In the wake of nationwide municipal elections, South Africa’s Jeremy “Jerm” Nell provides a reminder that not everyone lives in a place where a smooth-running election is traditional.Which means life is getting harder for the nation’s political cartoonists. President Jacob Zuma’s threatened lawsuit against cartoonist Zapiro for defamation seems to have drifted off into the […]
It was yesterday. It was 25 years ago. That’s “yesterday,” dammit.”The Elderberries” is one of a tiny sub-category of strips that have improved under new management. It was successful but creatively a bit nondescript until about four years ago, when creator Phil Frank entered the last stages of cancer and Corey Pandolph was called in […]
Editorial cartoonists love to take a familiar symbol and adapt it to express an opinion. Weeping Statues of Liberty have become a snide inside joke about lazy, sentimental dreck, after the scores of them drawn in the wake of 9/11. Justice peeking under blindfold is another graphic cliche, while some other cartoonists don’t seem entirely […]
If you’re not reading Ink Pen, you’re missing out on a strip that provides a well-tempered combination of wit and nonsense, and one that appeals to me because much of that wit and nonsense is devoted to skewering comics conventions. (The traditions, that is, not the gatherings.)In art, it is a mark of quality to […]
Tony Cochran’s Agnes dwells in an odd niche somewhere between the sweet daydreams of “Heart of the City” and the surreal fantasies of “Calvin,” perhaps with a little of the loveable-loser element of “Big Nate.” But while all those characters make us laugh with their striving, we know that they’re just kids and that, with […]
A large element of the humor in Frazz is the misdirected expectation, as demonstrated here. Are kids more sensitive today, or just completely unaware?I don’t think the current generation of parents even played “Cowboys and Indians” as kids (“Cowboys vs. Indians” is kind of a cheat, by the way). To start with, they were born […]
Monty and his pal Moondog are lost in the woods this week.I don’t often enjoy camping arcs, because I grew up in the woods and don’t have the right point of view, I suppose, but I’m a sucker for silly and so far, so good.A lot of the humor in most “out in the country” […]
Bill Gallo, a legendary sports cartoonist, died Tuesday. Drew Litton, a sports cartoonist himself, drew this tribute to his inspiration and mentor.Obituary cartoons generally range from pointless to offensively maudlin, and only very rarely rise to the level of terrific. Litton could have drawn any sort of Pearly Gates crap, patted himself on the back […]
With today’s Strange Brew, John Deering may be closer to the truth than he intended.I mean, this is a funny joke, and one must never dismiss the role humor plays in cartooning.But then, too, one shouldn’t dismiss the role truth plays in humor.Let’s overthink this together!The Odyssey goes back about 2800 years. The thing about […]
Sarah Laing, whose personal blog has been featured here, has now started “44 ways of looking at an apple,” which presents small, well-crafted cartoons illustrating small moments involving, yes, apples. It is a lovely venture.Having spent a little more than a dozen years in apple country myself, I’ve got nothing against her stated goal: “I’m […]
Jeff Danziger smacks one over the wall in deep centerfield.The sports analogy is not inappropriate, because young goofballs often celebrate championships by rioting in the streets, which might be understandable if they were overturning cars, starting fires and smashing store windows in their opponent’s city. Seems kind of bizarre to shout “Hurray for us!” and […]
Piranha Club comes close enough on gas prices, given the necessary delay. Four dollars a gallon, five dollars a gallon, the point remains the same.I went to a children’s book fair yesterday. It was free to get in, but it wasn’t local, so it cost me about fifty bucks to get there. I can write […]
Wiley Miller weighs in on the Huffington Post issue.For those who don’t hang breathlessly on this stuff, the Huffington Post has had (and still has) a policy of inviting people to write for free on their web site. The most visible takers have been Ariana’s Hollywood buddies, who blog about their favorite charities or their […]
Ah, brave new world that has such comics in it!Today’s Arlo & Janis is potentially confusing because neither character is regularly the fall guy. Sometimes Arlo worries too much about things that shouldn’t bother him and sometimes Janis is innocently clueless about technology. In this case, however, I don’t see how Jimmy Johnson can be […]
Okay, first of all, Hilary Price is completely wrong about my mom. And I met her mom at her open studio, and I’m pretty sure she’s wrong about her, too. In fact, I have no idea who she’s talking about.And that wasn’t me laughing, either.Oh boy.I have a feeling that this year’s Mother’s Day […]