Manhattan NCS Happy Hour and Peter Kuper opening @ the Society of Illustrators

This past Wednesday, September 25th, was the National Cartoonist Society Manhattan Chapter's September happy-hour gathering at the Society of Illustrators, coinciding with the opening reception for Peter Kuper's "Drawn to New York" exhibit. Peter was on hand to meet admirers and sign copies of his numerous books. I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Peter by Columbia University's Karen Green, also in attendance, and we talked about comics, Brooklyn, and Nobrow.

[Pictured: Cartoonist Gregory Benton and Peter Kuper]

Also on display in the dining room was a wide selection of work by illustrator Gregory Manchess. Awarded for both mainstream and SF&F illustration, his oil paintings have been showcased for numerous books and magazines such as Omni, and Rolling Stone as well as covers for Atlantic Monthly, Time, and National Geographic.  His portrait of Mark Twain was featured on a Forever Stamp for the USPS. I had the opportunity of meeting Gregory a year or two ago when we both contributed illustrations for Under the Moons of Mars, a collection based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter stories. We discussed his upcoming [SOLD OUT!] lecture at the Society this coming Friday, September 27th, and what great places the Society, and NYC in general, are.

[Pictured: work by Gregory Manchess]

Mostly, it was an evening of food, drink and conversation. Cartoonist Marc Bilgrey and I talked about our recent work, Ray Alma spoke briefly about some of his latest excursions with the USO, and I had an interesting conversation with the inimitable Arnold Roth about numerous subjects including some of the history of the ACE (Amateur Cartoonist Extraordinary) Awards and Milton Caniff and his work. Danny Fingeroth and Al Jaffee were also there to share a few tales. Cartoonist Gregory Benton, a former assistant of Peter Kuper's, introduced me to his friend, artist/writer Scott Cunningham. We discussed home studios, cats, Archie Comics, and I broke a glass using only the power of my mind (and an errant elbow.)

[Pictured left to right: Ray Alma, Al Jaffee, Taylor Jones, Caroline Roth, Arnold Roth]

As always, a fun and illuminating time! (Sorry about the glass!)