As part of the Gannett/USA TODAY Network The Providence Journal is implementing the corporate imperative to switch their comics page(s) to conform to some grouping of The Gannett 34. Like all Gannett editors Lynne Sullivan, regional executive editor of The Providence Journal and Newport Daily News, is “thrilled” about the forthcoming changes: For this reason, […]
That “a while back” was 90 years ago today. On January 7, 1934 King Features Syndicate introduced two new comics pages to the Hearst and other subscribing newspapers. One of the pages was by an established cartoonist with over twenty years of experience. The other page was drawn by an unknown artist who had spent […]
Chip Bok (Creators) starts us off with a “Say what?” in which he contends that justices are not placed on the Supreme Court in order to decide how to interpret the Constitution. Article III, Section 2 says that that is precisely what they’re there for, and shortly after ratification, Marbury v Madison affirmed that SCOTUS […]
Big Nate began the new year by spending an enjoyable (for readers) week with his grandparents at an old folks home (aka: an assisted living facility). I particularly liked Friday’s (Jan. 5) joke – not a new joke but well staged. Speaking of well set up and carried out … yesterday’s Brewster Rockit. Y’all are […]
The nice lady in this Joel Pett (Tribune) cartoon is speaking specifically about the release of Jeffrey Epstein’s client list, so we’ll begin there. We live, after all, in a world of subjective reality. Juxtaposition of the Pitiful Airplanes Glen LeLievre Chris Britt — Creators The nice thing about Al Capone and Dutch Schultz was […]
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 […]
Under the headline “Clarion Ledger refreshes comic lineup based on reader input, changing tastes” the Mississippi newspaper informed readers that their funnies will be changing as the paper finally conforms to Gannett’s company-wide overhaul of their comics pages. After reminiscing about the old days of meeting with syndicate salesmen to discuss comics changes to his […]
In today’s Between Friends (KFS), Maeve has been awarded the Cardboard Box and ambitious suck-up Jim is feigning surprise. But, to repeat something I’ve said before, I never lost a job I still wanted, which is relevant since Maeve was on the brink of resigning. I was fired twice, which isn’t bad over 40-some years, […]
Support Your Local (or Distant) Cartoonist Mike set it up last year and we occasionally add to it and post it here for fans to support their favorite cartoonists. Recently Jim Keefe opened a Patreon account: My Patreon is a catch basin for all the things that I’ve learned in a career spanning some 30+ […]
Continuing with Mike’s plagiarism theme of this morning we come to MalMidjourney. During the New Year’s weekend, artists linked to a Google Sheet on the social media platforms X (formerly known as Twitter) and Bluesky, alleging that it showed how Midjourney developed a database of time periods, styles, genres, movements, mediums, techniques, and thousands of […]
“(N)o plagiarist can excuse the wrong by showing how much of his work he did not pirate.” — Judge Learned Hand Mike Lester (AMS) is hardly the only conservative to be dancing on the grave of Claudine Gay’s career, now that she has been pressured into resigning as president of Harvard University. I begin today with […]
The Monster and Mike Doonesbury, Milholland and The Mouse, Hugs and Kisses from Peanuts, Bret Blevins and Judge Alan Parker, The Comics Journal’s 2023 Best Name Checks a few Comic Strips, Cleveland Scene’s Comics Issue, and Love to Ramona Fradon on her Retiring at age 97. It’s that time of year when we get bonus […]
Jeffrey Lindenblatt’s Paper Trends: The 300 for 1998 Scroll down for more of Jeffrey’s 1998 survey entries at the Stripper’s Guide. ********** BEFORE THE CARTOON 2: Comic cuts and conversational captions The Penny Satirist, which called itself “a weekly satirical newspaper” featured the first sustained use of front-page political cartoons in London. The first number […]
Al Goodwyn (Creators) is a very nice guy, and this is a well-intended New Year’s cartoon. I’m leading with it today because I’ll also feature some less honest commentary, but I believe this to be completely sincere and honest and naive and wrong. Goodwyn is no cynic, but maybe you have to be one to […]
British comic artist John M. Burns has passed away. John Michael Burns 1938 – December 29, 2023 From John Freeman: We’re very sorry to report the passing of British comic artist John M. Burns, perhaps best known for his work on 2000AD and Look-In. John passed away peacefully, in hospital on Friday 29th December. He […]