By making us laugh at, and with, his fiendish protagonists, he makes us temporarily share their values, and doubt our own. In a 2010 interview, Bob Mankoff, cartoon editor of the New Yorker, addressed the characteristically dark nature of Addams's work, as exemplified in the present cartoon: 'I think his influence extends beyond the horror genre, to humor not as a comforting 'laughter is the best medicine' anodyne but as something deeply skeptical of the purported values of middle-class American life. Framed and glazed.Īn original cartoon featuring the Addams FamilyĪddams' work was characterized by its dark humor and macabre characters, some of whom became known together as The Addams Family. The present work first appeared in the New Yorker in the October 16th, 1954 issue, and shows Wednesday Addams throwing a tantrum on her bed while Morticia, Grandmama, and Pugsley look on with bemusement. After making their way to television, the characters made their way into novels and comic books, and other books chronicled the productions. The original Charles Addams cartoons first appeared in The New Yorker magazine, and these were collected in various books. Ink, watercolor, and wash on drawing board (430 x 350 mm), signed 'Chas Adams' in the image, further inscribed and dated at top ('For Minnie + Jim - Chas Addams 1964'), captioned at bottom ('Oh, She's Furious Because They Put Her on the Honor Roll at School') editorial markings in graphite, some minor marginal toning and fingersoiling, reverse with New Yorker stamps. Books involving The Addams Family include a variety of publications. 'Oh, She's Furious Because They Put Her on the Honor Roll at School'

Charles addams the new yorker