Danny Hellman, who did fantastic illustrations for bOING bOING (the zine) is posting a selection of 80 illustrations he did for a book about the lousy job prospects for college grads, written in the style of Dr. Seuss. The book will never see the light of day, thanks to Seuss's small-hearted lawyers.
A few months into the project, (after I'd turned in about half of the book's 80 or so illos) the publisher sent promo materials for the book out to retailers. Apparently, some wicked, Grinch-like person felt compelled to pass these materials along to attorneys who work for the Ted Geisel estate, at which point this flock of legal carrion birds descended on my publisher much as the Onceler clan does on a newly-discovered forest of virgin Truffula trees.Okay, enough of the Seuss metaphors. Suffice to say that my publisher was hit with a Cease & Desist letter, and the project was killed, in spite of our well-established First Amendment right to commit parody.
Sometimes it's actually a relief when jobs get killed, but more often it comes as a bit of a heartbreak, (at least in my experience), and this episode definitely falls into the second category. In spite of the generous kill fee I was paid, I was disappointed that these drawings would never be seen. Now that some time has passed, I've picked twelve of my favorites, which I'll post in two batches. I hope you like them!
Oh, The Jobs That Get Killed, Part One
