...y'know...for such a simple little gag page, there's a LOT of great posing and staging here. And the draftsmanship and inking are first-rate! Look at the clear silhouettes, check out the strong lines of action (even when there's not much going on -- as in the second panel). Look at the simplicity and economy and readability of the prop designs...the telephone and all the musical instruments. Beautiful!
Check out the depth of staging in panel two, and the way the character is perfectly placed to make him pop out. Look at that great crowd in the last panel...just enough to read "crowd" and "enthusiasm" but not enough to distract from the "gag." This is professionalism a love for the craft of cartooning. This cartoonist was laboring in a disposable medium, in total anonymity, and surely not making very much money. But he poured all his heart and talent into this little throwaway, not-very-funny filler page. That inspires me.
Phineas the Parrot one-page filler
from Happy Comics #34 July 1943
Check out the depth of staging in panel two, and the way the character is perfectly placed to make him pop out. Look at that great crowd in the last panel...just enough to read "crowd" and "enthusiasm" but not enough to distract from the "gag." This is professionalism a love for the craft of cartooning. This cartoonist was laboring in a disposable medium, in total anonymity, and surely not making very much money. But he poured all his heart and talent into this little throwaway, not-very-funny filler page. That inspires me.
Phineas the Parrot one-page filler
from Happy Comics #34 July 1943
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