One hundred years ago, November 1918, saw the debut of Gasoline Alley.So in this celebratory centennial of Gasoline Alley, the oldest comic strip still in new production (is Jim Scancarelli still producing new material?), comics historian Allan Holtz has a shocking new revelation.Updating the history of Chic Jackson’s Roger Bean comic strip Allan has uncovered […]
Cartoonist Phil Collins has passed away.James Phillip (Phil) Collins October 6, 1931 – April 29, 2018From the Toronto Star obituary:Throughout his life he was always seeking ways to express himself through various creative pursuits. As a young man, he was a member of The Three Reeds, a harmonica trio. Their musical comedy act played in […]
Washington Post’s Michael Cavna profiles and interviews 2018 Herblock Prize winner Ward Sutton of The Boston Globe.“I’ve spent my entire professional career as a freelancer — it is a fun and liberating way to work, and I’ve come to take the insecurities that come with it in stride at this point,” Sutton says. “It can […]
Please consider helping your mail carrier Stamp Out Hunger this Saturday.
“Here, George!” by Sandra Boynton and George Booth was released last week.George Booth began his cartooning career 70 years ago after World War 2.Recently George sat down with The Wall Street Journal to talk about those beginnings.That September, when the war ended, I was in Oahu waiting to be shipped home when a telegram arrived […]
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists’ statement on Musa Kart and the oppression of journalists in TurkeyThe oft-repeated statement “an attack on one of us is an attack on all of us” applies to political cartoonists worldwide after Turkish cartoonist Musa Kart was sentenced to prison. Why should Americans care about the fate of a […]
A couple months ago cartoonist Greg Cravens endured a life threatening medical emergency.Thankfully all is well now. Greg did, however, turn the episode into a sequence for his The Buckets comic strip.The “comic” story started a week ago.
Priya Sridhar had the optimism of youth.I wanted to make a webcomic when I was a kid. Rather, I wanted to submit my work to a syndicate and produce a daily newspaper strip. Bill Watterson’s story inspired me, as did Charles Schulz’s success with Charlie Brown. At the time, my career path seemed simple. After […]
On Sunday June 17, 2018 (Father’s Day) Daddy Daze by John Kovaleski will appear as a syndicated comic strip from King Features.John Kovaleski was the creator of Bo Nanas, a syndicated comic strip that ran from 2003 – 2007.Eight years ago Kovaleski helped create a human being. That, in turn, inspired him to create a […]
From The Pulitzers in mid-April to The Reuben come late May, it’s Awards season.Let’s start with the 18th World Press Freedom International Editorial Cartoon Competition. This year’s theme was “The high price of a free press” and Bado shows us the winners and some very profound cartoons at http://bado-badosblog.blogspot.com/2018/05/18th-world-press-freedom-international.htmlLast month The Society of Professional Journalists […]
I am worried about King Features Syndicate. I am not sure that their Acquisitions Department is ACTIVELY engaged. The recent news of Deflocked leaving KFS for A/M pressed my apprehensive button.In the past three years, King Features has lost eight comic features: Grin and Bear It (2015), Apartment 3-G (2015), Edge City (2016), Bleeker, the Rechargeable Dog […]
From cartoonist Mike Lynch:The new issue of Reader’s Digest is on the stands. And there are three cartoons in it. Not bad. One was originally published by The New Yorker magazine some years back. The cartoon was then bought by RD this year from the New Yorker’s Cartoonbank. There is a cartoon from Cartoonstock, an […]
A couple weeks ago I noticed that Jeff Corriveau’s Deflocked suddenly had a page on the Andrews McMeel site.http://syndication.andrewsmcmeel.com/comics/strip/deflockedBut Deflocked is a King Features strip. What’s up? Reaching out to creator Corriveau he was kind enough to reply, and confirms he is indeed switching syndicates.Deflocked by Jeff Corriveau debuted May 5, 2008 at KFS. As Jeff tells me, “I […]
What can be done as far as comics history books? Who’s going to improve on Brian Walker’s The Comics? Who’s going to out-reference Holtz’s American Newspaper Comics?The answer is to get specialized. Take a subdivision of the genre and go in-depth. That’s what Ron Goulart did with his The Adventurous Decade years ago, and that’s what Eddie Campbell does […]