Showing posts with label Addams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Addams. Show all posts

Saturday, February 6, 2016

2/6/1932 Charles Addams breaks in



February 6, 1932.  The issue of The New Yorker with this cover date contained the first published cartoon of Charles Addams.  It was about a window washer, but I haven't found a copy of it, so I don't know if it had that morbid sense of humor for which he is known and loved.

Of course, it is that morbid streak that made him a favorite of mystery writers and fans.  The Mystery Writers of America gave him a Special Edgar Award.  And they probably didn't turn their backs on him.
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Wednesday, January 7, 2015

1/7/1912 Charles Addams is born

January 7, 1912.  This date saw the birth of Charles Addams, one of the most unusual artists of the twentieth century.  If you search Google for "cartoonist Charles Addams" about 25% of the entries have the word "macabre."

Does he really belong on a page about mystery fiction?  He's more in the horror camp, I suppose.  But if the Mystery Writers of America thought he deserved a special Edgar Award in 1961 (and they did) that's good enough for me. 

Besides the creepy characters who inspired The Addams Family he drew plenty of crime-related cartoons.  Remember the gangster firing his machine gun out the window at the police while his long-suffering wife sweeps up the spent cartridges?