In just four months Counterpoint has been so successful that it has added a second weekly edition to its output. As explained when they opened it up to us:We are more than just a roundup of recycled editorial cartoons from syndication; Counterpoint pays for original content. When we publish our newsletter, these are a collection […]
Earlier this year the Ruston Daily Leader switched out some of their comic strips. Sounds like they had a few complaints.A few months ago, we changed the comics (or “funnies”) package that runs in the printed Ruston Daily Leader each day. We’ve heard much feedback from the community… So please take the time to check up to […]
The famous 1,000-to-1 words-to-picture ratio may be understated when it comes to the political cartoon. A case can be made that public opinion has, over time, been more often shaped by these artists than by the words of their polemicist colleagues on the nation’s editorial pages. A salient political point made with humor can pack […]
Harry’s, a UK-based toiletries company, has added comic strips to their mystery item program.Harry’s introduced the Mystery Item programme to their online retail experience in 2018, one year after the brand was founded. It has now become a permanent offer and has risen to become their second most popular product. Items that the customer has […]
AMP Kids has reinvigorated their blog with a new series – Comics 101.Amp Kids is Andrews McMeel‘s publishing arm for young readers. Among others things they have recently started a more or less weekly series about Comics for Kids. Why Comics are Great for Kids (and Libraries)The numbers speak for themselves: When libraries add a comics/graphic […]
On Friday, July 26 (above), Ray Billingsley started a story line in his Curtis comic strip.This week Ray introduced a new character. My disappointment comes from, after two days of “Quincy Shearer,” none of the commenters mentioning the origin of that name.Quincy by Ted Shearer was a classic, and one of a small group of […]
Dilbert creator Scott Adams has sparked outrage by using yesterday’s Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting to promote his WhenHub app.The app allows regular citizens to become “video advisors” offering advice on any topic, for a fee, which will be paid in WHEN coins (currently valued at just over one cent). When anyone provides a paid-for interview, […]
The Spokane Spokesman-Review on Sunday (July 28, 2019) gave readers a two-page color center spread in the their first news section to a look at the history of comics in the newspaper. Put together by Charles Apple the piece opens with the purpose of comics:The first newspaper comic strips developed about 124 years ago — give […]
In 1979 Steve Carpenter, an artist for Hallmark Cards, Inc. created a curly haired dog for a greeting card. A Hallmark executive saw the drawing and thought it had possibilities … as a comic strip.Card companies had had a long association with comic characters. In 1960 Hallmark itself began a very successful relationship with Charles […]
It really is not surprising how many cartoonists grew up with MAD magazine.On July 3, I lost a childhood friend who was the greatest influence in my cartooning career. Mad magazine is dead at 67. We first met in the magazine aisle of Danner’s five-and-dime store in Danville. It was June of 1969 and I […]
Jim Davis, through Heritage Auctions, is offering up a bunch of 20th Century Garfield strips for bid – it is being called The Jim Davis Collection.The items are listed in auction #7211, which also includes a number of Charles Schulz Peanuts strips and the historically important tenth Prince Valiant Sunday page by Hal Foster (“Nowhere […]
Engineer and political cartoonist Bob Cope has passed away.James Robert (Bob) Cope February 6, 1937 – July 18, 2019 Bob’s impressive accomplishments as an engineer for 60 years are far too extensive to list here, but his cartooning career is easier.From the obituary:As a hobby from 2001 through 2018, Bob prepared and published a total of […]
[Las Vegas] Review-Journal editorial cartoonist and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Ramirez shared his illustration process and stressed the importance of a free press during a talk to kick off FreedomFest, an annual gathering for conservatives held at Paris Las Vegas. Ramirez explained to a crowd of a few dozen that most of his work […]
Newspaper readers look at America from different Vista Points than cartoonists. Joe Heller cynicism is a bit too much:I know the Sun has a contract with syndicated cartoonist, Joe Heller, but sometimes the cynicism is a bit too much. Like this past week, when millions of Americans were inspired by the 50th anniversary of human reach […]
Last Sunday’s (July 21, 2019) Popeye’s Cartoon Club was by cartoonist Randy Milholland.It seems Randy worked up and offered King Features Syndicate a number of submissions, and now he is posting the “rejects” on Twitter.They all show Randy having a knowledge of Popeye’s 90 year history from the comic strips to the animated cartoons; and […]