I’m writing this article from a cozy cottage located somewhere in the hills and hollers of West Virginia.
Along with all the amenities seen in the photos above, our room has a cupboard filled with books, among which I found these which made me feel at home:
The books on Norman Rockwell seem endless. While I have many volumes of his work, I don’t own the one in the above photo. I have a later edition of The Bears On Hemlock Mountain, an old folk tale retold with lovely art. I found it on a road trip through Ohio.
However, until this week, I’ve somehow managed to avoid all contact with The Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I haven’t read one of Jeff Kinney’s fourteen books, nor have I watched one of the four live-action movies or the three animated films based on his property. But faced with this book and a bit of free time on my hands, I decided now was the time to give it a try. I’m glad I did! It’s easy to see why this was such a big hit. The writing is instantly relatable, clever, and funny. I was a fan by page 4. Observations such as the following (pages 4 and 32, respectively) appeal to my inner contrarian:
Further into the book I laughed at this good-humored jab at legacy cartoon strips and knowing insight into the newspaper business. A legacy cartoon strip (AKA a zombie strip) is one whose creator has either died or retired but continues to be published).
Kinney hits on a truth that I learned at the Courier-Journal. While working on the second floor in the Advertising department as an artist and designer, I occasionally walked up to the fourth floor to pitch cartoon ideas to the Features editor, who explained the facts of newspaper life to me. Whenever they tried to replace legacy strips, the editors were met with howls of outrage. Even the most unlikely strips had its die-hard fans. It didn't matter what you thought of Marmaduke or Apt-3G; they were never going anywhere. And since space for the comics kept shrinking, there simply wasn't room for anything new. As popular and well-read as newspaper comic sections were, it never made sense to me why they didn't expand the sections rather than shrink them.
As an aside, I eventually did get the newspaper to publish a one-panel gag strip I wrote and illustrated called Bad Daddy! It appeared in a parenting magazine they published. The comedy hinged on the son catching his dad misbehaving in some way. It lasted three episodes before being canceled because a sales rep complained it was anti-dad. I never considered myself anti-dad, and I don't think my son did either. But there you are. Comedy, like art, is subjective. After that, I was consigned to doing harmless coloring book drawings of the magazine's mascot. It was a living.
Back to The Diary of A Wimpy Kid. The day after reading the book, I stumbled upon this board game at an antique mall:
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For a buck and a half, I had to pick it up. It’s funny how life is. Once you notice something, it’s everywhere.
Until next time, Always Be Creating (and exploring!)
Bill
I’m glad I stumbled upon the Diary of A Wimpy Kid Series. I love Kinney’s ability to turn everyday mundane experiences into something funny.
Thanks for the great read, Bill. Our daughter loved those books but, like you, I had never really popped one open cover-to-cover. Food for thought...