Crockett Johnson & Ruth Krauss & Adrian Tomine

4 CommentsAdrian Tomine, Crockett Johnson, Ruth Krauss, ,

Cool! My biography, Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss: How an Unlikely Couple Found Love, Dodged the FBI, and Transformed Children’s Literature (2012), has a cameo appearance in Adrian Tomine‘s Optic Nerve #13. (Click on the strip to see a larger version.)

Adrian Tomine, from Optic Nerve No. 13

Appropriately, the context is an affirmation of – and some nostalgia for – print culture. If you don’t have a copy of the biography (and would like one), then my advice is to avoid the ebook and buy the paperback. Only the paperback edition has Chris Ware’s full cover. The hardcover truncates it, and the ebook has only the front cover. Also, the 88 illustrations look much better in print than they do in the ebook version.

A hearty thank-you to Adrian Tomine for mentioning my book in his work! In the spirit of a strip later in this narrative (after you click on the link, scroll down), I’m going to handwrite him a thank-you note now.

Also, check out:

Finally, thanks to Dave Ball for calling my attention to this!

4 Comments

  2. Philip Nel

    Reply

    Hi, Dave. Well, not all of my blog posts are all that substantive. And this summer, I was too busy to post as regularly as I’d like (as explained in this post). So, you know, posting something substantive a few times a year (as you do) is nothing to sneeze at!

  3. julie

    Reply

    I can’t imagine anything cooler than being mentioned in a comic strip! As a semi-professional needlecrafter, I can pretty much guarantee this will never happen to me, which is a bit sad now that I think on it. I would frame this strip and show it to everyone who came in the house before they were allowed to take their coats off.

    I *loved* your article about Crockett Johnson, which I came across while doing a tiny bit of light research for a post I did about my favorite children’s book ever (Harold, obviously) – and I’ve been meaning to leave a comment here on your most awesomely titled blog ever since. The article had me run and get the first volume of Barnaby (from Amazon, oh the shame, because I live in a town with only one bookstore just like the one in the comic there) and your biography is on my wishlist. Kindle version, but it seems I should switch it to the paperback version!

  4. Philip Nel

    Reply

    Thanks, Julie. Having the bio. mentioned in the strip made my day. It makes me feel that the book is out there in the world, perhaps making some sort of impression (a good one, I hope!).

    You mention framing the strip: some comics artists do sell original work. I’m not sure whether Adrian Tomine does, but one could ask him (there’s a link to his website, in the post, above).

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