Who says it's too early to plan for the Holidays..?

Announcing the 2013 ManhattanNCS Holiday Party!

Friday, December 6 at
The Society of Illustrators!

Click Arnie's artwork to register...

Official Artwork by Arnold Roth.

It's official!  Make plans now to attend our holiday bash, back at the spectacular Society of illustrators in Manhattan!

The holiday season in New York City is a wonderful time to come out and see the sights, and now we can all ring in the holidays together, and with style, at the Society!
Come out and eat, drink and be merry with us in The Big Apple!  

Need another reason to come out?  Hold on to your hats:
This function will herald in the return of the spectacular... 

ACE Awards!

A little history of the ACE awards: 
The “AMATEUR CARTOONIST EXTRAORDINARY” award is given to a celebrity or notable who aspired at one time to become a cartoonist, but whose path led them to an entirely different career.  Past recipients have included Carol Burnett, Hugh Hefner, Tom Wolfe, Al Roker, Denis Leary and Morley Safer.

Who will be the first recipient of the new millenium?  You'll have to wait and see!  I can guarantee, this will be a lot of fun.

Here's the info:

Friday, December 6th, 6pm-9pm

Society of Illustrators, in the dining room.

128 East 63rd St, between Park and Lexington.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER...

Admission is $20 for NCS members, $25 for non-NCS members.

This includes food!  In Manhattan??  What a deal!

Hotel group rates will be available, more info on that soon!

All proceeds from the event to to the InkWell Foundation!

Highlights from the October Happy Hour!

Wednesday, October 23rd marked another of our monthly NCS happy hours at the Society of Illustrators!

The event coincided with a talk by cartoonist Marion Nestle about her new book, "Eat, Drink, Vote", and a talk with Jeff Danziger and Signe Wilkinson.  A few members got to see her talk downstairs before heading up to the third floor for the food and drinks.  There's never a dull moment at these Happy Hours!

Ed reads Al Jaffee's Tall Tales book. 

Joyce Jaffee and Caroline Roth console each other.

Maria Scrivan and the lovely Al Jaffee.

What Al does when he's supposed to be paying attention.

Bob 'Red & Stimpy' Camp amuses himself while C-3PO looks on in dismay.

Caroline introduces Signe Wilkinson, who's wondering how she wound up with this group.

The result of Al Jaffee defacing the Society's halloween decorations.

The next happy hour is Wednesday, November 20th!  Hope to see you there!

Our October Happy Hour is fast approaching!

Come on out this Wednesday, October 23rd!

"Man, I need a drink!"

Here's the details!

Society of Illustrators
128 E 63rd, between Park and Lex
3rd floor

Time: 7-9pm

Come on up for complimentary hors d'oeuvres, a swanky bar and swanky people!

Please RSVP, Ed at ed@edsteckley.com or 413-478-4314.

See you Wednesday!

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!)

It's time for the September 

ManhattanNCS Happy Hour!

This month marks the return of our regular happy hours,  at the fabulous Society of Illustrators!  

Hop up to the 3rd floor for free hors d'oeurves, cash bar and good times!  Here's the info:

Date: Wednesday, Sept 25th
Time: 7-9pm
Where: the Society of Illustrators, 128 E 63rd, at Lexington, NYC

If you plan on coming, please click here to RSVP me, or email, ed@edsteckley.com so I can give the the Society of head count.


Hope to see you there!

Ed Steckley
NCSManhattan Chair
NCS Nat'l Rep
Cat Wrangler

Maria Scrivan debuts on GoComics.com!

Here's a Big Deal:
Maria Scrivan, friend of the ManhattanNCS,s cartoon

Half Full  debuts today on GoComics.com!

From Maria's Press Release...

Strip Summary:

Hall Full gives a unique and intelligent insight to the truths and trials of everyday life. 

From airline travel to social media, couples therapy or house hunting, it’s not always easy to see the bright side but if you

wait long enough, there might be something to laugh about.

Creator Bio:

Maria’s work appears in a wide variety of publications including MAD

Magazine, Parade Magazine, Prospect Magazine (UK), Salon.com,

Mashable.com, Funny Times and Yoga Chicago Magazine.

Her artwork is also licensed with NobleWorks Cards, American Greetings and CheckAdvantage. 

Maria is a member of the National Cartoonists Society.

Maria is a member of the Connecticut chapter, but she's a regular at our NYC happy hours.  This is a well deserved honor, as she's a super talented and hard working and driven cartoonist.

Way to go, Maria!  And like we said, "Big Deal"!

Kandalaft's "That Monkey Tune" launches at GoComics

Michael Kandalaft, Friend of the Manhattan NCS and Connecticut Chapter Member, has been writing and drawing "That Monkey Tune" since 2006 when he launched the strip as a webcomic. In 2010, "TMT" started appearing in newspapers, through which it now reaches over 250,000 daily readers nationwide. Now, Kandalaft reaches yet another milestone as the strip launches at GoComics.com.

GoComics.com is the web's largest catalog of syndicated newspaper strips and web comics, offering new, fresh and free content every day. Classic and iconic cartoons include Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Ziggy and Dilbert. Recent successes include FoxTrot, Get Fuzzy, Pearls Before Swine, The Argyle Sweater, The Boondocks and Cul De Sac. Readers can choose between free or paid subscriptions and have their favorite comics delivered daily via email.

"That Monkey Tune" is a daily comic strip for all ages about cute, funny, and lovable monkeys. Featuring Elliot - the emotional, fun-loving, and full-of-smiles 6-year-old little monkey; and Beagly - the intellectual, logical, patient monkey who is wise beyond his 8 years of age. When these monkeys arent' at odds with each other, they are making us laugh as they romp through the world around them with enough energy, innocence, and rambunctiousness to make your day!

The Manhattan NCS sends a hearty CONGRATULATIONS Michael's way, and wishes him and his monkeys continued success!

CLICK HERE TO READ "THAT MONKEY TUNE" AT GOCOMICS.COM