Filed under: Comic History

Over on Arnold Wagner’s blog, he has an interesting clip out of a Gallup poll from 1936.

Winsor McCay is best known for his “Little Nemo in Slumberland,” but he did have a comic strip before that called “Tales of the Jungle Imps.”  The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library has acquired original McCay hand-colored drawings from that first strip and are now undergoing conservation treatment before going on display to the public starting June 15 through August 31st.

From Jim Borgman’s blog comes this pointer to an art exhibit in Virginia that is showcasing Jeff MacNelly’s sculptures that runs May 6th through the 28th in Washington VA.  Visit Jim’s blog for more details.You can see some of the artwork online.

Before Walt Kelly created the famous and influential “Pogo” he worked for Dell publishing which created comic books based on licensed properties.  Fanatagraphic books has released a collection of “Our Gang” – a 59 issue run comic book in which Walt wrote nearly 100 story-lines.

According to Lynn Johnston’s web site, the “For Better or For Worse” creator was recently honored by the Purina Animal Hall of Fame during a induction ceremony in Toronto….  Lynn and her dog character “Farley” received the special award for “chronicling the bond between people and their pets.”

This year’s festival will focus on the work of Milton Caniff.From the OSU’s web site:Milton Caniff, known as the “Rembrandt of the Comic Strip” for his work on Terry and the Pirates, Male Call, and Steve Canyon, is one of the most honored cartoonists in history, with awards ranging from two Cartoonist of the Year “Reuben” awards from his peers in the National Cartoonists Society, to the Exceptional Service Award of the United States Air Force.  A May 19, 1947 Newsweek cover story about Caniff estimated that the daily readership of Steve Canyon was thirty million people worldwide.Caniff is especially noted for his accurate background research and excellent writing; for his innovative use of graphic techniques in his comic strips; for his unusual public service, especially to the United States Air Force; and for his professional leadership in founding the National Cartoonists Society and the Newspaper Features Council (later named the Newspaper Features Council).Terry and the Pirates provided the vehicle for Caniff’s maturation both as an artist and as a storyteller.

Before Bil Keane made it big with “Family Circus” he had another big hit called “Channel Chuckles” which was a daily cartoon focused on television gags that would run next to the tv listings which were becoming a popular new feature in the newspaper (this is 1954).  There are a online exhibit of “Channel Chuckles” on Bil’s web site.Go read Allan Holtz’s Strippers Guide blog for more information.

I enjoy reading the Stripper’s Guide – a blog focused on comic strip history maintained by historian Allan Holtz. One of his latests posts is regarding cartoonists that made the headlines (of the 1930’s). One such tidbit from these archives is the mention that Gary Cooper (who won an Oscar in 1952 for his role […]

Last January, I told you that Pat Oliphant was going to be part of a fund-raiser for the Harry Truman Presidential Library. Here now is a write up about the event that occured last Thursday. The event set a record for total money raised.Notice: The story doesn’t go into much detail of what Pat did […]

Here’s a bizarre, jaw dropping story out of the New York Times (free registration) about Don Trachte – a cartoonist for the Saturday Evening Post back in the 1940’s – bought an original Norman Rockwell painting (Trachte knew Rockwell), but to keep his beloved Rockwell painting away from his wife during their divorce – he […]

For those interested in comic history, there is an article over on the Hudson Reporter about the history of Felix the Cat. Felix quickly became the star of silent animation for audiences in the United States and Europe, and even starred in his own successful comic strip, which began in 1923. However, Messmer wasn’t always […]

Found a link to the Digital Funnies today from the Drawn! blog. The attempt of the Digital Funnies is to perserve collections of very early comics. There’s definitely some great treasures in there – worth you time.Welcome to Digital Funnies, dedicated to preserving the history of this most neglected of art forms and reintroducing it […]

The Museum of Comic and Cartoon art is presenting an exhibit called “She Draws Comics: 100 Years of America’s Women Cartoonists.” As you might deduce from theh title – it’s an exhibit featuring the art of women cartoonists.Celebrate a century of the greatest female practitioners of comic and cartoon art that America has ever seen, […]

Just noticed this on the Schulz Museum web site that there is an exhibit coming up called “Face-Off: Charles M. Schulz and Hockey” (scroll down a bit) and runs from June 28 through October 2, 2006. Growing up in Minnesota, Charles Schulz developed a love for ice hockey?a sport that he continued to play for […]

Another off-topic but interesting story from the Detroit News about an exhibit of Dr. Suess’ art work. There appears to be much more to Dr. Suess than I knew before. Read the full article. Before he was Dr. Seuss, Theodor Seuss Geisel began his career as an editorial cartoonist in the 1920s. He moved into […]