Reuters reports that Robert Zemeckis’ $150 million-budgeted “Mars Needs Moms” opening weekend flop was the last straw in a project to remake The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” and that Disney has pulled its support. The plan was to use 16 Beatles songs in the film, which was to employ motion-capture technology similar to that used in […]
This year, Hank Ketcham’s Dennis the Menace will turn 60. It started in 16 papers on March 12, 1951. It is now in over 1,000 papers world-wide. Hank Ketcham created his little character in October 1950, with inspiration coming from his own 4-year-old son, Dennis, and a comment made by his wife after an especially […]
A Malaysian newspaper has apologized for running a cartoon depicting Japanese superhero Ultraman “comically trying to outrun a tsunami.”The apology issued on the paper’s website and on social newtworking sites said Berita Harian had “no intention of poking fun” at the disastrous earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on Friday. The newspaper expressed sympathy and […]
Comic Book Resources interviews Richard Thompson about his comic Cul de Sac, his influences, and his Team Cul de Sac that is raising money for Parkinson’s Research. Much of the strip’s humor comes from the fact that many of the characters have their own unique worldview. Sometimes it?s Alice and Dill and Beni misunderstanding and […]
ComicsDC blogger and City Paper columnist Mike Rhode reports that the Washington City Paper has brought back it’s comics that it dropped back in 2008. The new line up will include two long-time contributors to City Paper, Derf and Shawn Belschwender with The City and Clowntime respectively and two strips new to City Paper readers: […]
This last fall at the triennial Festival of Cartoon Art at the OSU, Sheldon creator Dave Kellett gave an entertaining lecture on the future of comics from his vantage point as a professional webcomic cartoonist. His approach to the topic was to offer a response to Bill Watterson’s infamous “The Cheapening of Comics” speech given […]
Daryl Cagle is pointing out that the tragedy in Japan is creating three similar visual response: the Japanese rising sun, Godzilla and waves depicted in the Japanese art style. As usual when several cartoonists (in this case from around the world) use the same metaphor – he calls it Yahtzee.
Interesting rumor from The Mac Observer. Apple may be working on building a set of template tools for iPad-based magazines to include in its Xcode developer tools. Assuming the report is accurate, such a move would give developers a standardized set of tools that could make it easier for creating publications as apps.Also rumored is […]
New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly had not one but two articles profiling her this weekend. The Daily Camera writes about her new book “When Do They Serve the Wine?: The Folly, Flexibility, and Fun of Being a Woman” and the Poughkeepsie Journal delves into her marriage with fellow New Yorker cartoonist Michael Maslin
Interesting story about Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney, who despite the success of his books keeps his “day job” working on the popular children’s website Poptropica.com.“It’s the other great love of my life,” said Kinney, author of the best-selling “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” book and movie series. “It’s very difficult to walk away from […]
The opening weekend for Mars Needs Moms was disappointing #5. The feature film which cost $150 million to make only took in $6.8 million on it’s inaugural weekend.Movie was based on Berkeley Breathed’s children’s book of the same title.Last weekend’s winner, Rango – the quirky animated film – dropped to #2.
Gary Varvel, editorial cartoonist for the Indianapolis Star, has won the 2010 Grambs Aronson Award for Cartooning With a Conscience for a series he did last summer portraying the pressures and difficulties for the poor in Indianapolis. (Read my report on his series)Judges said they found his series entitled “The Path to Hope” “extraordinary in […]
Knoxnews.com talks to Jimmy Johnson, creator of Arlo & Janis, about his career in comics and specifically his work with his strip. Unlike some other strips whose characters remain permanently young, the family in “Arlo & Janis” has aged. “They haven’t exactly aged chronologically. I figure it’s about one cartoon year to every three calendar […]
The Ventura County Star has interviewed Berkeley Breathed about his career in comics, children’s books and movies. The film uses motion capture. How cool does that look in “Mars Needs Moms” and are you happy with the film overall? The film is beautiful ? as they say, they put the money on the screen. More […]
The Center for Cartoon Studies has launched a Visiting Artists Blog to showcase the artists-in-residence and visiting artists who come to talk about their art.ht: Tom Spurgeon