Miss Cellany’s Sunday Ministry; or, Clearing the Queue

D. D. Degg Published: June 22, 2025 1 minute 4 comments

Walt Disney, Chic Young, Bob Montana, Bill Watterson (Spaceman Spiff), Richard Thompson, Brian Fies, Monicaf, David Fitzsimmons, and other cartoonists and comics related miscellany.

Lost Cartoon Art Resurfaces

In 1933, B.C. boozers could only drink hard liquor at home, in a speakeasy or in a private club.

So some journalists got together to form the first Vancouver Press Club, a private bar for the ink-stained wretch. In 1958, the club turned 25, and Michael Dean of The Province decided to write cartoon legend Walt Disney to see if he’d write them an anniversary note.

Incredibly, Disney did, or at least got an artist from his company to do it.

John Mackie and Jason Payne (photos) for The Vancouver Sun tell of the rediscovery of specialty cartoon art as the owner puts them up for sale.

Would love to see a gallery of all the drawings!

Spaceman Spiff

What can we say about this incredibly rare episode of Calvin and Hobbes — not only is it the 12th strip ever produced (the first premiered on November 18, 1985) and earliest-known strip to come to market (and only the fourth hand-colored example Heritage has had the distinct pleasure of offering), but it also features the first time we see Principal Spittle, and the first look at Calvin’s Spaceman Spiff, an explorer of galaxies and the most prominent of Calvin’s alter egos!

With five days to go the bidding for the original art by Bill Watterson presenting the first appearance of Spaceman Spiff in the Calvin and Hobbes comic strip is sitting at nearly $100,000.00.

While George Herriman Krazy Kat Sundays are sitting at less than a tenth of that.

Coasters Not Trading Cards

Did not realize, though I should have, that collectible coasters were a thing.

Cul de Sac coasters with **Richard Thompson** art

See these and more at the Team Cul de Sac Facebook page.

On the subject of Cul de Sac…

From Bleeding Cool news item by Rich Johnston:

CUL DE SAC #1 (OF 4) CVR A JONATHAN WAYSHAK
(W) Mike Carey (A/CA) Jonathan Wayshak
New York Times bestselling writer and master of the macabre, Mike Carey (LUCIFER, X-MEN) makes his long-awaited return to comic books, combining his powers with groundbreaking fine art illustrator Jonathan Wayshak (SPAWN: VIOLATOR) to deliver a nightmarish new vision for the horror genre. What lurking evil lies hidden at the end of the cul-de-sac? Nestled in a tucked-away corner of sleepy suburbia, the Kingsley, Herriman and Ortega families seemed like any other close-knit neighbors

I realize that as a common term “cul de sac” can’t be copyrighted, but shouldn’t a trademark for the comic strip carry over to deny the title to like-minded enterprises like comic books?

Xtina by Monicaf

Stumbled across a comic strip that struck an I-like-that nerve.

More Xtina by Monicaf at Outis Fumetti.

Seasonal

From David Fitzsimmons in the American Southwest to those of you in the American Northeast:

Comments ⁴

Mark Mayerson

Unfortunately, Watterson lettered that strip with a marker that is already fading. I hope the eventual owner does what’s possible to preserve it.

Brian Fies

Thanks for the nod, DD. I think the “drawing on coasters” thing evolved from earlier “Drink and Draw” sessions, in which cartoonists at conventions gathered in bars and drew for fun on whatever was handy–often, coasters. Over time, folks realized two things: those drawings could be worth money, and coasters could be printed up with the name of an event or cause just as easily as an ad for the local hotel bar. In Team Cul de Sac’s case, all the proceeds go to research on Parkinson’s Disease, which took Richard Thompson much too young.

Steve Green

British beer mats often carried brewery logos, announcements, etc, but they seem to have become an endangered species. Back in the 1980s, I would often doodle cartoons on beer mats (the trick was to carefully peel off one of the paper layers to expose the blank card beneath).

Jun 23,2025

Mike Rhode

There’s also cartoonists-drawn coasters beyond the Guinness ones that that Steve cited. You can see some for DC’s Off the Record bar on my ComicsDC blog. These are done by Kal, Wuerker and Telnaes, although I’m not sure who’s still doing them. I haven’t gone into the bar since Trump was returned to live across the street.

Trudeau did Doonesbury ones w/ Starbucks, Hugh Gardner did them in the 1950s, and Restoration Hardware did some NY’r cartoonists ones in maybe the 90s?

Also Jack Ohman has told me that he drew some for a hotel on the West coast, but I’m still waiting to see them. ;^)

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