It seems that with Kieran Castaño signing this past Sunday’s Ripley’s Believe It or Not
he has taken on all the panel’s duties (he had been signing the dailies since August).
But first – Kieran Castaño?
Kieran, who signs the feature with an indecipherable (to me) initial and his last name, was finally revealed as the cartoonist in a September 22, 2021 Orlando Sentinel article about an art exhibit.
Growing up, art was a comfort for “As I Am” artist Kieran Castaño, now the daily cartoonist for Ripley’s “believe it or not” website.
And then confirmed on Kieran’s Instagram page.
A look at Kieran’s art site shows that the Believe It or Not unsigned artist I dubbed “The Stippler,”
who subbed for John Graziano earlier this year, is also Kieran.
Kieran has been known to insert himself into his Ripley’s drawings.
Kieran is an illustrator, painter, musician and cook living in Sanford, FL. He attended Seminole State College where he studied graphic design and lunch. Kieran often draws very detailed, sweaty, dripping and stoned looking characters. It approaches you from a comedic angle but also gives you a glimpse into his vulnerability. His work ranges from strange and funny single tier cartoons, to panels of stories. These usually take on a political gag ranging from current events in the government to real life stories about his role in the LGBTQ community, to cats and pizza. His recent breadth of work takes on a more serious role. His Trans Works Collection is a series of stunning portraits of “genderless” and “raceless” individuals. He says this is his way of self medicating. His artwork is typically signed with 2 keys originating from his early moniker “Ki-Ki” Kieran hopes his artwork will promote transvisibility and the not-so-crazy notion that “weird is good.” ?? -C. Kedrierski ?
Kieran has a sense of humor that finds itself into the comic’s art.
He also plays the game of “find the signature” on occasion:
The details:
John Graziano (signed)
daily panel May 31, 2004-April 24, 2021; May 10, 2021-August 7, 2021
Sunday page: July 4, 2004*-May 2, 2021; May 23, 2021-October 31, 2021
(John Graziano drew the drop panel of the June 27, 2004 issue)
Kieran Castaño (unsigned)
daily panel: April 26, 2021-May 8, 2021
Sunday page: May 9, 2021-May 16, 2021
Kieran Castaño (signed)
daily panel: August 9, 2021-present
Sunday page: November 7, 2021- present*
*It is not yet a forgone conclusion that John has resigned from the Sunday page,
though John’s LInkedIn page seems to indicate an end this year:
Illustrator/ cartoonist
Ripley Entertainment
– 16 years 6 months
Orlando, Florida, United States
Retired. Available for freelance projects.
© Ripley Entertainment Inc.
Hey DD — Went to Gocomics to verify your dates and was surprised to find that they don’t run the Sunday BION. Wonder why? Do you have a source for those?
Also, I checked for Graziano’s start date, which of course you pegged, but was surprised to find Don Wimmer signing the daily up ’til then. My records had him stopping sometime in 2000. Maybe that was based on the Sunday? Do you happen to know who did the Sunday 2000-2004?
Thanks for all you do here on DC!!!!!
Allan, Don Wimmer drew the Sundays through June 27, 2004.
(Pacific Daily News via newspapers.com)
What I didn’t notice until now is that the June 6th, 13th, and 20th
pages are © 1998 reruns; the 27th is © 2004.
Thanks DD. I decided to try getting start dates for Wimmer, which I did, but also found some mysterious fill-in creators in November 1989-February 1990. Any idea who K.B., Craig, or R. Timms might be? They all had short stints.
After scouring various sources, on and offline,
I’m afraid I can be no help to you Allan.