Short Takes on Short Form Comics

Comic strips and panels.

It didn’t catch fire right away, but since its publication, the [Peter Steiner] cartoon has become one of the most recognizable jokes about the internet, if not technology in general. 30 years later, Cyberdog is the most-shared cartoon in the New Yorker’s century-long history. The original drawing goes up for sale at the Heritage Auctions October 6th Illustration Art Auction on Friday. Heritage expects it to fetch up to $50,000.

Thomas Germain at Gizmodo relays the news of our your chance at getting a famous New Yorker cartoon original.

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At the same time I graduated from the Kubert School, King Features was shopping around for a colorist for their Comic Art Department. They called around for applicants to neighboring art schools and the Joe Kubert School was one of them. Joe Kubert recommended me and two other graduates for the position, and long story short I got the job.

I worked there for about a decade honing my skills and submitting my work whenever an opportunity arose. I ended up doing everything from syndicated fashion illustrations to ghosting the Secret Agent Corrigan comic strip. This eventually lead, after numerous rejections, to getting the Flash Gordon gig. That was the first job I had with some real name recognition. Didn’t pay well but it got my foot in the door.

art © Jim Keefe; characters © King Features Syndicate

Poplitiko’s Alex Ness interviews Jim Keefe prior to his Minnesota Historical Society presentation.

Saturday September 30th I’ll be giving a lecture on the world of comic strips at the Minnesota Historical Society, in conjunction with their fantastic Charles Schulz exhibit they currently have running. As a 30+ year veteran of comic strip syndication I have the unique experience of having worked on staff during the transition to digital (back in the 90s) in addition to working on two different comic strips, Flash Gordon and Sally Forth. So lots of fun stuff to go over.

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The Pack is back—and so are their legendary co-creators! In honor of the group’s 40th anniversary, co-creators Louise Simonson and June Brigman return with an all-new Power Pack saga this January: POWER PACK: INTO THE STORM!

Power Pack © Marvel Entertainment; Mary Worth © North America Syndicate

Mary Worth artist June Brigman returns to the comic that made her famous.

This five-issue retro series takes readers back to Simonson and Brigman’s original run, a beloved era when Power Pack were Marvel’s A-List team of kid super heroes!

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It’s nearing the celebration of Black History Month 2023 in the United Kingdom as October looms. Creative and Cartoon artist TAYO Fatunla has busied himself also commemorating 75 years of Windrush illustrations in Britain through his carefully selected people who one way and another helped shape Britain as it is today to mark the anniversary.

© Tayo Fatunla

Fisher Jack, at Eurweb, highlights Tayo Fatunla and his portrayal of The Windrush Generation. (Or via MSN.)

Tayo Fatunla is better known in the United States for his Our Roots series.

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The 77th annual Reuben Awards was held in Jersey City … At this year’s banquet, Dave Blazek, an Erie native and Cathedral Preparatory School graduate who also attended Penn State Behrend, won his third Reuben Award for America’s Best Newspaper Panel Comic for Loose Parts. He previously won in 2019 and 2020. 

© Dave Blazek

Jonathan Burdick and The Erie Reader celebrate Dave Blazek‘s winning of the Newspaper Panel award.

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To the editor: The Sept. 2 comic “Speed Bump” seemed like a deliberate effort to touch off the emotions of Hindus in general. By showing a distraught passenger sitting next to a “Hindu goddess with ten arms” on an airplane, it revealed the cartoonist’s ignorance of Hinduism.

© Dave Coverly

The Los Angeles Times get a letter from someone unhappy with a Dave Coverly Speed Bump panel.

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