RC Harvey, writing over on The Comics Journal, raises a question about the bias of the National Cartoonist Society in awarding its top honor, the Reuben, to syndicated comic strip creators. In this roster of the first 16 Reuben winners, only one cartooned outside of newspaper pages. Ronald Searle. All the rest were syndicated newspaper […]
Four men and three women were arrested in Ireland for allegedly plotting to kill Lars Vilks, one of the infamous Muhammad cartoonist. Lars’ caricature featured the Prophet Mohammad with the body of a dog. Islamic militants put a $100,000 bounty on his head.
When Mike Peters began Mother Goose and Grimm, it was not often about the title characters. He admits to having patterned it on “The Far Side” both for its odd and random subject matter. I don’t dislike the strips dealing with the old lady and her dog, but I get more laughs out of the […]
Jeff Smith, creator of the Bone graphic novel series, sold the movie rights in 2008 to Warner Bros. Looks like it’s getting closer to the big screen. A quick Google search didn’t yield any release dates. For more than 10 years, Hollywood has been interested in putting Smith’s entertaining epic on the big screen. At […]
Those watching last nights Academy Awards noted that Pixar’s “UP” won in two categories: Animated Feature Film and Music (Original Score). “UP” was nominated for Best Picture, but lost to “The Hurt Locker.”
United States Postal Service will begin selling Bill Mauldin stamps this month. The stamp features a photo of himself along with his signature characters Willie and Joe. The Postal Service will also be releasing a series entitled The Sunday Funnies which will feature Archie, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes. The […]
The tenth triennial Festival of Cartoon Art will take place at The Ohio State University in Columbus, OH October 14-17, 2010. The Festival is a unique celebration of cartoons and comics, and their creators. This year’s line-up of presenters include Steve Breen, Roz Chast, Tony Cochran, Jan Eliot, Matt Groening and Tom Gammill, Dave Kellett, […]
For its first 17 years, Sally Forth was a bland little strip about Sally and her bland, generic husband Ted and their bland non-descript middle-school daughter Hilary. Then, in 1999, creator Greg Howard walked away from the strip, leaving the art in the hands of his established collaborator, Craig MacIntosh, and turning the writing over […]
Jerry Bittle was one of the first syndicated cartoonists I knew personally, and I always loved his timing, both in Shirley and Son and Geech. There was a Bob Newhart/Jack Benny quality in his storytelling, in that you usually knew where he was going with a gag but the way he told it made the […]
Because some of my readers are in Canada, I am required to include a certain percentage of Canadian content in my blog. Also, Paul Gilligan’s Pooch Cafe is frequently a hoot, which rhymes with “about” if you say it in his hometown of Toronto. The current story arc has our hero, Poncho, trapped by a […]
Twenty Saudi editorial cartoonist have formed the Association of Saudi Cartoonists and Caricaturists to “protect its members against unjustified layoffs and oppression by appointing lawyers to defend them before the courts.” Founding member Hana Hajjar says there are 38 editorial cartoonists working Saudi Arabia. The association’s chairman, Abdullah Sail, an editorial cartoonist at Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper, […]
Congrats to Steve Kelley and Jeff Parker whose recently launched Dustin has quickly jumped to the “more than 100 newspapers” category.From the press release: “Dustin is the most successful new comic to be introduced into syndication in recent years,” said George Haeberlein, King Features vice president, worldwide syndication sales. “It has been appearing in newspapers […]
Much discussion has been generated over the Denver Post dropping 21 comic strips based on a survey of 18,000 (which is a HUGE survey). The question of surveys generates heated discussion as most of you who read or participate in the comments know. The “editors should do their job and pick” response might be popular […]
The LA Times blog reports that Neil Patrick Harris, star of “How I Met Your Mother,” has been cast to star in the upcoming Smurfs movie. The movie will be a mix of live action and CGI. Harris will play one of the live action roles.
Everyone seemed to be wrapping up story arcs or just in a slump today, but here’s a Non Sequitur from 1993 that has been at the top of my list since it appeared. I realized even then that Wiley Miller was being sarcastic, but I always liked the shifting nature of reporting at a small […]