Glenn Fleishman Interrogates the Past

As Flong Time, No See moves to the printer in a few days, I wanted to reveal…yet another book! As I worked on Flong Time, I received emails asking about a print edition of an early collection, Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It from 2017–2018, which I produced as a fine-art limited edition of 125 letterpress-printed, hand-bound copies. I’ve had an offset version nearly ready to go for a few years, but had put it on the back burner for newer work.

After consulting my printer, reviewing the schedule, and checking shipping costs, I realized I could produce both books in the same time frame. You can read more about the book at Kickstarter and back the campaign!

Not To Put Too Fine a Point on It includes articles from The Atlantic, Wired, newsletters,

I was reminded today of a particular writer who is known for his precision, and wrote a book that was rather about that. I bounced off the book when I reached page 22, and found the following (including the abomination of indented footnotes).

I know of many fights over putting two spaces after a full stop, but the explanation above does a disservice to observation and history. It escaped the interest of the writer, but also apparently the editor, copy editor, and, perhaps, even the proofreader, as those must have existed for this particular book, and should have all known it was false.

First, remember what Ted Lasso said about bullies (see end of post) when you read the lead-in to the footnote above: “All them fellas that used to belittle me, not a

In 2022, after having created a printed-related video for an exhibition at the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at the Ohio State University, I flew out to Columbus to visit, and see their collection of original artwork and comics-related artifacts. I wasn’t sure what I’d find, and didn’t know then that I’d make three more trips over the next two years! What I discovered was a treasure trove of material that didn’t fall into most people’s areas of interest and expertise, including cartoons in plate forms, cartoon-sized and full-page newspaper printing molds (flongs), color guides made by cartoonists or assistants for the syndicate or engraver to follow for Sunday color strips, and a whole lot more. It hadn’t been overlooked or ignored, so much as biding its time, waiting for someone to have the obsession I did.

Today I launched a new book project called That One Matt Bors Comic with cartoonist Matt Bors! Matt’s “Mister Gotcha” cartoon in September 2016 became a meme through no fault of Matt’s, primarily for its final panel, in which one character says, “We should improve society somewhat,” while the other mocks him for trying to make any improvement while remaining in society.

The book will feature over a dozen essays and cartoons by people who think about the terminally online, memes, culture wars, neoliberalism, effectuating change in a fallen world, and more.

We think there’s a lot to say, and have signed up an initial great cast of contributors, with more who will be announced over time. The full initial list is on the Kickstarter campaign, and includes K.C. Green, Anna Merlan,