Miss Cellany Visits Cartoonists
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Featuring Jonathan Lucia-Wright, Richard Felton Outcault, Tom Racine, John Backderf, and a score of Buffalo area student cartoonists.
Caricaturist Hangs Up His Easel
Daniel Hickey for the Great Yarmouth Mercury tells of Jonathan Lucia-Wright caricaturing the locals.
For the last eight years, a Peterborough man has spent his summer holidays handing out cartoons featuring the colourful characters of a Norfolk resort.
But Jonathan ‘JJ’ Lucia-Wright, known for creating charming caricatures of people in Great Yarmouth, has decided it is finally time to relax.
The 52-year-old artist has now drawn and painted more than 250 artworks featuring everyone from market traders to tea shop owners, and ice cream sellers to hairdressers.
Cartoonist is Lancaster’s Favorite Son
Joyce Harvey for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette profiles Richard Felton Outcault (or here) in anticipation of the Fairfield County District Library will feature the exhibit “Lancaster’s Own: Richard Outcault and the Birth of the American Comic Strip” on display July 17 – Aug. 16, 2026.
This writer assumes that if you grew up in Lancaster, you were “introduced” to Richard (Dick) Outcault at some time through the years.
If you missed the opportunity to “meet” him, allow me to introduce you with this “introduction” that appeared in the Daily Eagle, 26 October 1915: “Yes, he’s here. The famous cartoonist, the originator of Buster Brown, the Yellow Kid and other well known celebrities is here. He is back on a visit to his old home; back to the scenes of the old swimming hole and back to the place where the genius that is within him was started and nurtured. He came from his New York home accompanied by his charming daughter, Miss Mary Jane, to visit his mother, Mrs. Kate Outcault.
You may know Outcault has been keeping his eyes on Lancaster from his mural at the corner of Broad and Wheeling Streets for 24 years. The mural was created by Leo Strawn, Jr. in 2002.
The Gashlycrumb Tinies Meets The Lord of the Rings
I somehow missed this slim volume from cartoonist Tom Racine taking Edward Gorey’s renowned sorrowful poetry and applying it to J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic trilogy. I also missed this interview with the book’s creator by Kelly of The Middle Page from last Fall. I make amends by linking to it now.
Doomed to Die is “an irreverent glance at the world of Tolkien” that features characters from Middle-earth in the style of Edward Gorey’s The Gashlycrumb Tinies. Many of you in the Tolkien community may already know Tom, but if you don’t yet know him, it is my pleasure to introduce Tom to you by way of this interview. Not only is Tom a wonderful artist, but he is also one of the most supporting, encouraging, and kind folks out there and is exactly what you hope for in a fellow Tolkien fan and friend.
His new book Doomed to Die, An A-Z of Death in Tolkien was built from a series of Inktober drawings in 2024 and is a delightful look into the characters of Middle-earth and their eventual end.
Said Tom:
I had to punt in obvious places… “X is for Axe” for example. “Y is for Young Theodred,” is another. I can’t tell you how excited I was to realize that the mountain where Gandalf dies fighting the Balrog is named “Zirakzigil!” I think I let out an audible “Yes!” When I discovered that!
The 2026 Buffalo News Editorial Cartoon Contest Winners
Adam Zyglis presents the winners of The Buffalo News annual editorial cartoon contest for students grades 5 – 12 (or here).
On June 23rd, we honored the winners of our annual Editorial Cartoon Contest with a wonderful ceremony at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site. Our local students always display such talent and creativity through the contest, and this year was no exception.
And the winners are…
Division I Grade 5: Leila Ung, Rory Farrell, Elliot Griswold, Avelyn Toczek
Division II Grades 6-8: Genevieve Blake, Shelby Olejniczak, Courtney McKune, Olivia Metzger
Division III Grades 9-12: Allyson Mejia Martinez, Johanna Tavernier, Grace Lysek, Kayla Flood
Local Division All Grades: Delthen Miller, Brooklyn Qutaishat, Kayla Flood, Ronald Strasser
TR Informed Citizen Division, All Grades: Sadie Dunlop, River Grasso, Mary Cannon, Ella Dunlop
The students display not only an awareness of the world around them but some real artistic talent!
“History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes”
Douglas J. Guth for FreshWater talks to John Backderf about his forthcoming new book The Dissidents.
Whatever its origin, the truth of [the above quote] resonates throughout “The Dissiddents.” [link added] Slated for a September release, the book chronicles the true story of political cartoonists and journalists enduring under the poisonous gaze of authoritarianism.
Artists at the “radical” magazine “The Masses” faced blacklisting and prison for opposing President Woodrow Wilson as he marched the nation into World War I. Themes of free speech, political violence, and rising white supremacy serve as a grim reflection of our current political landscape, Backderf said in an interview with FreshWater.
Launched in 1911, The Masses’ revolutionary politics and modernist aesthetics earned it the distinction of “the most dangerous magazine in America.”
Spanning nearly 300 pages, “The Dissidents” is richly detailed with period-accurate fashion and architecture. Dense historical detail is punctuated by sudden splashes of color, like the vivid red of blood on a World War I battlefield.
The book took over three years to research, write, and illustrate, representing what Backderf says is one of the most challenging projects of his career. Unlike the Kent State book—where Backderf had living subjects to interview—”The Dissidents” required a deep dive into hard-to-find archival material.
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