Caulfield ponders the change in seasons, and is accurate enough to say summer “kind of” starts with Memorial Day. To my mind, it’s perfectly logical that summer “kind of” ends with Labor Day, because that was when we’d head back to school. Several decades ago, when my boys were little, Colorado schools tried starting school […]
Hearst’s International Feature Service The history of newspaper syndication — and specifically the distribution of cartoons and comic strips — is a story yet to be told, and told well. Rick Marschall at Yesterday’s Papers shares a booklet with us about a Hearst/Koenigsberg side hustle. By 1917, Hearst’s lieutenant Moses Koenigsberg split up the syndicate […]
Notes on Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Shrimp & Grits, Flash Gordon, Crabgrass, Macanudo, Andy Capp, The Saga of Brann Bjornson, Home Free, Heaven Help Us, Crankshaft, Phoebe and Her Unicorn, The Far Side, Thimble Theater Starring Popeye, Wallace the Brave, and including a Ziggy Stardust cameo.With Ripley’s Believe It or Not characterization in mind […]
This morning’s Duplex reminded me of a news story I was sure I’d clipped, but can’t find. A business professor at the University of Denver wanted to make a point about ethics, so announced to his class that he was going to award a certain number of A, B, C and D grades and that […]
The premise of Macanudo is that two children living in Nuevo Aires, Henrietta and Martincito, possess imaginations so powerful that it gives them the special ability to see the invisible, magical world underlying the lives of children everywhere. This power is called “Macanudo,” giving the strip its name. In its native country, the strip is […]
Comics artist Tod Smith has passed away. Tod Garfield Smith October 4, 1952 – April 4, 2025From the Providence Journal obituary: Tod Garfield Smith, 72, of Rocky Hill, CT, passed away on April 4, 2025, after a long illness. Throughout his childhood, Tod was a fan of comic books and comic book heroes and was […]
With Barbara Shermund, Edward Gorey, Stan Mack, Dan Tyree, and courtroom sketch artists Art Lien, Cedric Hohnstadt, and Christine Cornell.The Trailblazing Cartoon Art of Barbara Shermund We began today watching Jane Pauley and CBS Sunday Morning and a segment about a cartoonist: Artist Barbara Shermund (1899- 1978) was one of the first women cartoonists for […]
The question is theoretical, like “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” which is about how much space non-corporeal critters take up, the answer to which is “Get a grip.”The tree falling in the forest is about whether sound is the vibration itself or the sensing of the vibration in the […]
Some things noted of recent comic strips. From the last few days of Dan Schkade’s Flash Gordon … comes a sequence that reminded me of another scene: While as 9 Chickweed Lane kicked off a week of definitions I’m reminded that Brooke McEldowney cut off comments on his strip because he could brook no opposing […]
Yeah, your potrzebian correspondent is most of the way through “The MAD Files”, a book collecting essays from various sources about the famed satirical magazine. Which is how this post will be – collecting news items related to cartoonists and cartooning from veeblefetzers near and far. HooHah! How Tom Richmond joined The Usual Gang of […]
A few days ago we reported on Scott Adams making public his terminal prostate cancer condition.That was naturally big national news. Here are the Associated Press and United Press International reports. Closer to Adams’ home was the San Jose Mercury-News story of their local(ish) cartoonist’s announcement. Later it was revealed that President Trump called Trump […]
The big comics celebration this year is the Diamond Anniversary of Charles M. Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip. And it is certainly worthy of all the acclaim and hoopla and licensing.But it has some tough competition in the Best Humor Comic Strip of All Time ranking. Walt Kelly’s Pogo, Gary Larson’s The Far Side, E.C. Segar’s […]
An hour? Holy catfish! Caulfield’s got a way longer attention span than I do. My limit for sitting listening to anything on my computer is about four minutes. As for selfie-podcasts, my limit for looking at a close-up of somebody’s big fat face delivering a rant is zero minutes.The counter-benefit of ADD is that I […]
Today, Dilbert creator Scott Adams announced in an online video that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. In the video, Adams was discussing Former President Joe Biden’s recent cancer announcement, expressing sympathy for the former first family.Adams also shared that his condition has become painful and intolerable, forcing […]
Dick Tracy, Mutts, Macanudo, Moomin, Marmaduke, and 2025 Eisner Award nominations and a bunch of cartoonists associated with the aforementioned.Mike and McDonnell Return (briefly?)Today ends Eric Costello‘s seven month “guest writer” stint on Dick Tracy as Mike Curtis returns as the credited writer beginning Sunday, May 18, 2025 (no “guest writer” insert). We’ll see how […]