*************** UPDATE **************
GO HOME PADDY will be back to it’s regular schedule on Thursday 7/8.
See you all then!
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A comment on the previous page by Patrick Brown (who is also creating web-comics) brought up some interesting points. Patrick commented:
Interesting that you’ve chosen to use the “simian” stereotype, and I think, from your comments about prejudiced Irish people, I understand why you’re doing it. An unusual choice. I did some research into pre-20th century Irish cartooning recently (for this article) and it depressed me that nearly all the books available focused on the English simian stereotype of the Irish at the expense of the rich cartooning tradition Ireland itself had. John Fergus O’Hea in particular deserves a reputation in Ireland to rival Tenniel’s in England – his colour chromolithographs from the Weekly Freeman are very impressive, and surprisingly modern – but we’re more interested in how nasty Tenniel was to us than in our own artists!
Please follow the link to Patrick’s site and read his excellent article on the History of Irish Comic Art! He’s done an exemplary job of examining this historical aspect of Irish cartooning!
For those readers that are coming over from across the Atlantic, the seminal figure for Irish-Americans in regards to bigoted anti-Irish cartoons is Thomas Nast. In America, Nast was a rather influential proponent of Anti-Irish racism with his cartoons of drunken and violent Irish Catholic monkey-men. In fact the first time that I ever saw the “simian” stereotype in an illustration, it was in one of Nast’s cartoons: The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things.
That’s probably enough links for one day, hunh?
Wow — great background stuff from Patrick Brown.
And stealin’ your own dead grandmother’s lines — but I guess it’s in a good cause!
Did he say “violent Irish Catholic Monkey Men”?!
Keep up the good work!
Not like the future seafaring Irish….Now back in my day we weren’t scared of anything….and walked six miles to school in the snow, uphill both ways, with no legs…
NYCDW — you think you had it tough? Back in my father’s day, they didn’t have the numbers 3 or 5! Do you know how tough it was to count back then!? HA!