King Features Syndicate, which introduced the character in 1934, will relaunch the comic strip “Flash Gordon” beginning Sunday after a two-decade absence — featuring a new look and a new artist. (The Sunday and daily strips will be available online and in print.) The Daily Cartoonist broke the news earlier this month and now King […]
As Constant Readers know, I do politics on some days and humor on others, but I’m often conflicted by in which category I should put Tom the Dancing Bug (AMS). Ruben Bolling’s talent for satire may not make me laugh aloud but it often prompts a grim smile.This one prompts a grim smile in grim […]
British cartoonist Tony Husband has passed away. William Anthony (Tony) Husband August 28, 1950 – October 18, 2023 Tony’s son Paul broke the news (X/Twitter and Facebook): I hate to post this because I know how many of you are going to be affected by it. Yesterday my Dad, Tony Husband, passed away as he […]
Lemont Brown was created by Darrin Bell in 1993 as a comic strip in UC Berkeley’s Daily Californian. Ten years later, on October 19, 2003, the character began his national syndication as the star of Candorville. above: the first Candorville comic strip as reprinted in Thank God for Culture Clash.below: the first three dailies (October […]
Know, O children, that there was a time when coffee tables across the nation were covered with magazines – Saturday Evening Post, Ladies Home Companion, True, Look, Reader’s Digest. Field & Stream, and so many others – and those magazines carried a dozen or so gag cartoons in each and every issue. It was an […]
In the same month that famed cartoonist Milton Caniff signed the deal to draw Terry and the Pirates, he received the following note from an editor about his work: “I think you’re losing something in your drawing — a quality you had when you first went to New York. Your sketches are getting to be […]
Apparently, the little old lady in Guy Venables’ cartoon is taking Israel’s side in the current scuffle, which wouldn’t be clear if she were considering a boycott of falafel, a dish claimed by both sides. Hummus is of Arabic origin, though, as the son points out, it’s widespread enough that you needn’t boycott it on […]
Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for October 2023 release.Images and links (mostly) via Amazon,though ordering through your local comic shop or independent book store is a good idea. The Great Pencil Quest Terry and the Pirates: The Master Collection Vol. 6: 1940 – The Time of Cholera Poor Helpless Comics!: The […]
Once Upon a Studio debuts Sunday, October 15, at 8 p.m. ET/PT as part of ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration!From the Walt Disney Company: The all-new original short Once Upon a Studio takes place at the end of the work day at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California, just […]
There were a number of tributes to past cartoonists in the past week’s comic strips. Today’s Mutts name checks his inspiration for the art. Who’s Out There has a few more inspiring Sundays. Studio Jantze spent the better part of the week honoring past and present cartoonists. And a musician. Speaking of MAD, Thatababy goes […]
Bill Amend’s FoxTrot was one of the great successes of late-twentieth-century newspaper comics. At the end of its run as a daily feature in 2006, the strip was running in over 1000 papers, had published over 30 book collections, and Amend was a runner-up for the National Cartoonist’s Society’s title of Cartoonist of the Year. […]
Brewster Rockit (Tribune) is usually silly, except that on random Sundays it will suddenly take a kind of Mr. Wizard shift and explain something about astronomy. (For those too young to recognize the name, Mr. Wizard was who we watched on TV before we had Carl Sagan or Neil deGrasse Tyson.)This is a nice combination […]
Creative comic book genius Keith Giffen has passed away. Keith Ian Giffen November 30, 1952 – October 9, 2023 Keith’s family announced the death on Facebook as Keith had requested them to: Once friends and fans realized Keith had actually passed there was outpouring of love for the man. Mainstream media is reporting the creator/writer/artist’s […]
For 30 years, Houston-based cartoonist Mary Lawton submitted her work to The New Yorker. For 30 years, she received a series of rejection notices, most of them quite polite but with the same gist: thanks, but no thanks. Occasionally the rejections came with a nice note: “I’m sorry.” She took this as an encouraging sign […]
The world is full of weighty matters, but we’re going to, in the words of Eddy Arnold, make the world go away and get it off our shoulders. And, yes, I know it was written by Hank Cochran, but this is being written by me and we’re not picking nits today. Okay, we are. But […]