Modern Arf is the first in a series of volumes in which the award-winning artist and editor, Craig Yoe, explores the unholy marriage of Modern Art and the Funnies in a bombastic and entertaining way.
The first blast features material created just for this book as well as classic material by Rube Goldberg, Jack Kirby, Hy Mayer, Winsor McCay, and Patrick McDonnell at the zenith of their wacky, surreal, and innovative best.
Patrick McDonnell rarely draws outside popular daily strip Mutts, but for the first volume of Arf he has contributed an exclusive four page strip of of surreal comics. They're fun, they're cool, they're wordless, and they're sublime.
Jack Kirby's story, "The Fourth Dimension is a Many Splattered Thing," reprinted from the original art, is Kirby at his most surreal, surely informed by cubism and certainly the inspiration for Steve Ditko's later work on the exotic 1960s comic, Dr. Strange. It is published here for the first time since its original publication in the mid 1950s.
Hy Mayer, a forgotten cartoon surrealist, is represented with an astonishing series of mind-blowing "worm's eye views." It's M.C. Escher meets Charles Schulz! Antonio Rubino is an early 20th century Italian cartooning master, whose breathtaking work was infused by cubism, futurism and art deco. Modern Arf will present a rich sampling of his work, including bookplates, paintings, and comics.
Did you know Salvador Dalí drew comics? You'll be able to see them in this first volume of Modern Arf accompanying an essay exploring his influence on comics, his animated cartoon, and examples of comic artists such as Steranko and Crepax who paid homage to the Spanish surrealist. Modern Arf is stunningly designed in an oversized format to give justice to the incredible art collected between its covers. The Arf series will delight both comic and fine art lovers. Both will be sure to exclaim, "I don't know much about Arf, but this is what I like!" 120 pages black-and-white illustrations throughout and 48 pages in full color, 9" x 12".
