And Now Back To The News
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Got distracted by the changing of the year stuff. Now we’ll catch up on some recent comic strip news.
Here’s something that is news to me. Apparently The Arizona Daily Star prints an extra page of comic strips as a bonus to the Lee Enterprises regular half page. I had assumed the extras were relegated to the e-editions.
One Daily Star reader is upset that the bonus comics can be bumped:
So here I am, reading the Star on December 27. I happen upon two huge sections of real estate ads for Oro Valley and Saddlebrooke. In order to make room for all of these commercials they bounce the color comics extra out of the paper! I know that the paper was giddy over all the money they made by putting in expensive housing ads, but what about those of us who paid for the paper? We don’t count? …
So do the cartoonists in the “extra” get paid for the print, or do they just get the internet pay? And is the extra comics page printed in more Lee papers than just The Daily Star? The difference between print and e-editions could add up to pretty penny.
Speaking of internet versus print comic strips:
So it has come to pass. As we noted a couple weeks ago Roger Langridge has ended his Hotel Fred/Diary Comics strip. I don’t note a lot of webcomics but I am so taken with this talented cartoonist I feel duty bound to do so.
At Graphic Policy Brett listed his Favorite Comics, Graphic Novels, Manga, and Manhwa of 2024. Mostly comic books of one sort or another only one comic strip collection made the list, though it was in the “really stood out” portion:
Breaking the Chain: The Guard Dog Story (Abrams Comicarts) – Collecting the Guard Dog story from Mutts, we were choked up for much of the collection and it has some wonderful commentary and reflections within from creator Patrick McDonnell and more.
Not mentioned was the new Macanudo book; and if he would read the funny papers I’m sure Wallace the Brave, Flash Gordon, and Crabgrass would have made the list.
It was a belated edit to our Deviations list for 2024, but let’s do a proper welcome back to our prodigal cartoonist. This week saw Glenn McCoy return from animation land to The Duplex comic strip.
Since we mentioned Crabgrass above…
Childhood is a time of boundless curiosity and unfiltered joy—a phase where every day feels like an adventure waiting to unfold. Tauhid Bondia captures this magic in Crabgrass Comics, a series that brings to life the mischief, humor, and unbreakable friendships of being a kid. Set in the ’80s, the strips follow best friends Kevin and Curtis through a world of fun, mischief, and imagination.
Hidreley at Bored Panda presents 20 Nostalgic Comics About Growing Up In The ’80s By Tauhid Bondia with commentary by/an interview with the Crabgrass cartoonist.
The exhibition at JSMA, It’s (Still) A Magical World, Hobbes, Ol’ Buddy [link added] is curated by associate professor of Comics and Cartoon studies at the University of Oregon, Kate Kelp-Stebbins. When Kelp-Stebbins first went to the Billy Ireland and asked the directors if she could do a Calvin and Hobbes show in Oregon, their response was “No way. Bill always says no. He’s very secretive. He doesn’t meet anyone. He doesn’t do anything like that,” she says.
… Kelp-Stebbins was shocked when the request to do the exhibit at JSMA was approved. “The fact that they reached out to Bill, and Bill said yes, was mind blowing. It had never happened before, and we never thought it was going to happen,” she says.
Sadie Gustavson for Eugene Weekly reviews the Calvin and Hobbes exhibit.
Plain Dealer readers will see a few changes in the paper’s syndicated features starting today.
Working with our syndicate providers, we have created a revised package of comics, puzzles and columnists.
Readers will still find many of their favorites, but some of the old features will no longer be included.
Unknown what comic features are being lost.
New to the comics page will be such classics as “The Family Circus,” “Dennis the Menace” and “Hagar the Horrible,” as well as “Zits,” “Dustin” and “Mutts.”
The Rochester Sentinel is reporting on it sister Paxton Media Group newspaper the weekly Indiana Plain Dealer is changing its comics page lineup. Paxton merged the Wabash newspaper with its Peru and Huntington newspapers in April of last year. This MAY be a result of that merger or an effort by Paxton to make uniform all their papers’ comics pages. The Paxton newspapers I have checked have a consistent lineup as shown in the Paducah Sun page below from December 3, 2024, though some only print the left side comics.
As seen only Hägar, Dustin, and Mutts would be new to the established Paxton comics page. Is the Paxton group in the process of going with a comics page that will soon be made up of only King Features Syndicate comics? Only time will tell.
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