Brian Crane was the last speaker on Saturday. He’s the creator of the comic Pickles which is now in 800 newspapers. His comic launched with only 24 newspapers and was told by his syndicate that he might even get up to 50. I’ve met Brian before this seminar and despite the accomplishment of being in […]
Creators Syndicate president Jack Newcombe was the second speaker. In what I’m assuming was a grab the audience’s attention, he told us he was going to talk about pirates, porn and ________. It got my attention, but only 2/3 of it. “Did he just say porn?” By the time I refocused, I missed the third […]
This last weekend was the 2nd Success in Comics seminar put on by Tundra creator Chad Carpenter and his marketing team of one Bill Kellogg. Attendee numbers were about double from the first one held two years ago with a mix of up-and-coming cartoonists and more established cartoonist. For those who have haven’t attended this […]
(Click to see larger image)Chris Sparks of Team Cul de Sac has released the dust cover art for their upcoming book of all the artists contributing to the fund raiser for Parkinson’s Disease. The book will feature Cul de Sac inspired art from over 150 cartoonists and artists.Buy either the regular edition book or the […]
That rare Bill Watterson watercolor of Calvin and Hobbes created for a 1989-90 calendar cover fetched a handsome $107,550.00 at auction (requires sign-in to see results).The art received 34,745 page views and was bid on 22 times.UPDATE: For confidentiality reasons, my contact at Heritage Auction couldn’t disclose the winning bidder, but he noted that when […]
Corey Pandolph, who took over on Phil Frank’s The Elderberries five years ago, has announced that he’s retiring the strip. March 4th will be the last comic. Corey has been working on a comic strip (notably Barkeater Lake, Toby, Robot Satan) in various forms for the last 15 years. He tells me that in the […]
The National Cartoonists Society has announced the nominations for the 2011 Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year. The nominees are Pickles creator Brian Crane, Pearls Before Swine creator Stephan Pastis and MAD Magazine cartoonist Tom Richmond. Brian’s strip has been in syndication since 1990 and this week Washington Post Writers Group announced that the […]
Michael Cavna reports that six cartoonists will fill in for Richard Thompson’s Cul de Sac for a five week stint stating Monday and ending March 19 for dailies and the Sunday features run March 18 through April 15. The guest cartoonists include: Mo Willems, Stephan Pastis, Lincoln Peirce and Michael Jantze, Corey Pandolph and Ken […]
They’re the rage right now in social media – the “what my friends think I do… what I really do” meme. I’ve come across two that are comic related. The first is regarding creating comic books, the second by Michael Kandalaft, creator of That Monkey Tune on cartooning.
This year’s Silver T-Square Award will be given to former NCS president Steve McGarry during the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Awards weekend in May. The award is given for outstanding dedication or service to the Society or the profession.Former NCS president Jeff Keane:Under Steve’s watch the NCS flourished both here at home and abroad. He […]
Tom Racine interviews Wiley Miller about his comic strip Non Sequitur which celebrates 20 years in syndication. From Tom’s Tall Tale Radio Podcast:Wiley Miller of the brilliant “Non Sequitur” joins me to talk about the fact that his comic just turned 20 years old! He’s been in syndication since 1992, and has seen a lot […]
Yesterday was Prince Valiant’s 75th birthday. The strip was created by Hal Foster in 1937. Hal was authoring the popular Tarzan comic strip when he was invited to create his new strip by William Randolph Hearst who distributed it through his syndicate King Features.The strip has since been adapted in many forms. It was made […]
Fantastic news for Pickles creator Brian Crane. Washington Post Writers Group has announced that Pickles has crossed the 800 paper milestone earlier this month. It was first launched in 1990.From the WPWG:Crane began the strip 22 years ago, while he was working full time at an advertising agency. He would drive home, have dinner with […]
Chris Mautner over at The Robot6 blog names six comic strips that he believes met “an untimely death.” He names:Franklin Fibbs by Hollis Brown and Wes Hargis, Top of the World by Mark Tonra, Spot the Frog by Mark Heath, Bo Nanas by John Kovaleski, Lucky Cow by Mark Pett and Oh, Brother by Jay […]
Chris Sparks the mastermind and muscle behind the Team Cul de Sac project to raise funds for a cure for Parkinson’s Diseasehas released the names of the artists who will be featured in the Team Cul de Sac book that is due out in June. Here’s the list of artists: Bill Amend Brian Anderson Mark […]