An abundant legacy across a range of artistic media

January 22, 2025 11:21 AM

Mr. Feiffer was primarily known as a cartoonist. His syndicated black-and-white comic strip, “Feiffer,” which astringently articulated the cynical, neurotic, aggrieved and ardently left-wing sensibilities of postwar Greenwich Village, began in The Village Voice in 1956 and ran for more than 40 years. But his career also encompassed novels, plays, screenplays, animation and children’s books. from Jules Feiffer, Acerbic Cartoonist, Writer and Much Else, Dies at 95 [The New York Times; ungated]

Jules Feiffer, Oscar and Pulitzer-Winning Artist, Writer and Historian, Passes Away at 95 [CBR]
My Friend Jules Feiffer by Edward Sorel [The Atlantic]
Award-winning artist Jules Feiffer passes [downthetubes]
Jules Feiffer, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and playwright, dies at 95 [NPR]
Jules Feiffer, award-winning political cartoonist and writer, dies at 95 [Grauniad]

posted by chavenet (42 comments total)

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posted by jabo at 11:22 AM on January 22

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Think I really knew him best as a children’s book illustrator.
posted by Going To Maine at 11:22 AM on January 22 [2 favorites]

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One of the greats.
posted by surlyben at 11:26 AM on January 22 [4 favorites]

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I thought he had already been dead for years.
posted by evilDoug at 11:27 AM on January 22 [2 favorites]

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posted by Vegiemon at 11:32 AM on January 22

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posted by Lawn Beaver at 11:36 AM on January 22

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posted by Halloween Jack at 11:51 AM on January 22

✏️
posted by adamrice at 12:02 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]

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posted by gentlyepigrams at 12:06 PM on January 22

Sad. I corresponded with him some. I named a recurring character in some short stories after him (Jules Pfennig).
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 12:15 PM on January 22 [7 favorites]

I met him a couple of times at the Miami Book Fair. He was invariably genial and easy-going.

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posted by mkhall at 12:17 PM on January 22 [5 favorites]

I loved him from childhood because of his wonderful illustrations of one of my favorite books, the Phantom Tollbooth. When my kids were young, and I would sometimes see that the book had been re-issued with a new cover and illustrations by someone else, which means someone inferior, I felt like it was blasphemy.
posted by Well I never at 12:26 PM on January 22 [16 favorites]

A good long life.

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posted by gwint at 12:31 PM on January 22 [2 favorites]

Wrote the script for an amazing movie - the 1980 "Popeye."
posted by davidmsc at 12:33 PM on January 22 [9 favorites]

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posted by gauche at 12:36 PM on January 22

dot-in-the-shape-of--tollbooth
posted by Gelatin at 12:39 PM on January 22 [8 favorites]

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posted by lisa g at 12:55 PM on January 22

AFAIC, he’s the illustrator of The Phantom Tollbooth who had some side gigs.

Hard to find but worth the hunt: his The Great Comic Book Heroes (1965)
posted by Lemkin at 1:05 PM on January 22 [3 favorites]

Lemkin, strong second! That was the first thing I ever encountered by Feiffer, as a kid, and his wry tone and engaging narrative (plus the great color reprints of Golden Age comics) made that a book I love.

Amazing polymath who contributed so much to U.S. culture throughout the second half of the 20th c.

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(a dot to spring)
posted by the sobsister at 1:31 PM on January 22 [5 favorites]

Another big, big fan of The Phantom Tollbooth, and also of his cartoons.

What an abundance of wonderful works he leaves us.

I hope he had much happiness in his life ... if at all possible, as much as all the happiness he gave to others.
posted by kristi at 1:52 PM on January 22 [3 favorites]

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posted by mygothlaundry at 2:10 PM on January 22

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posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:42 PM on January 22

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posted by pt68 at 2:48 PM on January 22

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posted by brujita at 3:40 PM on January 22

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Little Murders
posted by charris5005 at 4:02 PM on January 22 [2 favorites]

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posted by Rash at 4:12 PM on January 22

The Phantom Tollbooth is a perfect middle-grade book. Bark, George is a perfect read-aloud.

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posted by Jeanne at 4:19 PM on January 22 [2 favorites]

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posted by Windopaene at 4:48 PM on January 22

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posted by mdoar at 5:00 PM on January 22

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Waited on him at the yacht club in Edgartown back in the 90's, then again, in the late 90's, at this place on the upper east side nyc called Qatorze Bis, very popular with the literary set. He remembered me and he and his wife were just lovely.

One night they were dining with another couple, the other guy was kind of strange looking, short and a wacky beard. At the end of the service, he introduced me..."allow me to introduce Art Speigleman..." !!!!!!!!!!

Speigleman was halfway out the door at that point and I was like WAIT WAIT I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!
posted by vrakatar at 5:02 PM on January 22 [2 favorites]

Some nifty details about his life here on MV in this local obit.
posted by vrakatar at 5:07 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]

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posted by Thorzdad at 5:14 PM on January 22

Author of oscar-winning short Munro
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 5:44 PM on January 22 [2 favorites]

My parents had several of his political cartoon collections. So much of my knowledge of recent US history is based on his drawings. He was an amazing cartoonist.
posted by Zumbador at 2:48 AM on January 23 [1 favorite]

Late 70s. I was an English major at a small rural university when Feiffer came to speak. I volunteered to escort him for a few hours which included lunch.

Unlike most of my fellow students I was a fan of his NYT strip so had a conversational start point. He was very easy to hang with, kindly offering to see some of my own drawings and offering advice.

At one point I asked if he had any new projects in the works.

He confided that he was struggling with a screenplay and reluctantly said it was for a live-action film based on Popeye. I’d grown up a huge Popeye fan, but only the surreal old black-and-white cartoons. He had hit my sweet spot.

The conversation that followed was amazing—we discussed stuff like the essence of Popeye and Bluto and how Olive Oyl could work as a 3D human.

After having dealt with a combative James Dickey, Jules Feiffer was a joy. I loved Altman’s Popeye, by the way, and would love to think I had a tiny hand in helping write it. Every time I see my childhood Popeye doll on the sofa I smile and think of the lovely afternoon spent with Jules.
posted by kinnakeet at 2:55 AM on January 23 [5 favorites]

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posted by young_simba at 4:13 AM on January 23

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posted by pernoctalian at 7:55 AM on January 23

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posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 1:14 PM on January 23

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posted by detachd at 1:30 PM on February 2