Ziggy celebrates 35 years on the comics page, which debuted on June 28, 1971. The comic is distributed to over 600 newspapers by Universal Press Syndicate.

Editorial cartoonist Patrick O’Connor won first-place at the Los Angeles Press Club’s 48th Southern California Journalism Awards banquet Saturday night.O’Connor was honored for his cartoon titled “Undocumented Workers.”

I will be on vacation for through Friday and have turned the reins of power over to a trusted friend and talented and award-winning cartoonist Aaron Taylor.  Aaron is the editorial cartoonist for the Daily Herald in ultra-conservative Provo Utah which makes editorial cartooning too easy most days.

I received and email from Dawn Douglas, the founder of GoGags (not to be confused with Universal Press’ GoComics) who is wheeling and dealing to get more cartoonists to sign up for their mobile cartoon and “My Fridj” products.  These products allow any cartoonist to publish their cartoons on to mobile phones and take a generous percentage of the advertising and direct sales for each cartoon.

On the heals of Steve Benson’s Haditha cartoon comes Mike Luckovich’s cartoon on torture etiquette that has generated 18,000 votes on an online poll (Mike’s cartoons usually generate only 1,000) according to Editor and Publisher.Public Editor Angela Tuck, in a column Saturday, took issue with its timing, and claimed the “symbolism clearly overshadowed the intent.” The cartoon showed a hooded figure holding an American flag while reading a book on torture etiquette to an al-Qaida member.Not by design, it appeared just above photos of two Americans killed by insurgents in Iraq this week, whose bodies were brutalized, probably after they died.Tuck wrote: “Luckovich had that brutality in mind when he drew the cartoon, which was meant to criticize U.S. military leaders for allowing torture tactics, such as waterboarding (making prisoners feel as though they are being drowned) at Guantanamo Bay….’

Awhile ago, I posted a notice that Green Bay Press-Gazette editorial cartoonist Joe Heller was one of 41 artists to create artwork that would be displayed through out the city streets and then auctioned off to raise money for the Einstein Project.  Joe’s work is now on display in the lobby of the Brown County Library at 515 Pine Street.

Rick Stromoski writes in to alert readers that this year’s Reuben division winner for TV Animation, David Silverman, will be on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show tonight (June 23rd) to play his “Flaming Tuba” during a segment called “Don’t Try This At Home.”Check your local listings for time and channel.

Ted Rall will be the officiator at a small wedding between Congratulations to Masheka and Mikhaela!

Daryl Cagle invited readers to email him with their opinions regarding Steve Benson’s Marine Corps cartoon.  He received over 300 responses.We asked for it, and we got it – more than three hundred responses to the Benson cartoon below.

Still more AAEC convention news and photos are being posted.  The AAEC web site lists the stories that were generated from the convention (I think I’ve linked to most of them earlier) – but for those wanting to see photos of the event, they offer two links: Photos by J.P.

Last May, I reported that Chris Brown, “Hagar the Horrible” had got fed up with the over development in Sarasota, Floriday and was moving to a much more peaceful life in Sioux Falls South Dakota.The Argus Leader has a very good Q and A regarding the move.

Mike Shelton, editorial cartoonist for the Orange County Register, began creating short animations last May and has now created five of them.  The animations are being done with co-worker Jocelyne Leger and the cartoons are also being distributed to other newspapers (as well as television) that belong to the same communication chain as the OC Register.Dave Astor has a much longer story detailing Mike’s work.

Walt Handelsman, editorial cartoonist for the Newsday, first created flash based animated editorial cartoons back in Februrary and has now produced his 10th animation.  His latest mocks Ann Coulter, the conservative pundit who has generated much publicity for her book through some pretty extreme statements.

“It’s great to have all my Liberty Meadows covers and pin-ups in one fat volume since even I’m missing some of the early issues.”LIBERTY MEADOWS: COVER GIRL features an all-new cover, plus a behind- the-scenes look at the development of some of your favorite images of Brandy and the gang, from rough sketch to full color.Welcome to Frank Cho’s Liberty Meadows Internet Sanctuary:THERE’S ONLY ONE WOMAN FOR FRANK CHO AND HERNAME IS BRANDYA new Liberty Meadows art book (and more) arrive in AugustBERKELEY, CA — 15 June, 2006 — This August, Frank Cho and Image Comics are bringing a whole lot of Brandy for their fans….  “It’s great to have all my Liberty Meadows covers and pin-ups in one fat volume since even I’m missing some of the early issues.”LIBERTY MEADOWS: COVER GIRL features an all-new cover, plus a behind- the-scenes look at the development of some of your favorite images of Brandy and the gang, from rough sketch to full color.”People will be amazed how much color adds to the art,” added Cho.

Next Friday, Jok Church, “You Can with Beakman and Jax” will the be the featured cartoonist on the Washington Post’s live chat to discuss his feature and cartooning…. “Beakman and Jax” is now in nearly 300 newspapers and Church created the CBS television series “Beakman’s World” based on the comic strip.