According to a Universal Press press release, the Oregonian reported that their top 10 most popular comics are: For Better or For Worse, Pickles, Stone Soup, Zits, Doonesbury, Blondie, Luann, Get Fuzzy, Mutts and Pearls Before Swine.
The International Herald Tribune (IHT) wants to substitute this Friday’s Non Sequtuir according to E&P. The cartoon in question pokes fun of Ann Coulter who is wearing a burqa after getting everything she’s ever wished for (the non-existence of liberals being one of those things).
Citizens of North Hartlepool England will be lobbied for a statue to commemorate cartoon strip character Andy Capp this month. The North Hartlepool Partnership will be leafletting door to door to gauge public interest and if it exists, the partnership will ask the Daily Mirror – where Andy Capp was first published back in 1957 – and ask for a sizable donation. The project has been discussed for several years, but has not gained enough momentum to bring it to realization.
Baldo co-creator Carlos Castellano will be appearing at the Florida Super-Con this upcoming November 3rd through 5th. This year’s show includes a Superman tribute and features several actors for the Superman movies, television shows, and Superboy shows.
Over on Mike Lynch’s blog (Blogspot and MySpace) he has posted photos of Rina Piccolo’s studio when he recently visited her to pick up some original artwork. Rina is the creator of Tina’s Groove and one of the Six Chix – both syndicated by King Features.
Teletoon, Canada’s first and only 24 hour cartoon network has entered into an agreement to create an animated series based on Bob Unger’s Herman comic strip that is syndicated by United Media. The article did not specify a timeline.
King Features has launched it’s third feature of 2006 (Retail and Pajama Diaries being the first two). The new feature is a Sunday only called Heaven’s Love Thrift Shop by Kevin Frank. Heaven’s love focuses on the the characters (Wilson, Cassidy, and Dag) who run a charitable thrift shop which supports outreaches including a soup-kitchen and homeless shelter.
Earlier this summer, I brought you news that Dean Young was going to open up a chain of sandwich shops called “Dagwood’s Sandwich Shoppe” named after the Dagwood character in Blondie. The first store opened in June.
Leigh Rubin’s Rubes collection book “The Wild Life of Cats” has won two humor awards according to E&P. The first award is a merit prize from Midwest Book Awards and the other is a bronze award by ForeWord magazine’s Book of the Year.
Firstly, Darrin Bell’s Candorville will come out with its second collection this September…. The book is published through Andrews McMeel and can be pre-ordered through amazon.comSecondly, Bill Mauldin, a pulitzer prize winning editorial cartoonist and often best remembered for his cartoon characters of Joe and Willie during World War II, will have a series of books published by Fantagraphic according to Editor and Publisher (who cites the Comics Reporter).
The Bakersfield Californian has dropped Cleats – which it ran for a six week trial run – and has added The Pajama Diaries (registration required). The article doesn’t mention whether Terri Libenson’s feature is a permanent placement or only taking over the “test-comic position,” but the editor is inviting the public to send in their feedback.
The Daily World, (Grays Harbor and northern Pacific counties) has picked up Get Fuzzy starting today, The first eight people to e-mail the publisher will receive a free copy of a “Get Fuzzy” anthology.
Stephan Pastis’s Pearls Before Swine will be coming out in a comic collection book called “Lions and Tigers and Crocs, Oh My!” this September. According to E&P, the book will contain a collection of unedited and unpublished strips.
The Deseret News in Salt Lake City will debut a new Sunday comic called Heaven’s Love Thrift Shop by Kevin Frank. Heaven’s Love is a Sunday only feature about a thrift shop owned by a church. The focus of the feature according to Kevin is, “to remind people there is a God, and God loves them, and then make them chuckle. But you can be sure I will avoid any heavy-handed ‘preachiness.”
With the success of the complete Far Side, Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, Dennis the Menace, etc. IDW publishing will release a complete Dick Tracy collection in October.