Crooked Smiles: Punch on Villains

Crooked Smiles: Punch on Villains

By various (Grafton Books)
ISBN: 978-0-24613-242-0

Punch began in 1841; a magazine dedicated to satire and humour, and swiftly became a national – and international – institution. It ran more or less non-stop until 2002 before finally closing its jolly doors, featuring sharp, witty writers such as W. M. Thackeray, P.G. Wodehouse, P.J. O’Rourke and Alan Coren among so very many others. Many of these writers’ efforts were illustrated by brilliant draughtsmen and artists. It was a social force, an astute historian and its contents could even influence governments.

Punch probably invented, and certainly perfected, the gag and strip cartoon. The list of brilliant cartoonists who graced its pages is something I couldn’t live long enough to relate. Name a cartoonist; if he or she were any good they will have been published in Punch.

With such a wealth of material, it’s truly surprising how very few collections have been generated from its pages. The one under the glass here is from 1987, selected by Editor William Hewison and features mostly British gag-men doing their bit in the War on Crime. The cartoons range from the comfortably familiar to the just plain weird, and if humour is in the eye of the beholder, the wealth of ability and talent is certainly less open to debate.

This book isn’t really what I’m recommending here, it’s the type of book. These gags and many like them by the likes of such luminaries as David Langdon, Heath, Brockbank, Graham, Honeysett, Bill Tidy, Stark, Thelwell, Larry, ffolkes, Sally Artz, Mahood, McLachlan, Raymond Lowry and all the wonderful rest are sitting idle when they could be filling bookshelves and making us all a little happier…

© 1987 Punch Publications Ltd. All Rights Reserved.