Jim Unger, creator of Herman has passed away yesterday at age 75 at his home in British Columbia. His strip Herman ran from 1974 through 1992 and served as an inspiration to Gary Larson’s The Far Side. He was twice the recipient of the National Cartoonists Society’s Best Syndicated Panel. Dave Coverly, who has been […]
Neil Gaiman, author of short stories, comic books, graphic novels, and movies (with a long list of awards to go with those genres), was the commencement speaker at the University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA).In my book, this speech ranks up there with Steve Jobs’ now famous 2005 Stanford University speech. Worth the 20 minutes […]
After this weekend in Vegas I can now say that I have met the great Jack Davis (and have a signed sketch!). He has an incredible story and career. A foundation has been set up to “facilitate the study and appreciation of Jack Davis’s contribution to 20th-century art through development of databases, archives, education and […]
NPR talked to Alison Bechdel:Cartoonist Alison Bechdel’s first memoir came out in 2006. Called Fun Home, it dug deep into her complicated relationship with her father, a closeted gay man who poured his emotional energy into redecorating their Victorian Gothic home. He died, possibly a suicide, shortly after Bechdel herself came out as a lesbian […]
Reply All is the Cathy of the New Millennium or of the 20-teens or whatever we’re calling this period.Well, no, it isn’t. But you have to start somewhere, and that’s the historic parallel.Younger readers think of Cathy as a strip where this neurotic woman just tried on bathing suits and ran around screaming “Ack! Ack!” […]
Get ready Pennsylvania, next year’s National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards will be held in Pittsburgh. The official dates will be May 24-26 and be held at the Omni William Penn Hotel. So far the only thing planned this far in advance that I’m aware of is from The Toonseum which says they will be featuring […]
Cartoon Movement, along with Radio Netherlands Worldwide and Stripdagen Haarlem, a comics festival in Holland, have announced the 10 finalists in their “Cartoon Spring Competition” for young (under 35) cartoonists from the Arab world, drawing on the topic of the Arab Spring.As of this morning, six of the 10 are posted; this one is by […]
The National Cartoonists’ Society had their big annual convention and tux fest and plaque-and-trophy dinner this weekend. I’ve long been on record as not particularly liking awards, but I’m also on record as liking chances to get together with colleagues, especially when alcohol is involved, and I’m jealous of everyone who had a chance to […]
At last the auction of all the generously donated art to The Team Cul de Sac book is now available for everyone to bid on. The book is a work of art by itself – if you’ve ordered a copy, you won’t be disappointed. If you haven’t, head over and do so. There are A […]
Last night the National Cartoonists Society gathered in Las Vegas for their annual Reuben Award banquet. The top honor for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year went to MAD Magazine cartoonist Tom Richmond. Tom started his career doing caricatures and freelance work for magazines, publishers and advertisers. As a caricaturist, he has been honored by the […]
One reason I can pull up strips for “Classic” postings is that, before I started the blog, I would save strips that I found particularly amusing or thought-provoking. I rarely do that anymore, since I post them here. But I’m certainly going to keep a copy of today’s Sinfest. I’ve got nothing to add except to […]
Note: I live tweeted this session so in essence, by tweets are my notes.We’re starting up the panels and speakers for the day. First up: Stan Goldberg. Stan is also being inducted into NCS hall of fame tonight. Stan’s giving us a review of his early work in illustration/advertising and art school pieces. Started working […]
Note: If you’re coming from Twitter and have been following my tweets all afternoon, much of this will be the same, but I did expand on some.Showing a photo of him at age 3 or 4 with a Dick Tracy comic book. In 1969 he became an assistant to tumbleweeds creator Tom Ryan. Tom was […]
Bruce Handy talks to New Yorker comic editor Bob Mankoff for Vanity Fair about the ever numerous desert-island cartoons that have been generated over the decades:As the magazine’s cartoon editor, do you feel you have to set a higher bar for desert-island cartoons? Oh yeah, there’s always a sliding scale. Desert-island cartoons are like lightbulb […]
The Internet at the hotel is horrible so I will be live Tweeting the announcements via texting. To learn who won the National Cartoonists Society winners tonight follow me on twitter: @dailycartoonist.I’ll post more notes and more details of the winners when I’m back to the hotel.