That last panel of today’s Sherman’s Lagoon could be a poster. However, I appreciate the lead up, in which it becomes my fault that I didn’t notice your anguish without your having to say, “I’m in a crappy mood” or “Boy, have I had a lousy day.” Because why should you miss the chance to […]
Popeye, Superman, Steve Canyon, Andy Capp, the Peanuts characters, Dick Tracy, Joe Palooka, and many more comic characters have statues dedicated to them. Now, finally, the famous Abe Martin has a statue, er, cutout. Abe Martin by Kin Hubbard began 115 years ago, first appearing in the Indianapolis News on December 17, 1904. above: Kin […]
John Jackson Miller is THE statistics man as far as circulation numbers for comic books go. Here’s a look at the Decade in Review, a year-by-year glance back at the trends shaping comics shop orders. It’s mostly been a decade of growth, with downturns in 2010-11 and 2017-18. John has a recap of the numbers for […]
Happy Kwanzaa! And to make this year more special Ray Billingsley has returned with a new Kwanzaa Tale. A decade ago Ray treated us to annual Kwanzaa stories… that has now become an occasional reward: Those are a hassle to do because of the confines of the strip. It’s so small I really have to […]
One of the facts of life for reporters is that the news is a 24/7 thing and someone is going to have to work on holidays. Today’s Mother Goose and Grimm reminds me of a favorite story. I have several favorite working-on-Christmas stories, because after you’ve run around and talked to the people at the […]
Looking back 75 years, we find ourselves on the edge of victory but with plenty yet to go. There was a lot of good news: The Allies were about to break the German hold on what would be known as the Battle of the Bulge, though the fighting would continue for another month, while, in […]
Newspapers are starting to tell readers what will replace The Pajama Diaries when Terri Libenson retires the comic strip on January 4, 2020. Terri’s home paper The Cleveland Plain Dealer, where we first learned of Terri’s plans, offered a comics poll a couple weeks ago. In the running there is Curtis, Macanudo, Six Chix, or […]
The Seattle Times, taking a page from their past… A few years ago, when The Seattle Times was relocating from its old building on Fairview Avenue North and John Street, a pile of old editorial cartoons landed in my new Denny Way office. The artist, Sam Groff, who worked for The Seattle Times from 1935 […]
above: Specialty drawing by Ron Ferdinand NMCV:How did you get the job working on Dennis the Menace? Ron: I subscribed to a quarterly magazine called “Cartoonist Profiles.” In 1980, there was an interview with Hank Ketcham. He had just moved back to Monterey, CA from Geneva, Switzerland and was starting a training program. I sent […]
Today’s The Other Coast pings a particularly sweet spot for me, because I remember asking my mother about the same problem: Santa comes down chimneys and we didn’t have one. Well, we did, but it led directly into the furnace, which didn’t seem like a good entrance to the house. The background to her answer […]
The Associated Press has picked up the story of Jim Davis and Heritage Auctions offering The Jim Davis Collection of original Garfield comic strip and specialty and roughs to the public. Cartoonist Jim Davis is offering up more than 11,000 “Garfield” comic strips hand-drawn on paper in an auction that will stretch into the coming […]
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – when political cartoonists pick their favorite cartoons from the past year. Earlier Mike Peterson linked to Ann Telnaes and Tom Toles selections from The Washington Post. But the WaPo also did another roundup: Every Saturday in print, The Post publishes a sampling of editorial cartoons from […]
The Clowns are running The Circus. New Yorker Cartoon Editor Emma Allen explains how it came about: Every last one of the serious adult types at this publication is off mulling some wine, trimming a tree, roasting a chestnut, taking in a matinée of “Little Women,” lighting a candle, putting out a candle-related fire, or […]
A leftover from yesterday, this Pajama Diaries has been rattling around in my consciousness for a couple of reasons. One is that, as Terri Libenson brings the comic to a close — there’s only two weeks left — I’m going to really miss it but I suspect that she, like Jill, is doing a little […]
Its already a disappointing Yuletide season for me thanks to King Features. Neither Popeye or Popeye’s Cartoon Club celebrated the 100th Thimble Theatre anniversary, this week or last Sunday. Not even a mention on the King Features or Comics Kingdom Twitter feeds, or their Facebook page. Tea manages to sneak in the Thimble Theatre words […]