Hey I'm back in the nick of time for week two of Cricket Thursdays! I looked for a Halloween themed one and came up with this:
October 1988, volume 16, #2. Cover by Sue Truesdell.
I remember Sue Truesdell from The Golly Sisters Go West and Chicken Said Cluck. This illustration is so funny. All the different witch personalities and the funny cats who look terrified. The bulging, glowing eyes. I love how you can practically hear them talking and laughing, and everywhere your eye lands there's some other little detail you almost missed.
Isn't this gorgeous?:
Its by Alix Berenzy and honestly I'm sure it was one I passed over. Just a little too subtle for nine year old Gaia. But its just lovely. Working with the negative white space, makes it look windy and a bit chilly, but also so whispy and ethereal. Which is a good contrast to the typical creepy/eery dark night scenes. Those witches are speed demons and they're having a good time.
Aunt Jane and the Balloony Weekend is about an aunt who turns into a balloon every Friday at 11 o'clock. Her niece takes care of her on a weekend trip. She's great: "Pretty soon a little girl came and sat opposite us. She was all frills, bows, and curls, so I knew I had to be careful. I have never gotten the hang of dealing with little girls like that." The illustrations by Marylin Hafner fit perfectly:
My favorite of the bunch this week is from the "Subscribe to Cricket for the Holidays" ad on the back cover:
"Attention Grownups!" reads the copy. This must be Trina Schart Hyman. Right? It must be. Hmmm--It looks like someone embellished the cat a bit...
I messed around with the white balance on my camera to "eh" results. Then I played with the settings in iphoto rather than bringing everything into Photoshop. The colors are still a bit wonky, but better than last week. Bear with me people. Perhaps this will be the week I actually pick up the camera's owners' manual.
If you'd like to see more images from this issue, head on over to Flickr.