Jules Feiffer and Autistic America
IN THEFALLOF 1959,I mademyfiistvisit to GreenwichVill,ge, ,hen considered the Bohemiancapitalof artisticandliteraryAmerica.Afterblundering,round the raffishcrazyquiltof iu streeu forseveral houis,I foundmyselfatChristopherStreet andSeventhAvenuewithmyb.ickto the old Limelightcoffeehouse,and there,acrossSheridanSqu,re,emblazonedover windowsthat had oncebeenstorefrontdisplayforsome departedmercantileenterprise,wasa sign witha fumili,rnameplate- "TheVillage Voice,"itsaid,the"Voice"brgerthanthe lowercase"Village,"whichwasconfined to a box thatextendedbehindthe capital "V" of the free-standing"Voice."
1didn't knowit at the time,but the Voiu hadbeen in thesedigsfor lessthan a ye,,, havingoutgrownthe two-room walk-upabove Sutter's Groceryat 22 GreenwichAvenue that had been its birthplacein October 1955.I had been anoccasionalreaderof the weeklypaper sincesometimein 1957,whena cohort who worked in the referenceroom of the libraryat myalmamaterhad drawn my attentionto i,. So it wassatisfying, somehow, to h3vc chanced upon the famili,r logotypeand ,o realizethat I was, as I stood there acrossthe street fromthatbuilding,withinitsaura,so to speak, and breathing the very air of iconoclasmthat had distinguishedthe Voiusince its founding.
Havingrectntlyescapedthe Boulder campusof the Univcisiryof Color.ido,I wasin NewYorkmarkingtimeuntilthe SelectiveServicesaw fit to pounce. In thosedays,no molecouldmakea serious startat a c:ireerwhile underthe threatof imminentdraft,so I thoughtI'd fillwhat monthsof libertyremainedto me by frecbncingcartoonsin 1heBig Apple,I eventuaUysoldafewbutnoneat the Voic,.
Factis, I didn'teven try to sellanything at TI,e Villagt Vofrt. In common with manynewly-mintedcollegegradu3les,I didn'tknowmuch;but I knewth>t mysenseof humorwasn'thipenoughfor this paper.BC$ides, it alre>dyhad a cartoonist.It wasto •dmirehisworkthat I'd become•n occasionalreaderof the Voice, and I knewfora certaintythatI wasn'tin the sameleagueasJulesFeilfer.
But then, no one was in the same leagueas Feilfer.
BY R. c. HARVEY
Not ,hen.
Not now. $
Then, Feiffer'scartoon was a st:IIdinglydifferentlookingenterprise.No C other cartoonistproducedanythinglike O it. Althoughit consistedof a successionof imageslike the conventionalsequentialO "strip,"Feilferscomedthetradition:llpanel bordersof newspapercomicstrips,drop• ping picturC$of his actoisand actresses into an otherwiseunclutteredocean of whitespace.And insteadof speechballoons,he merelyclusteredthe verbiageof his characters'utterancesaround their heads,a singleslantedlinepointingto the speaker,
The comedy of his cartoons was equallyunusual.No v,udcvilli,nboffolas here,nopratfallsor custardpies.No puns, either.Instead.wehadchorusafterchorus of theold "bait-and-switch"asostensibly hipcharactersengagedin eruditeconv<rsationsor monologuesthatendedby revealingtheirself-absorption,nd culrural shallowness.Feilfer'scharacteiswerealways talking. But none of them ever listened.
Feilf<r'scartoonshavebeendescribed as "comicnightmares,bitingvignettesof contemporarylifeas it isexperiencedand explainedawayby sensitiveadults,beatniks,precociouschildrenand politicians. The introspectiveadultsare by far the mostfrequentlyportrayed,theywho,accordingto Ncwsu,eek,have 'ralionalized HostileGroupattitudC$'andarctrying10 find 1hen1SclvC$." In dramatizingtheir search,Feilferrippedaway,he hypocrisy and sham of 1he intellectualfads that preoccupiedso manyof the creativeposeurs in the Village(and, as it proved, ehewhcre).
Whenthe fim collectionof hiscartoons was publishedin 1958, Gilbert Millstein,reviewingthe book for TI1t Nt"' YorkTimts,appbudedthecartoonis1 - "aloneandunafraidin a worldnudeof the macrocephalicbromidesof psychoanalysis,avant-gardism,progressiveschooling,thehideousnuancesofcocktail-party conve1SJtion.politics,television,togetherness,and the carefulconformismof the equallycarefuloutrageous."
AlShepard,mylibrarianfriend,and I had workedon the campushumormagazine,171tFlntirou,whichhadbeenbanned in 1hefallofl 955-coincidemally,jus,as
•
the V~ictw:11 publishingiis fine il:sues O (probablysomesort of m;wivetelesti,1 correspondencewasinelfeci::a oneirrcv9 erentpublicationdies,anotherisborn to E) c,kei11pl,ce).In1ubscquen1years,Al3nd I ~d m:inyplcas,n1hoursplanningto $ bunch • new, de,ncr, ve,.ion of that magazine.CW• ,ventu,lly Ooattdtwo. O bu, onlya br.iceof wucsof t>ch.) feiffer'sc,rtoonshadc,ugh1Al'seye, $ and he'dpointedthemou110me,think(:) ingI coulddosomethingsimibrin oneof our projcci,.Bu,I declined10try i1.For $ two reasons.First,Feiffer'sworkwasso dis1inctive in both appcar.inceandcontent th>tanyoneat1emp1inganythingin cha, vein would immedi.:uclyproclaim hi=lf ,s a rank copyca1.Secondly,I bckcd1bcrequisiccskill.1 wasn'tabove apinganothercartoonist,mindyou:Ijust didn'1h,ve the wirto do ii withfeiffcr. Eventod,y, Feilfcris withou1peer. No cartoonistsinceWahDisneyh,s dabbledso brilliondyin so manyrelaccd fields.A sore of RenaissanceM,n of cartooning,Feifferwri1cs,nd drawsa wetklyc:ircoon,he wriccsforthe thc31er :indfor movies,and he has wrillcntwo novels.And all of the,e productionsarc critic,Uyacclaimed.
ButFeiffer'saccomplishmen11 do no1 end withthe foregoinglist.In reviewing hisor<cr,I w.is:u.1onished to re;ilitewhat a stminalfigur,he hu beenin thehinory of cariooningand,even,in the historyof comicfundom.
Hisweeklycartoonclearlyinfluenced (ifit didnot inspire)GarryTrud,au,and Truduu's Doo1teihury, in 1urn,h:u.tc11he p>cefor satiriul newsp;ipcrcattoonislS sincethe coll,pscof the Nixon White Housein 1974.
And Ftiffer'sl<J65book, n, Crrnt Comi,BookH<r0ts,mightwellhavelegitimatizedan inre,estin old comicbooks thereby helping 10 establishfandom. Feiffer'sbook W3S 1hefirstmainstream m,nifesuuon of noscalgia for the funnybookanifacuof !he '30s211d'40s. "Fandom"lud been brewingsincethe early'60s, and the fim priceguidewas publishedin 196Sby ArgosyBookShop inHollywood.ButWoodyGelnun'spioneeringNostalgioPressdidn'tpublishany r<prin1volumesunra ,ftcr Feifferblaaed 1hcuaa with77,eCtrntComicBookHaoes. And Over1trect'sfirst ComicBookPria: Guidedidn't •ppcaruntilfiveyea" afier Fciffer'sbook- 1970.the samey= as Don Thompsonand Dick Lupolfproducedtheiraflection,ielookIncIr.wards at ABOVE:Ptr/tltpsFd.ff«'s"""' moguizcd m.nfio11 - 1M '1t1mtt.
OPPOsnt: l·'<W~ ;""'"#'{f tttst will, 1he i,1ttrt0111/ttttd mnttllu of IIM ,H~11ium.
comicbooksof 1heGoldenAge,All in Colorfar• Dim,.
The qualityof !he rcprincedcomic bookstoriesin Grt111ComicBookH""'sis no1up 10presen1srandards,but !hebook isunqueuionablyoncof,hemostreadable
In !he "schizoidandchastemt114gt • rrois"betweenLoislane 3ndClarkKem and Superman,Feiffersaw the "typical Americanroimn~e"enacted1wice:Lois, pursuedbyCbrk,scornshim;Supennan, pursuedby Lois,scornsher. Thissortof
tWOLIS~ft(~I • ~!'!'$ l)~ Fl<OOU'1-t$ IT.
bool:son the subjectro be published. Fcilfcr'snosr.algicand analy,ic.alemys occupythefirst50page,ofthe 189-page work.:indtheyarc remark.ablyascute.
ln writingof Bob K3nc'sB2mun. Fciffcrob!ervcstlutBatman"popularized in comicbooksthestrangeide3,lint used bythePhanromin newsp,pers,tha, when you put on your mask,youreyesdisappe:ired.Two whitesliisshowed- that W"1 ..U.lf thatdidn'tsuiketerrorinto!he h= of evildoen,nothingwould."
On WonderWoman:"My problem with WonderWoimnwaschatI could neverget myself10believeshe wasthat good.Forifshewasassirongastheysaid, why w;an't she cougherlooking?Why wasn'1she bigger?Whywasshe so Oat-chested?Andwhy did I :alwaysfeelthat, whateverher vauntedAm:izonpower, she wouldn'1havehsred a round wi,h Sheena,QueenofcheJungle?No, WonderWom31ueemedlike100muchoraput upjob, a fixedcomicsnip- a productof groupthinkingratherthanthe individual inspirationchatcreatedSuperman.I! was obviousfromthcsWtthatabunchofmen got togetherin a smoke-611edroomand br.iln.. ronnedthemselves a Superlady. Buenobody'sheartwasin i1."
thingmarked''1hedifferencebecwccn a sis.syanda man.A1iMywunedgirlswho scomcdhim; , man scornedgirlswho wantedhim.Ourculcuralopposi1eofthe nun who didn't makeou1with women hasneverbeenthe manwho did- bur., ralher,themanwhocouldifhe wantedto butstilldidn'1."
Three dcc3dCIbier. we can't 3dd muchmoreto the picrurcFeifferp,imed - except,perhaps,somedares.
Giventherolefeifferh:d'playedboth in newsp;ipcrcartooningandin ,pprecutionof the art of comicbooks,ii is,as 1 said,astonishingd\,ll hisname10 seldom cropsup in the fanpress.Butperhapsthe fontigrophicsprojec1willcorrec1theoversight.
Beginningin 1989, Fantagraphics Bookshasundert•ken10 publishin IS volu~ !hecompleteworksof)ulesF,iffer - cartoons211dphys and novelsand mi.scelbncou1wri1ing.Thethrcevolumei lhusfarin print1.1keus to thesummccof 1958,whenFeilfer'sweeklycartoonfor the Voi«wasonlyabou118 monthsinto its 40-ye3rrun.
That summer,fcifferwas probably uilldoingthecartoonwirhou1p3y- the sameremuncr.,lionforwhichmanyof1he
conttibucorsco the Voialaboredin the p>pcr'scadyyears(soevenif I'd "sold"• cartoonthere,I wouldn'1havelinedmy pocketsany).But fumewasjust around 1hecomcr.77,,l.,,ndonOhscnitrhadpicked up the cartoon,Playboy'sHugh Heiner was a fin and wasaboutco commission Feiffer10 do a monthlycarroonfor his nuguine, :aridMcGraw-Hillwason the vergeor bringingout a coUcctionof the cartoonscalledSick,Sidt,Sidi(whichwas the nameof the featurein thosedays). In short,Fciffcrwason the cuspof na1ion:alnotoriery.But whateverthe triumplu of the next deCldes.he would • continueto producea cartoonforevery wetklyediLionof rhe Voiu.Ii washere 1hathe gothisfirnbigbreak.And Feilfcr •nd 77r,VillageVoi«m inextriablylinked :ua result
Th, Vi/lag,Voittis a childof,he 'SOs. Pl,,yboyi,,too. Playboy'sfirs1is.suesoldou, in lace1953.Clearly,the 'SOsaudience wasreadyfor i1.It wasthe Eisenhower Ero,the Ageof Confonniry.It was1he decadeof !heOrg:tniutionManandthe bu[tl)n-downcolbr and the grayOannd suir. N2rurally,all th•t compuhionco conformfostereda desirecobrc,k ranks. Plnyboybrokeranks.AndsodidBeatniks: JackKerouac'slegendaryOntht R~d was publishedin 1957.
The Voittwasbunchedp.reciselybetweenthe two - on Oc1ober26, 195S.
The foundersof 1hepaperwereDan Wolf•nd Ed Fancher.Wolfw., the visionary;Fancher,the practical,hardheadedtype.Theyset out to producea differentIt.indof p.tperfor the ditfercnc kindof communirylh2t!he Villagew;a. Fanchersawthe Villageasthe "cenlCrof innov:itionin the am'' 2.nd1~.asymbolin theAmericancoruciousness.just asHollywoodis" but nandingfor intellecMI ,nd artisticcieativityalher 1hangliizand • gli11er.
For1hataudience,thep.1permus,be hip, Bohemi,n,avan1-~rdeand iconoclas,ic.h wouldbe ag.µcucfor!headventurousin1cUigcntsia.
WolfandFancherenlisted1hehelpof NormanMaileral 6nt. Mailerput up somemoneyand (according10one accoun1)chr~tenedthe sheet.Andforthe firstfew mon1hs,he contributeda hip column,uying,doubtless,co resuscicrc hit literaryreputationafter!hedisasterof hissecondnovel,Barbary$1,ort.
SoMailerattr.Ktedancntionwithhis bombais1,andWolfandFancher31ttoe1ed some other dcdic21cdcnthusi3$tswho v;ilucdgood writingand principledreportage.But the p,per couldnot survive on quali1y,lone.
According to Kevin Michael McAulilfcwho wrote a historyof the VoictcalledThtCrtatAmtri""'Nrwspaptr, the infantweeklym:idethe rightfriends and therightenemiesat cx.acdytheright time.It sucvived,Mc.Aulilfctays,because it d.idfourthingsexacdyright.
Fini. it championedoff-Broadway thca«:r,launchingilS own awud, the Obie(''0-B" for "Otr-Broadway'1,at thc endof me theaterseasonin thesummerof I956.KurtWcill'sTltt111rttptnny q,aa got the nod asbestmwicalof the yeat. The production1211for yeari,becominga V~ institution.{Knowing absolutelynothingof this at the time,I went10 se,, Tu 111,-«ptnnyOpe• at the Theicerde lys on Chru<opherStreetthat 6ll in I959.Youcould~ dinneracross thestrett at die Cafede Lysfor$2.)
Se<ond,the Voiacrwadtdto save WashingtonSquatcP:uk Robm Moses, the city'spo~crfulczarof publicworks, wanted10 improvethe flowof uptowndowntownstre<ettrafficby runningafourlane thoroughfmstr.1ightthrough the Park,effectivelydestroyingit. The Voi<L <lliIShalkdthecitizenry,and,bythesum• meroft 960.it hadunhorsedMoses'plan.
At the samecime,die Voiutookon "theBishop,"aumiDC DcSapio,thepo• liticalbossof the Vilbgeenvirons.By 1961, the Bishop'smachine had lost mough electionsdue to the campaigns conductedby Wolf :andFancherthat DcS.piowaseffectivelydefrocked.
With thesetwo crusadesthe Voict introducedthe "new politics"to New Yolk:intheDCWpolitics,issucsandmovcmmtstookthepkiccof politk:ilmadtin-
cry, andcausesdi!placedconnections.In short,thenewpoliticsstoodforpuritynot patronage.
The Voirtcsublishcditselfbybecom• ing a giantkiller.M= and DcS.pio, dead.
Inthreeundeiukings,thelittlewetl:ly Jl'IPCfstcurcditsp~e in the Villageand in thecityasa culturalmaven,an iconocla.sricvoice,acommunitycrusader,anda politkalpower.
foultltthingthatMcAuliffesays ensuredthesurviv:dof the Vcirtw:uthat it publi!hcdthe,:.,noonsofJulesFciffcr.
John Wilcock,one of the poper\ editon in thoseycan,rememberedthat feilferwalkedintOthe officeex:ictlya year after the Voi« begin. It wai, he recalled,in late October 1956, when feilfer, "very birdlikeand dcfe.nsivc," showedsomecartoonshe'ddonetoJerry Tallmer,the 2'SOCi3teeditor.Otherstaff memberswetc lookingover Tallmer's shouldcrasbereadthem."Theyflipped," McAulilrereported."Thisguy,Wilcock wasthi.ohnglikealltheothen.wasgcod."
TallmerwantedFeifl'tr'srutoons in thep,per;andhe offeredFcifferwhatwas then thetypicalVoiledeal:no pay- but completeeditorialfretdomto saywlutcverhe w.:imed10 uy.
Fciffer'slint canoon for the Voitt ;ippc:ircd in the iuue for October 1956.In it. two menin suitsarcscmding ata busstopreadingthe~wspapetwhen • a thi::dnun :tpproadlei.The tbinl nun JaunchC$intoa monologueofcomplaiPt: "I'm lateto work,"be says;"I al-.-.)~get a stom.ichachewhenI'mbte to work.I'D be dockedandI havebillsto pay.!alw,ys
get a stomachxhc whenI havebillsto pay."Hebeginsdoublingoverin painthepainsignalledviswUybya tinycollectionofspecksandcurlicuesandlighllling boltsem.:matingftomhisstonuch.
"That'swhyI worrya kx," he~ on. "l olw:i)~geta stomachachewhenI worrya lot So I drinkto foiget.ThenI thinkI'mb«ominganakoholic. I alwatl geta stoouchad1e "
"Shut up!" the two listeningmen screamathim,Thentheyexit,sugclefitiny specksand curlicuesand lightning boltscman1iingfromtheirs1onuchs.
The fint ca.noonwascmblerm.ticof whatwasro follow.There is a kind of ironiccircubriryaboutFeitrcr'sca.rtocm. Hispeopleseemsuandedon an inctmlous merry-go-roundof self-absorption. They begin in one psychicplace and bemoantheir lot in lifefor a fewp:mcls duringwhichtheyseemaboutto escape their ktc, but they alw..ysfinishin the samesi1113tiontheystartedin.Theynever seemto Feiffer'scartoOJUoften takew in thiscircle.
In anothere.rly cartoon,a young n-.:instandsand W3.vcs at the peoplehe knoW$who ;)IC walkingby him. They walk by bu1 never acknowledgehim. "Peoplenevernoticeme,"he says,s:ldly. Thenhe walksoft',p:wingayoungwoman who wavesat him and says, "HeUo Hubert,"He doesn't~knowledgeher. Shew.otd1e1himwalkawayandthensays, "Peoplenevernoiiceim."
The futilityof it alt ()Jrticuhr!y (amongtheculturallyandsoci:illyambitiousVilbgm)intrDectualor artisticendeavor,wasfrcqucnllyFci!Ter'ssubject.
•Hiscelebratedd.incerispcrh:ipsthemost
notablein thismori( 9
The dancer6rstappeoredMarch27, 1957."Adance1ospring."sheinnounces .• ThensheOingsbenelfaround!hepageio a seriesofgr.icefulmaneuveu,concluding• thedancein repose.Then,:a ifin answer(a to thispag:,nrite,asinglelllOW ftakcdrilis down fromabove.In the lastscene,lhe 8 dancerdeparts- in a full-iledg,edsnow stonn. e
Relationsbetweenthe sexeswerea frequentsubjectofhiscartoons.In one,a • ratherbrge womm is ber.itinga raimr • smallman."Thafs :illyou thinka girl is for," she !a)'l, liowoing:"Somepeople thinkI havea rt1i11d100!" He says,-rm sorry."Shesays,"Mr.BigHands!Doyou thinkI'm on thisearthso you canprove yourmasculinicy?"Hesays."Butit's New Year'sEve.E•-e,ybodydoesthaton New Year'$Eve."Sheshouts,"Nouomc,Mr. SloppyMouth!"Then she adds, ''I'm goinginsideto dance.You can comeif you want to." A.odbe's silentlydaud: "Sheforgiv(1me.Heh,heh.lt'$allan act. 771isisthenighr."hesays,h.itcyesglowing withlust In the lastpanel,they'redancing. and she says,"Don'tpttSs doll! That'sill yourhinka girlis for."
Feilfersethimselfto make"a weddy satiriccomment"on thepeoplehe knew: "theyoungurbanmiddleclass,theirwork habits,sexurgesand&milyantagonism.." He was intere11ed,he wrote bter, "ill satirizingmyown lcind:GreenwichV~lagc nuke-out men, wine and cheese parties,modemdanccn,ginswho were too busyro sec you becausethey were washingtheirho.ir,bosseswhothoughtit
ms , viobtionof friendship10askfor a
raise,,nxiousfachenandpossessivemothe en, Villagemen and womenexplaining themselvesin ,n endlessbabbleof selfe interest,self-lo,ching,self-searchingand eY:tSion.My aimwas10t:akcthe Rohen e Benchleyhero and launchhim into 1he Ageof Freud."
•Althoughhe beganwith Benchley, FcifferendedwithOos1oevski.Af1erreade ingNotc,.fron,tl,cU11dtrground, he realized e duehe h,d "alwayshoped10getin 1em11 of humor Jom, of the feeling th3t e Oostoevskigot abouthis man, 10show withinthe sp,cc of the scripfinehow a man viewshinuelfand then showwha1 th<ouuidcseeshimas.Andtherwohave absolu1elyno conn,c1ion."
The e""ntiolFeiffercanoonis about communic.11ion-1hcb«•kdownofcommunication001onlybe1weenpeoplebut withinoneself.The fuilu«to undent:and oneself,to behonest-perhaps bruiallyso - in self-examination, is3 cruci:alfuilurc, "Ifsomeonec•n·1evenulk10himself,how canbe be expected10meetwith,talk10, andevalu31cothen?"Fciffc,asks.
Takingthistockweek3fierweek,his cucoonsdefiaced1heartistic,nd culrural pretensionsof Villagewannabeanistes (whonumberedinthelegiom).BuiFeiffer waseven-handed.His cartoonsalsorevealed,nd mockeddieaspirat.ionsandthe maceri>listicunderpinningsofmiddleclass society01l,rge,pi1chmenandpeddlenall.
A short wigh1in 3 suit and hat is walkingdownthenrectnext10a hipner, whosn.1pshisfingcnandmum1un,"Oycs, oycs,omyes."The short fellowis compbiningthaihe'suiedcvcrywayheknows 10 be hip. "Is it my fault I can't grow sideburns?"he says;"I've uied 10 dig everything - j,zz, motorscooters.Is i1 my faultI can'1changemy speechpatterns?Haven'tI criedto say'man,''like,' 'you know,'·1mean.'Whycan'1I be an oucsider?Wha1I wouldn'tgive 10 be a non-<onfomiistlikeall theothers."
An ,dvcrtisingexecucive,ddn,sscs hisminiom:"Allthereportsarein.gentlemen - we h,ve researched,nger and foundit nurketoble Angryyoungmen arc the licemyrage,but li1eia1urc is not enough.Angermustridewiththetimes, gentlemen.We must merchandise it in usefulways- keep it loud! Keep it harmless!We can haveangrysportscar rallies,angryivyleaguesuits,angrypush buttonshoves This mustbe a banner yearforanger,gentlemen.Remember•ngerun be sold.Nextyear,we cango backto mnquilizen,"
Feifferdidn'tplay&vorites.Hespared no one. No one escaped.
He once said,"I'm probablywith mostof lhe peoplein the cartoonsurban,middlecl3SS.BuiI'mnota spokesmanfor,ny group.I'ma spokesmanfor myself.Onceyousun representingpeople, youh,ve 10be responsible,andI wan110 retainthe right10be i<mJ>onsible."
He wanted.in otherwords,10keep hisr.idicaledgesharpandcutting.II wasa righ1he hadearned,FeilTerhadpaidhis dues.Hehadspentnearlycenyeanin the minorleigues.
Feiffcrhad alwayswan1ed10 be • cu1oonis1,he says,Recently,he gaveusa glimps,,of the yearningsandtribub1ions of hisyouthin a novelcalledTh,Manin I/rt Ctiling(HarperCollins,19<J3;$14.95 hardback).Althoughwritcenfor young 3dulu,the book is scarcelybcne21hthe noticeof olderadults,panicularlythose whomaybe i111erened in cartooniscs,nd theirlives.
The novel is not au1obiog13phical exceptin 1hesense1ha1anybookabouta younganise(whateverhisan) islikelyro ,eOectaspeccsof icsauthor'sown youth and apprenticeship.And so we meet Jimmy, 1en-.nd-a-hilfy~rs old, who drawsconstandy.He drawscomicbooks - advenrures1oriesfullof superheroic deedsof derring-do.
Jimmydnwsbecausehemust.Buthe
r GOWROUGH. I F£tl/U cetJ-
alsofinds1ha1hispiccurese.imhima kind
Althoughc,senci:tlly a proseunderof reg.,,dfromhiscl:issmotes.Introverted caking,the book'spicturesarcintegnlto and un,chletic,Jimmyun't find,ccep- icsstory.Drawingin two styles,Feiffer t:ancconthepbyingfieldlikeotheryouths. illustratesnotonlythestoryhe tellsbutthe
Jimmy'sparencs(like so many of comicbookshisyoungherodraws.And Feiffer'screations)are self-,bsorbedand the conclusionof the novelis • perfect thereforenearlyobliviousof their son's blendof wordandpicture. talentandinclination.BuiJimmy'suncle, As a youngs1cr,FeifferOikeevery a would-beplaywright,noticeshim,nd ocherkidaspiring10diawcomics)worencour.igcshim. Observingllut Jimmy shippednewsinpercanooniscs-AICapp, can'tdrawhmdsverywell,UncleLes1er Roy Crane,Mil1onCaniff,WiUEisner urgeshim10practice, andstripslike U'/ Abw, Abbit.,,. St.ts, Jimmylearnsfromhis uncle.And, Wa.1hTubbs,Tt,ryandtht Piratrs,,nd Tht eventuaUy,hisunclelearnsfromJimmy. Spirit,"I srudiedthem,"FeiffertoldGary Togetherthey discoverthe vinue of an Grothin a 1988interview(Comiajou"11l1 old adage.They bo1h le•m 10 "keep 124)," - studiedthe waytheyctopped trying." thep,nelsdown,thedialogue,howmany
Hercandtherealongth<way,Feiffer p,nelstheywoulduseon a Sundaypage. cellsus wh,1 it's like 10 be an aspiring Thc:rcwereotherscripsIliked,butthosewere youngcanoonistIn Chap1er20,Jimmy dieoneschatwm mastttpiecato me." sitsat hisdrawingboard,scaring313blank His mo1herdraggedhim off 10 the sheet of p•per, wailingfor inspiia1ion. An StudencsLeague at theageof14or IS Thepaper"suredback01himin a 1hrca1- 10studyan.uomy.Alierhighschool.faileningnunner.'Dr,w on memd youwill ing to enter che collegeof his choite, be sorry,'it wassaying,Not really.Paper Feifferwent10Prattlns1i1u1e.Buthisreal can'ttalk.But1ha1'showit seemed. irainingin cartooningwasa1 theelbowof "If youknowsomeartiscsor writen, WillEisner. ask themabou1blankwhi1•paper.h is Fei!Terw.u11edto do a syndiaced frightening. h sc,resyoubecauseit looks newspaperadventurestrip,but he knew so whitewi1hexpectotion.Whileto sig- thatwasa difficultfieldto breakinto.And nifyhope.White10signify'Whodo you he knewcomicbooksweremorc,ccesthinkyouare?H,!' sibleforanovice.Inthespringof 1946,he
"Andwhiletosignifytheprizesyou'rc knockedon a fewdoonandsoonarrived going10winas, rcsuhof thednwingor at the Eisnerstudio, s1oryyou put downon 1hcblankwhite Eisnerh2djun rerumedfromhisstint sheerofpaper.Andsooneror beer,when in the urned forcesand wastrying10 youcan'tthinkofanymoreemnds,when revivetheSpirit,HehadassembledasmaU you'vegone10 dte bathroomone time productionteam,and althoughhe told 100 many,whenyou'velostyourfuvoritc Feifferhe was"wonh absolutelynothpencilbut youdidn'tdo a goodjob and ing,"he letcheyouth"hangoutthereand foundit beforeyou were re•dyand it's erasepagesanddo goferwork,"asFcilfer betweenyour6ngen1wi1chingwithan- expbined.feifferwasdelighted. 1icipa1ion.youcouchit to 1hebbnksheer Anda fewweekslater,whenEisner's ofcleanpaper.Andi1'sover,Thepaperis fortunesdee.linedsomewh>tand he lei ruined.The line you drewstinks.The mostof his productionstaffgo, he ltep1 prizegoestosomeoneelse.Whodeserves Feifferon at SIO• week,then$20,"to fill it, Becausethatartistisn'1scaredof white in,todoblacksandrulebordenandthings paper." likethat," Feiffersaid.
..Butthe nuin r~n he kepi meon W3S b<ouse I wu the only real w, he h3d,.. Feiff'«wenton. "The othen in the olf.:ein rheeulydayJ wouldtalkabour howold-whionedIEi.sner}wu andwould pu1down the work as terriblydated. I didn't know whn rhc hell they were 1:1lkingabout.I thoughtthisw:i.sthemost wonderfulstuffI hadevers«n in mylife. Andwhuevororhu annoyingandwi,.,. guy1r.ii11 I h3dwhichpill(dEwicroff,he alsoknewI wasa scho~rofhiswork.1ha1 I ms• groupie To rheorhen.rhiswu • job, and if tllcyleft that, they'dgo to onotherjob; thiswason obscstionwi1h ffi(,
Accordingto Eisner.Feifferhad "a unique impact on rhe Spirit.... Jules couldn'tleuer. He·wun't a very good dr.,fununasanani11,bur he madeup for ir inhisiniensiry,"he toldJohnBensonin 1973(Pd11t/J I. Summer1979)."Hewua gre>tnun 10have in the ,hop henuse :ilmostinsunrlywe had• good 111ong initr.iction. I couldulk storieswithhim."
Eventullly.F<iffergraduatedfrom •~ing pencilsto writingthe fcaNre At somepoint,"he 13id,"wegot intooneof our ,rgumcnis - ,nd wegotinto2 lot of them- abouthi.sstories.I 13idthat his post-·46 !!Orie,weren'treallyup to his '39,•40,•41110,ies.Hell'ldheardenough ofrhis,andhe13id,Ifyouthinkyoucando bener,wri1eme• srory.SoI did.Heliked it, andfromtha1pointon. I wu wri1inia lo1of 1llcnt."
FeilTer"'" suddenlya collabor.i1or. "I wouldwritethem;he wouldgo o,·er thent.We'dju1tgo backand forth.We worud wtU1ogt1her,andwhenwedidn't, he wouldwin
T:i1kingto Bensonin 1974.Feiffcr describedrhc process:"I woulduke 1hc actu,Ipagesand write the s1oryon the pagesandbre,xirdownintopaneh anddo , kind of h:ilf->SSCd!.your,very lightly sketchi1in enoughfor Eisner10know eocdy wlur wu going on. Then he
E30Y Y' CAN SS'E Tl-flNG'S IN ,Me: DARK, YOIJ CAN'T cVE'N 'See IN THE, DAYTIMe.
wouldgo over ~. edit ii. and rewritei1 wherehe feltir nffiledrewri1ing.or clll me in. Sometimeshe (followedmybyout(•nd othertimeshe improvisedon it •nd otherrimeshe ch,ngcdir entircly...
"ltshouldbecleu... th,t evenwhen I wrotea Spiritstory the)' were still CSl(nri,llyhis There'sadifferencebetween,ghostandacreator.Th,1!ustobe unden1ood.Someofthem1ha1 I \\TOlcJ)lrticubrlytheonesthatwereltu ,iokn1 and morehum>11in1ere1t - werebas<d on my own concep1ioru.which were drawnour of radio, more or lw. But 01hcnwerepureEisner.and I ,vassimply acting31 Eisner'she,d, doingthem., I knew Eisnerwoulddo them,or would h,ve donethemat •n culicr time.
"As I told himwhen I suned writ• ing,"Feiffercontinued,"I feltth,1 I h•d moreof, key10whatthestriponcewu >nd101htexcitementthatturnedmeon ,bout it thanhe.whow>Sintolouofother1hing1at 1ha1p,mcular time, and no longerhadrlut in1erest.Butheuught me how 10wrilcstoriesso I unclcnroodthe sryle; I me>n,ir wu, nuisandboltsthing. So someof them I thinkof 31 mine'"d othen I thinkof:i.src,llyhiseven1hough I didthem."
Othen in theshopoccuion:illydida linlewritingon theSpirit,but,Eisnersaid, "Julesw,stheonlyoneI would1ru11rodo a Spinrs1ory."
The youth :i1sol<amedfrom Abe Juncgion, Eisner'sleuerer, 10 whom Feifferwouldbringsamplesof his work for criticilm.lunegionuugh1Feiffcrto
SCIsund>tdsforhimselfand10rcachfor rhem.
Af1ernearlythree yearsin Eisner's sh,dow,Fcifferbcganch,mping,rthebit. He :i.skedEisnerfor, r>isein p2y."I w31 nukingsomethinglike$25a week,"he toldCrorh."I waswriting77zeSpiri1:md layingirout.I thought1h21waswonh$30 a week."
Eisnerdidn't 2g,ec. FcilTer1hrca1ened10quit.
"To keepmeon,he saidhe'dgiveme 1heblck p•gcof TheSpiritscc1ion."
Thebackp,gchadbeen1hepr;>vince ofa one-p,gc11ripforsome1ime;Feilfcr inheritedthespotin lieuof a r.iisein pay. Andhisone-p,gccreation.Clifford,suned onJuly 10, 1949.
Cliffordw212 lirdckid, m,ybe&-7 yeanold.Hew,udnwn likemos1cartoon kidsin thoseday,-liny body,largehead. (LikeClurlie Brownonly 2 year or so beforeSchulz'scrcationdebuted.)But CliffordW>Sclifftt<ntrlunotherkidsoips of 1hcperiod.
SaidFeifTer:"I wan1cd10do , kid 11rip1ha1wu un,basllcdlypro-kid and froma kid'spointofview.h seemedto me 1lu1everysnipon kidsup 10tlut timewas donefroman adultpoin1of view.s,ying 'Aren'tthey1erriblc,,rcn't rheyawful."'
Eisnerliked Clifford."It reallydeserve,10be recognized2srhe forerunner of P,,inwrs,"he told Benson."Whether Chulie SchulzwasinOuencedby Fciffer orno~ I don'tknow,butFeifferwasthcrc with the Pr•nw/JconceptbeforePranws got suncd lin the fallof I950J.I don't knowwhetherJuks'dcbimit.bur lcrcdit
him withir."
In VolumeOne of F:inugt2phio' Fti.ffe,:ThtCo/l«ttdWorlt<,we6noFciffcr's kid urip. Ahhoughthe dr.iwingsryleis dared,1hecon1en1isnor:presenting>kid's viewofhirruclf2ndhisworld,thesrripis 3l agelcuaschildren, These11rip1aho give u.siruigh1inro Feiffer.We c•ns« rheseedsofSic.I:,Sidt, Silkin C/ij/rnd.Beforetheslripwasa ytar old, Cliffordvery oftenbcluvedin 1he manMrof1 FeilTcrChar.icier:he (orone ofhisfriends)wu sometimesundermined by hisown fwrion.sor pretensions. Feiffer>rDngts2 nurble pnc for Oifford,settingit up u ifit were>major 3thle1icevent(or,n old-f21hionedshoorour in a Western).But th• 2westruck ,udienceof w3rchingchildrenis quickly distr3Cledby anotherpl,ygroundenreruinmcnt.,rid they run offandleavethe once puffed-upClifford>lonewith his marbles.completelydc821ed.
Andin January19SO,Clifford'sdiminu1ivcp:il.Seymour.w:i1ksrht llrttt 1mong,dults,compl.lining:"Bein'21itde boyun be > p,in in thenecksometimes. F'iruunce,y'gctju.sroneviewofpeople." Wesechimsurroundedby rhclegsoflhc ,duhswhoroweroverhin1."Alhhcrime, jus1one view.How wouldyou likeit?" He meersasmalldogabouthissue. "You an' me, dOAA)' - nobodyknowswe•re olive.W,lkedon,srepp,dallovcr,no1hin' - thit"sus." As 1heyw:ilkon together, they pm another dog, even sm:illcr. UfT: ,1 lfll'l(.t t't,_ffe,,.,,...,, 1.i,«t, 1,/iJfoBr ---<fh.,.,,tf
AIIOVI;Nifltr'i "d>/Jcm,i",,_liil, Oi#ood, P,, tlw ")#•ltid"' '°'""of tlr<1•• ._.,_
G
Seymou,and hisdogp~ by,and Feilfcr O· shiftsour aucntionto !he new, muller dog.Thisdogiuaying,"!kin' • litdedog 9 un be a painin thenecksometimes .''
Thi.Ijuvenileescnng,mentisechoed e in oneofFcilTer'se:,rlicstC'1CIOOnsforthe 9 Voi,c.(Almostword-for-word,in fact"Peoplenevernoticeme ") Bythen, O Fciffcrhadcometo realize1ha1cstrang,mcntisnotjuvenile:it'spartofthehuman 9 condition.whechcryoungor old.
Cliffordand his pint-sizedpab art $ ofiendefeated.Ostensibly,that'sbecause $ they 31echildrenin an adult worldor childrenwhoseabiliciesart not marure enoughfor the wks theyset themselves. Thepcnpec~vcFcilfcrdevelopedfort.his workhe wouldL1tertum on theworldat large,givinghisadultundenakins,their distinctivepointofview.Inattemptingto see childrenfrom their poin1of vi.cw, Feiffcrhadhonedan insightinto human natureicsclf.
Inside.we ,re all still childrenalone,self-absorbed,desperateforonekind ofsuccessoranother,but,somehow,innocent:tndhopeful.LikeFeifferchar.icters.
The Cliffordvolume also olfers a sketchbooksectionofmiscellaneousearly Feifferan, includinga comicbookpage renderedin • whollyrcaliscicfashion.
And the volumeincludesthe cdcbra!CdSpiritinstallmentin whichEisner the C:inoonistis murderedin the frame story(drawnin the usualmanner)by hi.I FeilferAssistam,whothen ukesoverthe strip;,ndproduces a Spiritadventurewith Clilfordin themaskandsnap-brimhatdrawn in Feilfer'sstyle.PublishedDecember31, 1950,it was.Jmostthclastof Clifford'sappc>rances;the finalClifford appearedMuch 4, I95I. By!hen,Feiffer wasin the Army.
Feiffcrhadbeendraftedearlyin I95I, andintheumy, once:,gainemploying!he penpectivcoftheveryyoung,heproduced his firstmajorwork- Mwnro.Volume Two of the ColluudFtifltrreprincsthis celebrated>tory,allSOpagesof it. Munrois a s:ivage5atireof the military mindand icsrutted,immut1blcroutines - cx,ctlythe sort of visionwe should expectfroma youngcreativepersonality encounteringregimentedlifeforthe first time.
"It wasthefint timeI wastrulyaway fromhome for a long periodof time," Feifferexplained,",nd thrown into a worldthatw,santagonisticto everything I believedin, on everyconceivablelevel. In a warthat I wasout of sympathywith
(the KoreanWar]and in an armyI despilcd.And wtiicharmydisplaytdevery ruleof illogic•nd contemptforthe individualandmindlessexerciseofpowerandtlut becamemy matcrw."
Munro is a little kid, but he lacks Clilford'sassertiveness.He is only four yearsold, andhe isdr.ifiedintothe arn1y - by mis12ke,we assume.But military officialdom,theultimatecommunication cul-de-sac,trcauMunrojustasit trtatSall draftees,refusingco recognizecluehe is somehowdifferent.
Mwnrowas the firstlong work of Fciffcr'scareer,andhe hadgreatdifficulty finishingit. He scattedit duringhis first yeuin thearmybutdidn'tfindan ending untilafterhehadbeendischargcdin1953.
"I did a coupledummiesof it," he toldGroth."AndI couldn'tget it right.I couldn'tfinishit. It wasthe firstworkof thiskindtha~1h,d evertoyedwith,andI didn'tundc11t1ndexactlywhatI wasdoing, :tnd 1 didn't know what the rules were Itwentalongfineup untilthelast third,nd then I seemedto blowit each time,and I couldn'tfigureout why."
Afterhegotoutoftheservice,hewas able to devisean ending- an ending entirelyconsistentwith the fabricof the workasa whole.
"I rememberstillthepleasureandthe thrillwhc.n I cuneupwiththeending,and how Icameup withit because I lcamcd [1h11]youhadto gobac.kcothebeginning to findouthowtoendit,andthatit always had10beverysimple.It hadto havealogic coit thatmadeabsolutesense.Andwhuevcr the snuggle the answerwasin a sensedicutedrightfromthefirstt<npages of thestuff."
Returningto civili.mlife in 1953, Feiffertried unsuccessfully to interesta
book publisherin Munro.He alsocried sellinga comicstripto severalsyndicates. Again,no luck.
VolumeTwoincludesthestripsFci.ffcr concocted,somein pencilledsucconly. Ktrmit.(whichhe inventedin 1950) is abouta childprodigy;Nata/itis abouta littlegirl.In Dopplt,Fei[ermightbe said to haveleftthe worldof childhood,but consideringthatthepremiseofthestripii th2ttheworldisflat(apropositionthatthe title char.ictcrand his wife set out co prove),we cansecFciffcr'snow-familiar stancestillin effect.
Whileexperimentingwith~ snips. Fciffcrcame<!hislivingby workingin a scriesof"schlockanhouses."Andthenhe beganhearingabout77,, Vi/lag,Voict.
Feiffer'sapproachcothe Voictwas,by hisown ,dmission,"totlllycynical."He wantedto appearin the paper'spagesin order to attractthe attentionof outers who mightpublishhis work - and in order to make , name for himself.In shoppingMunroaround,he had learned thathisbeingunknownwasanenormous h;,ndicap.
"I had been turneddown overand overandoveragainby bookpublishers,'' herecountedtoGroth."Munrowastumtd down.A coupleof ocherbooks- the bookI calledSult,Sidt,Sid, - whichI beer did for Playboyunderthe title 77,, O,nfo,,.iit.I'd go frompublisherto publilhcrand all thesepublishcnthoughtI was terrific,and they passedthe book· around,andthey'diakemeout colunch, and they'draveaboutwhatI wasdoing, how freshit was. Finallythis stopped beinga compliment.Earlyon, youthink, Well,thisis terrific!I'm in!Buethenyou discoveryou'renotin;you'reoutbecause theysay,Well,we don't know how 10
markcuhis.It'swondcrfulstuffbutthcrc's no marketfor it.
"Andit becameclearthat therewas no marketforit becauseit wasaCatch-22 situation,"Fciffcrexplained."I had no name,so whowasgoingcobuythiswork. that lookedlike children'sdrawingsbut wasveryadultmaterial?
"Now,if mynamewasSteig,thenit wouldbe markct1blc,"he continued."If mynamewasSteinberg.!hentheycould sell it. If my 112mcwere Thumcr, no problem.So I had 10figureout a wayof becomingSccig,Steinberg.or Thurberin order to geewhat I wantedinto print.I lhoughtof all sortsof things.I couldkill somebodyand thenget &mousthatway, and then I couldget published. I could commitsuicide- suicidewasnot then cst1blishedasa formofself-promotionas it laterbee=• with sevet21poccs.
"But shon of suicideor murder,I didn't know wlut 10do until the Voia camealong.Isawthatit wasthep,pcrtlut a lot of !he people whoseattentionI wantedread- becauseit waship;it was inside.It W3S modestlycircubccd,but to alltherightpeople.I wassmartenoughto know- evenat theag, of 27 (whichis whatI wasthen)- thatifl couldget!he stufl'chcy'rtturningdownintoprintany• wlrm, they would think, Well, wait a minute:it'sin print.So ifl couldgetthose six guyswho say I c:i'n'tget into print lookingn the stuff in print, they will changetheir minds- which is what happened.It did exactlyas I hoped it would."
Almost."I thoughtit wouldtakea coupleofyc,n,"Fciffersaid."lttooksomethinglikethrtt months.It wasveryfist_" Feiffcr'sdrawingsatfirnwereascy!istic hodge-podge.He wasinOuencedby WilliamSteigandRobettOsborne.And, occasionally,by UPA,nimatedC'1Cl00ns, then allthe rage, UnitedProductionsof Americawas bornoutofaninstructionalfibncompany • thathadbeenformedin 194410produce an anirn,cedpro-FranklinRooseveltfilm for·thcPresidentialcampaignthat year. Later,under !he designinginfluenceof Osborne,UPA createdan entirelynew visualstyle- modem,simplified,almost absmct (OneofUPA's mostcelebrated creations,Mr. Magoo,lint appcartdin Ragtime&a, in 1949;CaaldMr&in,fBoing,whichcst1blished!he company's newlook,debutedinJanu:,ry1951.)The UPAstylewaswidelyimitatedintheearly '50s,and Fci.ffertriedhishandat it, too. VolumeThreeof the 0,/k,tcdF,iffe, prcsentsthe firstycar-and•a-halfof his Voi1cc,rt0onsin strictchronologicalor-
der, ,nd we can see Feiffcr'sscyleevolving, sometimesweek-by-week.By the springofl957.heh>d,bandonedhismon obviousattemptsat Stcigand others,,nd hisown stylewasemerging.
His stylewouldcontinue10evolve, though- JS doesthestyleofany,nistuntilit reachedwh3tI regard:ISiu nuture formin the nud-'60s.Bythe '70s,Fciffcr's compositions:11well :11his line were wonderfullylooseyet St3rl<lyetched.
Formuchof theearlyrunofthe Voi« feature,Feifferdid nut muchplumbthe potentialofthevisual-verbal>rtform- as ananfonn.His anoon wasessentially a verbalenterprise:the picturesservedto identifythestereocypicalpersonagebeing ridiculed311dto pace the t31k,timing verbaldisclosureuntil the punchlinewas reachedand the spe•kcr'sAchilles'heel w:11revealed.
The expressionson his ch•raeters· faces added useful informationto our comprehensionof the talkandiu import, but the basicobjectivesof the cartoon wereoften accomplishedthroughwords alone.Andsometimesthe pictureswere nothingmorethan 13lkingheads.
By the '70s,however,Feiffer'svisualizationswerecontributingsubsl:lntially ,o the mruion of ,he c>rtoon,adding informuioncssemialto compltteunderstandingof his point.
An anti-guncartoon, for example, offers the followingspeech: "No gun control!Shootinga presidentistragic,but limiling our use of hand guns is worse. Shootingwomenand childrenis wrong. bu, regulatingrhe right to bear armsis worse.DepriveAmericasof the freedom to shoot and you will leaveour families
ungunnedand unprotected,ripefor terroristtake-over.Shoot first!Protectthe livesof the ungunned."
Thesophismofrhisdiatribeisunderscoredby thevisuals- a seriesof pictures showingthespeakerfiringa pistolfromaU sons of po,itioru,prone,sitting,crouching, nanding.whicheffectivelyportrays the speaker., a &lhlticwho loves10ftre guns.
The fenule half of a hippiecouple says(in • succeS$ion of scenesillu,trating herwords):"Dancing partying doping.Fun'sfun,Al,"shego,son. "butI got ambitions.I want10do somethingwith my lift," She arisesfromthe bed upon which her lover remains,zonked out, dissolu1e.She concludes:"I'm going10 learnhow to read."Her lover',headlolls backas he slides,apparently,into comple,e uncoruciowness.
FeiITer' s d3nccrofrennude hispoint withherpo,e in rhefinalpanel.A monologue of self-piiydeliveredby Henry Kis,ingerconcludeswitha pictureof him in :i crucifiedposition.Nixon is depicted :11KingKong,wreckinghavocon W:11hington monuments,but the chorus of observersdecidestheycan·,getridof him because"it wouldtearrhecountryapart."
AlthoughFeifferwas achievinghis objectivewhenhe brokeintoprint,t the Vokt,sincehewasnotpaidforhisweekly cartoon,he continuedworkingata vari• c1yof undistinguishedJrt shopsfor the first year or 10. Among his >topsw:11 Terrytoonsin New Rochelle,where he met and worked for Gene Deitch,formerlywi1hUPA, who wouldlaterproducethe311ima1edvenionofMu1110 (which wouldwinan AcademyAwardin 1961).
But Feifferwasfrustntedby !he buuondownmindsof the studio'sowners,CBS, and welcomedthe ch.nee to quit assoon as it c:ime.
It came in 1958.and it camefrom HughHefner.Hefnerhadbeenwatching Feiffer'sworkinthe Voittandofferedhim $S00a monthto doa cartoonfor Playboy, By this time, FeiITer'scartoon had been pickedup by the 1..ondMObstrwr (whichresultedin his being mistakenly perceived:11 a Bri1ishcartoonist- "I go1 J lot ofc.achetd1atway."Feiffersaid),and McGr.iwHillwaspoisedto publi,hSick, Silk, Sitk, the first collectionof FeiITer .ortoonsfrom,he Voitt.The firstFeiffcr cartoonsin Playboy,in &ct, were "preprints" from the book. (Althoughthe Voic,carioon wl! originallytided Si,k, Sick, Sitk, Feifferchanged ,he tide to avoidhis work'sbeingconfu«dwiththe so-called"sickhumor"of Mort S,hl ,nd Mike Nicholsand ElaineMay. Al first, Feiffertried to explainhow his cartoon w:11different:"I saidit wasnotsickhumor but thatsocietyw.is sick,that I w:11commentingon asick10ciety.and thatI hated sickjokes.I turnedblue explainingmyself,Eventually, it wassimplcrtodropthe tide Sid,, Sitk, Sitk and renamethe cartoon Fciffer. ")
AlthoughFeifferwas happy at the prospectof earninga livingwageat last, he wa< no1quite comfortablewith Playboy. He didn't agree with the "girl on every ann" philosophythat dominated the m,guine. Thus,in the pagesof Pinyboy, he saw himselfas "rhe diS$ident cartoonist."But that wasn't an unusual feeling with him once his cartoonwas beingiyndicatednationally.
"Ouuideofthe Voiu,"hetoldGroth, "there wasn'ta singlenewspaperin the countryrunningme that I agreedwith. And Playboy\VlS by no means., objectionable10me :1190%of the newspaper; thatI wasbeingsyndicatedin,whichwere consideredmJin:scrt3m. I mean,themainstream I consideredthe foul 11ream,as JesseJacksonmightsay."
Despitehis dis3grcementwith the nugazine'spoint of view.Fcifferenjoyed workingwithHefuer,who thecartoonis1 describedunequivocallya, "a first-rate canoon editor," Feifferwould send in roughsof hiscartoons,md Hefnerwould sendthembackwithtwo-andthree-page leuersthatreviewedvirtuallyeve.rypanel, everydrawing,in the rough.
"At fint," Feiffersaid, ''I'd look at them and grom. Oh. shit. [But] ,hey neverdid not makesense.And of1enhe wouldbring up thingstlut he wasabsolutely right about, and I'd agree with. Whenhe didn't, rhen I wouldwritehim back, or call him, and say, I disagree becauseof such-and-such.And he'd say, Okay- go ahead.He wouldneversay, I'm sorryyou disagree,but it's my magazine,[mdjifyouwontthisin,you'dmake the change.Thatconvers,uionnevertook place.
"The conversationthat took place was.Ifyou can't do it myway.do it your way. His way was never, ever, about sellingout myprinciple1in order10nuke it dovetailmorewirhthe r113g2zine 's rmrket3bilityor appro•ch.He wasfascinated by the subject [of cartooning];he jus1 ABOVE:Hy1h, 1970,, Fri.ff<''<~uoulrd,ftof1h, fotttrtlltlrd11atwrtef1huomia ,nMiwmu-aso,ifatl di1plny- 110lt ltou,th~di,tlofflr11mlptifwltl dou'I sr,mdali,11c htrt.
lovedthe nuI$ ondboll$(of it!. How do you makethis work better?I think this ~nel isdiver,ion>ry.They"reu!kingtoo much here aboutsomethingelse.It w:1.1 exu"?ordinuilyhefpful.Andoverondover •goin.He wouldcriticizeC3ttoonsin ordtr to m.,kc my point strong,r - althoughmypointwasoftencounterto the Playboyphilosophy."
Feilfereventu:allyleft the nugazine for• time,then rct\lmed.then leftagain. Duringhis secondstim in the 1980s,he wed •g:iinthe chorocter,he'd introduced duringhis6r,t run-only nowtheywere middle-•gedmen.but theywerestilltrying to n"kc it withyoungwomen.
"It was3 brur'11,tough seriesabout the Playboyreodcros he re:allywas u opposedcothe romonnc(vision!."Feiffer soid."I mean. these guys were losen, middle-ogedpaunchylosen, who were tryingto st1yyoung.Thoew,s in Playboy. For.mymoney,it's the bestwork I ever did for the nugazine."
But Feifferhad alMolutelyno feedback from the reader,of the nugazine. Undentandably,perhaps.Andasa result, after3 coupleyears,he quit again.
Meanwhile,Feifferin the '50s and '60swroteortidrsfor mogazincslikeM-.dcmoiulle,Holiday,Ufa,SaturdayE,,:nin.~ Post,Harp<n,TheA1/a111icand Rmnparts. He woson the lecturecircuit.He wrotea novel.Andhe beganwritingpbys.
"When I beganwritingfor the theattr, 11]discoveredthat this was what I A.BOVE:Some OC4u.tiful,siyli~td Fdffu art in "'111t Kamrdy Dimtt."'
OPPOSITE:A 11<1y rrunl Feiffnstripfem July. 1996, ns diU:UJstdin th<1trlirlt.
