usual concepts of the poetic nature of a well constructed joke and the visual poetry of gag comics when done well, this features a fragment of an actual original poem, albeit an absolutely awful one.

My tally so far:

Comics: 58/100 (I will ultimately submit 100 comics)

Puns: 22/49 (the maximum number of overt pun punchlines is 49)

Poets: 38/50 (the comics will feature visual representations of at least 50 real or well-known fictional poets)

Poetry Poems: 14/15 (at least 15 comics will reference a work of poetry originally published in Poetry)

Poverty Jokes: 4/20 (a maximum of 20 comics can have a punchline about poets struggling financially)

Maxed Out or Near-Maxed Out Poets: Edgar Allan Poe [3/3], Ezra Pound [3/3], William Carlos Williams [3/3], T.S Elliot [2/3], Robert Frost [2/3], Langston Hughes [2/3], Arthur Rimbaud [2/3], William Shakespeare [2/3], Poet Smurf [2/3], (I will base a gag upon/prominently feature a specific poet in a maximum of 3 comics)

(Image: Gertrude Stein by Pablo Picasso, 1906)

I just completed this week’s comics, another step in my quest to submit 100 comics about poetry to Poetry magazine in their 100th year. While I don’t know if either offering this week is strong enough to ward off rejections (which have been flooding in for recent submissions) I have for the second week in a row made specific reference to Poetry itself in the comics, so maybe they’ll dig that.

The comic in question depicts periodicals (covers and excerpts)  that are theoretical spinoffs from the century-old sentinel of poetic power. In it I include Rimbaud as a teen idol, an erotic letter seemingly written by William Carlos Williams after getting lucky with  a naughty cheerleader (kinda/sorta quoting “Queen-Anne’s Lace”), Ezra Pound shrugging off some of his less popular opinions, and an ironic (offensive?) reference to the 1973 feminist poetry landmark No More Masks (which positioned Gertrude Stein as a feminist icon, which is why I used her picture this week as the blog post header, as I’ve already used all the more prominently featured poets in prior posts). Verlaine, Bieber, the Timbertoes’ boychild, and Goofus all make cameos.

My second comic is about a grad student poet with high personal standards not living up to his spouse’s expectations.

Please note that no one entered the contest, so if anyone does, they will win, whenever they enter.

As far as my tallies, there is a pun as a minor side gag in the magazine comic, but I’ll count it (though if I was closer to my kill point I would let it slide). Also, I depict Pound and Rimbaud visually, thus eliminating Pound from future comics and making Rimbaud one appearance away from banishment. Though I reference Williams he is not depicted nor is he the main subject, so I am not in violation despite his maximum three (3) appearance threshold having been met. Because none of the poets I drew are new to this project there are no new poets depicted this week (I drew part of Justin Bieber’s head, and Goofus from Highlights magazine, but neither qualify as poets in my book [though in Anne Frank’s virtual guestbook maybe JB does qualify]). No poverty jokes and no specific Poetry publication was referenced.

My tally so far:

Comics: 56/100 (I will ultimately submit 100 comics)

Puns: 22/49 (the maximum number of overt pun punchlines is 49)

Poets: 38/50 (the comics will feature visual representations of at least 50 real or well-known fictional poets)

Poetry Poems: 14/15 (at least 15 comics will reference a work of poetry originally published in Poetry)

Poverty Jokes: 4/20 (a maximum of 20 comics can have a punchline about poets struggling financially)

Maxed Out or Near-Maxed Out Poets: Edgar Allan Poe [3/3], Ezra Pound [3/3], William Carlos Williams [3/3], T.S Elliot [2/3], Robert Frost [2/3], Langston Hughes [2/3],  Arthur Rimbaud [2/3], William Shakespeare [2/3], Poet Smurf [2/3], (I will base a gag on a specific poet in a maximum of 3 comics)

Still working on my comics this week, but I have an exciting development based on last week’s work. Inspired by my (unsolicited, likely to be rejected, but pretty decent) comic I did for Poetry last week about magazine mascots gambling, my 6-year old son started his own Tumblr about magazine mascots (his Poetry pegasus entry needs some more work, but hopefully he, with help from me, can improve it as his Internet research skills get better. His Alfred E. Neuman is totally great):http://magazinemascots.tumblr.com 

(Image above: Arthur Rimbaud graffiti, artist unknown)

This week the two comics I am doing each week, until I have 100 comics celebrating the 100th anniversary of Poetry magazine, took me a little longer than usual, but I am submitting them to Poetry now, and they may dig them, because one actually riffs on the magazine’s pegasus mascot, picturing her (him?) in a poker game with other magazine mascots who rib the winged beast about her publication’s massive endowment. The other comic features young Rimbaud’s inner thoughts while the iconic photo of him is being shot.

No one has entered my contest! Happy Poetry Month, indeed!

My tally so far:

Comics: 54/100 (I will ultimately submit 100 comics)

Puns: 21/49 (the maximum number of overt pun punchlines is 49)

Poets: 38/50 (the comics will feature visual representations of at least 50 real or well-known fictional poets)

Poetry Poems: 14/15 (at least 15 comics will reference a work of poetry originally published in Poetry)

Poverty Jokes: 4/20 (a maximum of 20 comics can have a punchline about poets struggling financially)

Maxed Out or Near-Maxed Out Poets: Edgar Allan Poe [3/3], William Carlos Williams [3/3], T.S Elliot [2/3], Robert Frost [2/3], Langston Hughes [2/3], Ezra Pound [2/3], William Shakespeare [2/3], Poet Smurf [2/3], (I will base a gag on a specific poet in a maximum of 3 comics)

(Image Above: Carl Sandburg doll by Debbie Ritter)

HAPPY POETRY MONTH! I will celebrate it over the next five Mondays by submitting ten poetry themed comics, two a week, to Poetry magazine, continuing my year-long project of crafting 100 poetry themed comics to mark Poetry’s 100th year of publication. Poetry’s blog, Harriet, will celebrate Poetry Month by having so many guest poets blogging that they wont print any of my comics again until May. On the bright side of that bummer, I did receive my modest but respectable check this week from the Poetry Foundation for publishing my comics, so it’s almost like I’m a professional poet, except for the poet part.

Anyhoo, I will try to turn in 10 killer comics this month, and I think my two new ones are above average. The first features Carl Sandburg dealing with some backlash from his beloved “Chicago” poem, originally published in Poetry’s March 1914 issue. My other comic, sorta a repeat/riff on a previous rejected comic, features a robot reading haiku to a coffeehouse full of robots.

Don’t forget to enter our contest…no one has yet, so one correct answer will probably win it (hint: the Shakespeare one is pretty obvious, and it’s a poetic line from a play, not an actual sonnet line).

My tally so far:

Comics: 52/100 (I will ultimately submit 100 comics)

Puns: 21/49 (the maximum number of overt pun punchlines is 49)

Poets: 37/50 (the comics will feature visual representations of at least 50 real or well-known fictional poets)

Poetry Poems: 14/15 (at least 15 comics will reference a work of poetry originally published in Poetry)

Poverty Jokes: 4/20 (a maximum of 20 comics can have a punchline about poets struggling financially)

Maxed Out or Near-Maxed Out Poets: Edgar Allan Poe [3/3], William Carlos Williams [3/3], T.S Elliot [2/3], Robert Frost [2/3], Langston Hughes [2/3], Ezra Pound [2/3], William Shakespeare [2/3], Poet Smurf [2/3], (I will base a gag on a specific poet in a maximum of 3 comics)

CONTEST!!! CONTEST!!! CONTEST!!!

I announced a contest earlier in the week but forgot to add my e-mail address to send in you r entries. Send guesses to ROCTOBERMAGAZINE@GMAIL.COM (and I’m sure you won;t have to guess more than one or two to win). Here’s a recap:

I have drawn a “Poetic License,” meaning a driver’s license with all the categories filled out with lines/fragments from famous works by notable poets instead of sensible, accurate data. The poets quoted/referenced include the Bronte sisters, Pound, Elliot, Shakespeare, Hughes, Ginsberg, Whitman, Robinson Jeffers, Williams (from a 1939 issue of Poetry), Plath, Elliot (another Poetry publication), Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and DH Lawrence, and the i.d. “photo,” in a farewell tribute to the gentleman I’ve been corresponding with for nearly six months, is a sketchy sketch of Wiman.

HERE’S THE CONTEST!!! Anyone is eligible, unless you are at Poetry and actually have seen the comic (if you’re at Poetry and have not, it’s OK). The driver’s license’s categories that are filled in by quotes/references by the authors listed above are: State; Expiration Date; License Number; Name; Address (two poems referenced); Sex; Height; Hair Color; Eye Color (two poems referenced, only one referring to actual color); Weight; Date of Birth; and Issuing County.

Whomever can guess the most lines/fragments by the preceding poets that I used to fill in each of these categories will be rewarded with a personalized portrait of the poet of your choice, and in true caricaturist-in-the-park tradition, you can request the poet’s activity (i.e. Ezra Pound rollerblading, Maya Angelou in a hot air balloon, etc.) Deadline in April 16th!

Mr. T, God and Joyce Kilmer walk into a bar in my latest Harriet-published Poetry reject comic.