Brian Hibbs at Comics Beat does a deep dive into the 2022 NPD Book Scan Report. Ludicrously, this is the twentieth annual report of something that is hard to exactly perceive and understand: the size and shape of the sales of graphic novels and trade paperbacks through the book store market, as seen through the […]
Stephen Collins wrote a cheerful alternative holiday cartoon, starring the pagan goddess Eostre, who may or may not have inspired many of our Easter traditions, as this research into the story suggests.That article traces Eostre back to a mention by the Venerable Bede, which was picked up by a trusting Jacob Grimm, and then embroidered […]
Joe Cool Type CoolFrom NBC News: The American Red Cross partnered with the popular Peanuts cartoon brand to create an exclusive T-shirt featuring Snoopy for people donating blood. Now, the shirt is going viral on TikTok and first-time blood donors are showing up to get their hands on the exclusive merch. The Red Cross Organization […]
I was poking around in 1973, looking to see what Easter cartoons might have run a half century ago, but found they were pretty much the same as what was running this Easter.And then I stumbled over this fascinating package from the Los Angeles Times, a pair of articles about comics by two very qualified […]
From The Columbus Dispatch of April 7: An exhibit currently on display at Ohio State University’s Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum will be featured during a segment on “CBS Sunday Morning” this weekend. “Man Saves Comics!: Bill Blackbeard’s Treasure of 20th Century Newspapers” includes part of a monumental collection ? 2.5 million pieces ? of […]
San Diego Comic Convention (Comic-Con) has announced that the Eisner Awards judges have selected 15 individuals to automatically be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2023. These inductees include 11 deceased comics pioneers and 4 living creators. The deceased greats are: Jerry Bails, Tony DeZuniga, Justin Green, Jay Jackson, Jeffrey […]
Lyndon offers an optimistic thought in this morning’s Pros & Cons (KFS): As bad as things appear at the moment, we can still hope that incompetence will overcome megalomania, greed and corruption. It always has in the past, though, granted, that’s of little consolation for those crushed before the inevitable collapse.But, with luck, our grandchildren […]
Cartoonist Jim Strahle has passed away. From the obituary: Jim was a 1966 graduate of Parkview High School in Springfield, MO, where he began drawing cartoons for the school newspaper. However, it was ten years later, at the mark of his reunion, that he was prompted to finally face his fears about cartooning and work […]
Jane Rosenberg‘s courtroom sketch of former president Donald Trump scowling at his recent Manhattan arraignment has not only gone viral, but has gone to the cover of The New Yorker. From Newsweek: The Reuters Pictures Twitter page shared a courtroom sketch of Trump by Jane Rosenberg—that has now been viewed two million times—before social media […]
If we sing the praises of a comic strip that hits a news item on the moment despite its lead time, we should point out when one doesn’t, but today’s La Cucaracha (AMS) isn’t that simple a case.It’s not just that we haven’t seen “another Biden bank collapse,” and not just because there’s no such […]
Comics Kingdom has again expanded their roster with the addition of Willy Black by Guillermo Saldaña.Very limited information as to the new comic strip at the CK site. Above is the place holder/pseudo-introduction. The Comics Kingdom Twitter account informs us that the strip will start April 9, 2023 but not how frequently. More background about […]
Musician and Robotman creator Peter Shelley has passed away. From the obituary: Peter Shelley, (née Southworth), born in London, England, February 28, 1943, passed away from cancer at his home in Victoria, BC on March 23, 2023, with his three children at his side, his humour never failing. He started his music career in A&R […]
Australian cartoonist Bruce Petty has passed away. From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation: Australian cartoonist, filmmaker and satirist Bruce Petty has died at the age of 93. In a statement, his family said Petty died peacefully this morning. “He leaves behind his loving family and will be dearly missed,” the statement said. Born in Melbourne’s north-east […]
On the Fastrack (KFS) reminds me that the first course I took in my major was called “Ways of Knowing,” and I think it was intended to take a room full of first-semester sophomores down a peg or two. It was that basic classic college metaphysics class where the professor holds out a pen and […]
James Swinnerton, Bill Watterson, Henry Jackson Lewis, Leonard Starr, Walt Disney and Company “Jimmy Swinnerton came to the desert to die in peace – and found so much beauty to paint that he crossed up the doctors and got well.” Years before, in 1892, Hearst had plucked the 16-year-old artist out of the California Art […]