University of Michigan Press is publishing “American Newspaper Comics, An Encyclopedic Reference Guide” by comic strip historian Allan Holtz. The book will be 624 pages with over 3,100 color and B&W comic strips.The description:From its earliest appearance in the 1890s, the newspaper comic strip has told the story of America, from the Irish ghetto of […]
Rob Tornoe reports that The Washington Post has merged two of it’s properties – The Washington Post Writers Group and The Washington Post News Service into one media service called The Washington Post News Media Services. Here’s how Rob explains it:The Washington Post took a major step forward to combat these trends by creating The […]
And if ever an idea pops into your head without having to dig for it – and this sometimes happens – it’s rarely usable straight out of the gate. Ideas need to go through a process of development to become usable, and sellable. Those tools I’ve mentioned are in fact actual methods used to do […]
Tom Gammill showed us this Learn to Draw at the Reuben Awards. Plot: Tom want’s his son to work on The Doozies so he can take it over when he retires. To provide inspiration, he visits Mort Walker and his sons who are involved in the Beetle Bailey comic.
Stephan Pastis is taking his game to Pittsburgh. He’ll be at the Toonseum this weekend for two engagements (first one is already sold out) – both require tickets. According to the promotional material, Stephan will talk about his strip, his conversion from lawyer to cartoonist and show some of his best work. A book signing […]
I gave Stephan Pastis a hard time when his last Pearls Before Swine collection came out because the title was so long (Because Sometimes You Just Gotta Draw a Cover with Your Left Hand: A Pearls Before Swine Collection) and the fact that it seemed like he came out with a book every other month. […]
One of the criticism of the iPad when launched was that it was a device only for consuming content and not creating it. Yesterday Microsoft stepped into the tablet market announcing Microsoft Surface. The new tablet will be running the yet-to-launch Windows 8 OS and will be a full PC experience for its users. Where […]
Here’s a must read for any cartoonist contemplating creating and selling an ebook of their cartoons on Amazon’s Kindle market.Andrew Hyde, an self-published author, recently released his book “This Book About Travel” as an Apple iBook, Kindle ebook, Nook ebook, and as a downloadable PDF. He did all the usual self-promotion, built a website, engaged […]
A quick two minute piece featuring Al Jaffee talking about his sense of professionalism in his work. Anyone who is going to accept your artwork is not there to solve your problems. You are there to solve their problems. When I get an assignment… I will not deliver it until I am satisfied that I […]
Warner Bros. has brought in Tom Wheeler to rewrite Mandrake The Magician which has been in movie production since 2009. Wheeler, writer for the movie Puss in Boots and NBC’s series The Cape has been charged with giving Mandrake a 21st century makeover much like Warner Bros did for Sherlock Holmes.The original Mandrake the Magician […]
Another insightful post by Tina’s Groove creator Rina Piccolo on the positives and negatives of being a syndicated cartoonist. On the plus side: control of one’s own schedule. On the down side: that schedule is relentless.So here’s the truth about being syndicated: It’s hard and it never stops. You know how people have jobs – […]
Jump Start creator Robb Armstrong received an honorary degree from The Holy Family University last month during their commencement ceremonies. Robb was honored “for helping to bridge the racial gap among people through his nationally syndicated comic strip and for inspiring thousands of people each year through his motivational speeches and charitable acts.” Congratulations, Robb.
Sherman’s Lagoon creator Jim Toomey has partnered with the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) to create six two-minute videos talking about awareness of environmental issues for our oceans and coastlines. The first one is below.Jim has been involved with several environmental issues both personally and through his strip. He’s called for a ban on shark […]
The Team Cul de Sac auction came to an end last night. I can’t help but think Chris Sparks, the team organizer, is genuinely pleased with the results. Collectively the auctioned raised over $47,000 (minus fees, etc.). The most watched item was Bill Watterson’s oil painting of Petey Otterloop which sold for $13,145.00.You can view […]
Andrews McMeel, the parent company and publishing company behind Universal Uclick, has announced that they will be releasing a paperback edition of “The Complete Calvin and Hobbes” by Bill Watterson in November. The paperback set will contain four-volumes in a slip-case and contain every Calvin & Hobbes cartoon published during the 10 year run of […]