September Mourn
above: "Morning Music" by Sempé © Condé Nast
The New Yorker’s new issue (dated September 5, 2022) features a J. J. Sempé cover (the 114th) in tribute to the artist who passed away earlier this month. The cover story feature:
The French artist’s widow describes Sempé’s decades-long relationship with the magazine and his deep appreciation for its spirit, its staff, and its readers.
Cartooning for Funny Pages
above: screen grabs from the Funny Pages trailer
When Owen Kline was 14 years old, he wrote cartoonist Johnny Ryan a fan letter … Years later, the now 30-year-old Kline went to Ryan when he was working on his first feature, the A24-distributed “Funny Pages.”
Kline was in need of drawings to represent his protagonist’s body of work, and, soon, Ryan was on the case. “When you’re looking through the portfolio at the beginning, that was pretty much me riffing,” Ryan said. “And Owen’s direction was just kind of like, ‘It can be as dirty or crazy as you want it to be.’”
IndieWire talks to Owen Kline and Johnny Ryan about filming comics and cartooning for film.
Initially, Kline had approached another alt-comics figure, Rick Altergott, but his art was “too lavish” for what a high school senior would produce. “It’s sort of between cartooning and this bleak, Charles Burns, stark realism,” Kline said. Kline decided that Altergott would provide the drawings for Robert’s teacher, Mr. Katano (Stephen Adly Guirgis), and Ryan’s style would be a better fit for Robert.
The Return of Lum and Abner and Donnie Pitchford
© the Estate of Chester H. Lauck Jr.
Donnie Pitchford has had some high profile assignments which took a little time away
from his Lum and Abner comic strip, but now they’re back on a weekly schedule.
Yes, the cartoonist has been doing nothing but hanging around the beach with our old friends Lum and Abner! NAH! Actually, I was quite busy, often working day and night to complete a series of portrait plaques of Buddy Holly, David Frizzell, and the Texas Tenors for the 2022 Texas Country Music Hall of Fame Induction.
What else has been going on?
Well, I was honored with an article in our county magazine, Panola Crossroads, by editor-writor Kay Hubbard!
They no longer operate a website, but you can read or download a PDF here.
And Lum and Abner the Comic strip will return to weekly its schedule next Sunday.
A Cracked Look at Calvin and Hobbes – the Rest of the Story
© Bill Watterson
Last week we mentioned that Cracked.com was taking a look at the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. In case you haven’t been following Chris Corlew’s five-part series, here’s the final three.
6 Reasons Why Calvin & Hobbes Still Works Decades Later
#3 It Is Still Funny
7 Moments Of Philosophical Genius In Calvin & Hobbes
#3 When You Think You’re Being Your Smartest, Someone Is (Rightly) Laughing At You
6 Brutal Lessons Calvin And Hobbes Doesn’t Spare
#3 In Space, People Still Make You Cite Sources
Cracked Continues Counting the Ways
© PAWS Inc.
Garfield was specifically created to be the most universally appealing and marketable comic strip ever; something both your MAGA uncle and Antifa cousin can read and … well, maybe not laugh at, but definitely recognize as something intended to be somewhat humorous. So how did such an inoffensive character end up mixed up in so many weird-ass real-life situations? Situations like …
4 Times Garfield Went Off The Rails By Maxwell Yezpitelok
Solving the Slylock Fox Credits Conundrum
A couple weeks ago Reed Brennan notified their customers as to how
the Slylock Fox and Comics For Kids feature should be credited:
Attention SLYLOCK FOX AND COMICS FOR KIDS Clients:
Please note that the byline for King Features’ daily and Sunday comic feature SLYLOCK FOX AND COMICS FOR KIDS has changed and should be updated on all templates and layouts, both print and online.
The byline for the comic should read “by Bob Weber, Jr.”
Thank you, King Features Editorial
And that is how the header banner on the page reads (see above).
Yet the two Sunday title panels since that notice still run with the old credit.
© King Features Syndicate
(Revealing aside: When scrolling through my Comics Kingdom Favorites I can’t help but stop at Slylock Fox because I find the “Spot Six Differences Between These Panels” puzzle irresistible.)
Binky Brown’s Funeral Pyre
© the Estate of Justin Green
Justin made clear in his final days that he didn’t want a traditional funeral. Instead, he requested an art show at his youngest daughter’s gallery. At the time, he thought he could orchestrate it from a hospital bed and in true tortured fashion, have the opening while literally on his last gasp. So weak by his failing body, Justin was only able to title the exhibition and complete a couple of sketches. It is our honor, as his family, to carry out his wish and showcase his lifetime of brilliance.
Binky Brown’s Funeral Pyre is a comprehensive exhibition in honor of comix legend Justin Green…
Details for the Memorial and Exhibit can be found here.
Donations can be made through the above link or through a gofundme account.
Many thanks for spreading the word!