Posted on: July 3, 2006

Two staffers with the “For Better or For Worse” team recently attended the Licensing International trade show in New York City (June 20-22) to promote the Patterson family – the main characters for Lynn Johnston’s comic strip.  According to the “For Better or For Worse” blog, this is the second year they’ve attended the show to “build alliances between companies and the Patterson Family.”While the news blog doesn’t mention the connection, I wonder if an example of these “alliances” is the news back in January that the For Better of For Worse characters would be used by the Canadian Securities Administrators to help people teach people about investing and saving.

Bruce Tinsley’s “Mallard Filmore” has been removed from the Statesman-Journal (Salem, OR) in favor of Scott Stantis’ “Prickly City.”…  But Michelle Maxwell, the Life editor, kindly provided this explanation of the decision:Mallard Fillmore topped our list of the comic readers most disliked.

Pat Oliphant’s sculpture, “George Bush” will be an exhibit item in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, Washington, DC, which opened last Saturday….  The story is available online (registration may be required) and the photo of his sculpture is also available along with the story.

As a result, new features were added: Pickles, Mother Goose & Grimm, Prickly City, Stone Soup and Non Sequitur and several were dropped: Cathy, Gasoline Alley, Pardon My Planet, Frank & Ernest, Herman, Marmaduke, Baldo, The Middletons and Mallard Fillmore.Regarding the dropping of Mallard Filmore, the opinion page editor explained:We ink-stained wretches of the Opinion page hold no influence over choice of the comics, alas….  The same cannot be said for Mallard Fillmore, which had a small amount of people who listed it as their favorite.The comics page also got resized to accommodate the change in paper size, “The newspaper will be printed at a narrower width, which will make it a more convenient size.”

The cartoon touches on the Republican redistricting in Texas and last weeks related ruling from the Supreme Court.From his blog:Welcome to the Houston Chronicle’s first attempt at online animation….  As we get better, and learn the process, we hope to increase the frequency.The cartoon concept, art and direction was Nick’s, but the animation looks to be a team effort by a number of Chron employees.

The Morning News has also added “Lio”, “Brevity” and “Over the Hedge” on their online comics.Regarding Lio, Mike quotes Mark: “I picked up a pen and drew in a style that I haven’t drawn in for about 20 years,” Mr. Tatulli says…. Every time I looked at his spidery pen-and-ink drawings I found something new.”And maybe because his politics were 180 degrees from my own, often depicting Abraham Lincoln as a demonic figure, I was repulsed but still appreciated the craft of his work.

Marshall Ramsey:Marshall Ramsey has joined the blogosphere!