Cartoonists Carnival
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With John Rose and Tom Heintjes, Jim Keefe and L.K. Hanson, Mo Willems and Jerry Craft, Pat Rosenkranz and Don Donahue, Charlotte Beach and Ivan Ehlers.
John Rose and Tom Heintjes On Stage
A really late notice that if you are at Heroes Con or near Charlotte N.C. tomorrow try get to the panel featuring Barney Google and Snuffy Smith cartoonist John Rose being interviewed by comics historian and Hogan’s Alley magazine honcho Tom Heintjes.
Other comic strip people will be there including Bill Amend, Craig Boldman, June Brigman, Steve Conley, Ron Frenz, Gary Gianni, Chris Giarrusso, Mike Grell, Bob McLeod, Bill Morrison, Dan Parent, Alex Saviuk, Mark Schultz, Joe Staton, Roy Thomas, Lisa Trusiani, Loston Wallace, Keith Williams, and a host of comic book creators.
When Jim Keefe Met L. K. Hanson
L. K. (Larry) Hanson was a Minneapolis Tribune staff artist for decades. And a cartoonist. On occasion the newspaper would feature a comic strip about the city on the front page of their Friday Special section by the cartoonist. On even rarer occasions they would let L.K. have the entire page.
Recently Minnesotan and Sally Forth artist had the opportunity to meet L.K.
Met up for coffee recently with cartooning legend L. K. Hanson. Talked for hours and had a great time.
What prompted the get-together was a Facebook post featuring a Minneapolis Tribune page from 1978 featuring L. K. Hanson’s work. [Shown above]
Love this piece in so many ways. First and foremost he just hit it out of the ballpark with the artwork, but on top of that it also featured the infamous Block E in downtown Minneapolis during its heyday. It was publicly known for all its vice, but for a kid who loved comics it was Mecca.
As a 14 year-old I would get on the bus and head downtown, without my parents knowledge, just to go to Shinders on 7th and Hennepin on Block E.
Jim and L.K. got in touch with each other with Jim hoping to get a print of that page. That didn’t happen, but…
Elephant and Piggie and Bat and Snake and Mo Willems
Joanne O’Sullivan for Publishers Weekly looks at the year ahead in Mo Willems books.
2026 is shaping up to be a busy year for Mo Willems. The author and illustrator recently collaborated with his wife Cher for the first time in print to bring his iconic odd-couple animal duo Elephant and Piggie to an increasingly popular format: the children’s cookbook. Also on the horizon this year is a new series featuring a different set of unlikely friends, Snake and Bat, and two animated shows based on his characters, including fan-favorite Pigeon.
For nearly 20 years, young readers have joined Willems’s Elephant and Piggie as they navigate the simple everyday challenges of friendship. The Elephant & Piggie Cookbook: We Really Like Cooking Slop, written by Cher Willems, is due from Union Square Kids on September 26. Although Mo and Cher have collaborated professionally throughout their careers, this marks the author debut for Cher, who is a lifelong cookbook aficionado. Elephant and Piggie have a history with slop…
Meanwhile, the side characters Snake and Bat—introduced in cameo appearances in Elephant & Piggie Like Reading!; Can I Play, Too?; and My New Friend Is So Fun! (all from Hyperion)—will soon get a series of their own. Kicking off with What Will We Find in This Box?, out on September 1, the series marks Willems’s return to early readers…
More Mo and a Jerry Jewel
Good Housekeeping’s Amazon page releases a list of the 49 “Best Children’s Books, According to Librarians.”
Side by side with Shel Silverstein, Dr. Seuss, Richard Scarry, Hilary Knight, E. B. White & Garth Williams, Maurice Sendak, Raina Telgemeier, and others is Mo Willems and Jerry Craft. Jerry being the only (former) comic strip cartoonist to make the list.
When Good Housekeeping asked the kids themselves about the best graphic novels Jerry Craft’s New Kid made that list too, along with other best selling cartoonists like Raina Telgemeier, Dav Pilkey, and Nathan Hale.
The Last Time Pat Rosenkranz Saw Don Donahue
In the late 1960s Don Donahue was there when comix began its brief explosion as a printer and publisher. For The Comics Journal comix historian Patrick Rosenkranz recalls his 1998 meeting, his last, with Donahue.
He also recounted the emergence of the underground press from his perspective as a typesetter at the Berkeley Barb.
DONAHUE: Max [Scherr] hired me away from the Berkeley Post for less money, but it was less work too and it was more glamorous and he let me drink on the job.”
Sounds ideal. Women came with the job, too, and the latest batch of Owsley or whatever?
DONAHUE: Yeah, the Barb was a magnet for young runaways. When Max started putting out the Barb, nobody paid any attention. Max was this old commie, this old leftie, putting out this little paper. Nobody gave a shit about it, except the other old lefties or the young lefties, the red diaper babies. Very shortly, history started catching up with him. All kinds of protests happened about the Vietnam War and Max had this paper that became the organ for this. Suddenly Max had a great thing going.
2026 Illustrated Reporting and Commentary Pulitzer Prize Finalist Ivan Ehlers
From Printmag Charlotte Beach interviews cartoonist Ivan Ehler.
Chances are, you’ve seen Ehlers’ work, with his cartoons appearing regularly across major publications including The New Yorker, MAD Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and LA Taco.
As an Ecuadorian-American, you can feel a heightened sense of urgency in Ehlers’ work to take a stand against the state of our country and the direction we’re headed in. His political cartoons serve as an important form of social and cultural commentary—accessible, clever, and poignant.
What’s your creative origin story? Did you go to art school or are you self-taught?
I did not go to art school and I remain firmly ambivalent about it. Sometimes I think being self-taught is a bonus that allows me to create and problem-solve in a less-restrictive, potentially more interesting way. At the same time, I’m incredibly envious of people who did go to art school. Both for starting out early with a career in art, and for learning from experienced teachers how to navigate the creative and business sides of the art world. I feel like I had to learn everything about art the hard way.
I mostly think about this when I’ve painted myself into a corner and think: “If I’d just gone to art school, I’d know how to solve this.”
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