The Laughing Librarian / by Jeanette C. Smith

This just out from McFarland, The Laughing Librarian : a History of American Library Humor by Jeanette C. Smith. Not a lot of graphics, but some cartoonists are included in the narrative, including a certain dusty old cataloger. I know Jeanette had been working on this book for a long time and it is an impressive and unusual contribution to the profession.

Phone photo 237

237 237 237 237 237 237 237

Cranium Frenzy # 9

1st edition, February 1998, 65 copies, grey cover. All editions are regular digest size.

2nd edition, February 1998, 60 copies, pink cover.

3rd edition, May 1998, 30 copies, salmon cover.

1st Danger Room Reprint Edition, June 2005, 5 copies, yellow cover.

I'm pretty sure at least 95% of this comic was drawn with #1 lead pencils. I might've used felt tip for the solids. The original art, I think, fell between one of my filing cabinets and the wall several years ago. Right now my studio is in disarray from flooding (long story), so perhaps I'll be forced to find this art again as I put things back together in the next month or so.

Trivia:

Page 1+: This "what if" question later became part of a series of one weird conundrum after another that was published in Seattle's The Stranger and also in OlyBlog. In the latter case there is audio.

Page 5: It took a lot of out loud practice, much to the consternation of my family and friends, to finally nail down how to spell out these laughs in comic form.

Page 8-10: Room 237 has a special place is cinema.

Librarians and comix never used to mix much. But in the last decade or so people in our profession have decided it's OK to laugh at ourselves instead of being so defensive.

Yes, that's my 1998 self-portrait.

Page 12, panel 1: Oh how I long to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing "I Haven't Seen My Underpants In Weeks."

Page 13+: Perry Como died a few years after this story was published, so of course we'd have to find a substitute person for this terrific movie script. Wayne Newton, perhaps.

Page 16: The Worst Cat in the World was actually a half Siamese/half Manx named Snowy.

Page 19-20: I actually really like Oregon, but we Pacific Northwest siblings like to have our little teasing jokes. Portland has a vibrant comix scene, by the way.