Hey Archie, do I have what it takes to be a cartoonist? (looking for ads)

November 16, 2006 12:41 PM

In Archie comics in the 80's (and maybe still today), there was an ad where you copied a sketch and mailed it in, and a company would tell you if you had what it takes to be a cartoonist. Or something like that. What was the company, and can you help me find the sketches or maybe an ad itself?

My google-fu has failed me, but I remember one cartoon was a pirate and one may have been a racoon. Thanks muchly!

posted by evadery to society & culture (14 comments total)

Sure. Here..
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:44 PM on November 16, 2006

Whoops. Here.
posted by Astro Zombie at 12:45 PM on November 16, 2006 [1 favorite has favorites]

As I understood it, they would take your sketch and then tell you "Yes, you'll be a successful artist if you pay us for courses."
posted by winston at 12:51 PM on November 16, 2006

Astro Zombie is wrong. You're thinking of the Famous Artists School.
posted by languagehat at 12:57 PM on November 16, 2006

Click on the Free Art Test link in my link. There's your pirate.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:04 PM on November 16, 2006

Oh, and Famous Art School went out of business around 1980, languagehat, so I'm pretty sure it was Art Instruction School ads evadery was seeing.
posted by Astro Zombie at 1:06 PM on November 16, 2006

The 'racoon' in my mind was actually the turtle with a hat (so close, yet so far), but the pirate...oh, the pirate. Thanks so much!

And if anyone had a copy of a print ad online, that would also be spectacular.
posted by evadery at 1:24 PM on November 16, 2006

AstroZombie, it did not go out of business, it was purchased by another company, but it is, in fact, still in business today
posted by KirTakat at 1:27 PM on November 16, 2006

AZ: Sorry 'bout that. I was so sure it was Famous Artists School!

*learns humility*
posted by languagehat at 1:58 PM on November 16, 2006

These guys advertise on late night cable. Without the turtle.
posted by o2b at 2:08 PM on November 16, 2006

Well, I was wrong about Famous Art Schools, so we're both due for a dose of humble pie.
posted by Astro Zombie at 2:14 PM on November 16, 2006

Tippy the Turtle, I do believe. Your application (as well as all of the other drawings to reproduce) is right here.
posted by grabbingsand at 2:45 PM on November 16, 2006

You can still pick up bound lesson books from the Famous Artists Course, but they'll cost ya. Here's some on eBay. They're pretty solid primers on commercial illustration, albeit sort of dated. But if you like the sort of pen and ink illustration from the post-war years, they're worth the price.
posted by maryh at 8:39 PM on November 16, 2006

Off topic, but for a good laugh, find a copy of Crumb and check out the drawings that brother Charles did for Famous Artists. (They appear also in a book the exact title of which escapes me (the Crumb Family album?), and Amazon as well, apparantly.)
posted by IndigoJones at 5:38 PM on November 26, 2006