In December of 1959 Li’l Abner gathered his family to read a Christmas tale. Cartoonist Al Capp used his Li’l Abner comic strip to create a seasonal story leading up to the holiday. The eleven strips ran on Saturday December 12, then continued daily from December 14 to December 19, finishing in the December 21 […]
Martyn Turner protests the lack of peace at this Yuletide, and he’s right that universal peace has not descended upon the Earth, but, then again, he’s given us a lot to unpack and quarrel over. The phrase itself — from Luke 2:14 — is open to a number of translations and interpretations, starting with the […]
Not every comic is about Christmas this week, though Macanudo gifted us with an earworm. © Liniers And that’s all you need. Do they pronounce it “hiffy?” © Ripley Entertainment Believe It or Not! Would the 8% even know what a Hi-Fi is? I sympathize. © Darrin Bell They changed Candorville‘s zip code. […]
Bessie Mae Kelley, Kieran Castaño, Robert Ripley, Harry Bliss, Hergé Alex Jay took note of the Bessie Mae Kelley stories and dug up her vitals from birth: Bessie Mae Kelley was born Elizabeth Mae Kelley. The date of her birth is unclear: November 1889 in the 1900 United States Census; November 10, 1890, Minnesota Death […]
Philadelphia native and cartoonist Robb Armstrong has been making waves and history his entire career. He created his comic strip “Jump Start” in 1989, currently the most widely syndicated daily comic strip from an African American cartoonist in the world. The Philadelphia Sun profiles favorite son Robb Armstrong. After attending Shipley, he went on to […]
The Barn (Creators) gets today’s Excellent Timing Award for a piece done, no doubt, weeks in advance but that happened to hit just as a substantial portion of the country fell into a Frosty Bombalooza or whatever they’re calling it these days. We used to call them “cold snaps” but perhaps we were being too […]
Editorial cartoonist Richard Kemplin has passed away. Richard Manley (Dick) Kemplin December 11, 1930 – November 25, 2022 From the obituary: During his time at Eagle Rock High School, Dick was an athlete and budding artist whose illustrations and cartoons were prominently featured in the school’s newspaper and yearbook. Little did he know that […]
Washington, D.C. – A Search for the Source The Library of Congress found the cartoonist who created it (Paul Gregg) and found the newspaper it probably appeared in (The Denver Post) but it still looking for confirmation of the date (ca. early 1933). This mystery centered on an image of a political cartoon found online. […]
David Rowe once more takes advantage of the 16-hour time difference between Washington and Sydney to comment on Vlodimir Zelenskyy’s address to Congress while American cartoonists still lie a-bed, and adding a “Merry Christmas” message for the benefit of an unhealthy, angry Vladimir Putin. It likely wouldn’t have done Americans any good to cartoon on […]
The original December 12, 2022 item: The Katzenjammer Kids first appeared December 12, 1897. Above: the first issue of The Katzenjammer Kids The comic strip was created by Rudolph Dirks and New York Journal editor Rudolph Block. Various cartoonists (Harold Knerr, Oscar Hitt, Doc Winner, Joe Musial, Mike Senich, Angelo DeCesare, Hy Eisman) continued it’s […]
Since the name of Thomas Nast came up the other day, let’s make note that it was 160 Christmases ago that he drew his first Santa Claus leading the way to form the modern image of the saintly symbol. Thomas Nast’s first Santa appeared as the cover of Harper’s Weekly dated January 3, 1863. Before […]
Cartoonist Mike Peters is taking his Mother Goose & Grimm comic strip and his editorial cartoons from King Features Syndicate (KFS) to Andrews McMeel Syndication (AMS) at the beginning of 2023. Andrews McMeel announced the move yesterday: Kansas City, MO (December 20, 2022) – Andrews McMeel Syndication (AMS) will assume sales and distribution of the […]
Non Sequitor (AMS) offers a non-controversial chuckle to start a day of myth-busting, because, yes, it would be nice if Parks & Rec also offered scooping this time of year, along with plowing a path. Our normal leash-free zone closes in winter, but we’ve got an alternative area, the driveway to which does get plowed […]
Hogan’s Alley and Tom Heintjes remind us that it was on this day, in a 1959 Peanuts Sunday comic strip, Linus first recited a passage from The Gospel of Luke. Six years later Linus’ expanded recital of Luke 2:8-14 would become a memorable part of A Charlie Brown Christmas. It almost didn’t happen but for […]
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists President Kevin Necessary has issued an open letter to the Overseas Press Club of America with an excellent proposal. I write to you today to advocate for a change to the cartoon category. The current OCPA award is now virtually the only category not to be named after a […]