The Strip Scene & Cartoon News
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A roundup of good tidings about comic strip and magazine cartoonists feauring Wayno®, Lincoln Peirce, Sy Barry, Liza Donnelly, Gideon Smiley, Harry Bliss, and cartoonists from The Saturday Evening Post of the 1950s and 1960s.
Wayno’s Reuben Portfolio
As noted here Wayno® is a finalist for this year’s Silver (divisional) Reuben as Best Newspaper Panel for his daily Bizarro comic. At his News from Wayno® Substack he shares his submissions portfolio.
Please let us know of other cartoonists who have shared their submission portfolios.
How to Read Big Nate
With Lincoln Peirce changing the publication status of Big Nate to Sunday only next month, now was as good a time as any for Joshua Lapin-Bertone at Popverse to offer a guide to the reading order of the books.
The Big Nate comic strip has been running daily since its launch on January 7, 1991 (minus brief periods of reruns). In 2010, Andrews McMeel Publishing began releasing collected editions of the strip, starting with Big Nate: From the Top. The collection became a New York Times bestseller, and more entries followed. Today, Andrews McMeel Publishing’s Big Nate series has 34 volumes, with the 35th volume, Big Nate: Curse of the Puffy Shorts, due in stores September 1, 2026.
Popverse has the list of Big Nate comic strip reprint titles though it may be cheaper to subscribe to GoComics and read all the comic strips there. Also noted is the reading order of the original novels:
The success of Big Nate’s syndicated comic strip led to cartoonist Lincoln Peirce bringing Nate Wright into the book market. The Big Nate novels are part chapter book, part comic book, with the text passages and comic vignettes intersecting with one another on the page. Young readers loved it, and the Big Nate novels were a runaway hit.
The lists are followed by a Big Nate FAQ.
The Sy Barry Center for Art and Creativity
Dave Barry, son of Sy Barry, shares news that the long time Phantom artist will have part of the Stone Hill at Andover (Mass.) assisted living complex, where Sy resides, dedicated to The Arts.
For those in the Boston area, hope you’ll consider coming down to the opening of the Art Center dedicated to @sybarry by the good folks at Stone Hill. Tuesday 5/19 3:30 at Stone Hill Andover 141 Elm St, Andover Massachusetts. See you there.
Women Laughing Screening Schedule
Michael Maslin has directed us to the upcoming schedule of the Women Laughing documentary screenings for those along the Northeast coast of the U.S.
Women Laughing, Liza Donnelly and Kathleen Hughes documentary film about New Yorker women cartoonists past and present, will be screened at a number of venues beginning this Spring and into the Fall. You can see the schedule here.
Backpack & Birdie Do The Appalachian Trail
Off the beaten path for us is this webcomic by Gideon Smiley. The hiker site The Trek made us aware of Backpack & Birdie, a comic strip about taking on the challenge of traversing The Appalacian Trail on foot.
Ever since childhood it’s been Backpack’s dream to reach the northern states on foot, and Birdie is just a grouse along for the ride. Over mountain, through forest, rain or fire, these two are going to make it to that final summit, hopefully without too many mishaps along the way!
Written and inspired by the experiences of thru-hikers, the idea for Backpack and Birdie came while artist Gideon Smiley was preparing for his 2025 AT journey.
Backpack & Birdie episodes take the shape of a daily comic strip, a Sunday comic strip, or a comic book page depending on the situation Gideon is passing on to us.
The Bliss-Ful Life of Man and Dog
Hidrėlėy at Bored Panda presents a gallery of 40 Bliss cartoons featuring the bond between human and dog. The panel cartoons are annotated by an interview with cartoonist Harry Bliss.
That same emotional honesty runs through his relationship with dogs, both in life and in art. When asked where that sensitivity comes from, Bliss doesn’t over-explain it. “I’m not entirely sure… I can only guess that it comes from a deep observation and a curiosity about all things.” But he also pointed to something more personal: “The sensitivity has a direct correlation to the loneliness I had as a child.”
SatEvePost Cartoon Collections
For fans of gag panel cartoons here is our infrequent reminder that The Saturday Evening Post digs cartoons of related topics out of its archive on a weekly basis. The SatEvePost paid well and as a result some of the best and most famous magazine cartoonists of the time (mostly 1950s and 60s) appeared in the magazine.
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