The Art of Richard Thompson

October 11, 2015 6:28 PM

(slvimeo) Richard Thompson is renowned among cartoonists as the "artist's" cartoonist. Little known to all but those close to him is the extent of his extraordinary art, a gift so rare that it compelled "Calvin and Hobbes" creator, Bill Watterson, to break an almost 20 year silence and declare, "Now I have a reason to read comics again". Cul de Sac, his comic strip, from the beginning.
posted by ladyriffraff (25 comments total)

The comic at 2:25 in the video is still making me laugh despite the pointless anger I feel at the stupid unfairness of stupid Parkinson's stupid disease.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:35 PM on October 11, 2015

Don't ever forget to go to Richard's Poor Almanac, especially if you like to read about fountain pen nibs. Thompson's absolutely the best, and (selfishly) I wish him the best of health.
posted by Guy Smiley at 6:54 PM on October 11, 2015 [7 favorites]

Thanks for posting. I've never heard of the strip or the cartoonist until now. (I'd presumed it was a post about the other Richard Thompson.) Watterson's endorsement and the first strip sold me entirely. Can't wait to read the rest and see the profile.
posted by not_on_display at 6:57 PM on October 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

Wow! Look what the Poky Little Puppy did to the Cat in the Hat!
posted by Wolfdog at 7:01 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

One time I put a snow globe in the microwave and pushed "Hot Dog."
posted by Wolfdog at 7:07 PM on October 11, 2015 [3 favorites]

I've loved Cul De Sac for years, and Richard Thompson is fully the equal of Bill Watterson in cartooning. There are so many wonderful ideas there, like the "Uh-oh Baby," a human character who may or may not be imaginary, Petey having out-of-body experiences due to worry, Alice's manhole cover dances, Dill's brothers, the jungle gym that grows, the awesomeness of Big Shirley, Mr. Otterloop's teeny-weeny car, and countless other things.

The whole thing's on GoComics, you know!
posted by JHarris at 7:12 PM on October 11, 2015 [4 favorites]

especially if you like to read about fountain pen nibs.

dip.
posted by sebastienbailard at 7:13 PM on October 11, 2015

Too late to watch in its entirely or with sound, but I'm seeing touches of Ronald Searle, Quentin Blake, and Ralph Steadman. No bad thing.
posted by BWA at 7:35 PM on October 11, 2015

One time I put a snow globe in the microwave and pushed "Hot Dog."

I hit that one and laughed so hard I cried. Thank god I don't have any of that sweet, sweet legal marijuana. I've no doubt I'd be passed out by now.
posted by spacewrench at 7:41 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Though there have been many, if there is one thing I've learned from Cul de Sac, it's that YOU CAN'T TIE DOWN A BANJO MAN!!
posted by Spatch at 7:54 PM on October 11, 2015 [6 favorites]

I started reading the comic from the beginning and thought it was sweet and unique and witty, and then I literally LOLed at this one. You had me at "shard", Mr. Thompson.
posted by maudlin at 8:04 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

A suburban community ... girded by a moat of stagnant traffic.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 8:09 PM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

I've already downloaded a book of his comics to my e-book reader. And posted a few of his caricatures to my "caricatures" Pinterest board. I have a feeling I'm going to have a long and interesting time getting familiar with his work. Yes, I'll say it,... I have a new crush. Thank you!
posted by cleroy at 8:10 PM on October 11, 2015

I admit Waterson's endorsement is why I started reading it, but now I think I will have to get the books and read them to the kids.
posted by psycho-alchemy at 8:45 PM on October 11, 2015

My kid is too old to read to. Not that that will stop me from reading and enjoying the entire run of Cul ce Sac.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:59 PM on October 11, 2015

I kept the post to two links in an effort to go minimalist as recommended. I was going to have just one but I couldn't resist linking to his work. All that said, if you are enjoying the work there are books available, including some at the lulu shop (proceeds benefit Parkinson's disease research). The Compleat Cul de Sac won an Eisner this year.
posted by ladyriffraff at 9:37 PM on October 11, 2015 [4 favorites]

Is The Compleat complete? Or like all of the hyperbolic Calvin and Hobbes titles?
posted by fizban at 1:05 AM on October 12, 2015

Mod note: A couple of comments deleted. Okay, really if you need to remark on someone else commenting with a link that actually appears in the post, best to just say "btw, that link was actually in the post" rather than being elliptical, so as to maybe avoid a lot of confusion that apparently occurred here (like it ended up seeming that people were complaining about not enough links, which definitely isn't a problem, and the post is totally fine).
posted by taz (staff) at 3:32 AM on October 12, 2015

> especially if you like to read about fountain pen nibs.

Dip pen nibs. Which are also worth obsessing about if inkwell-pen-using is your thing. But are, aside from being an ink-to-paper delivery unit, totally different from fountain pen nibs. Having obsessed about each at different times in my life, these are topics I can be incredibly boring about. In contrast to Thompson, whose prose about dip pen nibs is delightful.
posted by ardgedee at 3:54 AM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Almost too painful to watch. Cul de Sac appears every morning in my RSS feed and shall continue to do so until either the feeder or feedee expires...
posted by jim in austin at 8:10 AM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Worth it for Big Shirley alone.
posted by blucevalo at 9:48 AM on October 12, 2015

fizban - my understanding is that The Compleat Cul de Sac is indeed now complete. The artist requested some alternate strips be put in (per the link). There certainly isn't going to be more and that's a true shame.
posted by ladyriffraff at 10:13 AM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'll take this opportunity to share my favorite Cul de Sac comic. It reminds me of the best kinds of TC Boyle short stories--there's a joke, but you're also sucker punched with something sincere and beautiful.
posted by Ideal Impulse at 12:23 PM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Wow. I recently bought a Cul de Sac comic to lend to my students but I had no idea what kind of genius the author was. I'm blown away. Thanks, ladyriffraff.
posted by nicolin at 1:34 PM on October 12, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thanks so much for this post. I read a lot of comics but never tried Cul de Sac. This post convinced me to try one of the collections. I ended up loving it.

When I was a kid, Calvin reminded me of my friend. As an adult, Alice reminds me of one of my daughters.
posted by drezdn at 6:48 AM on October 23, 2015 [2 favorites]