John Byrne is drawing the last week of Funky Winkerbean, though I’m still holding out for creator Tom Batiuk to go solo on the last strip of the comic on December 31, 2022.Nearly twenty years ago John Byrne drew an extended sequence of Funky Winkerbean.Featuring the return of a character; Byrne drew the strip Sunday […]
Cowboy humorist and cartoonist “Mad Jack” Hanks has passed away. Jack Cecil (Mad Jack) Hanks May 16, 1940 – December 17, 2022 The Fence Post notice: Jack Hanks, also known as “Mad Jack” passed away unexpectedly on December 17, 2022. He died peacefully in his home due to complications from a recent illness. At 82 years of age, […]
I’m not big on year-end wrap-ups, which — as noted before — I learned to hate in the newsroom, when we had to compile them in order to fill the pages in the dead space between Christmas and New Years. I also have little interest in reliving the major events of the year gone past, […]
The year still has a week left in it, as does Funky Winkerbean. © Batom Inc. Tom Batiuk called on his old friend John Byrne to draw the last week of Funky Winkerbean. John was last seen drawing a Charlton backup feature called Rog-2000. Though he did continue his career on such lesser titles as […]
Lola (AMS) starts off a post-Christmas posting with a decidedly non-Christmas gag, since Frosty the Snowman is no more a Christmas carol than is Jingle Bells or Winter Wonderland or the dreaded Susie Snowflake.But on a day otherwise awash in jokes about returning unwanted gifts and misinterpreting the meaning of “Boxing Day,” it seems appropriate […]
Celebrating Christmas Comic Strip StyleBrian Cronin at CBR has quite a list on his Comic Strip Advent Calendar showing how characters on the funny pages celebrated Christmas through the years. (Lotsa images, patience required for loading)Doonesbury Has Been An Active Correspondent on the War on Christmas for 50 Years Gasoline Alley Has Literally Been Celebrating Christmases […]
(Bizarro — KFS)(Loose Parts — AMS) (Rubes — Creators)I’m not sure how all three of these cartoonists seized upon myrrh this year, but it is the most mysterious of the three gifts of the Magi. We’re all familiar with gold and I think a lot of people recognize frankincense as (mostly) a form of incense, while […]
In December of 1959 Li’l Abner gathered his family to read a Christmas tale. Cartoonist Al Capp used his Li’l Abner comic strip to create a seasonal story leading up to the holiday. The eleven strips ran on Saturday December 12, then continued daily from December 14 to December 19, finishing in the December 21 […]
Not every comic is about Christmas this week, though Macanudo gifted us with an earworm.© LiniersAnd that’s all you need. Do they pronounce it “hiffy?”© Ripley EntertainmentBelieve It or Not!Would the 8% even know what a Hi-Fi is? I sympathize.© Darrin BellThey changed Candorville‘s zip code. Mr. Lucky© UFSA Rose is a Rose is a Rose. More about comic […]
Bessie Mae Kelley, Kieran Castaño, Robert Ripley, Harry Bliss, HergéAlex Jay took note of the Bessie Mae Kelley stories and dug up her vitals from birth: Bessie Mae Kelley was born Elizabeth Mae Kelley. The date of her birth is unclear: November 1889 in the 1900 United States Census; November 10, 1890, Minnesota Death Index; […]
Philadelphia native and cartoonist Robb Armstrong has been making waves and history his entire career. He created his comic strip “Jump Start” in 1989, currently the most widely syndicated daily comic strip from an African American cartoonist in the world. The Philadelphia Sun profiles favorite son Robb Armstrong. After attending Shipley, he went on to […]
The Barn (Creators) gets today’s Excellent Timing Award for a piece done, no doubt, weeks in advance but that happened to hit just as a substantial portion of the country fell into a Frosty Bombalooza or whatever they’re calling it these days. We used to call them “cold snaps” but perhaps we were being too […]
Washington, D.C. – A Search for the SourceThe Library of Congress found the cartoonist who created it (Paul Gregg) and found the newspaper it probably appeared in (The Denver Post) but it still looking for confirmation of the date (ca. early 1933). This mystery centered on an image of a political cartoon found online. No […]
The original December 12, 2022 item:The Katzenjammer Kids first appeared December 12, 1897.Above: the first issue of The Katzenjammer KidsThe comic strip was created by Rudolph Dirks and New York Journal editor Rudolph Block. Various cartoonists (Harold Knerr, Oscar Hitt, Doc Winner, Joe Musial, Mike Senich, Angelo DeCesare, Hy Eisman) continued it’s Sunday run until […]
Cartoonist Mike Peters is taking his Mother Goose & Grimm comic strip and his editorial cartoons from King Features Syndicate (KFS) to Andrews McMeel Syndication (AMS) at the beginning of 2023. Andrews McMeel announced the move yesterday: Kansas City, MO (December 20, 2022) – Andrews McMeel Syndication (AMS) will assume sales and distribution of the Mother […]