Early & Prehistoric Almanacs

Here, for the first time since their original publication 17 years ago, and posted mostly without comment because, really, who has the time? are some early proto-Almanacs. They're not even called Richard's Poor Almanac because language hadn't been invented.

The drawing's crude, the humor's rudimentary, you can't believe anybody got paid for doing this. And yet, there's something about them that makes you want to shout, "CALL THE DAMN THING RICHARD'S POOR ALMANAC SO WE CAN GET SOME SLEEP!"                  

BACK TO BUSINESS

WHAT IS NEWLY FOR SALE AT

THOMPSONIANA?

MANY THINGS!

WE HAVE CLEVERLY TURNED

THESE SKETCHES INTO

GREETING CARDS;

FOR EXAMPLE:

THE CUL DE SAC CARD

THE ART CARD

MOM'S VAN CARD

ALICE & THE 

REFRIGERATOR

CARD

THE OTHER

ART CARD

THESE ARE ALL REPURPOSED

DROP PANEL SKETCHES*

AND AS SUCH ARE

SPECIALLY PRICED

AT ONLY $2.95

THOMPSONIANA

DRAGGING US INTO THE 21ST CENTURY

KICKING & SCREAMING

Storytime

Here, one of the authors, Nick Galifianakis, reads the story of Art of  Richard Thompson to the present narrator, who looks dubious.

Photo by Bono Mitchell

BIG DAY

Tomorrow the Fedex man is going to deliver a package from Kansas City containing:

1. Strip steaks.
2. Some form of jazz.
3. Barbecued ribs.

No, ha-ha. While all of those would be welcome the package will actually contain AN ADVANCE COPY OF THE ART OF RICHARD THOMPSON! SQUEEEEEEEEEEL!!
So if you wanna come over and, like, touch it or something you can. But it'll cost you a buck and you'll hafta wash your hands first.

Only Ten?

Andy Mansell, whom we remember with fondness from Heroescon, came up with 10 reasons you need the Complete Cul de Sac over at CultureMass without once mentioning how pleasant it smells  (it off gasses as Circus Peanuts). C'mon people! Leave a comment detailing your reason for needing a copy of the Complete Cul de Sac!

See? This is what happens when I don't really have anything new to post.

WHAT'S NEW FROM

THOMPSONIANA?

YES!

WE HAVE

HIGHER PIE CARDS!!

A SENSATION FROM THE 

GEORGE W. BUSH 

INTERREGNUM,

THIS CLASSIC PIECE 

OF AMERICANA CAN NOW

BE YOURS FOR THE LOW LOW PRICE 

OF ONLY $2.95 PER CARD!

THE ORIGINAL MAY HANG IN THE LOUVRE*

BUT  NOW YOU CAN HAVE ONE TOO!

THE HELL WITH THE FRENCH!

THE ROADKILL CARD

I DON'T KNOW WHO

YOU'D GIVE THIS TO,

BUT IT'S ONLY $2.95.

THOMPSONIANA, LEADING THE WAY MORALLY, ETHICALLY & PHYSICALLY

IT'S NOT IN THE LOUVRE, IT'S IN LEE SALEM'S DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM.

Skeletons

I'm forever on the lookout for the thinnest connection among old drawings that might lead to a blogpost and this time the theme is "skeletons."  It could just as easily have been "desperation" or "bottom of the barrel." But skeletons are a good theme; most people have at least one so it's relatable.

The first drawing is from an old Why Things Are column.         

 Ha ha ha! See, the skeleton's on a diet, and it's funny because diet jokes are always funny. Just because, OK? Here's another one from WTA-

This is a reference to Greek mythology; legendarily, Charon rowed the dead to Hades across the river Styx, and, though not actually a skeleton, I'll bet he got mad as hell at people who made fun of him for having a girl's name. Now here's an illustration from the Post Magazine-

The editor,  Tom Shroder, had to suggest a joke because I didn't know what BSOD was.  Finally, let's return to Why Things Are, the source of so much that was good , for an episode that promised more than it delivered-

I'd certainly like to hear more about the Black Death and Roger Mortis and their adventures. I find the way they're introduced then casually dropped a bit disappointing, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

BACK TO THE HARD SELL

WHAT'S NEW AT

THOMPSONIANA?

3 NEW IMAGES

ARE NOW AVAILABLE AS GREETING CARDS!

"UNFINISHED BERLIOZ"

"THE BIG ICE CREAM"

"ALICE ON A PEDESTAL"

ONLY $2.95 PER CARD!

STOP THAT PANICKING!

During a recent studio cleaning my wife found, among all the detritus that usually washes up at low tide, a cardboard box. On opening it she was confronted by 44 pristine copies of Richard's Poor Almanac! So you can stop all panicking; we are safe from want, the nation endures and if you act fast and contact One More Page Books, a copy can be yours for the low, low price of $15.00, plus shipping.

It's much like this situation, from Free Comic Book Day.

Art of Procrastinatin' Sam - Look Inside

Suddenly, mysteriously, with that randomness that Amazon excels at*, the Art of book now has that "Look Inside" feature added. Go on, look!

*Because Amazon has such great power over authors, amounting to life-or-death, and because Amazon founder Jeff Bezos now owns the Washington Post, we'll refrain from pointing out that he's a clown-faced upstart with the patience of a 2-year-old and the manners of a orang-utang.