For those who subscribe to the Daily Cartoonist’s RSS feeds and perhaps don’t visit the actual site, I’d like to direct your attention to the latest In Focus article….� This latest installment features editorial cartoonist Ed Hall, who I had the privilege of getting to know recently.His book is called “Diversions” and was self published back in March, and I hope you’ll take the time to read about it here on the Daily Cartoonist.

The NCS Southeast Chapter has posted photos of the Reuben Awards weekend.See photos here, here, and here.Thanks, Bruce, for the heads up.

His professionalism and love of the art form will add a new chapter to one of America’s classic continuity strips. I know that the strip’s loyal readers will appreciate Eduardo’s work as much as I do,” says Judge Parker writer Woody Wilson.

Last week I posted that the Great Lakes Chapter of NCS has posted photos of their excursion to Chicago.  Craig Boldman, the current chairperson for the chapter writes into remind me (thus you) that the photos are being updated every day and that they have enough for several weeks.

Mike Jantze who now maintains his comic strip “The Norm” online has posted a notice to subscribers that he’s running repeats for the next couple of weeks while he recoups from a back injury.  The Norm resumes on June 19.

Ohio State fans have also been speeding it along — much to the surprise of the creative team that’s been milking the same three jokes for 28 years.”The use of ‘wolverine’ in the Garfield comic strip was not in reference to the Michigan fans or the mascot,” says a comically sincere response to MSU zealot Bob Nelson of Lansing.Nelson already figured that out, “but it will be a long time,” he promises, “before the U-M Wolverines see the last of this particular cartoon.””Garfield” debuted in 1978 and appears in 2,600 newspapers worldwide, making it one of the most successful comic strips on Earth….  At which point Garfield thinks, “Loser.”Nelson, 55, oversees a club called SPAR10 PL8S and a Web site, www.CQQL.net/msu.htm, devoted to vanity license plates that praise the Green and White or pillory the Maize and Blue.He liked the juxtaposition of “wolverine” and “loser” so much that he dropped a thank-you note to Davis — who, for the record, went to Ball State.

The Cincinnati Enquirer is celebrating 30 with Jim Borgman as their editorial cartoonist.  To commemorate, they’ve posted a Q&A with Jim, several congratulatory cartoons from fellow cartoonists (includng Dave Coverly, Jim Davis, Mike Luckovich, Marshall Ramsey, Jerry Scott, Jeff Stahler, Lynn & Rod Johnston), a video of Jim at work re-drawing the winning cartoon from the contest, a slideshow of 9 of his most favorite cartoons, caricatures of the local politicians he’s skewered over the years, and finally some of the cartoon contest runner ups.

On Brian Anderson’s web site, he alerting his fans that the Times-Union is voting whether to keep the “Dog Eat Doug” comic a part of their line up….  Fans can go to the link above and scroll down a bit and cast their vote.

The Post Dispatch has been trying out four new comics since January and they’ve declared that it now time to vote some comics off the island and choose a new permanent strip for their funny page.  The choices are: “Brevity,” “Lucky Cow,” “BrewsterRockit” and “Candorville.”They are also running a new feature in the place of Boondocks called “The Meaning of Lila.”

Today he has signed Shannon Associates to represent him.While sitting at my desk at The Times, I wished I had time to do something more creative and fun like illustrate children’s books, and possibly write and illustrate my own children’s books.Even though, I’ve heard time and time again how hard it is to get an illustration representative, I decided to go for it. I worked really hard to build a strong portfolio and approached a handful of reps, and just for kicks, I sent my work to a couple of the DREAM reps that I had no chance in hell landing.Today, I signed with Shannon Associates, one of those dream reps.Shannon Associates is one of the top illustration reps in the world, who will represent my work in many illustration markets, starting with the children’s market.Shannon Associates represents or has worked on projects such as “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events,” “Harry Potter,” “The Chronicles of Narnia,” “Shrek,” “Star Wars” and most recently, Pixar’s “Cars,” according to Stacy.You can check out Stacy’s illustration portfolio that he maintains on his web site.

Rosemary Goudreau, the editorial page editor for the Tampa Tribune writes a farewell message to Paul Combs who left the Tribune to return to his native Ohio.Dear Readers,I’m sorry to say that Paul Combs, our editorial cartoonist, has decided to leave the Tribune.Paul and his family moved to Tampa a year and a half ago from a small town in Ohio, and like some number of people who move to Florida, they found it difficult to plant roots in our sandy soil.Now the draw of family and friends is pulling them home. Paul plans to syndicate his cartoons, so you will still see his work from time to time on our pages.And we hope to have another cartoonist on board by the end of the summer.Daryl Cagle has the last Combs/Tribune cartoon on his blog.

According to their new blog (authored by Derek, Dir. of Web Operations) the site is the combination of Universal’s uComics.com and GoComics.com web sites.  Aside from the obvious visual changes, the new site uses a Flash-based comic reader to thwart would be copyright violators.

Cartoonist to Address Vegetarian Society:NEW YORK “Mutts” cartoonist Patrick McDonnell is scheduled to speak at the Vegetarian Society of Hawaii on June 5 (Maui) and June 7 (Oahu).The New Jersey-based McDonnell does his comic strip for King Features Syndicate.

‘FoxTrot’ Collection Is ‘Jam-Packed’:NEW YORK “Jam-Packed FoxTrot,” a 192-page collection of Bill Amend’s “FoxTrot” comic, will be released in August by Andrews McMeel Publishing.Universal Press Syndicate distributes “FoxTrot” to more than 1,000 newspapers.

Universal Offering New Manga Comic Next Month:NEW YORK “Van Von Hunter,” the latest Japanese-styled manga comic from Tokyopop and Universal Press Syndicate, will be distributed by Universal starting July 9.The strip is a fantasy-adventure parody that stars a vampire hunter….  Also, a series of “Van Von Hunter” graphic novels is being released by Tokyopop.Tokyopop and Universal previously released the “Peach Fuzz” manga comic, which focuses on the adventures of a girl and her precocious pet ferret.