July 2, 2023

Well-Read Rabbits

CCS Gallery is located at 94 South Main Street in White River Junction

This exhibition features enduring rabbit characters who were popularized in other formats before being adapted into a graphic novel and comic strip.

On exhibit at the CCS Gallery until October 28, 2023. Open to the public on the following days:
Saturdays in from October 12-4pm (10/7, 10/14, 10/21, 10/28)

Watership Down

Watership Down has become a modern classic since winning both the Carnegie Medal and the Guardian Children’s Fiction Prize in 1972 when it was first published. The novel has been adapted into an animated feature film, children’s television series, and a 2018 Netflix series.

These pages were created with Micron Pens, Prismacolor Pencils, Holbein Acryla Gouache, and Speedball Escoda Brushes on Strathmore Bristol. Joe Sutphin has illustrated many books for kids including Andrew Peterson’s treasured Wingfeather Saga, the New York Times bestselling Word Of Mouse by James Patterson, and the bestselling newly-envisioned edition of Little Pilgrim’s Progress.

The original art on display is from the newly-released Watership Down: The Graphic Novel (Ten Speed Graphics) adapted by James Sturm and drawn by Joe Sutphin.

Peter Rabbit

The Peter Rabbit comic strip was based on Thornton Burgess’ “Peter Rabbit” character (as opposed to Beatrix Potter’s version) from his 1910 collection, Old Mother West Wind. Created by Harrison Cady, the strip was launched by the New York Herald Tribune Syndicate on August 15, 1920. Cady continued to write and draw the strip until Vincent Fago took over for him in 1947. The strip would run for another decade. With the exception of one piece of Cady original art, the pages on display feature the work of Fago.

Fago turned the attention of the strip away from Peter Rabbit’s domestic life and focused on the strip’s younger characters. He also brought his animator’s skill-set to the comic, rendering the characters in more dynamic and varied brush lines. Fago’s funny animal work would later influence underground cartoonists such as Jay Lynch and Robert Crumb.

Vincent Fago was born in the Bronx in 1914. It was the same year Winsor McCay first stood on a stage next to his animated creation, Gertie the Dinosaur. At the age of fourteen, Fago sold his first cartoon. His career would span more than seven decades, encompassing animation, comic books, strips, and more. In 1968, Vincent Fago moved to Bethel, Vermont. The Peter Rabbit strips on exhibition are thanks to a donation to the CCS archive by his son, John Fago.