Art Spiegelman
artwork © Art Spiegelman
In the age-old discussion about when comics finally “grew up” Maus is often exhibit A. The New Yorker called it “the first masterpiece in comic-book history”. It’s the comic that people who don’t read comics have read, and the only graphic novel ever to have won a Pulitzer prize. Forty years on…
Forty years on, as Sam Leith talks to Art Spiegelman for The Guardian, there is hardly a paragraph without the mention of Maus. Art has done other things: Topps cards, underground comix, Raw, other graphic novels, The New Yorker, Little Lit, and more. Some get a brief mention, but always compared to Maus. Granted it was a game changer, but sometimes it must seem like being tied to an anchor.
Ron Cobb
La Cucaracha strip © Lalo Alcaraz
Did you see Lalo Alcaraz’s tribute to recently deceased artist Ron Cobb?
Archie
Archie characters © Archie Comics
Archie Comics will create a webcomic version of the eponymous character and friends.
Archie Comics has confirmed exclusively to Polygon that original Archie content will soon be debuting on the webcomics portal Webtoon.
“The WebToon platform and audience is perfectly suited for the Archie brand, and we’re excited to partner with them to create new stories that expand and build on the tales we’ve been sharing with fans for almost 80 years,” said Archie Comics Co-President Alex Segura in a statement to Polygon.
My first thought was a hope for the return of the four panel comic strip, but it sounds more like a long-form comic book. (hat tip to Comics Beat for the heads up.)
The Nib
illustration © Sam Mau
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Paul Karasik
art © Paul Karasik
Karasik’s work has graced the pages of the New Yorker and the Nation, as well as Vineyard publications, and he will be showing original work from both national and local sources.
For many years now, Karasik has been contributing cartoons to the Vineyard Gazette, and more text-heavy, narrative comics to the back pages of Martha’s Vineyard Magazine.
Martha’s Vineyard Times profiles cartoonist Paul Karasik as an exhibit of his cartoons and drawings opening at M.V. Film Center in Vineyard Haven from Oct. 13 through Nov. 15.
Elsewhere the Vineyard Gazette talks to Paul.
“Sometimes I will stare at a blank sheet of paper and come up with an idea for a picture but have no idea where it will go,” he said. “But for a gag to succeed, part of it is the idea but equally important is how the idea is composed.”
Denis Kitchen, Bill Sanders, Dan Burr, Lynda Barry, more
Alice in Watergateland © Bill Sanders
Wisconsin was an alternate location for great comix as the MOWA exhibit proves.
“Wisconsin Funnies” at MOWA West Bend is more expansive, displaying more than 200 works by 31 artists with ties to Wisconsin, including 21st-century cartoonists such as Madison-based, MacArthur Grant recipient Lynda Barry.
Kieth Knight
The K Chronicles © Keith Knight
Seems Keith Knight will be creating comics about his Woke show about being a comic creator.
Cartoonist Keith Knight has been releasing his comic strip The K Chronicles since the 1990s, and now that the series Woke is on Hulu, the creator has revealed he will be drawing a comic about the show!
Stephan Pastis
Pearls Before Swine © Stephan Pastis
Pearls Before Swine would be a perfect title for a political strip and, on occasion, Stephan Pastis slips in some editorializing. KQED-San Francisco interviews Stephan about politics in today’s America.