Happy April Fools’ Day from Crockett Johnson

Comics, Crockett Johnson,

As a follow-up to Saturday’s post (featuring Crockett Johnson’s Little Man with the Eyes strip), here are a few more of Johnson‘s Little Man comics, starting with one for April Fools Day, 1941.

Crockett Johnson, "The Little Man with the Eyes," 5 April 1941

I was pleased to see Mark Newgarden share the original post on Facebook because — as I was writing the original post — I was thinking of contemporary cartoonists who would like this strip. At the top of my list were (and are) Mark, Chris Ware, and Andy Runton.

Crockett Johnson, "The Little Man with the Eyes," 13 Jan. 1942
In the above strip, I love how the Little Man’s enjoyment slowly recedes, so that, by the final panel, his face registers concern.  Careful readers will also note an error in the fourth panel: one of the Little Man’s eyes is grey when it should be white.  I expect that Collier’s introduced the error in the printing process – Johnson was a perfectionist, and would certainly have noticed such a mistake (had it existed at an earlier stage).

Crockett Johnson, "The Little Man with the Eyes," 20 Sept. 1941

An inkblot in the fourth panel slightly mars it. (No, his mouth hasn’t suddenly run to the side of his face — that’s just a blot.  Look closely, and you’ll see the Little Man’s mouth intersect with the tip of the spoon).  Despite that printing flaw, the strip demonstrates Johnson’s understanding of how faces tell a story.

Crockett Johnson, "The Little Man with the Eyes," 13 July 1940

Other examples of Crockett Johnson’s work (from this blog):

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