A CLASSIC 1930s COMIC STRIP: The New Yorker’s first art editor satirizes the petit bourgeoisie in these stylishly eccentric cartoons with echoes of Cheever and Wodehouse.
Rea Irvin was The New Yorker’s first art editor and creator of the magazine’s iconic mascot, the butterfly enthusiast Eustace Tilly. In 1930, he ventured into new territory with the comic strip The Smythes. The Smythes—comprised of John, Margie, and their two forgettable children, Willie and Maudie—are a niceish suburban family, restless in their social stature, and eager to climb a sometimes wobbly social ladder. Irvin’s distinct, graceful line renders the Smythes in all their glory and hilarity as they navigate ill-fated dinner parties with pompous socialites, fend off robbers dressed as Santa, and get chased out of restaurants by cleaver-wielding chefs.
The Smythes drolly captures the joys, heartbreaks, and humiliations of being in a family. Handpicked by acclaimed cartoonists R. Kikuo Johnson and Dash Shaw—who also penned the introduction together—this new selection of Smythes strips also includes an enlightening afterword by comics historian Caitlin McGurk. An unsung masterpiece of cartooning, The Smythes is finally available to a new generation of readers ready to marvel at the full reach of Irvin’s artistic abilities.
Rea Irvin (1881–1972) was a graphic artist and cartoonist who served as the de facto first art editor of The New Yorker. He created the magazine’s iconic Eustace Tilley cover portrait, designed its typeface, and introduced many of publication’s most recognizable and distinguishing design elements.
R. Kikuo Johnson has illustrated over a dozen covers for The New Yorker and has published three graphic novels, Night Fisher, The Shark King, and No One Else. In 2023, he was the recipient of the Whiting Award for fiction, the first cartoonist to receive that honor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Caitlin McGurk is the Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and Associate Professor at The Ohio State University. McGurk’s scholarship and exhibitions center around the work of women in comics, alternative and underground comics, and early American comic strips. She is the author of the bestselling book Tell Me A Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Dash Shaw is a cartoonist and animator. His most recent graphic novel, Blurry, from New York Review Comics, was named a graphic novel of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, and others. He’s also the cartoonist of Discipline, New School, Bottomless Belly Button, BodyWorld, and others. He’s written and directed two animated features, most recently the 2021 film Cryptozoo, which won the Sundance Next Innovator Award. He currently lives in Richmond, Virginia.
"The strips [are] gorgeously composed, with characters dancing elegantly on the page…. [A] playfully wry and tender portrait of married life among the social set.” —Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker
“The invaluable Irvin, artist, ex-actor, wit, and sophisticate about town and country, did more to develop the style and excellence of New Yorker drawings and covers than anyone else.” —James Thurber
A CLASSIC 1930s COMIC STRIP: The New Yorker’s first art editor satirizes the petit bourgeoisie in these stylishly eccentric cartoons with echoes of Cheever and Wodehouse.
Rea Irvin was The New Yorker’s first art editor and creator of the magazine’s iconic mascot, the butterfly enthusiast Eustace Tilly. In 1930, he ventured into new territory with the comic strip The Smythes. The Smythes—comprised of John, Margie, and their two forgettable children, Willie and Maudie—are a niceish suburban family, restless in their social stature, and eager to climb a sometimes wobbly social ladder. Irvin’s distinct, graceful line renders the Smythes in all their glory and hilarity as they navigate ill-fated dinner parties with pompous socialites, fend off robbers dressed as Santa, and get chased out of restaurants by cleaver-wielding chefs.
The Smythes drolly captures the joys, heartbreaks, and humiliations of being in a family. Handpicked by acclaimed cartoonists R. Kikuo Johnson and Dash Shaw—who also penned the introduction together—this new selection of Smythes strips also includes an enlightening afterword by comics historian Caitlin McGurk. An unsung masterpiece of cartooning, The Smythes is finally available to a new generation of readers ready to marvel at the full reach of Irvin’s artistic abilities.
Creators
Rea Irvin (1881–1972) was a graphic artist and cartoonist who served as the de facto first art editor of The New Yorker. He created the magazine’s iconic Eustace Tilley cover portrait, designed its typeface, and introduced many of publication’s most recognizable and distinguishing design elements.
R. Kikuo Johnson has illustrated over a dozen covers for The New Yorker and has published three graphic novels, Night Fisher, The Shark King, and No One Else. In 2023, he was the recipient of the Whiting Award for fiction, the first cartoonist to receive that honor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Caitlin McGurk is the Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and Associate Professor at The Ohio State University. McGurk’s scholarship and exhibitions center around the work of women in comics, alternative and underground comics, and early American comic strips. She is the author of the bestselling book Tell Me A Story Where the Bad Girl Wins: The Life and Art of Barbara Shermund. She lives in Columbus, Ohio.
Dash Shaw is a cartoonist and animator. His most recent graphic novel, Blurry, from New York Review Comics, was named a graphic novel of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Forbes, and others. He’s also the cartoonist of Discipline, New School, Bottomless Belly Button, BodyWorld, and others. He’s written and directed two animated features, most recently the 2021 film Cryptozoo, which won the Sundance Next Innovator Award. He currently lives in Richmond, Virginia.
"The strips [are] gorgeously composed, with characters dancing elegantly on the page…. [A] playfully wry and tender portrait of married life among the social set.” —Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker
“The invaluable Irvin, artist, ex-actor, wit, and sophisticate about town and country, did more to develop the style and excellence of New Yorker drawings and covers than anyone else.” —James Thurber
