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.
In a development to watch to see if it affects the number of comics run in a newspaper, Gannett, the largest newspaper publisher in the U.S. will be experimenting with a new paper size that is somewhere between tabloid and broadsheet according to this story in the BBC. The first paper to make the leap will be the Indiana journal and Courier.
Back in June, I pointed out a comic book challenge that was being held in conjunction with the San Diego Comic-Con. The competition was open to anyone who wanted to submit a comic book idea, complete with sample art. All the submissions would be whittled down to the top 50 by Platinum Studios creative and development staff. Those 50 would then pitch their ideas to a celebrity panel (this part was televised) who picked the top three. Those then were presented to the public for a final winner.
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.
According to the Reuter’s story the DVD will include a hybernated feature that can be activated after November 28 (presumably to coincide with peak Christmas buying season), a four minute mini-movie with all the original voice talent. The mini-movie is a parody of reality tv called “Hammy’s Boomerang Adventure.”The DVD also includes “Behind the Hedge,” a look at the real-life animals that inspired the film’s critters; filmmaker commentaries; a mock “infomercial” spoofing the career opportunities of pest control; a “making-of” documentary; cast interviews; and a virtual drawing lesson by a DreamWorks animator on how to sketch Hammy.Over the Hedge took in $151.7 million domestically.
The topic for this In Focus article has been rolling around in my mind for a few months now. Since October, when I started this blog, I�ve read several reports (usually around end of financial quarters) that bemoan the dropping circulations and overall readership of the newspaper. How was this trend affecting the big six syndicates who sell editorial cartoons and comic strips?� Because their business is so closely dependent on the health of the newspaper industry � what were syndicates doing to grow their business in this climate and ultimately, how would these trends affect the current or future syndicated cartoonist?
Darrin Bell took a jab at Republican Senator Jim Bunning through is Candorville strip earlier this month in response to Bunning’s complaints that the New York Times had committed treason by publishing a story about anti-terrorism programs used to track international money.
From the For Better or For Worse blog comes news of a new 16 month family planner to help organize the sometimes hectic family schedules. This 16-month organizer will help your family keep track of appointments, special occasions, and schedules for everyone, as well as home maintenance, health and safety, gift giving and vacations, in […]
King Features has announced that Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott’s Zits has crossed another client list milestone with over 1,500 subscribers worldwide. Zits was launched in 1997 and within it’s first four years had already surpassed 500 clients, according to Jay Kennedy, Editor in Chief of King Features.