So what fight was the actual Battle of the Century?Jack Johnson and James J. Jeffries? Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier? Captain Easy and Bull Dawson?Maybe Stan Laurel and Noah Young: All contenders, but contenders only.The Battle of the (20th) Century was precipitated by the introduction of Bluto on September 12, 1932. above: the first appearance […]
Literally – a 90th anniversary Popeye wristwatch.Bamford London is celebrating the 90th anniversary of Popeye with the release of a new collaborative watch. The watch is made alongside the cartoon’s owner King Features, which has graced Bamford London’s GMT model with Popeye motifs throughout its design. Channeling the nautical theme synonymous with Popeye, the duo […]
For 25 years, from 1983 to 2008, David Astor reported on the newspaper syndicates for Editor & Publisher. Alan Gardner, the creator of this Daily Cartoonist site, called David “the founding father of syndication reporting.”Every week David reported on comic strips and political cartooning and puzzles and columnists syndicated to newspapers, both upfront and behind […]
Famed Universal Press Syndicate editor Lee Salem has passed away. Lee J. Salem July 21, 1946 – September 2, 2019 From the obituary:Lee served as editor and then president of Universal Press Syndicate, now called Andrews McMeel Syndication. In his nearly four decades at Universal, he is credited with editing and developing some of the iconic […]
I was president of the NCS from June, 1999 to May, 2001, and I ran two “Reuben Awards” conventions. The first was held at the World Trade Center in Manhattan the year before the towers were destroyed, and the second in Florida at the Boca Raton Resort and Club. Much of the work of the […]
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!The always interesting and educational Yesterday’s Papers site, whether it’s a John Adcock or a Richard Marschall post, is a must read every morning. But this morning it gave me a real thrill.To quote Richard:Searching for illustrations for the imminent revival of Nemo Magazine, I have been ransacking my bookshelves.That’s right! “Imminent!” I’m […]
Comic Con International, more famously known as the San Diego Comic Con, mostly spotlights comic books and movies; but there are a few comic strip cartoonists spread among the attendees.The National Cartoonists Society has a booth with cartoonists showing up throughout the weekend. Also there are some panels featuring comic strips and NCS people. Thursday July […]
Every two years about this time King Features releases their Syndicate Directory.They have recently released the 2019 Directory edition (in pdf). Some notes:Maritsa Patrinos gets credit in the Six Chix entry, and Wayno gets same with the Bizarro listing. Maritsa took on duties this year, Wayno last year. Rina Piccolo gets Rhymes With Orange credit. Rina […]
Epic, the digital reading platform and library for kids, is teaming up with Andrews McMeel Publishing, home to Big Nate and Calvin & Hobbes, to produce a line of children’s books. Under the new arrangement, AMP will publish print editions of Epic Originals digital books, a content line that Epic debuted in March. Epic! began its […]
It’s the 90th anniversary of Popeye‘s debut (and the 100th of Thimble Theatre).But age isn’t slowing down the Sailor Man. His comic strip continues with reprinted Bud Sagendorf dailies and new Hy Eisman Sunday pages, and this year it was joined by a companion Sunday strip—Popeye’s Cartoon Club by various celebrity cartoonists.But the funny pages […]
It seems Comics Kingdom has ironed out a few kinks in their Sunday page. Today most (all?) Sunday strips that have half-page formats are in half-page formats. And if you right click then “view image” the strip will fill your screen vertically; click on the image again and it fills the screen horizontally.It took awhile but Comics […]
The redesigned Comics Kingdom website went up today (April 3, 2019). At the Comics Kingdom blog Tea welcomes us to the new site:Welcome to the remodeled Comics Kingdom! If you’re a premium subscriber, (and we encourage to sign up here if you are not!) there are no ads and a huge archive of amazing comics that […]
When the unfortunate error in judgment in the Sunday Non Sequitur was revealed to the public earlier this week reaction from newspapers was swift. Also, unexpectedly, was the quick response from a salesperson competing with Andrews McMeel Syndication for real estate on The Funny Pages.Sent to newspaper editors on Monday was this message from the […]
Multiple sources reporting.New York PostThe VergeThe Guardian
This Saturday night is the annual National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Awards weekend where one (maybe two?) people not named Stephan Pastis will be crowned Cartoonist of the Year. On Friday, King Features Syndicate will host a special panel celebrating 100 years of comic strips. The event is free to the public at 11 am at […]