Danny Hellman Illustration

Seven assorted Presidential race illos:

“CANDIDATES 2008” 

Illustration for THE STRANGER

October 2007, Art direction by Aaron Huffman

“ROMNEY UNZIPPED” 

Cover illustration for Boston Phoenix

February 2010, Art direction by Kristen Goodfriend. 

“PEPPER-SPRAY THE GOP”

Cover illustration for SF BAY GUARDIAN

January 2012, Art direction by Mirissa Neff

“DESTROY ALL REPUBLICANS”

Illustration for Las Vegas Weekly

October 2011, Art direction by Ryan Olbrysh

“WET PAINT OBAMA”

Illustration for C&E Politics

May 2008, Art direction by Jeff brown

“DESKTOP ELECTION”

Illustration for PRSA TACTICS

January 2008, Art direction by John Elsasser

“SUPER OBAMA”

Cover illustration for Creative Loafing Tampa

July 2008, Art direction by Jason Hatcher

Oh, The Jobs That Get Killed, Part Two

Here’s the second batch of illos from last Summer’s killed Dr Seuss parody book project, the saga of which can be read here. 

Cartoonist Darren Gendron brought my attention to a successful legal action by the Geisel estate against Penguin Books in 1997. It seems that, at the height of the OJ Simpson trial, the folks at Penguin were moving forward with a Dr Seuss-style parody of the OJ case, written in anapestic tetrameter, with Seuss-style illos and the divinely inspired title, “The Cat NOT In The Hat.” 

After reading about the case, I find it hard to decide whose side I’m on. It’s pretty obvious that “The Cat NOT In The Hat” was going to be a TERRIBLE book, and the world is probably an infinitesimally better place thanks to the swift action of the Geisel estate’s attorneys. That said, I can’t see how a book featuring drawings of OJ Simpson wearing a red & white striped hat could ever be confused with the genuine works of Dr Seuss.

As far as I can tell, Penguin wasn’t appropriating Seuss’ trademarked characters for profit, (as Dan O’Neill and the infamous Air Pirates did with Disney’s characters in 1971), and I can’t imagine anyone stupid enough to accidentally hand their child Penguin’s OJ parody book in place of the actual “The Cat In The Hat.”  So, why did the judge side with the Geisel estate?

The Plaintiff’s complaint cites an interesting opinion by SCOTUS justice David Souter in Acuff v. Rose: “For the purposes of copyright law, the nub of the definitions, and the heart of any parodist’s claim to quote from existing material, is the use of some elements of a prior author’s composition to create a new one that, at least in part, comments on that authors works…. If, on the contrary, the commentary has no critical bearing on the substance or style of the original composition, which the alleged infringe merely uses to get attention or to avoid the drudgery in working up something fresh, the claim to fairness in borrowing from another’s work diminishes accordingly (if it does not vanish), and other factors, like the extent of its commerciality, loom larger.”

In other words, it’s not parody, (i.e. protected speech) if you’re merely borrowing elements of the original work to get attention and save yourself the drudgery of coming up with something new. But then, doesn’t the use of Seuss’s gimmicks, (the striped hat, the drawing style, the rhyming pattern) juxtaposed with the horror of the Simpson case add up to some kind of commentary on Seuss’s work, and beyond that, is it even possible to create new work that doesn’t draw on existing material? Isn’t new art always, (to some degree) a synthesis of what came before?

My verdict: bad book shut down by worse decision.

More info about the Seuss v. Penguin action here.

FOUR ROMNEYS: with Mitt Romney looking ever more like the Republican front runner, I thought I’d post a few of my Romney illos, (some very recent, some not-at-all recent). 

First is a cover illo for Boston Phoenix in February 2010, art direction by Kristen Goodfriend. (while looking through my files, I came across another Romney-themed Boston Phoenix cover illo from 2007, but that one has a Romney likeness that’s so far from the mark, it’s making me cringe. Sorry, Kristen!).

The second one features Obama, Edwards, Giuliani, Hillary and Romney from the 2008 Presidential election. This was for The Stranger in September of 2007, art direction by Aaron Huffman.

Third up: a Toho Studios-themed illo showing the GOP’s 2012 Presidential candidates as giant radioactive beast trampling a landscape of foreclosed homes. This ran in an issue of Las Vegas Weekly, October 2011, art direction by Ryan Olbrysh

The last and most recent of the four illos features the GOP’s 2012 Presidential candidates getting a snootful of pepper spray on the cover of the SF BAY GUARDIAN, January 2012, art direction by Mirissa Neff.

THREE BLOOMBERGS: my feelings about NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg have been mixed. I applaud his “nanny state” crusades against trans-fats and workplace smoking, and I’m a huge fan of Bloomberg’s Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan’s efforts to tame NYC’s nightmarish traffic problem. On the flip side, Bloomberg’s failed attempt to build a stadium in Manhattan’s West Side, his support of Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards debacle here in Brooklyn, and his enthusiasm for charter schools are all disappointments. 

However, any positive feelings I had for Bloomberg went out the window on the morning of November 15th, when he allowed his Police Commissioner Ray Kelly to pull a surprise eviction raid on the protestors at Zuccotti Park, thus shredding our First Amendment-guaranteed rights to assemble and exercise free political speech. This was a truly shameful move that left me feeling ashamed that I’d ever voted for Bloomberg.

I’ve drawn Mike Bloomberg a dozen or so times since he was elected in 2001, (which now seems like an eternity ago). I’ve chosen three illos that I think have held up nicely. The first is one I drew for attorney Erik Jacobs, (who saved my butt when I was being sued a few years back). In November 2008,  Erik and some lawyer friends were appalled by the Mayor’s announcement that he’d seek a third term, (in violation of NYC’s term limit law) and asked if I could help out with a drawing of the billionaire mayor as Richie Rich. I was happy to oblige.

The second is a cover illo I drew for art director Ivylise Simones at the Village Voice in May 2009. When this Summer Guide cover was published, Bloomberg’s third mayoral campaign was in full swing, and it seemed appropriate to show Mayor Mike softening New Yorkers up with free popsicles. 

The third illo sprang directly from NYPress editor John Strausbaugh’s fertile imagination in October of 2002, when Bloomberg, (then in his first term) extended NYC’s anti-smoking laws to include restaurants and bars. This “Smoking Squirrel” cover was apparently popular with readers, and even after a decade, folks still mention it to me on occasion.