Comic Strip Cartoonists in the News

Mary Worth artist June Brigman talks to SYFY Wire mostly about her comic books (Power Pack, Captain Ginger) but does speak of her comic strip work:

We also talked about her present-day work as the artist on the newspaper strip Mary Worth, which she does in concert with her husband and inker/colorist/letterer Roy Richardson. Working on a strip like Mary Worth is “a very different challenge from comic books,” Brigman explains. She says spending 15 years doing the Brenda Starr strip helped her master the craft and discipline needed to pull it off. “The good thing about a comic strip is it goes on and on. And the bad thing about a strip is it goes on and on,” she says. “If you’re successful and the strip is successful, it’s not going to end.”

  

“If you want a vacation, you’re going to have to get ahead by a week or two. If you get sick, too bad. Brenda Starr never took a vacation. Mary Worth never takes a vacation,” Brigman says. “The format is more limited. The panel size and arrangement is pretty much set in stone. You really can’t change that very much. So you have to find a way to be creative, to tell a story within the restriction of the comic strip format.”

 

Dilbert creator Scott Adams got mentioned on national tv when White House trade advisor Peter Navarro cited Scott as his defense for promoting hydroxychloroquine as a coronavirus treatment.

From The Daily Beast:

Arguing that there are many more experts who say hydroxychloroquine is not effective, [Erin] Burnett added: “Peter, first of all, you’re an economist, not a scientist.”

…Navarro countered with a comic strip artist’s opinion.

“All right. Let me say this to you, okay?” Navarro exclaimed. “I reach out to all your viewers. Scott Adams—you know Scott Adams, right? He’s the guy who wrote the Dilbert cartoon. He did a beautiful ten-minute video on Twitter, and the thesis of the video is that CNN might be killing thousands because of the way they’ve treated that. So, I would just ask—I’ll let Scott Adams’ video be my defense on this.”

The video that Navarro referenced shows the Trump-boosting cartoonist pointing to a bunch of whiteboards while accusing CNN of killing tens of thousands of people because of their “dangerous” reporting on the drug.

Sticking with Scott Adams for a minute, he’ll be interviewed on Sinclair television tomorrow (August 9):

Full Measure with Sharyl Attkisson

Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, talks about his new book, “Loserthink,” and what it means.

 

Daily Cartoonist got mentioned in a Letter to the Editor about Monterey Herald dropping Six Chix:

I’m sad to see Six Chix no longer run in the daily comic section of the Monterey Herald. Six Chix offered, by my reading of the comic section, the only daily comic written by a woman, six women in fact. The decision by the Herald’s owner, MediaNews Group, to discontinue the comic after the July 28 social justice-themed comic is a sad reminder of how people in positions of power can so easily silence the voices of people they either do not understand or do not agree with. As since reported by several sources, including NBC News and the Daily Cartoonist, the July 28 comic was satire about anti-maskers and people who do not understand the Black Lives Matter movement.

It was written by Bianca Xunise, who is only the second Black woman to contribute to a nationally syndicated comic strip. Apparently in their rush to not offend anyone, the MediaNews Group decided it is better to silence a leading Black cartoonist and her five female colleagues than to print comics that address uncomfortable societal issues. It’s a decidedly unfunny turn of events for the comic section.

 

A year ago the Summit Daily News dropped their comics page, now a reader is imploring local creative types to submit their own comics to brighten up the newspaper:

Have you wondered where the funnies have gone? What? Funnies, I say. Yes, good people, the comics are gone from our small but mighty paper. Gone!

Maybe syndication fees were too high for our paper? It is truly hard times all around.


above: the Somewhat County strip ran in the Summit Daily News for ten years

Therefore, ladies, gents and all who are artfully in between, I have for you an outrageous proposal. Who among us is an artist aching to make somebody laugh? Surely a few of you are out there? The glory would be unlimited!

Yes, that is my outrageous proposal. Let’s resurrect the funnies in the Summit Daily by turning them over to local artists.

 

Did we mention that the results of the 1945 Retro-Hugo Awards were announced?

The 1945 Retrospective Hugo Award winners were announced in an online ceremony produced by CoNZealand, the 78th World Science Fiction Convention, on Thursday 30 Jul 2020 (New Zealand Standard Time).

It is old news, but it is for an old comics award.

The winner and nominees for the category we’re concerned

Best Graphic Story or Comic

  • Superman: “The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk”, by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster (Detective Comics, Inc.)
  • Donald Duck: “The Mad Chemist”, by Carl Barks (Dell Comics)
  • The Spirit: “For the Love of Clara Defoe”, by Manly Wade Wellman, Lou Fine and Don Komisarow (Register and Tribune Syndicate)
  • Buck Rogers: “Hollow Planetoid”, by Dick Calkins (National Newspaper Service)
  • Flash Gordon: “Battle for Tropica”, by Don Moore and Alex Raymond (King Features Syndicate)
  • Flash Gordon: “Triumph in Tropica”, by Don Moore and Alex Raymond (King Features Syndicate)

This was the last year that Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond was eligible, “Triumph in Tropica” was the last Flash Gordon story Raymond worked on. So Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond never won a Retro Hugo. Nor has Buck Rogers, yet. (hat tip to Art Lortie for the details here.)

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