MANY MORE ANNIVERSARIES, IJOCAHN LENT!..
Hüseyin Çakmak
It was 1987. I had been working as a professional cartoonist in daily newspapers for five years, but I did not know enough about World Cartoon Art. Because communication opportunities were limited in those years. Despite this, I was following the cartoon publications I found and attending international cartoon events. After the cartoon events held in those years, very valuable cartoon albums were published and were being sent to all participants. These albums provided visual and graphic opportunities to improve my talent and cartoon style as a young cartoonist.
In 1987, the postman brought a large envelope to my address. When I opened the envelope, I came across "Witty World - International Cartoon Magazine". I was shocked when I flipped through the pages of Witty World. There were many visual and written materials about World Cartoon Art. There were cartoons, articles, competition announcements, interviews, research and news from many countries of the world. It was a very high quality cartoon magazine. It was published in English. It was the first time I saw such a cartoon magazine. The publisher of Witty World was Joseph George Szabo (May he rest in heaven). Moreover, those years were the most original and beautiful years of World Cartoon Art. The majority of the cartoons published in Witty World were in Black and White. Some cartoons were published in color (on advertising pages or front and back covers), but they were not like today's cartoons, which are dipped in paint cans and create visual pollution.
Witty World's Managing Director was Journalist - Author John A. Lent. I first met John A. Lent in absentia thanks to Witty World. One year after Witty World magazine was published (1988), I published a monthly cartoon newspaper called "Akrep / Scorpion" in Cyprus (1988 - 1993). A few issues later, John A. Lent published a short introductory article about the "Scorpion" cartoon newspaper in his pages in Witty World. I was so happy, I can't explain it. After this promotion, hundreds of requests for subscription to the "Akrep / Scorpion" newspaper came from cartoonists and cartoonist organizations in various countries of the World. Cash dollars were sent to my mail address in letters for five or six months. In those years, fax, mobile phone and computer were still in their birth stage in many countries. We could communicate by letter or home phone. Interbank foreign exchange transfer was very difficult and expensive. Sending foreign currency was subject to government permission. Money Gram, Western Union etc. facilities did not yet exist.
Our friendship with John A. Lent began thanks to Witty World magazine. We communicated through letters for years. We were sending the cartoon books, magazines and event news we published in Cyprus by mail. John A. Lent prepared and published many interviews and news about Cypriot - Turkish Cartoon Art.
In 1999, John A. Lent published and sent IJOCA (International Journal of Comic Art) to our addresses. It's called "magazine" but it's not a "magazine"! A book weighing as much as a brick! John A. Lent is being very modest about this! He doesn't know or like ostentation. Each issue of IJOCA has a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 600, 700, 900 pages. IJOCA includes articles, drawings, cartoons and interviews about Line Arts (Cartoon, Comics, Portrait Cartoon, Illustration, Animation, etc.) and its artists. Most importantly, it is printed in the printing house. John A Lent produces for line arts with his endless energy. He produces to create archives and resources for future generations, produces, produces.
While writing this article, I checked IJOCA's official website: 50 IJOCA books have been published from 1999 to 2023. 50 heavy books! IJOCA is a very important and academic publication for World Comic Arts. It is an important document for archives. It is an important resource for researchers. John A. Lent offers a treasure to the "World of Comic Arts". Not finished! He has published and continues to publish not only IJOCA but also dozens of books about "Line Arts". Thousands of articles, interviews, news about "Line Arts". Conferences, panels etc. Because of all these productions, John A. Lent is a person who needs to be protected among cotton.
John A. Lent sent an e-letter a while ago and asked me for an article on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the "International Journal of Comic Art" (IJOCA). At one point in the e-letter he wrote: "I take pride in our reaching this milestone and wish to thank all of you immensely for the articles you submitted, subscriptions taken out and maintained, and overall moral support. We could not have accomplished this without you." In my opinion, these lines reflect a very humble thought. John A. Lent does not like ostentation or boasting. If IJOCA has reached its 25th anniversary, it is not thanks to the articles, cartoons, drawings and research papers we sent. Reached thanks to John A. Lent. He has achieved success by publishing IJOCA in a high quality and comprehensive manner with his inexhaustible energy for 25 years. It is not very difficult to write and draw on any subject. The difficult thing is to print what is written and drawn in a printing house and to leave resources for future generations by delivering it to the masses, libraries, archives, universities and comic arts organizations.
I want to write for those who don't know: I have been working and producing in the fields of Cartoon, Journalism, Humor Writing, book and magazine publishing and Graphic Arts for 40 years, since 1983. My archives contain my journalism memories, research on Cyprus Cartoon Art and nearly 500 ready-to-print book files on various subjects. Moreover, this year was my 40th year in cartooning. I thought of preparing a cartoon album for the 40th anniversary. So what happened! For years, book files have been looking at me, and I have been looking at book files. Because publishing is an expensive endeavor. (I'm not talking about Digital Publishing) It is very difficult to publish a book, newspaper or magazine if you do not have the financial means. I could write a 10-volume book about the troubles, despair, and tragedies I experienced on this subject. Because of this, the importance and value of IJOCA and his other books, which John A. Lent has published patiently and with various difficulties for 25 years, using the traditional and expensive printing method, are very important. For this reason, I would like to thank John A. Lent a million times for producing and publishing books, articles, research papers and interviews for "World Line Arts".
The task of illustrators or writers may be just to "draw" or just to "write". However, everything does not end with writing and drawing. It is important to publish what is drawn or written and transmit it to large audiences, libraries, universities and comic arts organizations, and to leave documents, resources and archives to future generations. Moreover, it is much more important to print, disseminate and archive these publications using the traditional and expensive printing method.
33 years have passed since 1990. As in every field, the field of "Line Arts" has moved from traditional publishing to digital publishing. The period of sending text and visual materials to newspapers, magazines, contest and exhibitions has begun, not by traditional mail method, but by digital technology and electronic communication tools such as Email, WhatsApp, Twitter and LinkedIn. Tens of thousands of digital albums, magazines, newspapers and websites have been published and continue to be published in the field of Drawing Arts. So, what is left to the archives from these digital publications? In my opinion, very few digital archives remain. Because digital productions do not have an archive. Even if there is, it is difficult to reach. Even if it is accessible, it is infected with viruses, deleted, corrupted, or has flown out of the computers' memory. As a result: Zero zero is available, zero!
It is not possible to access digital archives recorded 30 years ago. There are no bookstores or online shopping sites that sell digital publications. There are no libraries or second-hand booksellers that collect archives of digital publications! As with other digital productions, the World Line Arts digital archive was massacred after 1995 and continues to be massacred. But all issues of IJOCA magazine are available in private and institutional archives, libraries, universities and second-hand booksellers in many countries in America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa, and will continue to be available for centuries.
John A. Lent served twice as the Chairman of the International Selection Committee of the International Olive Cartoons Contest organized by the Turkish Cypriot Cartoonists Association and Kyrenia Municipality in Cyprus in 2008 and 2015. We met John A. Lent personally, chatted, did interviews, and took cultural trips because of these two cartoon contest. Thus, our friendship was strengthened and we had the honor of getting to know John A. Lent better. John A. Lent is a humble, affectionate, humorous, respectful personality who acts with fatherly affection. He doesn't like showing off, boasting or being praised. It is like Mevlânâ Celâleddîn-i Rûmî's saying: "Appear as you are, be as you appear."
I wish many happy anniversaries to IJOCAHN LENT, who made significant contributions to World Line Arts with his personality, writings, research and publishing.
International Journal of Comic Art (IJOCA),Vol. 25, No. 2, Fall / Winter 2023, Pennsylvania – USA.
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