CHAS ADDAMS, IF YOU PLEASE

"You're either an Addams or a Munster."
 
Kids created that old adage back in the Silver Age of Television. I always chose The Addams Family, as did most other boys that I knew. Girls always seemed to side with The Munsters.

Back then we were all aware that the Addams Family TV sitcom was based on actual cartoon characters created by cartoonist Charles Samuel Addams (1912-1988), who signed as 'Chas Addams'. His brilliant one-panel cartoon gags were featured regularly in magazines such as The New Yorker and Collier's, which most households had lying around. But Addams also published books of his cartoons, so in my home we had those lying around too. Addams in fact produced 12 books and over 1300 cartoons in his lifetime. He had a strong, distinctive, unmuddled style of drawing, and a sardonic, absurd sense of humor that was often the envy of his peers. Though I'm not sure if folks outside of his and my generation are even aware of the huge body of cartoon work that inspired both the TV show and films, and even a stage musical in 2010 (as well as countless numbers of aspiring cartoonists and comedians), but they should be. Addams was a true American original and an absolute icon in the field of illustrative humor.

So, for those among us who have not seen that much of his work and are curious, here's a few drops to wet your whistle.

"OH, IT'S YOU! FOR A MOMENT YOU GAVE ME QUITE A START."

1939.

"JUST THE KIND OF DAY THAT MAKES YOU FEEL GOOD TO BE ALIVE!"

1952.

"THIS IS UNCLE ZANDER. GRANDFATHER ALWAYS CALLED HIM THE BLACK SHEEP."

1948.

 

"YOU'RE RIGHT. IT IS STILL WET."

1957

This, I think, is my favorite Charles Addams cartoon. It just comes across as especially brilliant. Its conception, punchline, and drawing all seem to form a perfect, one-panel captioned package. Voilà!                     

                          

"ALL RIGHT, NOW, A LITTLE SMILE."

1952.

"THAT? OH, THAT'S NOTHING. JUST SOMETHING I WAS FOOLING AROUND WITH."

1959.

Who exactly painted the first abstract? Was it the man who is widely considered to be the father of the movement, the Russian artist Wassily Kandisky, in 1911? Or was it the French avant-garde artist Francis Picabia, in 1909? In all actuality it was probably the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint. She'd been experimenting with abstraction as early as 1906, producing colorful works of art filled with organic shapes, spirals and curlicues. Oh hell, who are we kidding? We all know it was Leonardo da Vinci in the year 1503. But being the idiot, er, I mean, genius that he was, he ended up painting over the world's first abstract with a portraiture of a demurely smiling woman.

1986.

 

1961.



1976

1980.

 

"BUT HOW DO I KNOW YOU'RE AN ENCHANTED PRINCE?"

1959.

1950.

1974.

1946. 

Every time I look at this cartoon I can't help but be reminded of my old work pal Stevie Maldonado., who was a huge horror movie fan. One time I told him that I was tired of all the violence in horror, of watching young people getting killed over and over again on the screen. "But Jeff, that's the best part!" Steve quipped, "The more the merrier!"

1947.  

This cartoon is one of the reasons why I stopped going to the movies.

CHARLES ADDAMS collected his cartoons and drawings in hardcover books about as often as he could. The first one was published in 1942, and the last one in 1981. Some of the hardcovers were then republished as mass-market paperbacks, one by Bantam and six by Pocket-Cardinal. However, all of the paperbacks used the same cover art that was found on the hardcovers, with the only exception being Addams' first book, Drawn and Quartered, and an oversized softcover edition of Monster Rally, which is included below. 

Drawn and Quartered was first published in hardcover by World Publishing Company in 1942. It collected 115 cartoons and drawings.

Drawn and Quartered was republished in paperback by Bantam in 1946. Pocket-Cardinal followed suit in 1964 with their own paperback edition. 

Addams and Evil was first published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1947. It collected 90 cartoons or drawings.

Monster Rally was issued in both hardcover (above) and large softcover (below) editions by Simon & Schuster in 1950. Each book collected 91 cartoons and drawings.

Homebodies was first published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1954. It collected 92 cartoons or drawings.

Nightcrawlers was first published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1957. It collected 91 cartoons and drawings.

Dear Dead Days, A Family Album was first published in hardcover by G. P. Putnam & Sons in 1959. It contains only a few cartoons, otherwise it's strictly a compilation book of macabre nostalgicana, comprising eclectic public domain photos, Victorian etchings, old advertisements, and accounts of weird deaths and unusual disasters, all apparently inspirational to Addams in his growth as a cartoonist.

Black Maria was first published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1960. It collected 92 cartoons and drawings.

The Penguin Charles Addams was published in the United Kingdom in 1962 by Penguin, but only in paperback. No hardcover edition exists that I know of. The cartoon count is also unknown to me.

The Groaning Board was first published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1964. It collected 79 cartoons and drawings.

The Chas Addams Mother Goose was first published in hardcover by Windmill Books in 1967. It contains approximately 60 pages of drawings.

"The moon is full as boys and girls and things come out to play... Mistress Mary tends her poison mushrooms... Jack Sprat and his wife finish a most unusual meal... Humpty Dumpty cracks... when -- Charles Addams meets Mother Goose to delight Chas Addams and Mother Goose fans of all ages."

My Crowd was first published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1970. This is the largest collection of Addams' work to date: compiling 189 cartoons and drawings. 

Favorite Haunts was first published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1976. It collected 104 cartoons and drawings.

Creature Comforts, the last book published while Addams was still alive, was first published in hardcover by Simon & Schuster in 1981. It collects about 100 cartoons and drawings.

Pomegranate Books has the corner on Addams' work now. Their first collection was published twelve years ago, in 2010, titled, The Addams Family, An Evilution. This 224 page book traces the history of the now famous family unit, presenting more than 200 cartoons, some never before published. More recently, in 2020, they published Addams' Apple, The New York Cartoons of Charles Addams (150 cartoons). Copies of both books can be purchased through charlesaddams.com, and perhaps elsewhere online. They also sell associated items too.

No serious book collector should be without at least one book by this unique cartoonist. Evilution, Addams' Apple, and Knopf's The World of Charles Addams (1991, with 300 cartoons) are probably your best bets to own a complete cross-section of Addams' work. And what could be better than that except also owning all twelve of the titles featured above.

[© June, 2022, Jeffersen]