Filed under: Comic History

This day in history: the last original daily “Peanuts” strip by Charles Schulz ran in 2,600 newspapers. Schulz officially retired on December 14th of 1999 and passed away February 12 of 2000.

I mentioned this earlier back in December, but the NYT has a much lengthier posting (scroll down) about original MAD magazine artwork up on the auction block.The last original artwork from the archives of MAD Magazine is to be auctioned in 2006, starting with a Jan. 21 sale at Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers in Dallas. […]

Editor and publisher ‘has an article on the passing of Bud Blake who drew the comic feature “Tiger.” More information can be had at King Feature’s web site. “Tiger” comic creator Bud Blake died Monday at the Maine Medical Center in Portland. He was 87. Blake created “Tiger” in 1965, and it still appears in […]

John C. Shaw, a reader of Alley Oop was recently disgruntled over whether Carol and Jack Bender who now do the Alley Oop strip, were using the word “abdominal” vs “abominable” correctly. He then claims that his mother, Jane, was the original inspiration for the character Ooola back before World War II. John asked Jane […]

From E&P, we get this little nugget of information: A 100-year-old comic strip has made this week’s “Must List” in Entertainment Weekly. Ranking sixth on the top-10 list is “Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays,” the Peter Maresca-edited book picturing classic strips Winsor McCay created between 1905 and 1910

The Charles M. Schulz Museum will begin a new exhibit (scroll down the page) on February 4 (through May 29) called, “Sugar and Spice: Little Girls in the Funnies.” The subtitle is: “An Exhibition of Peanuts Girls and their Predecessors, Contemporaries, and Successors” and as you might expect shows various girl characters in comic strips […]

The New York Press has a lengthy article about Charles Schulz and his cartooning. If you’re a fan of Peanuts or enjoy reading about comic history, give this article a read.“Li’l Folks” has a different quality than “Peanuts.” The lines are thicker. Perhaps Schulz was making the best of middling reproduction quality in newspapers, but […]

The Houston Chronicle has a story called Why Bill Watterson Quit. If you’re hoping for new salacious tidbits, this article isn’t it – but does point out in the Complete Calvin and Hobbes book that Watterson left it open for a return. Salem won’t discuss the specifics of what Watterson is doing. It’s possible he […]

If you’re into collecting comic related art and memorabilia, Heritage Galleries is auctioning off original artwork. You can see some of the pieces online. Heritage Galleries & Auctioneers (HG&A) will offer a spectacular collection of more than 300 pieces of original artwork from MAD Magazine, most never before offered, in their upcoming Comic and Original […]

I wasn’t aware that George Herriman had produced anything except Krazy Kat, but the Strippers Guide had a post with an example of Herriman’s comic Stumble Inn.Oh, what a great strip. Herriman’s Stumble Inn ran 10/30/1922-1/9/1926. For those of you who love Herriman’s artwork but consider Krazy Kat a little high-falutin’ for your tastes, this […]

Chip Bok, editorial cartoonist for the Akron Beacon Journal, will be in D.C for a book signing. His new book, “A Recent History of the United States in Political Cartoons: A Look Bok, was published earlier this year and can be had at Amazon.com. From his blog:If you’re near the University Club at 1135 Sixteenth […]

Time magazine has a good article on the two Los Angeles museums showing a large 900 piece exhibit on the history of American Comics that I reported on earlier. Says John Carlin, curator:When I started doing research, I felt this was a lost continent. Comics are one of the most important forms of artistic expression […]

The Daily Review has a story about the success and impact of Li’l Abner by Al Capp.Last Saturday was Sadie Hawkins Day, created by Capp as a role-switching race in which females become the aggressors in the dating game (something unheard of at the time) and which launched a once-a-year series of girl-asks-boy dances all […]

Hundreds of New York City high school teens will learn about World War II by visiting the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. The “Cartoonists Against the Holocaust: Art in the Service of Humanity” exhibit runs through February 6 2006.link

The Mercury News is reporting that Michael Kilian, the writer behind “Dick Tracy,” died yesterday at age 66. He led an impressive life having been a reporter, columnist, author, and of course the collaborator with Dick Locher on “Dick Tracy.”Chicago Tribune managing editor James O’Shea called Kilian “a consummate journalist and author, prolific, professional and […]