"This day's experience, set in order, none of it left ragged or lying about, all of it gathered in like treasure and finished with, set aside." –Alice Munro, "What is Remembered"
The following illustrations by Noel Sickles were originally published in Reader’s Digest Condensed Books: Spring 1956 Selections; I scanned them from a copy of the book that I purchased at a local thrift store:
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The two-page spreads don’t line up exactly, but I didn’t leave anything out. Whatever is missing from the centre of the images was missing in the original printing.
Every so often, cartoonist Joseph Lambert stocks his SubSubShop with a variety of small drawings, and with the recent success of his comics collection I Will Bite You! And Other Stories and his superb graphic novel Annie Sullivan and the Trials of Helen Keller, the drawings now tend to sell out shortly after they’re posted, and the prices, which some people — Lambert’s cartoonist buddy, Dustin Harbin, for instance — thought were too low to begin with, have started to rise. To date, I’ve purchased four drawings from Lambert, and here they are:
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The best way to secure a drawing for yourself, if you want one, is to follow Lambert’s “JoeSubmarine” twitter feed, which is where he usually gives advance notice that a new batch of drawings is about to be posted. Good luck!
From Boy Loves Girl #47 (June 1954), here’s “Postponed Honeymoon,” with art by Alex Toth:
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Notice how, in panel after panel, Toth chooses to draw Joni looking at Hank rather than at her fiance Barney. The last panel of page two, the fifth panel on page three, and the fifth panel on page six are especially revealing in this regard; it’s the direction and intensity of Joni’s gaze that reveals her heart’s desire.
From Boy Loves Girl #46 (May 1954), here’s “No Love for Me,” with art signed “Alexander Toth” and dated 1953:
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BONUS IMAGE:
I doubt there’s a direct connection, but when I first saw the last panel in the above sequence, I was immediately reminded of the last panel of the classic opening page of ROM #1 (December 1979):
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From Boy Loves Girl #43 (February 1954), here’s “I Played with Fire!” with pencils by Alex Toth and inks by Mike Peppe:
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To view all of the Agatha Christie covers with art by Tom Adams that I’ve scanned and posted for your viewing pleasure, start here.
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