Comic Strips

Comic Strip Revues with Bonus News

For the second week in a row McDonnell has treated us to a new MUTTS, and for the second Friday in a row it is an illustrated proverb by Daniel Ladinsky. I don’t know if these are new or from the book collaboration Ladinsky and McDonnell did several years ago. I also don’t know if this is a new Friday trend for MUTTS.

It is pretty much a given that when Marvin disappears from his comic strip for a week, as he did from Aug. 23 to Aug. 30, when he returns cartoonist Tom Armstrong will have created a new look for the child.

Above was Marvin as we last saw him at the end of August, below is the “new look” Marvin as of September (actually the switch happened on Aug. 31).

Speaking of changes – has Ramsey played role reversal with Carmen and Winslow? I thought Carmen was the conservative, shouldn’t she be the one that loves his honesty? Though Scott Stantis did move her into the never-Trump sphere fairly quickly into MAGA rise.

The Duplex by Glenn McCoy – Sept. 5, 2026

I instantly thought of the Thurber collection when I read of Eno’s plans.

Whereas Mark Trail this week brought thoughts of the Eye of Agamotta.

Pooch Cafe by Paul Gilligan – Sept. 1, 2026

I was surprised and impressed with Gilligan’s drawing of a zebra this week. Well done!

Even more surprising was Lester talking out his grief of Regan’s passing in his comic strip. I hope it was therapeutic for him. It began with the Aug. 31, 2026 strip.

I have to believe that Luckovich knew his cartoon was appearing on the birth date of Mort Walker.

And Now Some Comic Strip News

Bonnet brings news that his Suburban Fairy Tales comic strip is coming to Newsday, his local newspaper.

Starting September 20, Suburban Fairy Tales will be appearing in the Sunday comics section of Newsday!

Cartoonist Brown is interviewed by Patrick Rapa for Philadelphia magazine.

Before he’d even gotten the go-ahead for his biography of Marc Maron’s recently retired podcast WTF (due out November 3rd), Brown was already hard at work a darkly humorous dystopia called Forevr (September 8th). The schedule was grueling, but the end result is a pair of graphic novels that demonstrate the breadth of Brown’s bold approach to art and storytelling.

Though mostly about the graphic novels the Legalization Nation comic strip is discussed.

Bobby Burns, editor of The Daily Reflector (NC), assures readers (or here) that they will miss no comics as the newspaper reduces its publishing schedule to two days a week.

… many, many readers of The Daily Reflector were most concerned about what would become of the daily and Sunday comics when we announced we would begin printing the paper twice a week.

Well, here is the good news, folks. We are going to include all of the comics and puzzles you receive now in our Wednesday and Saturday editions. We will publish the Monday through Wednesday content on Wednesday and the rest on Saturday.

Burns makes note of something that involves Trump’s Canadian widespread tariffs:

Cutting days will save punishing costs of running a press — newsprint, now made exclusively in Canada, is expensive and prices continue to rise.

Kee’s World by C. W. Kee

The Malaysia Star‘s Sheela Chandran spotlights 45 years of cartooning by C. W. Kee.

Kee joined The Star in 1981 as an editorial artist. Yet after all these years, he says every new strip still begins the same way: with a deadline.

“What motivates me is the deadline,” he quips.

The Far Side by Gary Larson – Oct. 28, 1988 (excerpt)

Ambrose Tardive at Screen Rant and the year of no Far Side in Why There Are No Far Side Comics From 1989.

Osbun brings us to today’s earworm courtesy of Lyle and Eugene the elephant.

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Comments 5

  1. Wikipedia and the Billy Ireland websites disagree on Tom Armstrong’s birth year, but he’s clearly at least 75 years old. Could the style change be related to the hiring of an as yet unknown ghost cartoonist?

    P.S. “Feats Don’t Fail Me Now“.

    1. That would involve changing assistants with the seasons.
      Tom replied to an inquiry about it 23 years ago:

      “Glad you enjoy and follow Marvin so closely.

      You’re right, The parents looks – along with all the characters in my
      strip periodically evolve. I blame it on my fine art training
      (BFA in painting). In fine art, you’re always experimenting and trying
      different things. I bring this same mentality to my cartoon work.

      The majority of cartoonist come from a commercial art background, and once
      they’ve established the design of their characters, they remain the same
      way for the next twenty or thirty years.

      While I feel guilty for any confuse my approach may cause Marvin’s
      followers, I like the idea of keeping it visually interesting and not
      static.”
      https://groups.google.com/g/rec.arts.comics.strips/c/iu9lX8w9SEU/m/62KVh9EP_1EJ

  2. Stranger’s amulet was named the Eye of AGAMOTTO after it’s maker, the very first Sorcerer Supreme.
    No, he wasn’t the magical member of Diana Ross’s group.

  3. D.D., do I forsee a future panorama featuring each “evolution” of Armstrong’s Marvin over the years? I’d certainly find it fascinating. That said, even if readers have gotten used to the changes, I can’t imagine that this particular change won’t be noticed by his multitude of fans. Confusing enough that it’s hard to see that that’s even meant to be the same baby!

  4. I’m sorry for Mike Lester’s loss, but I notice his grief didn’t stop him from taking a gratuitous cheap shot at the WNBA and trans women in “Mike du Jour” today.

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