Mark Newgarden
Reviews
Articles
RIP J.D. King – 1951-2025
J.D. King, a prolific cartoonist whose stylized, jazz-infused illustrations appeared in many magazines in the 1990s, died at his home in Remsen, New York in early November, 2025. He was 74 years old. There is no exact cause of death but also no cause for suspicion. According to several people close to him, King was… Read more »
‘My old therapist was worried about me publishing this book’: The Kayla E. Interview
Kayla E. in conversation with John Kelly and Mark Newgarden about her memoir comic, Precious Rubbish (Fantagraphics, 2025).
Learning from Harvey Kurtzman, part 2: SVA and the Glocca Morra Pub
In 1973, Harvey Kurtzman began teaching weekly three-hour sessions every semester at the School of Visual Arts. Mark Newgarden, Bob Fingerman and more remember what it was like being in his class.
Nancy Fest 2024 scene report: Brisket and Bushmiller
What was the first ever Nancy Fest like? M.S. Harkness lays it all out for you.
Ed Subitzky on Poor Helpless Comics! and Other Funny Business
John Kelly reports from the October 13, 2023 book launch event, hosted by Mark Newgarden & Owen Klein, for Poor Helpless Comics! The Cartoons (and More) of Ed Subitzky, a first-ever collection of work by the National Lampoon cartoonist and comedy writer for David Letterman and others.
The Artists and Cartoonists Who Designed Pee-wee Herman’s World – Part Two
The second and final part of John Kelly’s two-part look at the cartoonists behind the scenes of Pee-wee’s Playhouse – this time looking at merchandise, and plenty of it!
Bill Griffith on Love, Loss and the Lives of Ernie Bushmiller and Diane Noomin
Veteran cartoonist Bill Griffith speaks candidly about his new graphic novel on the life of Nancy creator Ernie Bushmiller, and his new comic book tribute to his late wife, Diane Noomin.
The Artists and Cartoonists Who Designed Pee-wee Herman’s World – Part One
Part 1 of a huge two-part feature! John Kelly speaks with the artists who built the Playhouse: Pee-wee’s Playhouse, with all its puppets, gadgets and merchandise. Many unseen images await!
Drew Friedman’s Maverix and Lunatix: Icons of Underground Comix: “A masterpiece, a treasure, an encyclopedia”
John Kelly didn’t just read Drew Friedman’s new book of portraits, he asked seven of the subjects what they thought of their depictions. Plus: Friedman himself sits down for a new interview.
A Sweaty Chat With Funny Pages Writer/Director Owen Kline
Owen Kline’s Funny Pages features work from Johnny Ryan, Rick Altergott AND drawings of Shatterstar. What gives? Mark Newgarden has the scoop!
Remembering Justin Green
An extraordinary group of artists, friends and admirers has been gathered by John Kelly to pay tribute to the great Justin Green, one of the most influential and powerful storytellers of the underground generation.
Anne D. Bernstein, 1961-2022
The founding comics editor of Nickelodeon Magazine, the first cover artist for Drawn & Quarterly, and a longtime writer for television animation, Anne D. Bernstein travelled many paths, often at the same time. Cartoonists, editors, publishers, historians, musicians – all have gathered here to celebrate her life.
Inside Chartwell Manor: a Chat with Glenn Head
Mark catches up with Glenn Head, whose recent memoir Chartwell Manor touches upon trauma, Satan, sex and the other horrors of youth–with a healthy dose of the kind of honesty found in the underground comics that lit his creative fire.
An Incoherent Chat with George Horner
George Horner’s comics-adjacent work is aimed at the Louvre, MOMA, and “a spinner rack in some comic book nerd’s basement man cave”, and he provides enough examples in this conversation with Mark Newgarden for any reader to make the call.
The Dairy Restaurant: A Meatless Chat with Ben Katchor
“In the early 20th century eating out was a political act. You’d choose to patronize the cafe or restaurant whose owner and clientele were in tune with your political beliefs: socialism, anarchism, vegetarianism, etc….Today, someone who thinks about the politics of where they choose to eat out will probably starve.”
Warts & All The Presidents: A Chat With Drew Friedman
In advance of a major exhibition of his illustrations of the US Presidents, Drew Friedman sat down with Mark Newgarden to answer the burning questions: which of those dudes was the ugliest?
In Praise Of Popnut Skrummies: An Elmo Conversation With Frank M. Young
Mark Newgarden and Frank M. Young discuss their love for Cecil Jensen’s Elmo, and the reason Young decided to make this unheralded classic available again via print on demand.
Getting Weirdo at the Society of Illustrators
Kim Deitch, Drew Friedman, Glenn Head, John Holmstrom, Mark Newgarden, and Art Spiegelman had a wide-ranging conversation about the 1980s anthology era.
Profound, Frightening, Childlike, and Ancient: A Conversation with Justin Duerr
The editor of The Temple of Silence: Forgotten Works & Worlds of Herbert Crowley talks about one of the most mysterious, obsession-inspiring artists in comics history.
Reading How to Read Nancy
Talking mysteries, grails, and hoses with Paul Karasik and Mark Newgarden, authors of the best book ever written about comics.
Another Look at the East Village Eye
“There was no money. I think we were actually paid in drugs.” — Mark Michaelson, former art director The East Village Eye Lower New York has been the scene for numerous “art movements,” and the decade between the mid-70s and mid-80s sure was one of them, especially for the convergence of comics, “art,” and punk John Kelly | February 15, 2016
Alt-Weekly Cartoonists Finally Get Their Day at Society of Illustrators
You didn’t buy an alt-weekly newspaper, much less hold on to it. You picked them up from a pile somewhere, read them or didn’t, and then threw them out. Some of these papers ran comic strips, but many didn’t. Some of these papers just ran comic strips without letting the artists know and didn’t pay them.
Nightmare Neighbors, Dream Collaborators
Mark Newgarden and Megan Montague Cash on Bow-Wow, comics, picture books, and telling stories without words
On Al Feldstein
Craig Fischer and Mark Newgarden remember the editor.
