And now it’s Derf Backderf’s turn: “Coach wants to see you. Bring your sketchbook.”This is the last “The City” strip, at least, the last one in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, which joins other Advance Publications newspapers next week in going to a four-day-a-week home delivery schedule, and not only eliminates the section his weekly strip […]
(Saturday) (today)Deflocked begins a back-to-school arc before anyone else dares, and for a good reason: Jeff Corriveau is riffing on the disappearing summer vacation.It’s getting hard to keep track of the school year. When I was growing up in New York, school started shortly after Labor Day but then dragged on into the third week […]
Rudy Park on the phenomenon of the partisan press.My only quibble is in the last panel: The president’s middle name is only used by his enemies, more or less the same people who were convinced that FDR was Jewish rather than Dutch Reformed, with the difference that Roosevelt didn’t have any Jewish relatives and Obama […]
Pajama Diaries on the nonsense of “healthy snacks” in an unhealthy world, or, as I like to think of it, the persistence of comforting delusions.Dear-lord-forty-years-ago, I belonged to a food co-op in Denver that, when we joined, was one of those co-ops where you ordered your three pounds of raw cheddar, your two pounds of […]
Chris Britt notes the expanding range of the right-wing’s appeal to bigotry, and, unlike others who have marveled at the phenomenon, he does not assume that they are painting themselves into a corner.Nor does he play the game of “They all do it,” in which we throw up our hands over the perfidy of Congress, […]
In case you missed it because you were working 80 hours a week for minimum wage, Brian McFadden brings you up to date with even more tips from McDonald’s on how to live on the crappy pay from two crappy jobs. Because, y’know, you can’t make it on the crappy pay from one crappy job.Even […]
There are several cartoons about the birth of the fresh prince, most of them asking “Who cares?”It’s a good question. In fact, if the mark of a classic question is one that we have struggled to answer over the years, “Why do people care about stupid bullshit?” is a great question.”Because they’re stupid,” is clearly […]
Between Friends is dealing with Kim’s son heading for college, which, by the way and not at all by coincidence, is happening in cartoonist Sandra Bell-Lundy’s life as well, though not — as in Kim’s case — for the first time. Yet they both face the empty nest.There are so many ways I’m already enjoying […]
I’m still gone. If you haven’t broken into my house and cleaned it out yet, please hurry. I’d hate to get back and find all that crap still there. Don’t forget under the bed, and in the closets. The sweaters should probably go to the dry cleaners before next fall. Well, I guess you’d notice […]
From your imagination to God’s ears, Edison Lee.The workshops are over and I’ll be flying home tomorrow, and I’m hoping for some screw-ups. Meanwhile, today is a day for R&R with the boss, which sounds terrible but is in fact quite pleasant. We’ve known each other since we met on a professional listserv (ask your […]
I’m still tied up with young journalist workshops. Here are some cartoons I would have blogged about if I’d had a blog about cartoons back when they ran, with dates if I marked them, without if I didn’t. I just kept’em ’cause I liked ’em. I didn’t know I’d ever actually use them for anything. […]
While I’m busy running workshops for young writers, here is a selection of cartoons and artwork from “The Best of Yank, The Army Weekly,” a 1945 collection of features from the WWII magazine written by and intended for enlisted personnel. (This one was not credited. Too bad — it’s a keeper!) Some of these amateur […]
Since I’m tied up running workshops for young writers, here’s a little something from Walt Kelly’s 1956 collection, “Songs of the Pogo.” Also available as an audio book or some such.
Gocomics has just launched “Origins of the Sunday Comics,” and I guess the best way to explain it is to reprint their explanation:This series will present the earliest offerings—from 1895 to 1915—of the famous and lesser-known cartoonists who where there when comics were born—over 150 creations from more then 50 superb artists, most reproduced here […]
After yesterday’s conceptual extravaganza, I’m resting my brain, with the help of this silly “The Flying McCoys” panel.One of the questions anyone in the arts faces is “Where do you get your ideas?”There’s no real answer to that, because the really complex ideas start and build and grow … but the dumb ones, at least […]