[This continues our coverage of New York Comic-Con 2012.]
Here’s a New York Comic-Con find that will appeal to all of the detail-obsessed nitpickers out there: Belinkie and I stumbled across this piece of art that claims to be a “picture of the entire cartoon universe.” We stopped to ask the artist, Ray Sumser, a few questions:
Yes, we were able to think of a cartoon character that wasn’t included in the picture (you’ll have to watch the video to find out which one).
For more information on this mind-boggling piece of work, check out the Kickstarter page and the artist’s home page, where you can find a zoom-able version of the picture.
Here are some questions for discussion: How would you define “the entire cartoon universe”? Can you think of any other compilations, visual or otherwise, that strives for a similar degree of comprehensiveness? And admit it: you lost a solid 15 minutes or so panning around this ginormous image, right?
I wish I had known you were going to be there, my booth was one row away from that picture (which was incredibly awesome). I was selling the statues and the t-shirts that said “I’m the goddamn Batman” and “No Free Hugs”. I was even thinking of making a new button inspired by OTI that says “Ask me about hegemonic discourse”
NYCC was incredible but as a vendor I get to see very little of the actual convention. I didn’t even get over to the main vendor room to see the big company booths.
Oh cool! If you’re planning on being there next year, we should meet up and do a video segment like this one. Next year if we’re more on top of our game we’ll put out an announcement in advance and try to coordinate something with OTI readers.
Also, I love the idea of an “Ask me about hegemonic discourse” button.
Problem is that the artist isn’t good enough to make the characters he draws instantly recognizable enough that a cursory, or even intense, scan of the field of figures aids the viewer in picking out what they have buried in the back of the memory box via the familiar color schemes and inking of the original.
Here’s a section I enjoyed: http://cl.ly/image/05140a361437
An imperial storm trooper, Jack, Grimace & Hamburglar, Clifford the big red dog, and Gonzo and Fozzie.
Hell, has anyone found *any* of the WB characters? There’s not much anime pieces either. No GiTS, Cowboy Bebop, Paprika, yadda, yadda, yadda.
my first instinct was to try and find what was missing(there’s plenty probably), but after scanning it for a while and watching the video, I can’t, cause that guy seems really nice and that thing looks like it was a hell of a lot of work. kudos to that dude!