Fans of newspaper comics will instantly notice something missing in many of the strips this Friday — pants.
More than 25 cartoonists behind strips from “Blondie” to “Zippy the Pinhead” are celebrating the quirky holiday No Pants Day in a way that helps charities get clothing to those in need.
© King Features Syndicate
“This was a great way to help bring communities together but also have a little bit of a laugh,” said Tea Fougner, comics editor at King Features Syndicate. “Just the idea of No Pants Day, I think, is something that everybody can feel a little bit closer to this year than in previous years.”
Comics creators have noticed that the COVID-19 pandemic has effected people’s ability to get clothing and charities have not gotten as many donations as typical.
In a gracious move among comic strip distributors, King Features reached out to fellow syndicators Tribune Content Agency, Andrews McMeel Universal and Washington Post Writers Group to pull off Friday’s event.
The Associated Press story via The Kansas City Star.
Though, as Nate Fakes points out, it will just be a normal Friday for some characters.
© Nate Fakes
May 7 Update
A (complete?) list of participating syndicated comics:
Animal Crackers by Mike Osbun
Arctic Circle by Alex Hallatt
Barney & Clyde by Gene and Dan Weingarten and Dave Clark with Horace LaBadie
Betty by Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen
Bizarro by Dan Piraro and Wayno
Blondie by Dean Young and John Marshall
Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn
Brewster Rockit by Tim Rickard
Dennis the Menace by Steve Ketchum and Marcus Hamilton
Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Joe Staton
Gertie Gearhead by Mike Smith
Half Full by Maria Scrivan
Hi and Lois by Brian and Greg Walker and Eric Reaves
The Lockhorns by Bunny Hoest and John Reiner
Loose Parts by Dave Blazek
Mallard Fillmore by Bruce Tinsley
Marvin by Tom Armstrong
Mt. Pleasant by Rick McKee and Kent Sligh
Off The Mark by Mark Parisi
Rhymes With Orange by Hilary Price and Rina Piccola
Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano and Jim Keefe
Shoe by Susie MacNelly, Ben Lansing and Gary Brookins
Zippy the Pinhead by Bill Griffith
There were webcomics like Frog Applause and Intelligent Life that joined in.
But did we miss any syndicated comics?
Late Addition:
© King Features Syndicate
The Spats by Jeff Pickering is distributed by King Features Weekly Service.
The King Features blog about No Pants Day revealed this drop trou strip.
Another late add:
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith by John Rose
The AP story of several syndicates getting together for this contains something eerily coincidental—the byline is one Mark Kennedy.
An origami master similarly named Mark Kennedy was known and beloved far and wide, here and abroad. I met him at his yearly gatherings at his house and at conventions. I His knowledge, technique, teaching, helping in so many ways are massive.
https://origamiusa.org/memoriam_mark_kennedy
https://origamiusa.org/thefold/article/2018-michael-shall-volunteer-award-mark-kennedy
Here’s the tie-in, his brother was the late Jay Kennedy, longtime editor-in-chief of King Features Syndicate.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Kennedy
So the AP byline reminded me of Mark Kennedy, whose brother was comics syndicate chief Jay Kennedy. I assume no relation to the writer of the article.
Rae and Doe: https://www.comicskingdom.com/rae-the-doe
Tomversation: https://tomfalco.com/2021/05/07/i-cam-in-like-a-wrecking-ball/