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Adventure! Drama! History! Humor! The Sunday Funnies!

The Phantom by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel; Beginning: “The Ungraved”

A new Sunday story in The Phantom means a new title panel by Sunday artist Jeff Weigel.

new The Phantom title panel by Jeff Weigel – April 6, 2025

Prince Valiant by Mark Schultz and Thomas Yeates; April 6, 2025

A big, wonderful Prince Valiant panel by Thomas Yeates as Val and company begin their own new adventure.

Popeye by Randy Milholland (with Bud Sagendorf); April 6, 2025

Current Popeye cartoonist Randy Milholland has some fun with the present status of the comic strip of new Sundays and daily reruns as he has Bud Sagendorf‘s Popeye joins Randy’s Popeye in the top (drop) tier of today’s half page.

Rex Morgan, M.D. by Terry Beatty; April 6, 2025

Alright! This is what we need, a crossover featuring characters from Rex Morgan, M.D. and Judge Parker specifically Sam Driver. (Did Ms. Tree have an attorney as a regularly appearing cast member?)

Judge Parker by Nick Dallis (Paul Nichols) and Harold LeDoux introduces Sam Driver; February 14, 1968

Or, just maybe, we will see a lawyer re-introduced into King comics that has been absent a very long time.

Perry Mason by Erle Stanley Gardner (credited) and Charles Lofgren; September 30, 1951

Speaking of reintroducing long gone characters and places … Dan Schkade and today’s Flash Gordon.

Flash Gordon goes to Kira by Alex Raymond and Don Moore; March 3, 1935
Flash Gordon meets Komok by Alex Raymond and Don Moore; March 10, 1935

The Amazing Spider-Man by Stan Lee and Ron Frenz/Joe Sinnott with Jim Keefe; September 27, 1992

As long as we’re looking into the past…

Back in the 1990s [Jim Keefe] was the staff colorist in the Comic Art Department at King Features Syndicate.

[Jim] colored a number of their strips – Blondie, Hagar, Popeye, etcetera – but the Spider-Man comic strip was usually colored by someone up at Marvel. [Jim] would generally fill in only if it was a reprint or they were pressed for time.

One of the strips [Jim] ended up coloring was the Sunday page for September, 27, 1992. Here’s the pencils by Ron Frenz.

Cartoonist Jim Keefe recalls his job coloring comic strips for King Features – specifically The Amazing Spider-Man.

Broom-Hilda by Russell Myers; April 6, 2025

Gaylord convinces Broom-Hilda that her ambition to be President may not fit her capabilities, unlike some.

Doonesbury by G. B. Trudeau

La Cucaracha by Lalo Alcaraz; April 6, 2025

Lalo Alcaraz presents a portrait of the thoroughly modern newspaper publisher in today’s La Cucaracha.

The other week I couldn’t resist a tribute to The Great Stone Face; this week’s nice mess is The Boys.

Working Daze by John Zakour and Scott Roberts; April 6, 2025
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Comments 6

  1. Sam Driver was introduced in February, 1968? That’s about when I started reading Judge Parker, and he was already an established character. A Wiki states that he became the main male character in 1963, not that I particularly trust wikis.

  2. I did not recognize that as an attempt at Sagendorf’s art.

    1. And the attempt to capture his voice is no more convincing.

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