Willard Scott was a clown.If you know anything about the late Today Show weatherman, shown in this tribute from Dave Granlund, you’ll realize that’s simply a statement of fact and not a judgment: He began his career in entertainment as a clown, though his being the first Ronald McDonald is somewhat mythic: He played a […]
Reading a single page of a comic book takes about 15 seconds. Creating it, on the other hand, takes 40 hours on average, according to artist and illustrator Chris Ware. Of course, now, Ware is best known for his New Yorker magazine covers, as well as the wildly successful stories of Quimby the Mouse, Rusty […]
Daddy’s Home (Creators) puts me in mind of “The Archie Bunker Rule” that I had in our household when the boys were in junior and senior high.The rule stated that “Nobody who would not be welcome through the door is welcome through the television.”I realize I hold a (heh) minority opinion by feeling disquieted by […]
A Letter to the Editor of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch:On Aug. 31, as I usually do, I opened the newspaper, paged through the news section, read the editorials, the op-ed columns and the letters to the editor. Then I turned to the comics. In the comic strip “Prickly City” by Scott Stantis, the character Carmen […]
It’s not unusual for comic strip characters to make cameo appearances in other strips. But this one surprised me. Frank Cho’s Liberty Meadows (1997 – 2001) was known for featuring other characters in his strip.Look who showed up in the Liberty Meadows Sunday rerun today: © Frank ChoI think I got most of the comic […]
(I pirated today’s headline!)Brewster Rockit (Tribune) is totally on target, though I can’t remember who it was that I backdoored the other day to avoid their automatic answering system. But when I mentioned what a pain it was, she laughed and acknowledged it.Everybody knows except the brass who bought it.Might have been my doctor, since […]
Cartoonist and illustrator Bob Kain has passed away. Robert (Bob) Kain August 12, 1932 – August 31, 2021 From the obituary:His great love of cartooning took him to study at The Ontario College of Art, and then to New York City to attend The School of Visual Arts. For 35 years he ran Videoart, a […]
Greenwich Time has a brief item about local cartoonist Maria Scrivan: A new book from Greenwich native and author/cartoonist Maria Scrivan called “Absolutely Nat” will be available on Sept. 21. The book, inspired by her childhood growing up in Greenwich and attending Central Middle School, is her third middle grade graphic novel for Scholastic. Her […]
It was a mystery on a par with The Riddle of The Sphinx or what happens when we shuffle off this mortal coil.Just who was the Lucy and Sophie Say Good Bye cartoonist?The 1905 run of the Chicago Tribune comic strip Lucy and Sophie Say Goodbye became popular because of the long goodbyes the title […]
If you’ve never seen the 1944 classic “Gaslight,” it’s worth the $3.99 at Amazon Prime, if only for the cast. But watching it will also help you understand why people keep throwing the term around in political terms today.In the movie, Gregory Anton (Charles Boyer) marries Paula Alquest (Ingrid Bergman) and then attempts to make […]
Notice from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: This Labor Day weekend only, we are combining our Sunday and Monday print editions into a singular newspaper that will be delivered on Sunday, Sept. 5. The newspaper delivered Sunday will cover both Sept. 5 and 6. No separate edition will be delivered Monday, Sept. 6. Anticipating questions the newspaper gets […]
© The Vancouver Sun Graham Harrop looks as whimsical as you might expect from a cartoonist known for aiming at the funny bone. He seems to have a perpetual wry smile, like he’s hard-wired to see the absurdity of life. On his head, white hair tumbles over his forehead and ears. That he has so […]
Stephan Pastis had a five day plot for Pearls Before Swine set to run in January 2021 when a tumult caused by some “tourists” resulted in the syndicate pulling the strips. An upcoming storyline in “Pearls Before Swine,” the popular comic strip created by Santa Rosa cartoonist Stephan Pastis, has been pulled from 850 newspapers […]
I have nothing to comment about over this Pat Byrnes panel, except that, for someone with such a simple style, it’s remarkable how he builds the gag through their respective facial expressions. Someone working in more detail would have a harder time drawing our eyes to that.And well after getting the joke, I look it […]
MAD and MAD images © EC Publications You may not immediately recognize the name John Caldwell of Ballston Lake. But if you’ve ever read MAD Magazine, National Lampoon, the Harvard Business Review, or a host of other magazines, or if you’ve ever sent a Recycled Paper greeting card or perused a collection of one […]