Batiuk Does the Time Warp Again
Tom Batiuk begins to bring the Funkyverse and the Crankyverse into sync as Funky Winkerbean winds down and the characters prepare to guest star in Crankshaft.
Red and Rover and Brian Comes Over
Red and Rover cartoonist Brian Basset will be at Scrawl Books next Thursday to sign books.
Due to print quality issues, today’s puzzles, comics to republish in Friday’s edition
Earlier this month The Omaha World-Herald printer had a clarity problem with their comics and other portions of the paper. Fuzzy printing in newspapers and comic books resulted in an unofficial rule not to use the word FLICK or the name CLINT in comics which printed words in uppercase.
On this past Tuesday Henry Barajas and Rod Whigman flicked a finger at that urban myth in their Gil Thorp comic strip.
Digression – – – – Can U.S. Printers Make a Comeback?
It is no secret that the U.S. printing business had been battered for years as the popularity of digital formats significantly reduced demand for magazines, catalogs, and other printed materials. While sales of books held up better than those of their print counterparts, many of the largest printers worked across multiple product lines. And as a result, some of the industry giants (R.R. Donnelley, Quad Graphics) underwent wholesale makeovers, while smaller companies either closed or merged to cope with the plunge in demand.
Publishers Weekly reports on glimmers of hope for U.S. and Canadian printers.
[Jim] Fetherston noted that while demand may have dipped for the moment, the domestic printing market is still operating with capacity well below historic levels. With uncertainty continuing to grow over working in China, he said, midsize printers like Worzalla have a golden opportunity to take significant market share from Chinese competitors. “There isn’t a book publisher out there that isn’t looking to get out of China,” he said.
Far Out, Man
Reruns are usually ignored around here, but since we’re in a pseudo-rerun week at GoComics I’ll mention Ordinary Bill which are reruns from a younger Will Henry. Seems William Wilson was practicing comical art before Wallace the Brave came along.
Author, Author
Adrian Raeside, creator of The Other Coast, is interviewed on CTV about his forthcoming book.
