Charlie Brown Christmas Jihad
Jean Schulz can’t be happy with this.
Filed under: Comic Strips
Online newspapers seeing increased numbers of viewers
It’s been a while since I’ve reported on any newspaper industry trends. This article out of the Clickz Network reports that newspapers in September attracted more than 58 million unique readers according to a Nielsen/NetRatings report. That is the highest number for newspapers ever. The increase is attributed to an increase number of video and podcasts produced by newspapers.
Scott Adams regains ability to speak (UPDATE)
He’s tried Botox injections that helped relieve the spasms and allowed some of his normal speech, but that solution was affecting his professional speaking, so he discontinued the Not giving up, he’s tried hard to find patterns in contexts of when he could speak clearly and when he could not…. But for some reason the context is just different enough from normal speech that my brain handled it fine.Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.Jack jumped over the candlestick.I repeated it dozens of times, partly because I could.
Today’s Remaindered Links
The last couple of weeks have been pretty eventful around in Gardner home and when I get squeezed for time, I can’t highlight every story that lands in my inbox. As an attempt to catch some of those things that would normally fall through the cracks, I’m starting a new feature called the Remaindered Links.
Steve Moore featured in Lake Oswego Review
The Lake Oswego Review – the paper that Steve Moore worked for fresh out of college – has caught up with the In the Bleacher’s cartoonist to talk about his sports panel, the movie Open Season that he wrote and those first years working for the Review as their sports editor and editorial cartoonist. If you’re a fan of Steve’s this is a good read.
Dr. Seuss exhibit offers peek into his editorial cartoons
I’ve mentioned the traveling Dr. Seuss exhibit before and now the exhibit has landed in Naperville (IL). The exhibit features his original and replicated artwork from his early days as an editorial cartoonist in the 1920s. The exhibit runs through November 13. Exhibit opens Saturday with a ribbon cutting. See the Naperville Sun for more details on times and locations.
Not everybody wants to be in a comic strip
When contacted by the Boston Globe about her cameo in Stan Lee’s comic she’s reported to have responded: Lopez said she wouldn’t be caught dead being a reporter, even in a comic strip…. Why don’t you live your own?”If you read the segment, the character Maria Lopez doesn’t even look at all like the TV judge.
Girls & Sports hits YouTube
In an effort to create buzz around the coming release of the first Girls & Sports book (Opening Lines, Pinky Probes, and L-Bombs: The Girls & Sports Dating and Relationship Playbook), Andrew Feinstein and Justin Borus have created the first Girls & Sports short animation and have posted it on YouTube.
Rich Stevens gets cease-and-desist-notice from LucasFilm
Tom Spurgeon over at Comics Reporter points us to the Diesel Sweeties web site where Rich Stevens, the creator of the web comic Diesel Sweeties (that will be syndicated nationally beginning on January 8, 2007) has received a cease-and-desist letter from LucasFilm LTD regarding a variety of t-shirts that Rich sells on his web site.
Great Pumpkin TV special to celebrate 40th year on television
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown will be celebrating its 40th anniversary on the air this Friday night. The Halloween special was created after the enormous success of A Charlie Brown Christmas. Also airing tomorrow night is You’re Not Elected, Charlie Brown – another special created in 1972 about Linus running for school president. The show has a Great Pumpkin subplot.
Charles Schulz drops to 3rd place in top-earning dead celebrity
The list comes out every year and Charles M. Schulz is typically second only to Elvis, but this year’s Forbes list of the Top-Earning Dead Celebrities, Sparky drops to number three as Kurt Cobain comes from out of no where to take the top honor. Cobain’s widow, Courtney Love sold a 25% stake in Nirvana’s song catalog to a New York music publishing company for a reported $50 million – which put Cobain on the list – at the top.
Volume 3 of the Complete Dennis the Menace now available
This third volume of Hank Ketcham’s Complete Dennis the Menace publishes every single panel strip from 1955 and 1956 in one handsome and thick hardcover volume. Ketchamâ??s legendary pen and ink work achieves its full flowering in this volume as do the various situations and themes that Ketcham would return to: the first â??split screenâ? (two-panel strip) that Ketcham would occasionally use; Dennis actually flirts with a girl; he rats Dad out to Mom; exacerbates confrontations between Dad and the police; and stymies hapless baby-sitters.
Randy Glasbergen featured on blogcritics.org
Blogcritics has posted an interview with Randy Glasbergen who does the “Better Half” panel.
Stephanie Piro has new book and ‘My Name is Earl’ connection (Updated)
Six Chix cartoonist Stephanie Piro has a couple of exciting tidbits of news. She has a new book out called, “My Cat Loves Me Naked“. Get it at Amazon.com.
Garry Trudeau featured in Washington Post Magazine
I just spent a half hour reading The Washington Post Magazine’s article on Garry Trudeau called Doonesbury’s War. In the hectic Monday morning before rushing to work, nothing gets that much attention from me, but this article is well worth my time. I hope you’ll take some time to read it. As private as Garry is, (and the article will tell you why), I don’t think we’ll see another extended glimpse into his life until he passes away decades from now.