Are cartoons happy? The Brooklyn-born painter Joyce Pensato saw darkness lurking behind those powerful silhouettes. She began drawing Batman in 1976, after graduating from the New York Studio School. By the 1980s, his dark form had evolved into a vivid gestural abstraction. Pensato never abandoned her cast of familiar characters: Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Groucho Marx, Donald Duck, Homer Simpson, even South Park’s figures. They all reflected on American history and what has changed through the years. Pensato died in 2019, at 78. With 65 works, this is the largest Pensato museum survey yet. —Elena Clavarino