From the archives: Rube Goldberg machines are serious business In the June 1923 issue of Popular Science, Rube Goldberg himself writes that he hopes to ‘invent something useful.’ From the Bill Gourgey introduction: Before the name Rube Goldberg became synonymous with comically over-engineered chain-reaction contraptions that satirize technology, the eponym belonged to a humble […]
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum has a couple exhibits opening this weekend. © Brumsic Brandon, Jr. Art Trust; Barbara Brandon-CroftPioneering father/daughter cartoonists Brumsic Brandon, Jr. (1927– 2014) and Barbara Brandon-Croft (1958– ) chronicled the nation’s cultural landscape in their comic strips through the lens of racism. The elder Brandon, who created Luther […]
The Cosmic Timing Award goes to Wallace The Brave (AMS), where this strip dropped the morning after I got a long-delayed haircut and even got a compliment on it from a dog-walking friend. Fortunately, only our dogs ended up in the water and they did it mostly on purpose.As for how long it had gotten, […]
Zoe Si Recognized (pronounced “see” despite the cute headline)Zoe has become the toast of Vancouver after being named a Pulitzer Prize finalist earlier this month. The Vancouver Sun did a small article about the local girl made good. Two years into a new career, Zoe Si’s wry observations about life during the pandemic, beautifully illustrated […]
The cartoons started with a passing thought: “…And maybe Nick could draw an icon to go with it,” an editor suggested to Carolyn Hax, my wife at the time, as they were discussing Carolyn’s new advice column in The Washington Post. A quarter-century later, I have yet to draw an “icon” to go with the […]
There were a boatload of primaries the other day and now it’s on to November, and, as Dave Granlund says, we’ll be anxiously covering the mud slinging as part of what in media parlance is called “Horserace Coverage.”We won’t talk about policies or plans, because that’s boring. Besides, nobody cares. They just want to brag […]
The Caucasian Replacement Theory is making its way into American Awards*. Like many prestigious awards that recognize great accomplishment in this country, the Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning, created in 2004 to commemorate the legacy of the late Washington Post cartoonist Herb Block, had never been offered to a nonwhite person—until this year. While accepting […]
When you think of great athletes no one tops Charlie Brown. Converse has teamed up with one of the most iconic comic strips for its next sneaker collaboration … the shoe company has teamed up with Peanuts in spring ’22 to deliver a new footwear and apparel capsule that will hit shelves before month’s end. […]
Cartoonist, illustrator, and bartender Hud Armstrong has passed away. Hudson S. (Hud) Armstrong September 15, 1945 – May 11, 2022 WNYT-Albany is reporting Hud’s death: A Saratoga Springs man who’s been drawing life and times in the Spa City for more than half a century has died. Hud Armstrong died on May 11. He’s been […]
Last year the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission ruled a beer label designed by cartoonist Ralph Steadman was in bad taste and rejected the Flying Dog brewery’s use of that label. Now a U. S. District Court has judged Flying Dog has a First Amendment right to use the label. On May 13, U.S. […]
It was a bit of a coin flip, deciding whether to start the day with Jen Sorensen or T.S. Eliot, and they don’t really qualify as a Juxtaposition because they’re nearly the same.Sorensen wins because this is a cartoon feature and not a poetry corner, but we’ll add the rest of Tom’s commentary at the […]
The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC), who announced their Cartoon Award for 2021 efforts this past March, is featuring a Zoom event with past award winners. Join this “How I Did It” program with Kevin (KAL) Kallaugher, who has won many of the OPC’s Best Cartoon Awards over the years, as he discusses his work […]
Gone are the days when you needed to land a big newspaper syndication deal to validate your standing as a professional artist. New media and modern creative industries expand the opportunities and outlets for today’s cartoonists and reimagine what it looks like to work professionally. As the premier organization of professional cartoonists, [The National Cartoonists […]
Macanudo (KFS) offers an uplifting thought, and we could all use one about now.There is a kind of conceptual collision between the saying “Curiosity killed the cat” and the semifolkloric belief that they possess nine lives. Well, a cat may look at a king and also become fascinated by a laser, and the ability to […]
Crime Comic Strips Who could have known that newspaper comic strips and crime stories, including noir, were a match made in heaven? Newspaper comic strips are an artistic genre that’s largely forgotten now. The strips that remain are for the most part humor strips like “Garfield.” A handful of dramatic strips are still published. But […]