One of my favorite cartoonists is Charles Addams. From the time I first saw his cartoons, I loved them. And then I saw Gahan Wilson.

He had such a unique style and a bizarre Addams-like sense of humor, but he went off into different areas - childhood, zombies, science fiction. He was a little grosser, a little weirder, and his style of drawing was not slickly mainstream.

He was a breath of fresh air.

Wilson has lived the charmed life of a cartoonist that you don’t hear about much anymore. He had a regular strip, Nuts (a kind of anti-Peanuts) in National Lampoon (the earlier, funny Lampoon), nearly 50 years’ worth of cartoons in The New Yorker and Playboy, wrote novels, had a syndicated newspaper strip called Gahan Wilson’s Sunday Funnies, book collections and a whole lot more.

When I was in NY in the 1980s, I’d get invited to functions at Playboy Magazine and I’d go, hoping to meet him. That’s right - I’d go to a Playboy party to meet cartoonists. Unfortunately, our paths never crossed. 

But you, you lucky people, can do what I didn’t. The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art in New York (MoCCA) is hosting Gahan Wilson for a Master Class in Cartooning, one night only, Tuesday, April 17, form 7-9pm.

The class is organized by my pal Danny Fingeroth. MoCCA promises that Wilson will "show and tell you how to make humorous cartoons (the non-animated kind) that reflect your own sensibilities and point-of-view. Using his own life and career as reference points, Gahan will give you pointers and advice about the art and business of cartooning that only this master of the medium can provide.”

If you’re interested in cartooning and aspire to be a comic artist, this is a class that can’t be missed. I envy you.

And if you’re really serious about Wilson, I highly recommend Gahan Wilson: Fifty Years Of Playboy Cartoons from Fantagraphics Books. Over 900(!) pages of cartoons.

[Artwork: Gahan Wilson]