The Comic Strip Files

July 23, 2023 saw the beginning of a new story for The Sunday Phantom. (“The Commander Will See You Now”). That means a new Sunday title panel by Jeff Weigel!

© King Features Syndicate

Gus Arriola is famed for his drawing on the Gordo comic strip.

Todd Klein looks at another aspect of that cartooning art:

GORDO is another comic strip whose use of lettering and design is remarkable.

The animals also allowed Arriola to break free from conventional storytelling and begin to do more creative things with large lettering, as here.

© UFS

Joseph Nebus reminds us that Saturday’s The Amazing Spider-Man strip will be a rerun of the last of the original.

When The Amazing Spider-Man comic strip went into repeats, in March 2019 it was addressed in-story by Peter Parker dreaming of past adventures while on the plane to Australia. The repeats started with a story from late 2014.

© Marvel Characters, Inc.

Joseph wonders what is coming up:

I don’t know what to expect next Sunday. It might start the repeat cycle from late 2014 all over again. It might go into stories from even farther back.

Maybe we’ll see those new stories promised to be coming when the series ended.

Yeah, don’t hang your hopes on that.

Tom Heintjes of Hagan’s Alley reminds us that comic artist Pat Boyette was born 100 years ago:

Today in Comics History: Pat Boyette, best known to most comics fans for his prolific work for Charlton Comics (where, with Joe Gill, he co-created The Peacemaker), was born 100 years ago, on July 27, 1923.

He also briefly (1953) dipped his ink pen into the world of comic strips as the creator of Captain Flame.

Boyette was replaced on the strip by Bruce Darrow when Ad Features Syndicate sold its holding to Smith Service (as was Al Carreno on when his Ginger Blue strip switched syndicates in the same deal).

Tom Toro, cartoonist for The New Yorker and others, celebrates a year producing Home Free.

The GoComics team joins in by interviewing the cartoonist:

“Home Free” was co-developed by our team at Andrews McMeel Universal and famed cartoonist Tom Toro. The comic first premiered on GoComics on July 25 of last year, and runs three times a week.

We had the privilege of catching up with Toro as the feature reaches its first birthday; he reflects on the Szabo family’s adventures so far and hints at what’s ahead.

© Tom Toro/Andrews McMeel

Some kind of timing.

Macanudo features a crane atop a skyscraper one day after a news story.

© Liniers

Once upon a timing.

Vintage Tiger (1970) reminds us of what once was but is no longer.

© King Features Syndicate

You’ve got the original collections, you’ve got the Treasury books, you’ve got The Complete box, and now … get ready for the Calvin and Hobbes “portable” editions. Set 1 is just a month away from being released.

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