The King Features Syndicate archivist profiles Phil Davis who was the artist behind Lee Falk’s Mandrake the Magician. When Lee Falk created MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN, he originally thought he might draw the feature as well as write it, but early on he realized his cartooning skills would not be equal to the task. Fortunately, he […]
Ben Zimmer, writing for Slate looks at the history of @#$%! and how it came to represent swear words in comics. In a 1964 article for the National Cartoonist Society, Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker coined the term grawlix, which, after a bit of evolution in its meaning, now refers to the string of typographical […]
From The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY): Local author and cartoonist Frank Cammuso spoke to children at Syracuse’s Salem Hyde Elementary today and gave out about 400 copies of his new graphic novel. Frank’s new book is The Misadventures of Salem Hyde: Spelling Trouble and it sounds like a fun premise – Salem Hyde thinks she’s entering […]
Peanuts Worldwide has announced that will create 500 90-second animated shorts based on the Peanuts comic strip and characters. The animation will be done by Normaal Animation and Télévisions. Distribution is set for the fall of 2014. The press release only states that the purpose is to “build its content portfolio” and mentions the new […]
The iconic military strip Beetle Bailey is no longer in The Stars and Stripes. The daily edition was slimmed from 40 pages to 32 due to falling advertising and the 10% sequestration cuts the military was handed earlier this year. The daily comics page has been reduced from three pages to one and the Sunday […]
A Tumblr blog that removes dialog from Peanuts and replaces them with lyrics from The Smiths has cleared one legal challenge. According to Under The Radar, Universal Music sent a cease and desist letter to Tumblr alleging copyright infringement. The music company stopped the desist request after The Smiths frontman Morrissey said he was a […]
Richard Thompson’s Cul de Sac became an instant classic when it was introduced in 2007. When he announced he was retiring the strip in 2012 due to his battle with Parkinson’s Disease, it was was met with sadness by fans and admirers of his work. Luckily it was soon announced that a complete collection was […]
You can have a star named after you for $30, but if you want an astroid named after you, it has to be approved by the International Astronomical Union. xkcd webcomic creator Randall Monroe’s name was nominated and approved for an asteroid that orbits between Mars and Jupiter. From Robot6: “The first thing I did […]
Al Jaffee, perhaps best known for his three-panel fold-ins for MAD Magazine, is donating the vast majority of his cartoon originals and personal archives to Columbia University. From the New York Times: Karen Green, a Columbia librarian, approached Mr. Jaffee at last year’s New York Comic Con, a gathering place for popular-culture fans, and asked […]
The new animated feature is due out January 17, 2014. Something tells me I’m going to wait for it to hit DVD Netflix pass entirely.
I’m in London this week for work. I’m trying to see as much of the city as I can when not in meetings. I’ll try to post as many sketches inspired by the things I see throughout the week. The Changing of the Guard
The K Chronicles and The Knight Life creator Keith Knight has posted his first live-action comedy skit. From his blog: I’m very excited to be finally posting a live-action comedy piece. It has all the elements of your average Keith Knight cartoon (race, humor), and it’ll probably get me in trouble. It was amazing how […]
Legendary comic book artist Neal Adams accidentally left two portfolio bags in a taxi earlier this month containing original artwork worth tens of thousands of dollars. He’s hoping they’ll be returned.From the New York Post: “The lack of certain details presents a challenge,” said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg, a longtime fan of Adams. “But we’re […]
Another write up about the recent USO/NCS trip. This time Ocala Star Banner profiles Rob Smith Jr..From Ocala Star Banner: The artists don’t discuss in detail what they draw during the tours. “We don’t use any of it for our promotion. It’s personal. It’s for them. It’s a way to show that we’re appreciative for […]