Comic Chronicles – Strip Scene
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The Caledonian-Record shuffles its comics page; the Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award; a Luann bibliography; The Funny Pages, a comic strip exhibit; Calvin and Hobbes and Susie Derkins; and a new look for Reply All.
The Caledonian-Record Updates Their Comics Page
The Caledonian-Record has take a positive step with its comics page. They have replaced two rerun comic strips with three comic strips that produces original material. From The Caledonian-Record (or here):
“After many years with Peanuts and Fred Basset, we decided it was time for a refresh. We’ve published every strip in each franchise — and, in Fred Basset’s case, we’ve published every one twice.
“Taking their place, along with space previously occupied by a house advertisement, are three new strips:
“Adam@Home, by Rob Harrell … DeFlocked, by Jeff Corriveau … [and] The Grizzwells, by Bill Schorr.”
Unknown what the entire page consists of though they do mention the new comics joining Garfield, Baby Blues, Blondie, Shoe, Tundra, Zits and Hagar the Horrible. (We note that Zits dailies are currently in rerun status.)
The Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award
The National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA) is the latest group to receive The Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award from the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF). The award “was created in 1981 to acknowledge significant contributions to aviation by a group or organization. It is named in honor of noted artist and aviation enthusiast the late Milton Caniff, a longtime NAHF supporter.” Honorees for The Spirit of Flight compliment the National Aviation Hall of Fame enshrinees.
An Overview of the Luann Bibliography
In the latest Luann newsletter Karen Evans, among other items, takes us through the publishing history of Luann books from the fondly remembered days of the ComicBacks® to the present print-on-demand editions.
“Luann has been around for 41 years–publishing strips 365 days a year. But our book publishing history is a little less straightforward.
“The very first collection, Meet Luann, came out in 1986 through Berkley Books with an introduction by none other than Charles Schulz himself.”
“A few years later the books moved to Tor Books … These early books were all an unusual size for comic collections, pocket-paperback size to be easy for a teen to tuck in a backpack perhaps?”
Karen apparently too young to remember the mass market paperback racks filled with ComicBacks®.
“From there it was on to Rutledge Hill Press in the late ’90s, then Andrews McMeel in the more familiar squarish format most comic-strip collections use today. Dad also put together a 25th-anniversary book of his own — self-published, and the most recent full collected-strips book to date.”
The latest being a collection of The Sage of Brad & Toni Book One.
“We’re partnering with Origin Comics, a new publishing venture from Katie and Kurtis Findlay … Book One of The Saga of Brad & Toni will be available this November with Book Two debuting in March, along with Brad and Toni’s new baby.”
The Funny Pages
Anderson cartoonist Dee Parson has designed a second poster for “The Funny Pages” exhibit opening soon.
“For The Funny Pages exhibition, I designed a second poster with help from my friends at the Charles M. Schulz Museum, because a curated selection of Sparky Schulz’s “Young Pillars” material will be on display for the public for the first time in 20 years.”
The Complicated Relationship of Calvin and Susie
GoComics presents “In Defense of Susie Derkins,” an illustrated essay by Lynne Palazzi.
“As far as Calvin of “Calvin and Hobbes” is concerned, his neighbor and classmate Susie Derkins is a villain on the level of Darth Vader or Hannibal Lecter. Their verbal sparring begins the very first time we meet Susie in the cafeteria and only escalates from there. Over the course of the strip, Calvin calls Susie a litany of mean names—booger brain, freak, grade-A nimrod—and fantasizes about a comic-book world in which she plays Annoying Girl. He makes a “valentine” for her (“I hate you. Drop dead.”) and delivers it along with dead flowers. He even launches “Club G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS)” to exclude her from neighborhood hijinks.
“But could a 6-year-old girl possibly harbor so much evil? Is Susie really so bad?”
Searching For a New Style
Donna A. Lewis is exploring the idea of creating a new style for her Reply All comic strip and Reply All Lite panel.
“The cartoon in the office below is one style in which AI has reimagined my Reply All characters. I think these two characters are really cute. I’ve been looking for a new cartoon style of the Reply All characters. I feel like it’s time to evolve the style from the same art I have been creating now for 15 years…”
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