Beginning in the late 1940s Sy Barry became a comic artist. First assisting his brother Dan on the Tarzan comic strip, then going freelance into comic books while still helping brother Dan on the Flash Gordon comic strip of the 1950s. His main claim to fame is being the artist for The Phantom comic strip […]
The Failure of G. B. Trudeau My childhood dream, like the popularity of print newspapers, inevitably faded. I had long been bewitched by the comics pages folded into each edition of the Times-Picayune, the newspaper with which I grew up in my suburb of New Orleans. The pages stood out because of the implicit respect […]
The National Cartoonists Society’s 79th Annual Reuben Awards ceremony recognizes special honorees, celebrates the 2024 nominees and award winners, and pays tribute to those we’ve lost. Open to members and nonmembers, the Awards are a formal, and fun!, celebration of cartoonists and cartooning. Recorded on August 15, 2025 at the Boston Westin Copley in Boston, […]
Medical Emergency Alert in Rex Morgan, M.D. Finally, after two months of no Doc Rex (since July 5, 2025), we will get the star of his eponymous comic strip back in action! Or so you would have thought. But Dr. Morgan is a no show, instead it is some anonymous attending physician who happens to […]
Last Friday the National Cartoonists Society and King Features Syndicate honored Sy Barry with the Elzie Segar Award during this year’s Reuben Awards ceremony and 97 year old Sy made the 20 mile trip to Boston to accept the trophy in person. Today Ryan Yau at The Boston Globe covered the local celebrity (or here): […]
The National Cartoonists Society announced the winners of their Reuben Awards for the year 2024 in Boston on Friday August 15, 2025. Below are the nominees and the winners.*Still trying to suss out all the winners, help would be appreciated The National Cartoonists Society has posted the list of Reuben Award winners.The 79th National Cartoonists […]
The National Cartoonists Society’s 79th Annual Reuben Awards weekend starts tomorrow and syndicates are proudly highlighting the cartoonists from their stables that have been nominated for awards and honors. Comics Kingdom Proudly Celebrates our 2025 Reuben Awards Honorees and Nominees From King Features Syndicate/Comics Kingdom: In this post, we’re spotlighting our Reuben Award nominees and […]
The National Cartoonist Society will be celebrating their 79th Annual Conference and Reuben Awards in two weeks on August 14 and 15, 2025 (with a little wrapping up on the 16th) in Boston, Massachusetts. The biggest part of the “weekend” is the awards which will be handed out on Friday night, the 15th. There be […]
At the National Cartoonists Society’s 79th Reuben Awards [August 15, 2025], comic arts legend Sy Barry will receive the Elzie Segar Award, presented by King Features, in recognition of his enduring influence on the art form. The National Cartoonists Society announced the honor bestowed on Sy Barry earlier today: Named after Popeye creator Elzie Segar, this prestigious honor […]
Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for May 2025 release (or so). Images and links from a variety of publishers and outlets, though ordering through your local comic shop or independent book store is a good idea. Let’s start with one I just learned about that should have been on the February […]
Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for February 2025 release (or so). Images and links from a variety of publishers and outlets, though ordering through your local comic shop or independent book store is a good idea. The Life and Art of Mort Walker by Bill Janocha Mort Walker, the “Dean of […]
Happy Birthday Joe Giella, born June 27, 1928! Joe becomes the latest creator to join the Senior Strippers list. A list of cartoonists who for 90+ years continue to survive “the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to.”Below is, as best as I can determine, a list of cartoonists who continue to carry on […]
Dave Brown gambles on timing with this cartoon about China’s response to Trump’s trade war. It’s a great cartoon, but Tiangong-1 went harmlessly into the Pacific before the cartoon could get much traction. Such is life, though normally the problem with timing isn’t over flaming space debris but over flaming contradictory tweets.I’ll admit to selfish motivations […]
Friend of the Blog Ann Telnaes won the Reuben last night, or, more precisely, “the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.” (The other awards are technically not “Reubens” though they all get called that.)And she deserved it. And, yes, I’m prejudiced.And isn’t it nice when personal prejudice is backed up by outrageously good […]
Hadn’t expected to natter on any more about my cartooning roots after yesterday, but, over at the Daily Ink, the Archivist blog has brought back a repressed memory that combines two of my favorite topics:1. Comics2. Stupid newspaper managementThis month being the Phantom and Diana’s 35th wedding anniversary, the Archivist has memories of their 1977 […]