Webtoon, the popular mobile online comics platform owned by Korean tech giant Naver, just announced its payments to English-language comics creators and the results are eye-opening in an industry not famous for its generosity to artists and writers. According to Webtoon, payouts to English-language creators topped $27 million since 2020, or more than $1 million […]
Jen Sorensen explains the interplay of polarization and bothsidesism.We used to joke about the mainstream media’s obsession with presenting both sides, saying that if someone said Hitler was a bad person, reporters would be ordered to find someone who would say he was good.It seemed like clever hyperbole at the time, but now we’ve got […]
Vancouver’s Slap Happy Cartoons has announced a partnership with Andrews McMeel Entertainment, a division of global media company Andrews McMeel Universal, to develop the popular newspaper, web and book-based property Heart of the City. Slap Happy Cartoons and Andrews McMeel Entertainment believe the strip has strong potential in other formats. The target audience […]
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists has long championed those cartoonists who work for small and local newspapers, and once again in 2022 the AAEC is looking for the best in political cartooning. Named after the late Pulitzer Prize-nominated cartoonist, The Rex Babin Memorial Award for Excellence in Local Cartooning focuses on state and local […]
I’m a fan of the Sunday Garfield title panels going way back. Here’s a few title panels from the randomly chosen Summer of 2007. So yesterday’s (July 17, 2022) title panel amused and surprised me. The surprise is that I don’t remember ever seeing a Garfield title panel like it. © Paws Inc.There may have […]
Announcing the 2022 Davenport International Cartoon Contest! A festival that honors a famous Political Cartoonist seems almost naked without some kind of competition focused on that endeavor. To that end, the International Cartoon Contest has returned! Also, since we have not changed either our entry fees or our prizes in over 30 years, we have […]
Starting the day with things we ought not to believe, Ann Telnaes encapsulates the conflicting stories about how the Secret Service accidentally deleted text messages from, golly, of all dates, January 5 and 6, 2021. She includes a nameplate for Nixon secretary Rosemary Woods, for the benefit of those too young to remember Woods’ absurd re-enactment […]
On July 17, 1922 Barney Google saved a man’s life, sort of, and was generously rewarded with a race horse, of sorts. Below are the first week of daily comic strips introducing Spark Plug (with Billy De Beck‘s subtitles).July 17, 1922 – Barney’s Troubles Are Either Over or Just Beginning July 18, 1922 – It’s Three […]
Sage Stossel gets as political as I’m planning to be today, the Yea! factor here being that the minions are being exposed, the Boo! factor being that they exist at all.And Boo! to the sinless purists who condemn people like Leibovich and Miller for having ever been in the mud, even though they stepped out […]
It seems Gray Morrow and Wally Wood weren’t the only Silver Age comic book artists to try grab the brass ring of succeeding Hal Foster as Prince Valiant comic strip artist. Phil Holt also gave it a shot, as seen in today’s Funky Winkerbean. Not to belittle the artistic skills of Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers […]
Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for July 2022 release. Images and links (mostly) via Amazon, though ordering through your local comic or independent book store is a good idea. The A to Z of British Newspaper Strips (review) Big Nate: Very Funny! Tom the Dancing Bug: Eat the Poor Gladys Parker: A Life […]
Since I don’t follow Canadian politics closely, I’m not sure if the Fat Cat in Bruce MacKinnon’s commentary on the plan to raise interest rates is anyone in particular, but it doesn’t matter: The rich powerful guy is making major decisions about global policies and the homeless guy is just worried about his next meal.His […]
50 years ago, on July 15, 1972, Apex Novelties released Funny Aminals #1, an underground comix book with work by Robert Crumb, Justin Green, Shary Flenniken, Jay Lynch, Michael McMillan, Bill Griffith, and Jim Osborne.Oh, and a three page story by Art Spiegleman. Three pages that would evolve into a Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book.Six years […]
Editorial cartoonist Judy Dixon has passed away. Judith Grace (Judy) Dixon (neé McCormack) January 15, 1927 – July 7, 2022 From The Jefferson County (Mo.) Leader obituary: Hall of Fame cartoonist Judith “Judy” McCormack Dixon died July 7 in De Soto at age 95. Mrs. Dixon enjoyed a 70-plus-year career as an artist, the last […]
They Can Talk provides an excellent starting point for contemplating cartoons that remind me of other things, because, by playing on the social tendencies of cats and dogs, it mirrors those tendencies within ourselves, which is how good comedy works.It’s allied to the half-empty/half-full glass trope, except that that classic division between optimists and pessimists […]