Starting the day with things we ought not to believe, Ann Telnaes encapsulates the conflicting stories about how the Secret Service accidentally deleted text messages from, golly, of all dates, January 5 and 6, 2021. She includes a nameplate for Nixon secretary Rosemary Woods, for the benefit of those too young to remember Woods’ absurd re-enactment […]
On July 17, 1922 Barney Google saved a man’s life, sort of, and was generously rewarded with a race horse, of sorts. Below are the first week of daily comic strips introducing Spark Plug (with Billy De Beck‘s subtitles).July 17, 1922 – Barney’s Troubles Are Either Over or Just Beginning July 18, 1922 – It’s Three […]
Sage Stossel gets as political as I’m planning to be today, the Yea! factor here being that the minions are being exposed, the Boo! factor being that they exist at all.And Boo! to the sinless purists who condemn people like Leibovich and Miller for having ever been in the mud, even though they stepped out […]
It seems Gray Morrow and Wally Wood weren’t the only Silver Age comic book artists to try grab the brass ring of succeeding Hal Foster as Prince Valiant comic strip artist. Phil Holt also gave it a shot, as seen in today’s Funky Winkerbean. Not to belittle the artistic skills of Tom Batiuk and Chuck Ayers […]
Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for July 2022 release. Images and links (mostly) via Amazon, though ordering through your local comic or independent book store is a good idea. The A to Z of British Newspaper Strips (review) Big Nate: Very Funny! Tom the Dancing Bug: Eat the Poor Gladys Parker: A Life […]
Since I don’t follow Canadian politics closely, I’m not sure if the Fat Cat in Bruce MacKinnon’s commentary on the plan to raise interest rates is anyone in particular, but it doesn’t matter: The rich powerful guy is making major decisions about global policies and the homeless guy is just worried about his next meal.His […]
50 years ago, on July 15, 1972, Apex Novelties released Funny Aminals #1, an underground comix book with work by Robert Crumb, Justin Green, Shary Flenniken, Jay Lynch, Michael McMillan, Bill Griffith, and Jim Osborne.Oh, and a three page story by Art Spiegleman. Three pages that would evolve into a Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book.Six years […]
Editorial cartoonist Judy Dixon has passed away. Judith Grace (Judy) Dixon (neé McCormack) January 15, 1927 – July 7, 2022 From The Jefferson County (Mo.) Leader obituary: Hall of Fame cartoonist Judith “Judy” McCormack Dixon died July 7 in De Soto at age 95. Mrs. Dixon enjoyed a 70-plus-year career as an artist, the last […]
They Can Talk provides an excellent starting point for contemplating cartoons that remind me of other things, because, by playing on the social tendencies of cats and dogs, it mirrors those tendencies within ourselves, which is how good comedy works.It’s allied to the half-empty/half-full glass trope, except that that classic division between optimists and pessimists […]
Sandy Hook Elementary. San Bernardino. Stoneman Douglas High. Uvalde. AR-15-style weapons are so common in American mass shootings that graphics journalist Mike Thompson read up on the rifles and asked himself a question: © Mike Thompson/Counterpoint “The answer, unfortunately, is that it is mind-numbingly simple to obtain such a weapon,” says Thompson, a former Detroit […]
Art Credits UpdateThe Chronicle Chamber has the ghost art credits for The Ghost Who Walks:What we understand is that Bret Blevins drew the whole strip from the 13th of June to the 25th of June and again 4th of July to the 9th of July. For the other times, Bret did the layouts based on […]
NFTs still represented a strange new world to many cartoonists last year when Jason Chatfield decided to convene an online forum to address the question: With crypto art selling for millions, did the blockchain hold any promise for comics creators? NFTs — non-fungible tokens that are unique digital assets — have sparked controversy over the […]
Remembering RC HarveyHarvey, who went alternately by Bob or R.C., was a perennial presence at NCS and AAEC conventions, and served on the AAEC Board of Directors as its Secretary-Treasurer for a number of years. He was also one of two unofficial historians for the Association, with a deep institutional knowledge of the group. As […]
I woke up this morning feeling really refreshed, but couldn’t tell why until I began going through the political cartoons and realized I’d somehow slept through the past year and missed the mid-term elections entirely. As Steve Breen (Creators) and others have noted, it’s time to start up the 2024 presidential campaign!I’m disappointed, since the […]
Sports cartoonist Tom Kane has passed away.Thomas Joseph (Tom) Kane, Jr. December 9, 1934 – July 10, 2022From the obituary: [Tom] had a talent for art and went on to graduate Mass College of Art 1957. Tom had careers in advertising and printing through the years but was an entrepreneur at heart and was usually […]