One thing that is becoming very clear in the modern, interconnected global village is that the global village is no longer a philosophical concept but a practical reality.I was talking to one of my granddaughters the other day and realized I had to explain that, years ago, when her father was overseas, the longer we […]
Pros and Cons riffs on the line between terminology and jargon and triggers my PNSD (post-newsroom stress disorder).One man’s terminology is another man’s jargon, but you do have to assume some level of shared vocabulary. Unless you are a copy editor.One man’s copy editor is another man’s nuance-destroying, prose-homogenizing, style-book-wielding grammar nazi.I’ve had my rhetorical […]
So let’s extend the discussion of niche-y inside humor from Saturday’s posting with today’s Heart of the City.I’m not a huge movie fan, and certainly not enough of one to know all the directors. I know the ones who genuinely become brands, so a gag like this PBS from 2003 is not lost on me […]
This being the Sunday before Valentine’s Day, the comic pages are full of bow-and-arrow gags and jokes about chocolate. The only strip that struck me as particularly romantic didn’t mention the holiday at all: Judge Parker manages to combine storytelling with classic graphics and a sense of humor that doesn’t involve jokes. And hot, brainy […]
The Comics Page — that is, the collection of syndicated comic strips that appears in your local paper — became twice the topic of insider kerfufflagration this week. For fans of the form, it’s worth a look at them both.Let me start by saying this is not going to be an example of responsible reporting. […]
If you are American, you can probably guess most of what’s going on in this Africartoons contribution by Rico Schacherl: Demands made on schools but no resources provided.Specifically, the African National Congress, South Africa’s ruling party, wants to declare teaching an essential service with the goal of ending teacher strikes. As with all such moves, […]
Several cartoonists addressing the same topic in their own ways:”Gray Matters” is a relatively new strip by Stuart Carlson and Jerry Resler. It doesn’t have as much Tabasco as I’d like or that you might expect from years of seeing Carlson’s editorial cartoons. It has more of an “ain’t it the truth?” atmosphere, but sometimes, […]
As CSOTD marks three years and starts a fourth, this Jeff Danziger classic is a good way to open up a post marking the event with some favorite cartoons and a smattering of reflection.The blog began mostly as a reaction to snarky cyber-bullying blogs that tear down comic strips for the amusement of a depressing […]
Tom Spurgeon, keeper of the must-go site for comic book enthusiasts, “The Comics Reporter,” offers a link to a Canadian history site that featured a brief discussion of this 1958 offering, “Apostle of the Hurons,” a graphic biography of Saint Jean de Brébeuf that appeared in the “Indian Record,” a publication of a religious order that […]
A perfect time to run into a simple, small, non-cosmic bit of humor from Hilary Price at Rhymes with Orange.I’m sick of issues and need a bit of whimsy. The mission of this blog includes the idea that all good cartoons invoke truth, but, thank goodness, some truths are weightier than others.As are some crates. When […]
Mike Luckovich makes a rude point on a day traditionally devoted to guacamole and cliches.Football is the only sport I follow anymore, and I really enjoy football. To return to a recent conversation here, nobody is required to like the things I like. I’d rather watch “The Borgias” than “Downton Abbey.” I don’t think either is […]
Jeff Koterba’s commentary on the Second Amendment lacks a bit of subtlety, but it does encapsulate some of the thinking that went into the document, and that’s been absent from a lot of the commentary on the topic.The First and Second amendments are an odd pair, since it seems that nobody who supports one can […]
Daryl Cagle, he of the political cartoon aggregation site, uses the term “Yahtzee” for the times when multiple cartoonists simultaneously come up with the same idea. Or, if it is a weeping Statue of Liberty in the wake of tragedy, the same non-idea.And it is indeed rare that a true Yahtzee — five of a kind, […]
Our story so far: Trapped in the house by a blizzard, Poncho is forced to coexist with his master’s cat-loving, flu-stricken wife. Worse yet, he has been caught relieving himself in the litterbox. Can this be the end of their ongoing rivalry? Will these implacable foes at long last learn to respect and even love […]
Lio rarely fails to please, and often manages to delight.And, for those with limited English skills, it’s also available in Spanish!When Mark Tatulli debuted the strip in 2006, it got a lot of “adds” (that is, newspaper clients), but sparked some discussion within the biz about how he was going to be able to keep […]