The debut of the short subject Rooty Toot Toot seventy years ago this month is as much a groundbreaking moment for animation as the first full-length feature, animated shows on prime-time TV, and the advent of computer-generated imagery. It tells a darkly comedic tale that would seem daring even for live-action films of the time, […]
From Jeffrey Lindenblatt’s new Paper Trends installment: Since we started this survey one thing has remained constant: when an NEA strip is cancelled and the syndicate replaces it with a new strip, that new strip will have fewer papers than the cancelled strip. © UFS In 1985 we have the opposite; Levy’s Law was cancelled […]
Arlo is right. Whatever the benefits or failures of Daylight Saving Time, it sure gives people a lot of latitude for conversation, and I use the word pointedly, because the United States extends through enough latitude that, when it comes to sunlight, most of us don’t know what the rest of us are talking about.When […]
Since Verne asked – maybe a treasure hunt, or some time traveling, or listen to music, or visit a swamp, or …How about an Autumn nature hike. (No, still no 2021 Walt and Skeezix.) From the top: Betty © Delainey & Rasmussen Frazz © Jef Mallett Pluggers by McKee © TCA Rose is Rose by […]
Like Wonder Woman, Vaughn Bodé, Gordo, Neal Adams, Captain America, Jim Scancarelli, and Archie Parade began its life in 1941.The first issue of PARADE, subtitled “The Weekly Picture Newspaper,” was published on May 31, 1941. It was packed with photographs left over from PM, an experimental New York newspaper produced by Chicago businessman Marshall Field […]
The passage of the Infrastructure bill seems to have caught political cartoonists flat-footed, with most of the published commentary this morning assuming it remains stalled.I’m not sure I’d go as far as Steve Brodner and compare it to the coming of the Paraclete — Okay, I’m sure I wouldn’t — but it was still quite […]
This week marks the anniversary of a sad day, but one that has unexpected relevance, considering the biggest challenges facing businesses and employees today. It will be 26 years since cartoonist Bill Watterson, creator of Calvin and Hobbes, wrote a resignation letter of sorts, informing newspaper editors and readers that he would soon be ending […]
A Weekend Whatnot post. Nestled on the east banks of the Mississippi River south of Kaskaskia Island, not too far from Missouri’s wine country, sits the small town of Chester, Illinois. Chester is the hometown of one of the country’s most legendary cultural figures, Popeye the Sailor Man — both figuratively and literally. The Alton […]
Got an early doctor’s appt today — nothing critical, just the only time it could happen — so here’s a look back to 1966. Fifty-five isn’t a round number, but it’s a Sunday in a pretty good era. Our comics will begin right after this word from Chicken of the Sea. I’m not sure there’s much […]
Jim Keefe will no longer be coloring King Features Syndicate Sunday comic strips: From 1989-98 I was on staff at King as the head (and only) colorist for the King Features Comic Art Department. From 1999 on I did coloring for them freelance. And as of November of 2021, a little over 30 years total, […]
Word is spreading on social media that Gene D’Angelo has passed away.Anthony Tollin gives a nice profile of Gene’s career: I just received the sad news that ace colorist GENE D’ANGELO recently passed away at age 97. Gene began his long comics career at King Features Syndicate shortly after completing his WWII military service, originally […]
“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans,” Lennon wrote, but today’s Pearls Before Swine (AMS) suggests that so does pizza.I had a life plan not so different from Neighbor Ned’s though not quite as grandiose. I wanted the novel published sooner, but then only to be a successful novelist by […]
The local comic strip Overheard in San Diego by Jay Allen Sanford is celebrating 25 years of appearing in the alternative San Diego Reader newspaper. Bonus: It gets the cover story!Jay Allen Sanford relives the past 25 years in the feature story:At first, I was only the writer. I used artwork by Rock ‘N’ Roll […]
Cartoonist Fran Frisch has passed away.Francis John (Fran) Frisch, Jr. August 18, 1948 – August 29, 2021 From the obituary: Fran, the globally recognized Artist known as FRISCH, was the first Artist to put a Bear on a T-Shirt (entitled Can U Bear it?) and thereby created a visual identity in 1988 for the emerging Bear […]
Canada © Lynn JohnstonThe Trudeau government used taxpayers’ dollars to fund a cartoon exhibition. The cartoonist behind “For Better or For Worse” (FBorFW) Lynn Johnston received more than $15,000 from the Mission Cultural Fund, according to a blog post issued by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) on Friday. The District of Columbia art installation, called […]