Comments on: A veritable Sistine Chapel of American comic-strip art, and another one

A veritable Sistine Chapel of American comic-strip art, and another one

filthy light thief — Mon, 28 May 2018 13:41:41 -0800

... in the back of a sports bar on East 44th Street is one of New York's more neglected cultural treasures. Created in the 1970s, it is a veritable Sistine Chapel of American comic-strip art (NYT): the 30-some drawings across its face were left by a who's who of cartooning legends, including Gil Kane, Mort Walker, Irwin Hasen, Milton Caniff, Dik Browne, and Paul Fung Jr. There's also a self-portrait by Al Jaffee, a doodle by Bil Keane, and a Mad magazine-style gag by Sergio Aragonés. Old regulars are familiar with the wall's past, and comic book scholars make occasional pilgrimages to the bar, but the Overlook's cartoon mural (Atlas Obscura) remains largely unknown and untended.

In fact, Overlook (official website, without any mention of its history) has not one, but three, cartoon murals:

The original mural, drawn by writer and cartoonist James Thurber, was doodled lieu of paying his bar tab one night during the Depression, and were moved by Tim Costello, owner of Costello's, who re-located the bar three times, finally landing at 225 East 44th Street (Google maps streetview) in 1972, where it was seen by such notables as Marilyn Monroe in 1955, but the mural disappeared years later, possibly hiding behind mirrors or wallpaper;
The second mural went up at that location in May 1976, when the cartoonist Bill Gallo—a friend of the owner, Tim Costello—brought together greats of the cartooning world of the day, such as Stan Lee, Dik Browne, Bil Keane, Mort Walker, and Milton Caniff, to fill Costello's with a new band of characters. The resulting mural covered an entire wall and included in its pantheon Spider-Man, Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey, and Steve Canyon, along with Gallo's own creation, the New York Mets fan Basement Bertha; and then
The third went up at the same location, now known as Overlook, in November 2005, again in exchange for food and drink, just like almost 30 years prior, this time by with quite the cast of characters, including Mike Lynch, Don Orehek, Nick Downes, Sam Norkin, Andy Eng, Arnie Roth, Mell Lazarus, Frank Springer, Mikhaela Reid, Bill Gallo, Brain Kates, Sal Amendola, Guy Gilchrist, Peter Porges, John Caldwell, Chris Browne, Dan Piraro, John Klossner, Mort Gerberg, Anne Gibbons, Robert Leighton, Stephanie Piro, Ted Rall, Sy Barry, Al Jaffee, Rina Piccolo, Brendan Burford, Stan Goldberg, Bill Kresse, Ted Slampyak, Arnie Levin, Nick Meglin, Rick Stromoski, Sam Viviano, Mort Walker, Bunny Hoest & John Reiner, Taylor Jones, Jules Feiffer, Al Scaduto, Irwin Hasen, Gerry Mooney, Henrik Rehr, Doug Bratton and Joe Edwards drawing Li'l Jinx.

By: lagomorphius

lagomorphius — Mon, 28 May 2018 14:01:15 -0800

I'd totally forgotten about some of those, like Amy and Moose. That second mural is like a greatest hits of what was in the paper when I was a kid in the 70s.

By: benzenedream

benzenedream — Mon, 28 May 2018 15:55:13 -0800

(You have always been Hagar the Horrible, Mr. Torrance.)

By: jim in austin

jim in austin — Mon, 28 May 2018 18:20:56 -0800

We once had a dime store version of this in Austin. Back in the 70's and 80's a retired capitol stringer ran a bar/dive called Don Politico's here. It was frequented by various media types including cartoonists. The men's room (can't speak for the ladies) had absolutely the best graffiti, wit and scrawls in town. They were so entertaining you had to be careful not to lose focus and whiz on your shoes...

By: fings

fings — Tue, 29 May 2018 07:36:16 -0800

This is cool. And it makes me think that some convention would be smart to (1) buy a large art board (2) invite any of their interested guest webcomics artists to sketch something on it, and (3) auction or raffle off the board for charity at the end of the convention.

By: Halloween Jack

Halloween Jack — Tue, 29 May 2018 07:45:13 -0800

some convention would be smart to (1) buy a large art board (2) invite any of their interested guest webcomics artists to sketch something on it, and (3) auction or raffle off the board for charity at the end of the convention. I'd swear that I've seen this done, but Google is failing me right now.

By: Grither

Grither — Wed, 30 May 2018 11:08:01 -0800

Huh, this bar is next door to my office building. They have a great happy hour deal there! Never noticed the mural, though...

By: GrammarMoses

GrammarMoses — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 06:50:32 -0800

Thanks for posting this. Spouse and I are going to NYC next week and, having just learned of this place, will make a special point of visiting.