Strange Windows « The Hooded Utilitarian

May 3, 2011
By Alex Buchet
Blog, Columns
10 comments

Strange Windows: Ha, ha, ha, Moooo…! (Ligne Claire 1)

Today I wish to spotlight perhaps the most successful –and charming– of French illustrators for children: Benjamin Rabier.

April 4, 2011
By Alex Buchet
Blog, Columns
11 comments

Strange Windows: Monumental

An examination of monuments of Popeye, Mickey, Peanuts, and other cartoon characters.

March 18, 2011
By Alex Buchet
Blog, Columns
50 comments

Strange Windows: The Suck Fairy will get you if you don’t watch out!

My God, you think, that was one hell of a novel/song/movie! Nostalgia mixes with anticipation as you prepare to savor it anew.

March 7, 2011
By Alex Buchet
Blog, Columns
17 comments

Strange Windows: A Master at the Dawn

When a new art form appears, how often does it spawn a master craftsman at or near the beginning of its existence? Surprisingly often.

February 7, 2011
By Alex Buchet
Blog, Columns
25 comments

Strange Windows: Six Degrees of Ezra Pound

Ezra Pound to Kevin Bacon to Queen Elizabeth and more.

January 29, 2011
By Alex Buchet
Columns, Keeping Up With the Goonses, Series
no comments

Strange Windows: Keeping up with the Goonses (Index)

Lexicographer: a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words. – Samuel Johnson, Dictionary (1751) In a seven-part series, we surveyed the contributions of comics and cartoons to English popular language Part 1, part 2, part 3 looked at American newspaper comic strips; part [...]

January 29, 2011
By Alex Buchet
Columns, Keeping Up With the Goonses, Series
3 comments

Strange Windows:Keeping Up with the Goonses (part 7)

This is part seven of our look at comics, cartoons and language– today focussing on Britain Art by Heath Robinson Britain has a long, rich tradition of cartooning second to no other land’s. And, as we saw for American English, cartoons have contributed to the country’s popular language.