Famed magazine cover artist and illustrator Mort Künstler has passed away. Morton (Mort) Künstler August 28, 1927 – February 2, 2025 Newsday reported the death of the painter and illustrator: Although Mort Künstler once told an interviewer that he would prefer to be remembered as a great athlete, he had to settle for being hailed […]
I give Chip Bok so much grief so often that, when I do agree with him, it’s only fair that I say so and give him the lead-off spot. And I agree with his summation of our foreign policy, at least in its outcome if not its conscious intention. At this stage, I’m not sure […]
KFS has got their 2025 King Features Syndicate Directory up for viewing. Also included, along with the comic strips and panels and political cartoons, are King Features’ syndicated columnists and puzzles (Hey Joe!) and other promotions. The King Features 2025 Directory is available online as an Issuu edition or as a pdf. Notes on the […]
King Features Syndicate and Comics Kingdom are deleting any references to Darrin Bell. Mike Peterson gave notice that within a day of loading the February 9, 2025 Candorville comic strip Comics Kingdom had removed that strip and further everything Candorville on the site. Also disappeared was the Comics Kingdom page featuring Darrin Bell political cartoons. […]
Despair was on the national menu in October, 1973. Paul Conrad described the state of the presidency in the words White House Counsel John Ehrlichman had used when, as Watergate investigations began, he said that, rather than confirming Patrick Gray as head of the FBI, they should leave him “slowly, slowly twisting in the wind.” […]
The Hinson Art Museum at Wingate University is hosting an exhibit focusing on Peanuts character Franklin. Franklin was the first African American character in Peanuts. Charles Schulz added the character to his strip after assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. at the behest of a school teacher with the hope of promoting tolerance and interracial […]
The Art of the Deal takes a long time, but life is short and so while the lawsuits are filed and the surrenders on both sides happen, we’ll stay out of the political fray. And just as in this Daddy’s Home, I’ve got the information I need to complete my taxes, so, having written both […]
Former Charlie Hebdo cartoonist, Rénald Luzier AKA “Luz”, was awarded the prize for Best Graphic Novel at this year’s Angoulême International Comics Festival. Luz’ graphic novel Deux Filles Nues (Two Naked Girls) depicts the true story of a looted Otto Mueller painting by German painter by Nazis. According to Wikipedia the Nazis seized 357 pieces […]
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) has announced they will be joining the line-up at this year’s Small Press Expo (SPX) in September. From the announcement: Many editorial cartoonists are familiar with the long-running cartoon arts festival in Bethesda, Maryland, especially those from the alt-weekly side of the business. Its Director, Warren Bernard, is […]
Somehow Captain America looks kind of ridiculous in Andy Bundy’s cover illustration for Realpolitik, though I can’t find that the magazine has any on-line presence. But he adds the slug “Captain America-First” unleashes tariffs against China but also Canada and Mexico, bullying his allies and neighbours while turning away from many of the real threats to global […]
The opening panel of Prince Valiant took my mind to the long-gone time of black light posters. That panel would have made a great one. And maybe that is what got me thinking about the colors at Comics Kingdom, they seemed more vibrant today. Even the pastels appear to be more pastel-ly. Beetle Bailey came […]
Rod Emmerson offers this view from New Zealand, which is that he is gobsmacked that we put such an undeserving person in charge of our nation and, given America’s international standing, in charge of much of the world. While in Britain, Ella Baron is appalled at how Trump swooped in to turn a tragedy into […]
Editorial cartoonist Clyde Peterson (aka C. P. Houston) has passed away. Clyde Enlow Peterson (aka C. P. Houston) May 7, 1942 – January 20, 2025 The Houston Chronicle is reporting the death of its longtime staff editorial cartoonist and illustrator: “CP Houston,” Clyde Peterson signed his cartoons, as if he were speaking for the city […]
“No sport is less organized than Calvinball.” Calvinball was an invention of comic strip showrunner Bill Watterson who said, “People have asked how to play Calvinball. It’s pretty simple: you make up the rules as you go.” The early days of the Trump administration can be usefully understood as Calvinball for (putative) Adults. Colin McEnroe, […]
No politics today. We’ve had two weeks of thinking about horrible things, and I’m taking a day off. But Existential Comics offers something equally unpleasant and I’ll spare a tear for poor Hercules. I enjoyed reading philosophy, which was good, because we had a lot of it. Plato’s chatter about forms got a little esoteric, […]