William Hamilton and The New Yorker, the animated adventures of Prince Valiant, Bill Gallo, Romero’s Axa, Jay Stephens interview, the dark side of book publishing, Brian Fies, and why cartoons are still worthwhile. I may have some doubts about the cartoons that have appeared in The New Yorker for the past quarter century as to […]
When Nancy Beiman was 65 and contemplating retirement from her job as a professor of animation, she had no clue as to how she would fill her days. “Many people take up an artistic hobby. But what was I, a professional artist, supposed to do? Take up accounting?” Before she could embark on a crash […]
A program of nine restorations, titled Back From the Ink: Restored Animated Shorts, will premiere at the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival on Saturday, April 20 at 6:30pm, with an in-person introduction by MacFarlane. Seven shorts directed by Dave Fleischer will be screened: Koko’s Tattoo (1928), Little Nobody (1935), The Little Stranger (1936), Greedy Humpty […]
Heathcliff, J. D. Crowe and Mardi Gras, Vintage Comic Strip Preservation and sharing, Robb Armstrong and Franklin Armstrong, Brad Guigar – 24 years as a cartoonist, WEBTOONS, Reader reviews of the new Gannett comics pages. Whether you get your Heathcliff comics from the aforementioned account or the comic’s perplexing original website, it’s clear something has […]
Michael Maslin, Sandra Boynton, Dishonest John, and others. Michael Maslin has a fun, short essay about Fridays for New Yorker cartoonists and those same Fridays when The New Yorker hits a two week double holiday issue (Christmas/New Year’s in this case) and the routine is disrupted. Fridays for New Yorker cartoonists is usually the day […]
The big news in Public Domain 2024 is selected Mickey Mouse copyrights, whose animated shorts Steamboat Willie and The Gallopin’ Gaucho were released in 1928, will finally succumb to The Mickey Mouse Protection Act. The Associated Press’ Andrew Dalton: With several asterisks, qualification and caveats, Mickey Mouse in his earliest form will be the leader […]
‘Tis the season. ‘Tis the season to be jolly, and Comics Kingdom is decking the halls with a special Holiday Collection that’ll make your spirits zing faster than sleigh bells on Christmas Eve! The Comics Kingdom Shop has an assortment of ornaments, mugs, posters, and clothing with Holiday themes. ********** It is also the season […]
What better way to start Monday than with Garfield. He’s got a new movie coming out next year. Variety has some details and the just released trailer: Chris Pratt embodies the world’s most sarcastic yet endearing orange feline in the trailer for “The Garfield Movie,” premiering in theaters on Feb. 16, 2024. The new animated […]
Dave Coverly, Jim Davis, Bill Plympton, J. C. Duffy, Trina Robbins, Georgia Higley, Peter Maresca. Bored Panda regularly features small collections of comics, today it is the syndicated Speed Bump. Bored Panda usually includes a few words from the cartoonist and in this one Dave Coverly is interviewed. “I have to turn in 7 cartoons […]
Saturday morning cartoons — like payphones, video rental stores, and TV guides — are one of those cultural touchstones that meant so much to older generations, but are as meaningless as a wireless telegraph to younger ones — gone within a lifetime. The first cartoon to air on a Saturday morning was “Crusader Rabbit,” four-minute-long […]
Once Upon a Studio debuts Sunday, October 15, at 8 p.m. ET/PT as part of ABC’s The Wonderful World of Disney: Disney’s 100th Anniversary Celebration! From the Walt Disney Company: The all-new original short Once Upon a Studio takes place at the end of the work day at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California, […]
We know where Mike is, but me? – I’m all over the place. Following are items from hither and yon. Last month we noted that Peter Steiner’s “On the internet no one knows you’re a dog” panel went to auction. Michael Maslin lets us know the results ($175,000) – yeah, a reason to use paper […]
In the vast universe of comics, specific names stand out for their creativity and ability to touch the human soul with simple ink strokes. One such name is Ricardo Siri, better known by his pen name, “Liniers.” His creation, Macanudo, is more than just a comic strip; it reflects life, love, and the myriad emotions […]
The Phantom and The Muppets from the 1980s; Paul Bunyan from the early 20th Century, comic strip lettering from later in the 1900s; and the first Peanuts TV animation. Hermes Press, the publisher of The Complete Phantom Dailies, missed an episode between Volume 29 and Volume 30. For those who didn’t keep track of our […]
Bob Staake, Mick Stevens, Paul Karasik, Max Fleischer, Peanuts, and The Nib. ********** Staake has publicly rejected the idea that he has a “style” — his works are too different, he says, his way too experimental. But every piece in the show, he admits, looks like a Bob Staake. “There’s something hiding in the background,” […]