Farewell to Jules Feiffer, aged 95, a fantastic artist, writer, and historian whose work received numerous awards over the years, including a Pulitzer Prize and an Academy Award for the short film, Munro.
My first encounter with his art was in the pages of The Phantom Tolboothy by Norton Juster. I’ve no idea where my copy is, but his art was a perfect complement to the allegorical children’s story, and the striking, ethereal imagery sticks with me to this day.
CBR has an informative obituary here, but for something more poignant, and a marvellous appreciation of a singular talent, Edward Sorel wrote about an afternoon with his friend for The Atlantic in 2023.
Feiffer’s career began as an assistant and eventually a ghost writer in Will Eisner‘s studio on The Spirit. (“One of my heroes was Will Eisner, who did a weekly comic book supplement to the Sunday comics,” Feiffer himself once recalled. “One day I walked into his office and showed him my samples. He said they were lousy, but he hired me anyway. And I began my apprenticeship.”).
He then moved on to political cartoons in the Village Voice, Oscar-winning animated films, Broadway plays, illustrations for novels, including The Phantom Tollbooth, created when he and Juster lived in the same New York apartment block, children’s books, and more.
A documentary project, The Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations, celebrating 50 years of The Phantom Tollbooth directed by Hannah Jayanti, was funded on Kickstarter in 2019. The opening credits were the work of Glasgow based animator Eleanor Stewart, who also provided a short animated segment within the film. The creators re-released the film in 2021 following the death of Norton Juster, and offer it as free to view here.
“A true Renaissance man, Feiffer never forgot his roots and kept drawing throughout his life,” the team at ComicArtFans noted earlier this week.
His latest published work was a 2024 graphic novel Amazing Grapes, about a family traversing a lost dimension, published by HarperCollins.
“”Writing for young readers connects me professionally to a part of myself that I didn’t know how to let out until I was sixty that kid who lived a life of innocence, mixed with confusion and consternation, disappointment and dopey humour,” he once said, “and who drew comic strips and needed friends – and found them – in cartoons and children’s books that told him what the grown-ups in his life had left out. That’s what reading (lid for me when I was a kid. Now, I try to return the favour.”
His work is much appreciated here. My sympathies to family and friends at this time.
• The Phantom Tollbooth is available from all good bookshops (bookshop.org Affiliate Link)
Tributes to Jules Feiffer
• The Guardian: Jules Feiffer, award-winning political cartoonist and writer, dies at 95
“The provocative Pulitzer prize-winner was known for his edgy comic strip and his screenplay for Carnal Knowledge”
“In his long-running Village Voice comic strip and in his many plays and screenplays, he took delight in skewering politics, relationships and human nature.”
Amazing Grapes by Jules Feiffer is available from all good bookshops | ISBN 978-0062963833 | Buy it from AmazonUK (Affiliate Link) | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link
Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Jules Feiffer brings the fantastical to life with his signature style in this zany, whimsical adventure about a family on a quest to find their mother and save another dimension.
Curly and Perlie, brother and sister, find themselves transported to the Lost Dimension. Soon they are joined by big sister Shirley and their very special Mommy. Marvelous adventures await the whole family in that weird dimension. Come along and see for yourself!
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Obituaries, US Comics
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Feiffer had a huge impact on me. My first exposure to his work was in The Observer. I was shocked by and struggled with his depiction of Nixon and Watergate. I was 10 or 11 and had not seen this cynicism about authority before.
Terribly sad to hear this. Jules authored the first book on comics I ever read,
It enthralled and enthused me for life. I still have it. He was quite brilliant in everything he did.