कार्टूनिस्ट ह्यूज हेफनर...Hugh Hefner: A Cartoonist Who Also Loved Cartoons

प्रश्न:  कवी सदानंद रेगे आणि नुकतेच दिवंगत प्लेबॉयचे  संस्थापक-संपादक  ह्यूज हेफनर ह्यांच्यात कुठल्या गोष्टीचे सगळ्यात जास्त साम्य होते? उत्तर: दोघेही हौशी कार्टूनिस्ट आणि कार्टूनप्रेमी होते!

'THE COMPLETE CARTOONS OF THE NEW YORKER' EDITED BY ROBERT MANKOFF, 2004  ह्या अवाढव्य (वजन किलोत आहे) पुस्तकाच्या 'Editor's Note' च्या पहिल्या पानावर (पुस्तकात ६ व्या) ह्यूज हेफनर यांच्या 'प्लेबॉय' चा गौरवपूर्ण उल्लेख आहे. (btw- हे पुस्तक माझ्या भावाने कै वसंत सरवटेंना ऑनलाईन ऑर्डर करून भेट दिले.) 

"....There's also this Shel Silverstein classic, which people often ask about. Well, I wish we had published it., but Shel was a great cartoonist for Playboy who never appeared in The New Yorker, and this particular cartoon wasn't even published in Playboy, but appeared in Look, in 1956..."

 Look, 1956

ह्या लिजंडरी कार्टूनचे निर्माते थोर शेल सिल्व्हरस्टाईन हे हेफनर यांचे साईडकिक होते असे म्हटले जाते.

“He was Hugh Hefner’s sidekick, he was the great cartoonist, he lived with Hef at the Playboy Mansion, in a riot of delight.” 

आणि सिल्व्हरस्टाईन यांनी जो आनंद प्लेबॉय मॅन्शन मध्ये कित्येक वर्षे उपभोगला तो त्यांच्या लहान मुलांसाठी लिहलेल्या कवितातूनही ओसंडून वाहतोय :

"I will not play at tug o’ war.

I’d rather play at hug o’ war,

Where everyone hugs

Instead of tugs,

Where everyone giggles

And rolls on the rug,

Where everyone kisses,

And everyone grins,

And everyone cuddles,

And everyone wins."

 

The Sultan is reading Playboy in harem!

Artist: Richard Taylor, The New Yorker, 22 June 1957

कार्टून प्लेबॉय चा अविभाज्य भाग होते.

Steven Watts, 'Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream', 2008: 

"... Playboy fed its readers a nourishing diet of humor. Cartoons, again reflecting the publisher’s own taste and background, emerged as a magazine stalwart. Early contributors such as Jack Cole and Gardner Rea were joined by a new cadre of hip funsters by mid-decade. In 1956, Shel Silverstein brought his irreverent sensibility to the magazine with a series of globetrotting cartoons, one of which pictured him talking to a stern butler at Buckingham Palace, who said, “ I believe I can say with assurance, sir, that Princess Margaret will not be interested in appearing as January’s Playmate of the Month. ”..."

स्वतः  हेफनर बऱ्यापैकी कार्टूनिस्ट होते, लहानपणापासून आणि प्लेबॉयची मूळ सुद्धा त्यांच्या कार्टून काढण्यात दडली होती. 

"Even as a boy, however, Hefner displayed an unusual creativity. Fascinated with drawing, he spent countless hours sketching crude cartoon strips such as Cranet , an adventurer who flew from Earth to Mars; Jigs and Spike , cowboy outlaws; Jim Malt , a youthful detective; and adventure characters named “ Marvel Man, ” “ the Mystic, ” and “ Metallic Man"...In his early teenage years he continued drawing cartoon strips — eventually they would number about seventy different series — and to write and illustrate stories...."

"... Keith Hefner observed the same impulse in his older brother. Hugh preferred to spend time in his room, writing stories and drawing cartoons, when he wasn ’ t playing. Often shy and insecure with
other people, the boy did not like venturing out. “ His fantasy life really began with the stories he wrote as a child in grade school and the cartoons he drew, ” Keith said. “..."

"... Hugh cherished particular favorites. He idolized the cartoonist Milton Caniff, creator of the comic strip Terry and the Pirates. Pat Ryan, the protagonist, was a debonair adventurer whose pipe – smoking later inspired Hefner to take up the habit...."

"... At this time, Hefner also began a project that would preoccupy him for the rest of his life. He began to chronicle his experiences in a cartoon autobiography. Inventing a character for himself called “ Goo Heffer,” the youth composed dozens of comic strips that followed every twist and turn in his gang ’ s activities in funny, charming, and occasionally poignant style..."

Artist: Ward Sutton, Playboy