This time, the lesson moves to the pimp hand. Enjoy.

Frank is proud to feature Three Thug Mice, the new cartoon project backed by Alain Ket Mariduena, Brooklyn graffiti and publishing legend. Ket founded STRESS, the legendary culture magazine that paved the way for all others, along with Elementary (a long lost rag that had many artists interviewing other artists). Ket also co-founded Complex magazine.

Three Thug Mice, created and illustrated by NY animator Steven Marcus follows… well…three thugged out cartoon rodents as they chase tail, do drugs, rob people, and generally get into trouble in a New York City populated by gun toting asian ducks, streetcorner preaching lizards, knife-fighting felines, and worms who are awesome at breakdancing. Think “Fritz the Cat” post-crack. Scene veterans like Ricky Powell, Rohan Marley, Kool G Rap, R.A. The Rugged Man, Tek(Cocoa Brovaz), M1 (Dead Prez), Fuzz One and more all lend their voices.

The series is on episode 17, so if you want to catch up, head to the Three Thug Mice site and familiarize yourself (totally worth it to see the speedfreak snail who loves hookers). If that’s too much, check out the first episode and the most recent episodes here… and be sure to check back as new episodes come out.

The First Episode - “Smokey Bear”

Recession or not, it’s been getting hard to keep up with all the new stores opening lately. Some new store openings that we had to take note of, though, are Mr. Cartoon’s new series of storefronts, The Last Laugh, in LA. Cartoon was the guest curator of Frank Book 29, and holds it down as the worlds top tattooing street-artist. Check out the clip below by way of KarmaloopTV.

MUTO a wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

We keep on saying it, but Jeff Danziger is easily the best political cartoonist in America. Period. Check out his site, danzigercartoons.com, if you need proof.

This site is an amazing idea.  

Without having to explain a thing, it does for Jim Davis and Garfield what David Michaelis did for Charles Schulz and Peanuts – presenting Jon Arbuckle (or, in Schulz’s case, Charlie Brown) as a symbol of existential angst, full of schizophrenia, melancholy and general discontent. 

Takes the daily comic strip to whole news depths.

In case you’ve never used YouTube, we’ll explain.  An anime music video (AMV) is a fan-made (unofficial) music video, created by chopping and pasting clips from Japanese animes (and some video games) so that the animated action matches the audio track.  

The style began in Japan (obviously), but has since become a worldwide phenomenon, to the point that a website — Animemusicvideos.org – has been founded to provide a unique home for the clips.  They even have annual awards, top ten lists and discussion boards where users can share tips on editing techniques and such.

Of course, the RIAA is outraged over the AMVs, and has been fighting to have them removed from circulation, but what’s new?  It’s worth noting that next to none of the animation studios who produced the sampled cartoons have complained. 

Below, find two our recent AMV favorites.  The first is a Pokemon battle set to a seriously tough battle riddim by Tempa T (AMV by Tenchuassassin).

The second, by a team called IdiotWork, isn’t quite so traditional an AMV… ’cause it’s not actually a music video, see?  Instead, it uses clips from  He-Man, set to dialogue from what might still be the Coen Brothers’ best flick, The Big Lebowski.  Sheer genius. 

(Thanks, Danny Boy)

The best thing about MAD Magazine has always been the Al Jaffee fold-in joke, featured on the back cover of each issue.

The NY Times recently ran an amazing feature article highlighting Jaffee’s 40+ year career with MAD, accompanied by a collection of his fold-ins, which you can — and should – play around with here.

The guy’s incredible.  He’s 87 years old, and still drawing these fold-in things — which always revolve around current events and popular culture.  His fold-in last month was a gag about human growth hormone that folded a picture of Roger Clemens into the image of a pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears.  Our hats are off, Al.