Filed under: Comic History

Enjoy.

Today The Library of Congress opens a retrospective exhibit examining the life and work of Herbert Block (“Herblock”) whose career spanned 72 years. The legendary editorial cartoonist would have turned 100 years old today. “He was the great cartoonist, the most famous in the country and had an enormous influence,” said journalist Haynes Johnson, who […]

Nevin Martell’s book “Looking for Calvin and Hobbes: The Unconventional Story of Bill Watterson and His Revolutionary Comic Strip” is now out. You can watch an interview he did for “Let’s talk Live,” read a less than impressed review from the AV Club, or a more favorable review that I did back in August. I […]

Tomorrow, Berkeley Breathed’s first Bloom County collection from IDW Publications hits the book store. Several major newspapers are running their interviews with him. From the L.A. Times, regarding what it was like to be cartooning in the 1980’s, “Not to sound like someone swinging their cane, but in the 1980s there weren’t a thousand other […]

Phill Jupitus, from the BBC Radio 4 program, looks at the phenomenon of cartoonist Bill Watterson and his feature Calvin and Hobbes. He interviews Lee Salem about early reactions from papers and readers (including a small number of complaints). The program (28 minutes long) can be downloaded or streamed over the interview. Phill sets out […]

“Jolly” Roger Bradfield, the creator of the syndicated comic Dooley’s World (1972-1978) is coming out of retirement to work on a sequel to his 1967 book “Pickle-Chiffon Pie” after a resurgence of interest in the original book. During his retirement, his old books quietly resurfaced. “His book ‘Pickle-Chiffon Pie’ was one of the most requested […]

Michael Cieply and Brooks Barnes of the New York Times Media Decoder blog write about the $4 billion acquisition of Marvel by Disney may become entangled in legal mire as the heirs of Jack Kirby, who created many of the iconic Marvel heroes, have already begun sending notices of copyright termination to Marvel, Disney and […]

The Ohio State University Board of Trustees today approved the naming of the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum in recognition of a $7 million gift from the Elizabeth Ireland Graves Foundation to support the renovation of Sullivant Hall, an historic building located at a main gateway to the university’s campus.The project is estimated to […]

From the press release:To mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of political cartoonist Herbert Block (Herblock), the Library of Congress and the Herb Block Foundation, in association with W. W. Norton & Company, have published “HERBLOCK: The Life and Works of the Great Political Cartoonist.” Authors Haynes Johnson and Harry L. Katz will discuss […]

This November, IDW will release “The Family Circus Library, Volume 1” – the first two years of Bil Keane’s classic comic panel that was published almost 50 years ago. This hardbound first volume will include the first two years in chronological order, including Sunday’s and dailies, as well as a essay by Bil’s son, Christopher, […]

Thomas Nast, considered as the Father of American Editorial Cartooning, is one of this year’s nominees for the New Jersey Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame honors citizen “who have made invaluable contributions to society and the world beyond.” Nast lived in Morristown, New Jersey after receiving death threats from Boss Tweed. Also in […]

Over at the Yesterday’s Papers blog, John Adcock has posted scans famous comic artists’ autographs. Included in the post: Billy De Beck, Ernie Bushmiller, Milt Caniff, Bert Thomas. Clare Briggs, W. A. Carlson, AD Carter, E. Simms Campbell, R. M. Brinkerhoff, Jack Cole, Walter Berndt, and Wally Bishop.Hat tip to Tom Spurgeon for finding this […]

Bloom County, Outland and Opus creator Berkeley Breathed will make his comic-con debut at Long Beach Comic Con on October 2. The reclusive cartoonist will introduce his first collection of Bloom County entitled, “The Bloom County Library Volume One.” He will also host a discussion on Bloom County and signing copies of the book. From […]

Animation Film» The New York Times writes about the postapocalyptic Shane Acker movie “9” that is due out today.Comic Books» A Donald Duck comic published in Denmark was recalled after it was discovered that an accompanying fingerprint set contained “dangerous iron-based powders”. Some 40,000 issues were distributed. Parents were warned that it was toxic if […]

ToonSeum, a Pittsburgh museum devoted exclusively to the cartoon arts, is moving to a new location.One reason for the move is space. At 1,000 square feet, the new location will be five times the size of the current one. The other reason is to broaden the kind of artwork the ToonSeum displays. “Our own space […]