The whole world is indeed watching, and, as Andy Marlette (Creators) suggests, the outrageous number of mass shootings in this country is becoming part of our brand. I don’t know how Germans feel about being associated with beer, and my favorite Mexican restaurants don’t feature mariachi music, but it seems Americans buy into our macho, […]

By 1948 Frank Godwin (b. 1889) had spent a good 40 years as a respected and requested illustrator for newspapers, magazines, books, and advertisers. Beginning in 1924 (Vignettes of Life) he became an impressive presence on newspaper comics pages, creating a famous twelve year run illustrating Connie (1929-1941). After Connie he gave up the grind […]

I wasn’t looking for anything too brain-involved today, and so the predictable foolishness of Sherman’s Lagoon (AMS) seemed just right. But even the funny stuff involves thought.Example: “Predictable foolishness” is different than repetitive or monotonous foolishness. There are all sorts of strips which simply repackage the same few gags in different settings. “Predictable foolishness,” however, […]

I got my rant on yesterday, but The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee has me thiiiis close to going off on 21st Century Cracker Jack prizes. Also yesterday I made a scene about the lack of spotting blacks, but today we are here not to bury but praise Patrick McDonnell’s Mutts where “negative space” is […]

Mike Luckovich becomes one of the first cartoonists to add Mike Pence to the list of administration officials who have purloined classified documents.I use the word “purloined” because it has something of a vague definition. It still means to steal, but is more along the lines of “pilfer” and thus can fall more in the […]

The comics page has returned to The Washington County (Wis.) Daily News and The Waukesha Freeman. A while back a reader described to me how she felt about the Comics Page we once had in the paper. She saw it as the “fun page” — a daily destination to find content on the lighter side. […]

…And maybe some grayscale. Reading a daily comics page in black and white I was struck by gray toning in today’s Rose is Rose. The amount of not-white was a pleasant change.Dare I say that most of the daily comics in newspapers are now colorized? And so cartoonists seem to have forsaken the practice of […]

Kevin Siers plays upon all the cartoons over the past week or so about the coming of the Year of the Rabbit by pointing out that, whatever traditions may prevail in other countries, of rabbits or tigers or whathaveyou, we have an unchanging tradition here:We kill each other.The image of the Wild West was greatly […]

You may have read some Phil Witte cartoons… Phil’s cartoons have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, San Francisco Chronicle, Reader’s Digest, Alta, The Chronicle of Higher Education, New Statesman, Private Eye, Prospect, and many other publications in the U.S. and U.K., as well as books, calendars, and greeting cards. He has also collaborated […]

Swiping a cartoonist’s style is not new to Artificial Intelligence. Here, from 1973, is an RCA Records advertisement for a new David Bowie 45. The ad agency knew what they wanted, but they, or RCA, didn’t want to spend the money to hire the real cartoonist. Recalling my childhood.Animation Resources recently present us with a […]

Pat Bagley opens today’s conversation with the accusation the lawmakers intentionally remain uninformed, tossing in the idea that, not only do they reject facts, but that they find the distortions and selective reporting of Fox News comforting.It’s not entirely clear whether Bagley, who comments on both national and local issues, is speaking of Congress or […]

Today’s Shoe saw Ben Lansing take over the Sunday cartooning chores.Gary Brookins turned the daily Shoe over to Ben Lansing (and Pluggers over to Rick McKee) in September 2020, but held on to the Sunday Shoe – up to last week. Gary announced his retirement last month on his Facebook page: In January, 1979, my […]

Michael de Adder poses a question for which there is no answer because the question itself makes no sense, but he’s saved credibility by having put the proposal in the mouth of the elephant.There is a current argument over the Biden administration’s refusal to compromise on whether to raise the debt ceiling, but we can’t […]

A Modern Day Battle Over Prince ValiantBrian Kane, the preeminent Prince Valiant scholar, and Gary Groth, the preeminent Prince Valiant book publisher, are at odds over a six part Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant Sketchbooks series with King Features seemingly caught in the middle. Rich Johnston, at Bleeding Cool, carries both sides. Brian Kane: “I was […]

This Batch Rejection (AMS) is decidedly relevant, given the amount of theft and piracy in our virtual world. I differentiate between the two because piracy is purposeful while theft is still theft but somehow can maintain a level of petty innocence.Which is to say that, while everyone knows pocketing an apple from the display inside […]