Fantagraphics new monograph on the works of cartoonist Will Elder provides an inside history of twentieth century cartoon art.  Elder, a superb draughtsman and painter, is also one of the funniest men alive, and his career from the 1930s to the 1990s spanned the key decades that defined the cartoon art of the era.  Along with the great Harvey Kurtzman Elder shaped the humor of a generation with Mad Magazine.  Elder possesses an uncanny ability to capture the essence of the style of almost anyone working in comics (or commercial art) during his era, and the new Fantagraphics volume is filled with visually subtle and laugh-out-loud-funny parodies of the great newspaper comic strips of the last century.  From Al Capp to Norman Rockwell there was no artistic style that Elder couldn't capture and twist in a most delightful way.

Daniel Clowes, who provides the introduction, calls Elder 'the Mozart of zaniness' and the elegance of Elder's work and its precision and technical mastery all recall the works of the eighteenth century composer, although Elder's gifts were applied to the pure twentieth century absurdity that made Mad Magazine the perfect satirical accompaniment to the Atomic Age.  Fantagraphics' Will Elder monograph, which is available in both softcover ($49.95) and hardcover ($69.95) editions, is a mammoth (400 pages, 9'x12') and fitting tribute to a very, very funny and talented man.  Illustrated lavishly throughout, Will Elder: The Mad Playboy of Art contains an extensive and perceptive biographical essay by Gary VandenBergh, numerous classics from Mad Magazine, plus works from Panic, Help!, Trump, and Playboy. And the proven broad appeal of Elder's work makes this a great book for retailers to display