Mutts: The Comic Art Of Patrick McDonnell

With its expressive art and humorous, often philosophical musings, Mutts has become one of the most popular comic strips in the world, with an estimated daily readership of 50 million. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz called Mutts one of the best comic strips of all time. Simpsons creator Matt Groening concurs: Mutts cheers me up every day. It’s not only sweet, simple, and funny—a rare combination—it’s also the best drawn comic strip around.

This comprehensive volume, the first to focus on the entire range of Patrick McDonnell’s art, includes not only a vast collection of his Mutts strips, but also sketches, paintings, and wood carvings by the man who has made Earl the dog and Mooch the cat such beloved contemporary icons. McDonnell’s text—which serves as autobiography, comic history, character explication, and art history rolled into one—lets readers into his private universe to observe his process, influences, and passions. The result is an intimate and revealing look at the complexities of the cartooning craft and the forces that drive his own creative endeavors.

Author Bio: Patrick McDonnell illustrated the Russell Baker Sunday Observer column for the New York Times Magazine and Bad Baby, a monthly comic strip for Parents magazine, before creating Mutts in 1994. McDonnell has also been a regular contributor to Sports Illustrated, Reader’s Digest, Time, and many other national magazines, is the coauthor of the Abrams book Krazy Kat: The Comic Art of George Herriman, and is on the board of directors of the Humane Society of the United States. John Carlin has been a lawyer, college professor, art critic, music producer, and TV director. He is currently organizing a survey of 20th-century American comics, cartoons, and comic books for the Museum of Contemporary Art and the UCLA Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Cofounder of the media design and production company Funny Garbage, he is also founder and creative director of the Red Hot Organization, a not-for-profit music and video production company.