By Willard Mullin, Hal Bock & Michael Powers (Fantagraphics Books)
ISBN: 978-1-60699-639-3
Britain never really enjoyed the long and lovingly cherished tradition of sports cartoons enjoyed by America throughout the 20th century – more’s the pity – but in the Land of the Free illustrated match précis’, captivating portraits, charismatic caricatures and plain old fashioned gags in drawn form were a crucial element of every national and local newspaper for generations.
Sporting profiles, sketches, technical tips, skits and lampooning broadsides were even a staple of Golden Age comicbooks – and far too often the best drawn items in those fantasy-fuelled periodicals.
Voted “Greatest Sports Cartoonist of the 20th Century†by his extremely talented and partisan peers, Willard Mullin (September 14, 1902-December 20, 1978) best captured the magic of America’s favourite game for almost half a hundred years, encapsulating the power, glory, glum disappointment, heartbreak and just plain unflagging passion of players, managers, owners and fans in spectacular portrait biographies, potent editorial cartoons, gently ferocious caricatures and hilarious, knowing slapstick panels.
Fantagraphics Books have again struck gold by reviving and celebrating a lost hero and a nigh-forgotten sector of graphic narrative arts in this superb commemoration of a mighty talent: featuring a history of the man, his times and the sport which sustained a nation in war and peace; recalled in candid photos and an unbelievable treasure-trove of stupendous drawings and cartoons that charmed and delighted uncounted millions of Americans…
Following a passionate appreciation of the man and his influence from cartoonist, illustrator and author Bob Staake in ‘Mulling over Willard’, Shirley Mullin Rhodes shares intimate and heart-warming times past in ‘Willard Mullin Through the Eyes of His Daughter’.
After another nationally-celebrated cartoonist shares his memories in ‘Gallo on Mullin’ by Bill Gallo, legendary sports columnist Hal Bock then describes the essential impact of ‘The Baseball World of Willard Mullin’ before the man and his work is celebrated through a history of the decades and examples of his own astonishing daily output from the numerous papers and magazines he worked on…
‘The 1930s’ follows an early career that encompassed other sports and social/editorial issues, but always best-favoured Baseball… especially as played by the New York teams Mullins favoured: Yankees, (Brooklyn) Dodgers and his special guys, the Giants (and latterly the Mets, of course)…
Lavishly illustrated throughout, this massive hardback (200 pages and 228x315mm) is packed with vignettes, panels and portraits, and this Golden Age chapter is filled with teams, themes and mythic stars such as Stan Musial, Babe Ruth, Dizzy Dean, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, the immortal “Brooklyn Bumâ€, and many more.
‘The 1940s’ were an era of epic change and not solely due to the war. The astounding imagery from those hallowed seasons include the rise of Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, early images of Jackie Robinson and Satchel Paige (the first African American players to break the colour-bar and play Major League Baseball), and also marked the passing of “the Babeâ€, as well as Gehrig’s tragic death from ALS. Mullins as always cracked wise about winners, losers and the long-suffering fans, and displayed his sheer virtuosity in the annual Christmas card to the public…
In ‘The 1950s’ the sport truly became a business and, amongst the ever-better drawings and more trenchant comments, Willard became as much a part of the game as bats and socks. Brooklyn Bum toys and premiums here run alongside pennant-winning celebrations, visual discussions of rocketing salaries and teams – like the New York Giants – who followed the money to richer towns, abandoning fans for fame in places like San Francisco or Los Angeles. He also anticipated the death of smaller local Leagues as television brought the big games into households across the nation…
‘The 1960s and The 1970s’ showcase Mullin’s final years – he retired in 1970 – with more magnificent cartoons and commentary, interspersed with excerpts from running features such as ‘So you think you know Baseball!’ and stunning celebrations of the passing of an era and legends like Casey Stengel. In fact with the advances of photo technology and shrinking of page sizes, the entire vast field of sports cartooning was rapidly following him into the pages of nostalgic history…
This engrossing, charming chronicle also includes rare ‘Color Work’ including the cover to The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant (which inspired the musical Damn Yankees), training roster posters, guides, schedules and programme covers, sporting Year Books and sports books as well as commercial and advertising work, and concludes with a brief history by Bock of the medium and genre of ‘Sports Cartooning: Telling a Story in Pen and Ink’
Whether you’re a fan of sports in general or Baseball in particular, if you’re reading this you love narrative art, and Willard Mullin was the Will Eisner of his field: clever, funny, bold, dramatic and capable of astounding emotional connection with his readers. This is book no lovers of our art form should miss.
This edition © 2013 Fantagraphics Books. Willard Mullin and the Brooklyn Bum are ™ and ® the Estate of Willard Mullin. Other material © its respective holders or owners as noted within.