I’ve noticed a trend. Attendees of the Reuben Awards are awesome at sharing photos of all the goings on, but are sharing them through Facebook – some of which aren’t publicly available. But a few are being posted on open blogs. Be sure to check out Mike Lynch’s blog with photos including the drawings on […]

I’ll be the first to admit that I love dumb jokes. And, when it comes to dumb jokes, Joe Martin is the champ, with a lineup of strips in which stupid reigns supreme and Willy reigns above all. Willy & Ethel make the misadventures of the Kramdens look like “Dynasty,” and have been doing so […]

Now, freshly returned from the Reubens where it was named “Best Newspaper Panel,” Rhymes with Orange!Okay, this one was completed well before the convention, but it cracked me up, and I promptly began probably reading way too much into it.To start at the most superficial level of the gag, I’ve tried on-line dating and, when […]

Last week I was walking past a local rec center and saw that the flag was at half-mast. I searched my brain but couldn’t come up with a reason, but someone was just coming out and so I asked. He didn’t know either and I thought about going in and asking the people at the […]

The Reubens were last night, and, while I don’t think much of awards in general, I do like the idea of people getting together, particularly people who tend to otherwise work in well-lighted garrets, in isolation from anyone who does what they do.And, while even a Pulitzer won’t protect you from the beancounters these days […]

For the second time in National Cartoonist Society history, two of the outstanding cartoonists of the year nominees are sharing the Reuben Award. Last night, the award was given to Brian Crane, creator of Pickles and Rick Kirkman, co-creator of Baby Blues. The only other time the award has been shared was back in 1968 […]

This time of year brings on a flood of “grads without jobs” cartoons. Graduation is one of those must-draw occasions, I suppose, but “grads without jobs” cartoons are like the “bear trap in the fireplace” cartoons that come out every Christmas.Seen it. What else ya got?I like Liza Donnelly’s take, in part because it’s not […]

Baby Blues earns its popularity by mirroring parental experience, which makes sense when you trace the strip back to its roots. It was, as noted in this interview, based on the chaos in Rick Kirkman’s life as a young father.At the time I spoke with Baby Blues creators Kirkman and (Jerry) Scott, it had been […]

Damien Glez addresses the poaching crisis in Africa. For the benefit of those who never learned où est la bibliothèque, the elephant is consulting a plastic surgeon and asking to be made to look like a hippopotamus.I like everything Glez does, even when I have no idea who the people he’s drawing are or what the […]

CNN profiles Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat, whose hands were beaten by Syrian leader al-Assad loyalists. The CNN story offers a few details I haven’t seen before. Early reports suggested that three men stopped at the side of the road to offer assistance to Ali after he was beaten close to death. But the CNN report […]

Lynn Johnston has posted several strips that never hit the newspaper – or some that did after getting reworked. Several times she notes that some strips should have run, but sometimes she was just too hard of a self-editor and othertimes, the gag was okay by today’s standards, but not so much for the early […]

Not just “breaking with format” today but actually violating the Prime Directive. I don’t like these cartoons, and some of them are by cartoonists I like a lot. But c’mon, man.Look, I ran an early one by Pat Oliphant. Even then (a week ago) I said the analogy was strained, and further developments have made […]

Matt Bors has got it.But the thing is, I don’t mind when the lunatic fringe responds to something in a lunatic manner. That comes with the territory.I object, however, to sloppy, incomplete reporting feeding into their delusions of persecution. They’ve got people within their own organizations to do that, thank you.Yet we keep hearing on […]

Chicago Tribune editorial cartoonist Scott Stantis announces that fellow cartoonist Dick Locher is retiring after 40 years with the Tribune. Dick’s career as an editorial cartoonist began inexplicably in 1973 when he was offered the staff cartoonist position at the Chicago Tribune even though he had no experience in the job. (He had assisted on […]