The Daily Cartoonist

In the News

First and Last – The Fantastical Tales of Norb

Jul 13, 2020 by D. D. Degg

When Berke Breathed’s Bloom County ended on August 6, 1989 King Features Syndicate had an unconventional comic strip to offer newspapers to replace the popular feature. Norb (I can find no example of “The Fantastical Tales of…” being used on anything but the promotional material) by Daniel Pinkwater and Tony Auth debuted on Monday August […]

Section: Comic strips

0 Comments - Discuss »

Kurt Mitchell – RIP

Jul 13, 2020 by D. D. Degg

Chicago illustrator/cartoonist Kurt Mitchell has passed away. Kurt Davis Mitchell July 24, 1952 – July 1, 2020 From the obituary: A freelance artist and writer, his work graced the pages of the Chicago Reader, Chicago Tribune, and Chicago Sun-Times among others. He also worked in video game development. In later years he self-published over a […]

Section: AAEC-feed

0 Comments - Discuss »

Last Week Today – Comic News Roundup

Jul 13, 2020 by D. D. Degg

A new weekly comic “Informal Drawings” by Peter Slemen IPWatchdog.com, which focuses on intellectual property issues, now features a new weekly comic: IPWatchdog is pleased to announce the launch of our weekly comic series, brought to you by Wei & Sleman founding partner, Peter Sleman. Peter’s Comic Strip, appropriately named “Informal Drawings”, is a weekly […]

Section: AAEC-feed

0 Comments - Discuss »

CSotD: Monday Roundup

Jul 13, 2020 by Mike Peterson

Not sure I should lead with Joe Heller’s reminder. I don’t want people freaking out and leaving before they’re enjoyed my pearls of wisdom. Still, the new, improved tax deadline is Wednesday, so if you haven’t filed yet, you’d better get hopping. I was just re-reading a Sunday business feature I wrote years ago about […]

Section: Comic strips

3 Comments - Discuss »

Duane McKenna – RIP

Jul 12, 2020 by D. D. Degg

Art director and cartoonist Duane McKenna has passed away. Duane Alton McKenna August 20, 1922 – July 1, 2020 From the obituary: Born 97 years ago in Sioux Falls, SD, he served in the Army Air Force from 1943-46 before graduating from the University of South Dakota with an art degree. Upon moving to Washington, […]

Section: Cartoonist

0 Comments - Discuss »

Sunday Funnies, with Special Appearances by…

Jul 12, 2020 by D. D. Degg

The Dick Tracy story, quest-starring Dethany, that started last Sunday continues. Dethany’s On The Fastrack story, guest-starring Dick Tracy, starts later this week. That was expected. And it is really no surprise that Thatababy would feature cartoon cameos. But a number of other cartoonists seem to have joined in featuring comic characters in their comic […]

Section: Comic strips

1 Comment - Discuss »

CSotD: The Parable of the Bad Shepherd

Jul 12, 2020 by Mike Peterson

Phil Hands leads off today with a narrow accusation I want to expand into a continuing theme. The refusal to wear masks, or, more broadly, the refusal to take Covid-19 seriously, requires a level of gullibility that should boggle the mind. That is, it’s not just “bad science.” The anti-vaxxers can at least string together […]

Section: Editorial cartooning

6 Comments - Discuss »

Marty Riskin – RIP

Jul 12, 2020 by D. D. Degg

Cartoonist Marty Riskin has passed away. Martin S. (Marty) Riskin November 26, 1936 – July 9, 2020 From the newspaper notice: When the computer came along setting the graphic art’s world into a tailspin, Marty was left behind, [son] Gregg said. “It turned him into a prehistoric relic … he did not adapt,” he […]

Section: AAEC-feed

0 Comments - Discuss »

CSotD: Substituting Stories for Statutes, and other follies

Jul 11, 2020 by Mike Peterson

Marty Two Bulls certainly has standing to make this observation, but I would point out that he’s saying something less about “cancel culture” and more about honest history. That’s not to say that a frank reassessment of our history might not require some adjustments, including settling some land claims in the case of Indians, and […]

Section: Editorial cartooning

4 Comments - Discuss »

Book Title Copyrights – Long Story Short

Jul 11, 2020 by D. D. Degg

From Writer’s Digest: Much like names, slogans and ideas, titles are not protected by U.S. copyright laws (which is why so many books have the same titles). To qualify for copyright protection, a work needs to possess “a significant amount of original expression”—and while “a significant amount of original expression” isn’t fully defined by hard-and-fast […]

Section: Books

3 Comments - Discuss »

Fred Purucker – RIP

Jul 10, 2020 by D. D. Degg

Cartoonist Fred Purucker has passed away. Frederick J. (Fred) Purucker, Jr.May 28, 1931 – June 30, 2020 Malibu Times editorial cartoonist 1999-2016(?),art school teacher, Disney animator From the Malibu Times notice: Purucker, TMT cartoonist for more than two decades, died last week at the age of 89. Although his face may not be known to […]

Section: AAEC-feed

0 Comments - Discuss »

CSotD: It’s Friday Funnies and So What?

Jul 10, 2020 by Mike Peterson

A bit of cautionary wisdom from Arlo for anyone who hasn’t noticed that whatever crazy was out there to start with has really flourished in the current crisis. Someone the other day was making excuses for Costco Ken, that belligerent fellow who was threatening an old lady who wanted him to wear a mask, stepping […]

Section: Comic strips

4 Comments - Discuss »

Jul 9, 2020 by D. D. Degg

Last week you heard, and maybe saw, the fireworks going off, but you were probably mistaken about the cause. It is my theory that those illuminating the sky with rockets were celebrating the release of the 2020 updating of Bottorff’s ComicBacks Price Guide & Checklist (in PDF). Some of you may have noted that I […]

Section: Books

2 Comments - Discuss »

A Hostile Life In The Boondocks

Jul 9, 2020 by D. D. Degg

In 1999 Aaron McGruder shook up the comics pages in America’s newspapers. In 1997, not long after Aaron McGruder pulled The Boondocks from his college newspaper, he submitted his strip to syndicates, companies that provide comics, puzzles, and advice columns to hundreds of newspapers…The rejections piled on, with the syndicates feeling that The Boondocks was […]

Section: Animation

0 Comments - Discuss »

Jan Eliot Interviewed as Stone Soup End Nears

Jul 9, 2020 by D. D. Degg

With three Sunday strips left until Stone Soup ends, Jan Eliot is interviewed. … what have you learned in the process of creating it?Well, I have learned that there’s no magic. You know, everybody always asks, “Where do you get your ideas?” And there’s really no magic to creativity other than sitting down and working […]

Section: Comic strips

0 Comments - Discuss »