Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising by Various Artists

Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising Reviews

• 
  Michael P.

  The makings for a great book are between these covers. The topic is underexplored, a systematic look is needed, and the images are seldom reprinted. The book does a great job of bringing together all of this, then bungles it. The main problem is the size of most of the reprinted material. It simply cannot be read without a magnifying glass or severe eyestrain - I know, I tried. If readers cannot see the way that ad copy and word balloons interact with the images, then they miss the portion of the story not supplied in the too brief chapter introductions. There is little point in printing most of the images in this book in the size they are printed.
  
  About those chapter introductions. With one wonderful exception, they are barely informative. They are just long enough to tell readers there is a topic without illuminating that topic. The exception is the introduction to the cartoon advertising by the Johnstone and Cushing agency beautifully written by Tom Heintjes. This introduction is truly satisfying for the detail given, which is enough to put all readers want to know in context. We know why these ads exist and why they are in this format thanks for Heintjes's excellent work.
  
  Another fault is the inadequate captioning. Since most of the introductions do not give enough information about the images reproduced, captions are essential to tell readers what they see, why the ads were created, the strategies used to promote the products, and where they appeared. The years are supplied, but far too many images have no caption at all and only a couple of the rest have the information one expects in a professional publication.
  
  I have complained about the writing of co-editor Rick Marschall in the past. He always makes himself part of the story even when that is not illuminating. Fortunately, this ends after a page of the introduction to the book. He also has the bad habit of showing off his research even when readers would benefit from more targeted information. I am sure a few readers appreciate his more than a page of history of breakfast cereal companies but reducing this to a couple of targeted paragraphs that directly demonstrate the use of cartoon images to sell cereal would be much clearer. Here, readers have to manchette their way through a lot of beside-the-point verbal foliage.
  
  Even with the too brief chapter introductions and Marschall's self-indulgent prose, I would give this book 4 stars had it been properly captioned and twice as long so that the same images could be reproduced in a readable size. This book is a wasted opportunity.
• 
  Edward Correa

  Aunque se agradece la intención del autor de rescatar los nombres de quienes en su época fueron grandes pioneros, la obra se queda un poco corta cuando se trata de presentar la información. Termina siendo algo aburrido, aunque para quien lo necesite puede quedar como una obra de consulta y referencia eventual.
• 
  Jamey Boelhower

  What a fun read, both for the history of cartoon advertising and the snapshot of pop culture during those years.
• 
  Romano

  La publicidad, el consumismo y la construcción del siglo XX.
• 
  Ben

  This does a fine job of collecting cartoon advertising samples all in one place and it's always interesting to see the varied styles of yesteryear's talented illustrators, but I found myself flipping through this a little faster than I would have thought.