Comix cartoonist and comics “herstorian” Trina Robbins has passed away. Trina Robbins (née Perlson) August 17, 1938 – April 10, 2024 Trina’s daughter Casey informed the world of its loss yesterday: My mother Trina Robbins passed away this morning. We miss her so much already Trina was among the first group of underground comix cartoonists […]
There’s a lot of political stuff I won’t be addressing today, because I’m tired of politics but also because there are several recent developments that will become cartoons over the next couple of days and I want to wait for them to mature. My objection to Clay Jones’s latest cartoon is purely editorial. I agree […]
The recent auction of a three page synopsis sent by Superman creator Jerry Siegel to cartoonist Russell Keaton has once more brought the various early incarnations of Superman to the public. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster‘s first Superman appeared as a short story in Jerry’s science fiction fanzine appropriately called Science Fiction in early 1933. […]
Artvy is advertising its Milton Caniff inspired AI created illustration “art.” Personally I’m not seeing much Caniff there. Mostly just generic retro magazine figures (without the hands). Kevvo at AdExchanger riffs on the “digital advertising ecosystem.” While we’re discussing stealing… I don’t know why and neither do you, but those unlicensed Calvin and Hobbes “Calvin […]
Lets begin with a personal laff I got from this Flying McCoys (AMS). One of my jobs as a business writer in the late 80s was to cover openings and closings at the local mall. The publicity director there was a pal, but she had a job to do. I wrote an update on the […]
Mack rolled into New York at the dawn of JFK’s New Frontier, toting a degree from the Rhode Island School of Design and a bunch of pens. After becoming art director at the Herald Tribune, rubbing shoulders with notable proponents of an emerging “new journalism” (Breslin, Wolfe, Steinem), he moved on to the New York […]
From Sandra Bell-Lundy: My Cartooning Life – Hot Flash Woman was a super hero I created for my comic character, Kim, who has a career as a writer. I had a grand time designing her costume with her fishnet stockings and over-the-knee spike boots. (the explanation for the clothing choices is explained in the comics […]
Brewster Rockit (Tribune) gets to lead off for a second day in a row, having shifted from the informational back to the absurd. As noted, I stayed home rather than driving the four hours to my old digs in the Adirondacks, and I missed both totality and a good party, but we had a nice […]
Children’s author-illustrator Mike Thaler has passed away. Michael Charles (Mike) Thaler October 8, 1936 – March 23, 2024 From the obituary: Mike Thaler’s creative genius captured the imaginations of millions of children with a story called The Teacher From the Black Lagoon. It blossomed into a favorite Scholastic series consisting of 66 titles and selling […]
Alley Oop and Ooola transport through time to the present … exactly eighty-five years after they first did it. United Feature Syndicate-United Media/Washington Post Writers Group/Counterpoint Syndication editor Amy Lago gets a shout out from Barney & Clyde – a thank you for grabbing them after their WPWG contract ended? Or maybe she rejected a […]
Start with an explainer from Brewster Rockit (Tribune). The strip is usually an absurdist laff-fest, but it breaks from time to time for an explanation, which goes to show that humor is funnier when the joker understands the topic. And, boy, would I like to carve that in stone. The cartoons that work are the […]
If you are waiting for Graeme MacKay to apologize get comfortable because you’re going to grow old waiting. Instead Graeme offers an essay on editorial cartooning, satire, and boundaries. Among subjects, slants, gags, texts, and artistic layouts, boundaries is just one of a multitude of other considerations I make in coming up with an editorial […]
Quincy has not run away. But the proof sheet of the vintage Quincy daily comic strips for the week of August 13 through August 18, 1973 is missing from the King Features Syndicate files. And it’s a week too good to pass up as cartoonist Ted Shearer has young Quincy take over a paper route. […]
Michael Ramirez (Creators) starts us off with a tough one, because the facts appear to be hung up between history and hope. A large problem with the question of who gets audited is the age of the data. The General Accounting Office, which should be an impartial source, relies on data from 2019, which is […]
A letter to the Oregonian: The Rose is Rose cartoon of March 20 shows a cat’s version of enjoying nature – dashing off to chase birds. This is a timely reminder, if unintended, that nesting season is here and it’s a good time to keep your cat indoors. Even if your pet doesn’t actually kill […]