— Non-Fiction —

Tales to Admonish

Left, the cover of 1962’s Tales to Astonish #34, by Jack Kirby. Below, a New Yorker cartoon by Harry Bliss, deemed a “tribute” by the magazine. Uncanny similarity, via “Drawing Criticism: New Yorker Cartoonist Lifts Legend’s Work,” by Dareh Gregorian, New York Post, May 22, 2008.

Today’s New York Post uncovered an uncanny similarity between The New Yorker’s open-caption cartoon drawn by Harry Bliss and the cover of an issue of Marvel Comics’ Tales to Astonish drawn by Jack “King” Kirby in 1962. A spokesperson for The New Yorker declared this an uncredited “tribute.”

Above, cartoon by John Rau. Below, the same by Harry Bliss.

But wait, there’s more: Another New Yorker cartoon by Mr. Harry Bliss also appears to be an “uncredited tribute,” this time to cartoonist John Rau, of I Will Kick Your Ass for World Peace. Eerie coinkydink? Or Is Mr. Bliss’s sketchpad merely tracing paper?

Update: Mr. Rau offered Y.P.R. his official statement:

“I blindly trusted my fellow Americans to uphold integrity and not steal my material … my very funny material, which I posted freely on my Web site.

If Bliss does this again, I will seek damages in the form of monetary compensation. I will then invest that money to arrange a fight between Harry Bliss and Kimbo Slice. To fight Kimbo you need something like 10 grand.

I may still resort to eating ramen noodles to support my family but it will be worth it.”