German-American artist Lyonel Feininger was born on July 17, 1871 – 150 years ago today. He became the most recognized (and successful) of the German cartoonists hired by The Chicago Tribune in 1906 to re-create the Sunday color comics section of that newspaper.From the Lambiek Comiclopedia biography: His highly imaginative art work displays interesting uses […]
No politics today. It’s my dog’s birthday and I promised her I wouldn’t get all het up.So we’ll start with this Frazz (AMS) which Constant Readers will realize I like because he actually gets the meter right.But I also like it because it takes something absolutely silly and turns it smart, which is a hallmark […]
In the early days of ingratiating himself into the inner circle of King Arthur’s Court Hal Foster’s Prince Valiant had become squire to Sir Gawain, he of the brave soul and roving eye.Once upon a time (Spring 1938 of the KFS Era) a wounded Gawain was kidnapped by the evil sorceress Morgan Le Fey, whose […]
I’m going to start the day by taking Lalo Alcaraz (AMS) to task, though only on a linguistic point.“Misinformation” and “dysinformation” are separate things entirely. Misinformation is an innocent mistake. Dysinformation is purposeful, both in the sense of “deliberate” and in the sense of having a goal.Which is a good time to fly my Irish […]
When you think about Mickey Mouse, one name comes to mind, Walt Disney. But here’s the thing – Walt Disney didn’t create Mickey Mouse alone. It was actually his best friend, Ub Iwerks, who designed the iconic cartoon in 1928. He was the person who was doing most of the behind-the-scenes work, and when Walt […]
Non Sequitur (AMS) captures the current situation, and the Biblical reference is worthy.Exodus is, if not a tale of herding cats, at least a story of how Moses had to continually keep his people moving forward by addressing their unending doubts and grievances, until, when Jehovah had reached out with some specifics, he came down […]
Cartoonist Chris Foote has passed away. Christopher Bailey (Chris) Foote August 4, 1958 – July 11, 2021cartoonist, illustrator From the obituary: Chris graduated from Minnetonka High School, the University of Minnesota, and Atelier School of Fine Art. His educational life was exemplary. He excelled academically in all his studies with credit going to his natural God-given intellect, […]
Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for July 2021 release. Images and links (mostly) via Amazon, though ordering through your local comic or independent book store is a good idea. Rebirth of the English Comic Strip: A Kaleidoscope, 1847–1870 Lieutenant Dangerous The Spellbinding Episodes of Phoebe and Her Unicorn Handbook of Comics […]
There are plenty of Billionaires in Space cartoons popping up, and I got a laugh out of Joy of Tech‘s take, because they’re right about any tourist with bucks and a kind of de-glorification of space flight. In the early days of flight, there were pilots who made a good living as (literal) barnstormers, flying […]
Charles Johnson has one of those careers, you know the kind, the ones where you start out at the Chicago Tribune as a political cartoonist, turn Buddhist and philosopher, make a huge splash as a novelist, win the National Book Award, grow so revered that literary societies are founded in your name, host a […]
Mike Lester (AMC) continues to press the rightwing fantasy that Critical Race Theory is taught in elementary schools, when, as a formal inquiry, it is generally confined to collegiate graduate courses.However, he hits on an element that I agree with, not about the real CRT as practiced by serious historians, but in how it’s being […]
John Wells recent posting of an intriguing 1954 Judge Parker Sunday …… got me thinking of a Rex Morgan, M.D. story by the same author of few years earlier.Nick Dallis tells of the dangers of drugs on America’s youth. A couple months later the comic strip would be reproduced in a comic book with a […]
© Geoffrey Kloske and Barry Blitt Canadian-born Barry Blitt came to New York in the 1990s to pursue a career as an illustrator. While he had been working in Canada, he felt the move to the big city would further his exposure. And indeed it did. In addition to countless prizes and accolades, in 2020 […]
Kal Kallaugher, either deliberately or by happenstance, offers a cartoon that compares Donald Trump to Miguel de Cervantes character, Don Quixote de la Mancha and does so by employing Cervantes’ own theme of a delusional fellow who mistakes a set of windmills for a group of giants.Kallaugher suggests that Trump is delusional in believing there […]
CDC warns of swimming with diarrhea in animated tweet. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention made a splash on social media when it warned Americans against swimming with diarrhea this summer — with some joking the agency’s animation went poo far. The N. Y. Post reports the Twitterverse ran with it. Marvel does not permit […]