Friday Frolics
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A promo on the Heathcliff Facebook page gave a start to some fans:
“Heathcliff: The work of George Gately and Peter Gallagher 1973 – 2022”
A first impression could be that the Heathcliff comic was ending this year.
Turns out that it is a promo for Heathcliff original art going to auction.
About that other orange tabby…
There are quite a few factors in Garfield’s success, actually. For one, the audience. Comic strips in general have a tendency to be aimed more at adults than kids, with situations and humor that older people will be able to relate to. As someone who was into newspaper comics as a kid, I can tell you that quite a lot of jokes and dialogue went over my head. What makes Garfield work is that, while it does contain the type of “older audience” humor frequently seen in comics, it’s also got a lot of jokes and situations that kids can easily pick up on. There’s no shortage of slapstick and silly expressions to draw in the youngest of crowds, while the dialogue contains enough cleverness for older readers to appreciate. Combine all that with the friendly artstyle and you’ve got a rare perfect amalgamation of elements that make for a comic strip that can truly be appreciated by just about anyone of any age.
Garfield is the most widely syndicated comic strip in comic strip history.
Hollywood Insider analyzes how and why that came to be.
At one time Blondie was the most widely syndicated comic strip in comic strip history.
Dagwood’s famous sandwiches are among things the comic is noted for.
And what is a Dagwood sandwich? In fact, the name doesn’t really refer to a particular recipe; the only thing that really makes something a Dagwood sandwich is its size. According to Saveur, the Dagwood takes its name from the character of the same name in the Blondie comic strip and his love for comically oversized sandwiches. Delighted Cooking reports that Dagwood’s signature oversized snack would first appear in the comic created by Chic Young in 1936. From there, though, the sandwich’s appearance frequently became a running gag. The sandwiches would grow in size enough that they would even necessitate vices, car jacks, and other extreme measures to devour.
Tasting Table analyzes a Dagwood Sandwich.
Though there could be an argument against their statement that “besides this signature garnish [a toothpick with an olive on top], and lots of sturdy bread to hold your Frankenstein-like monstrosity together there’s nothing essential to a Dagwood sandwich.”
Sequentiality on the Funny Pages.
Today some comics could be read in an order that would work in a sequence.
Rose is Rose -> Pooch Cafe -> B.C. -> Pluggers
The Importance of Being Nancy
Ernie Bushmiller’s comic about a mischievous eight-year-old is almost 100 years old and better than ever.
I love Nancy, especially when she is pulsing with childlike rage and embarrassment … Perhaps my ongoing adoration of Nancy comes from the fact that I was a kid like her: sweet tooth-laden, petulant, enthusiastic, playful. She is an anti-intellectual, but we can’t win them all. On too many occasions I have been asked, for lack of a better phrase, “what the deal with Nancy was.”
Fran Hoepfner, at Gawker, explains the “delight” of Nancy from Bushmiller to Jaimes.
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