The British Dennis; Garfield the new comic book; deconstructing tents illustrated; the Luann Mystery Museum; Bill Watterson and Berkeley Breathed; Colin Kaepernick gives cartoonists a knee; plus Curtis and Frazz.
Blimey! The Three Generations of Dennis The Menace
Dennis The Menace is the star of the UK’s longest running comic The Beano, which was first published by DC Thomson in 1938 … Dennis first appeared in The Beano in March 1951 and has been featured in almost every issue since, right up until the present day. In one of comics’ greatest coincidences, his first appearance was in the same week – possibly even on the same day – as the American character of the same name. There, however, the similarity ends. Where the American Dennis is a wholesome, inquisitive child who represents ‘the irrepressible energy of a young republic’, the British Dennis is a ‘proto-punk-rock-hooligan’ in a black and red jumper who is constantly getting into, and often causing trouble.
All creations evolve over time and so has the British version of Dennis the Menace in his more than seventy years of existence. Mark Hibbett for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics details the evolution.
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Garfield #1 (2024)
BOOM! Studios previews a half dozens pages from the new Garfield comic book.
BOOM! Studios today revealed a first look at GARFIELD #1, the first issue in a new four-issue series about everyone’s favorite cat!
This first furry foray into Garfield’s world adds another layer to the proverbial lasagna featuring not just one feline tale, but two tantalizing stories! “Midnight Munchies” is written by Ryan Estrada, illustrated by Axur Eneas, and lettered by Stef Purenins.
Garfield #1 is out on Wednesday, August 7th.
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Pitch Imperfect
why it’s four times harder to repack your tent than put it up – the Stephen Collins cartoon
The Guardian cartoonist Stephen Collins depicts the traditional ended of typical camping vacation.
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Can You Solve Luann’s Mystery Museum?
On March 17th [2024], the newest Luann comic strip saw the young woman visiting a strange museum with a number of odd objects in it, most of which came from American popular culture, but some of the things were more unusual.
Can you determine what all of those objects being displayed have in common?
We missed this but Brian Cronin at Comic Book Resources catches us up.
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Debunking the Bill Watterson/Berkeley Breathed ‘Feud’
More from Brian Cronin:
In 2016, after Breathed had started doing new Bloom County comics again, Breathed began doing April Fool’s bits [link added] where he and Watterson would have Calvin and Hobbes cross over with Breathed’s characters: Breathed pretended that Watterson had sold him the rights to Calvin and Hobbes, explaining that Watterson was “continent and looking forward to some well-earned financial security.
He and Watterson (well, Watterson would sign the strips, it is unclear if he was literally doing the strips with Breathed) would then do yearly crossover strips…
Brian runs us through a few comic strip cartoonists dustups (Capp and Fisher, Capp and Eisner, Trudeau and Breathed) before turning his spy glass on the rumored Watterson – Breathed feud.
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The Word Now Has Political Connotations
Is it weird that when I read today’s Curtis my mind immediately thought of the current political arena?
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Colin Kaepernick Can Take a Knee … To The Groin
Colin Kaepernick, a former NFL quarterback who mysteriously was driven from the league after becoming a civil rights activist, has raised $4 million to launch a new publishing venture called Lumi that aims to “democratize storytelling by providing creators with the tools to independently create, publish, and merchandise their stories.”
Sounds great, right? But read the next sentence.
“Lumi leverages advanced AI technology to enhance the creative process and ensure diverse and authentic stories shape our future.”
Uh oh.
Heidi MacDonald at Comics Beat carries the story and some cartoonists reactions.
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Future Funnies – Another Mystery Connection
What do the objects in the below image have in common?
The Luanniversary strip was posted that same day to Comics I Don’t Understand; see: https://cidu.info/2024/03/17/bonus-luann-congratulates-itself/