By CARROLL JOHNSON
The talents of cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter and novelist Jules Feiffer were in evidence during an illustrated lecture at the Library on Oct. 19 in the Montpelier Room.
The lecture was sponsored by the Center for the Book and coincided with the exhibition of Mr. Feiffer's gift to the Library, a major portion of his works, including manuscripts, typescripts and a large selection of original cartoon drawings.
"My mother, Rhoda Davis Feiffer, saved all of my drawings and every scrap of paper," said Mr. Feiffer. "She was the only Jewish mother that thought that being a cartoonist was an honorable profession."
Mr. Feiffer opened his lecture with a showing of his animated film "Munro," about a 4-year-old boy who finds himself drafted into the Army, which refuses to discharge him.
From the time he was a child, Mr. Feiffer aspired to be a cartoonist. "I was a boy cartoonist living in the Bronx during the Depression with friends living in the other boroughs of New York," he said. Mr. Feiffer used to sell his comics on street corners, competing with the boys who were selling real comic books.
Some of the cartoonists and strips that influenced Mr. Feiffer include "Little Jimmy" by Jimmy Swinnerton and "Skippy" by Percy L. Crosby. "The comics create a universe. Even 'Popeye' had a rudimentary sophistication about it," said Mr. Feiffer. "Its wit and style, though unrecognizable, can be compared to [that of] W.C. Fields."
In the 1930s many Jews began producing comics as a way of assimilating into American society. According to Mr. Feiffer, two Jewish men, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, created "Superman" as a way of opposing anti- Semitism in America and abroad. "Every boy wants to be invincible, to fight, kill and maim … and Superman does those things, except he is heroic," said Mr. Feiffer. Superman was a metaphor for fighting evil, such as the Nazis. "Superman really came not from Krypton, but from the planet Poland," he said.
In 1946 Mr. Feiffer, age 16, went to work as an assistant to Will Eisner, creator of the comic book "The Spirit." Eisner allowed Mr. Feiffer to realize his ambition and gave him a back page of the comic book. Mr. Feiffer created a strip called "Clifford" about a kid from the Bronx. "To get even with Eisner," Mr. Feiffer said, "I would have Clifford parodying 'The Spirit.' I had to get my hostilities out." Mr. Feiffer said. "I had problems, and it was coming out in my work even then."
Mr. Feiffer attracted national attention in October 1956, when he debuted in the Village Voice with an innovative cartoon featured first called "Sick, Sick, Sick" and later renamed "Feiffer". "It was Eisenhower and the bomb that pushed me into politics, but it was the matter of the Cold War that really upset me," he said.
Some of the political cartoonists who influenced Mr. Feiffer include Herblock, "the master of the pre- McCarthy period"; Robert Minor, "the man who introduced the grease crayon" for drawing cartoons; Art Young, "the spirit behind political cartooning"; and Walt Kelly, who produced "Pogo". "Kelly was forthright with political satire and criticism," said Mr. Feiffer.
The audience was also saw another side of Mr. Feiffer's talents: He created voices for of all of his characters and mimicked the voices of many of America's leaders. Mr. Feiffer lampooned Lyndon B. Johnson, Robert Kennedy, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, Pat Buchanan and many others. After showing a strip on Mr. Buchanan, Mr. Feiffer said that "patriots believe in this country, but they don't want to follow the Constitution."
As Mr. Feiffer discussed his work the audience viewed slides of his cartoons on civil rights, poverty, economics, talk shows, children's rights and the relationship between the sexes.
An accomplished author and illustrator of children's books, Mr. Feiffer has published two books for preadolescents. "My career is now focused on children's books," he said. Mr. Feiffer showed the audience a drawing from his recent book, A Barrel of Laughs, A Bale of Tears, which tells of Roger, a thoughtless prince whose comical journey prepares him for the burdens of the throne. Mr. Feiffer gave the audience a preview of his current work, about a boy who becomes part of the adventure book he is reading. "This book will be my full-time work for the next couple of months when I get back to New York."
Carroll Johnson is in the Interpretive Programs Office.