Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain : How to Come Up With Jokes for Cartoons and Comic Strips [Paperback]

Christopher Hart (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998

Teaching cartoonists how to evoke laughs is the latest great idea to come from a best-selling author who always knows just what readers want. Aspiring cartoonists and seasoned professionals all face the same problem: coming up with a steady stream of jokes for their drawings. But there's a science to funny art, and this book's complete course shows just how to create comic panels and strips that get laughs, setup right through to punch lines. The essential tools of joke writing are outlined: visual stereotypes of comic teaming (fat/skinny, short/tall): setting up a character's agenda, then putting up obstacles to create conflict; action that brings the surprise. Other valuable guidance includes whether to find resource materials for jokes, plus tips for drawing comic lettering styles and dialogue balloons.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Hart, a regular contributor to Mad Magazine and a comedy screenwriter, has produced a manual with equal emphasis on the art of cartooning and the art of comedy. He has the requisite chapters on how to draw funny characters, but he comes into his own when he analyses pacing and rhythm, set-up and punch lines, and the differences between dramatic and comedic scenes. Certain words, he maintains, are ordinary and certain ones funny (e.g., fat is ordinary, bloated is funny, four is ordinary, five is funny?as are all odd numbers). This and Robin Hall's The Cartoonist's Workbook: Drawing, Writing Gags, Selling (LJ 11/15/97) are the two best such books available.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 7^-12. Several recent books have dealt with cartooning, among them Al Bohl's overview Guide to Cartooning , which explores the art form's history as well as its practice. Hart, who keeps his eye on commercial potential, narrows his focus to one aspect of cartooning--creating single and multipanel comic strips. He begins with some helpful cartoon-art how-tos, but it's the subtleties about joke writing, pacing, framing, and dialogue he includes that make his book stand out. The graphics, many in color, are teamed closely with small blocks of text and captions to get the message across. Hart's swaggering wit occasionally gets in the way, but usually not long enough to stop the flow of information. To be sure, Hart makes it seem easier than it is, but teenage art students who would like to see their work in the Sunday funnies would do well to start here. Tips on becoming a professional cartoonist and some helpful resources round out the text. Point interested teens to Scott McCloud's excellent adult book Understanding Comics (1993) for an even deeper view. Stephanie Zvirin

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823013812
• ISBN-13: 978-0823013814
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 0.4 x 11 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #474,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thanks for taking a look at my books, and this "Author Bio." I'm a competent tennis player, who also enjoys playing computer chess while I'm watching TV at night (Hey, it prevents me from channel-surfing). I'm keenly interested in M-theory, although i have become skeptical of it of late, despite Brian's Green's full-body gushing... I love being with my family, and even my extremely evil dog, a Welsh Springer Spaniel named "Rusty." Oh, yes, he truly is that evil.

As for my work, I'm the author of many How-To-Draw books, published by Watson-Guptill,the art imprint of Random House. Thanks to a lot of the wonderful readers (and you know who you are!), I have sold over 3 million copies domestically, which have been translated into 20 languages worldwide.

I'm fortunate to also have had 26 of the Best-Selling art books in the country, according to Bookscan.(Bookscan is the publishing industry's rating system for books, which is owned by same company that does the Neislen TV ratings.)

I also have my own drawing show on the Comcast Network, called, "How To Draw Action Heroes With Chris Hart." It's on Comcast's "Activity TV." I hope you like my books, and find them a valuable adjunct to your own imagination.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent how-to book, June 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain : How to Come Up With Jokes for Cartoons and Comic Strips (Paperback)

I found this book to be an excellent resource for aspiring cartoonists. Most other cartooning books I've looked at seem to say "Cartooning is a terrible career! You'll never make money!" or "Give up hope now! If you can't draw like me, you'll never succeed!" But Chris Hart's book is the exact opposite -- very informative, easy-to-follow, and overall very helpful. He also tells you where to put emphasis when designing a strip and developing characters. And most importantly, he gives tips on how to come up with ideas (funny ones), not just how to draw. Hart doesn't make you feel like his way is the only way, as other cartooning books do -- this book leaves aspiring cartoonists with a lot of hope!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Much better than most catrooning books, April 12, 2001

By 

"thehomeland-org" (Wichita Falls, TX USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain : How to Come Up With Jokes for Cartoons and Comic Strips (Paperback)

Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain is a great resource for aspiring cartoonists, one, because as one reviewer said, it doesn't insult you about your ability. The book helps you learn about creating your own characters, laying out panel strips, making single-panel strips, tricks of the trade, what poses and looks are funnier for characters, help with joke writing, learning more about dialouge, text balloons, shading, techniques, how to get your work noticed and sold, how to protect your ideas, and a ton bit more. He even discusses hard and soft punch lines, good and bad setups, dimensions to draw the copy, what tools to use, different kinds of panels, drama vs. comedy, wide and close views, shadows, connected and double balloons, tips on submitting to publishers and syndicators, rating your own gags, meeting deadlines, handling writer's block, building character name recognition, and cartooning resources to both submit to and get more information on. An all-around great book for the beginner cartoonist and the serious cartoonist with a career in mind.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars one of Hart's more in-depth books, July 6, 2001

By 

John MacLeod "observer" (Guelph, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drawing on the Funny Side of the Brain : How to Come Up With Jokes for Cartoons and Comic Strips (Paperback)

Christopher Hart's name appears on a number of beginner's how-to books, but he's not just a beginner's author, as this book demonstrates. This is one of the better, and more advanced, cartooning books out there. While it does go over yer usual "stick-man" first steps briefly, most of it is devoted to addressing stuff like panel layout, strip breakdowns, consistency of character design, timing in humor writing, marketing your work, etc. In every case, Hart speaks from experience: apparently he has written stand-up and TV comedy professionally, as well as doing animation, comic books, strips, and piloting the space shuttle. [I'm just guessing at that last one, but don't be surprised... ]

Anyhoo, if you've advanced in your cartoons to the point where you're considering getting into the pool of publication, this book is a good resource for polishing and fine-tuning what you can do.