Industry news for the professional cartoonist
The world’s oldest cartooning organization, the Australian Cartoonists Association, celebrates 100 years of existence today. (Well, yesterday because, you know, Australia.) The Dictionary of Sydney gives us A Short History of the Black and White Artists’ Club by Lindsey Foyle: The Dictionary of Sydney also notes the various name changes of the organization through the…
As everyone struggles to explain the young man who tried to shoot Trump, I thought of this Tom the Dancing Bug from 1999, when we were trying to figure out Columbine and everybody had a theory. We didn’t actually come to a conclusion, or, at least, not to one that solved the problem, though, as…
There have been times when emigrating to Australia seemed like a good idea, but it doesn’t take a lot of reflection to recognize the futility. After all, Nevil Shute wrote On the Beach in 1957 and Stanley Kramer turned it into a movie in 1959 in which Australians waited for death to arrive in a…
Below are some comic strip and cartoon books scheduled for July 2024 release. Images and links from a variety of publishers and outlets, though ordering through your local comic shop or independent book store is a good idea. Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol.1 – Hardcover by Don Moore and Alex Raymond Science fiction’s most enduring…
David Rowe offers the most appropriate response to last night’s assassination attempt. As is often the case, Australians got first crack at the story because of the time difference, and some did better than others, which is always the case and why I have something to write about each day. Rowe nails it, because “Sigh”…
I will confess that my appreciation of RJ Matson’s cartoon is tainted by my lack of knowledge about donkeys. I know they have a reputation for being stubborn and my understanding is that it is well-earned. However, I have some knowledge of horses, and I know that if you face a horse and pull on…
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) has announced the recipients of the 2023 Sigma Delta Chi Awards for excellence in journalism. In the Editorial Cartooning categories the winners are Rob Rogers and Nancy Ohanian. Rob Rogers for 40,000-Plus Circulation “Rob Rogers whose sharp-edges insights drawn brilliantly distills the topics of the day into one eyeful”…
Peanuts Worldwide is getting an early jump on the comic strip’s 75th anniversary: In honor of the 75th anniversary of Charles Schulz’s beloved comic strip, Peanuts, the company is back at San Diego Comic-Con with exclusives on the show floor, a pop-up shop, and more. Inside the convention center, the festivities will be centered around Booth…
Ted Rall was hardly the only person who, in 1995, pointed out that Bob Dole was old. And, compared to his opponent in the 1996 election, he was, given that Clinton was 50. Clinton was also the incumbent, but I felt at the time, and still believe today, that Johnny Carson’s flood of “Old Bob…
Today’s Rubes (Creators) brings back memories of being a reporter at a paper in a city on Lake Champlain, which has its own cryptozoological mascot that people honest-to-Marlin-Perkins believe in, “Champy.” A lot of people believe in him but nobody seems to have ever gotten a clear shot of him, but I do remember one…
This year’s San Diego Comic-Con is coming up at the end of July 2024 and they have some special guests lined up from the world of comic strips – some with hidden connections. From the SDCC Unofficial Blog is a list of those guests: Paul Levitz • Editor/writer, 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern…
Jeff Danziger (Counterpoint) sounds echoes of the bandwagon/Bellman effect discussed here yesterday. Yossarian was asked, “What if everyone felt that way?” and responded “Then I’d certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way, wouldn’t I?” Understandable answer, but then again, Edmund Burke wrote, “Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the…
It’s obvious by now that the toll paid in human lives exceeds any of the goals that Lincoln, et al, laid out when they dragged us into this war. It’s also obvious that you can’t justify the deaths of our young men with clever, folksy stories. As we approach the 1864 elections, it’s plain that…
Being a collection of items about cartoonists, cartooning, and comics. Michael Cavna Wins Cartoonist and journalist Michael Cavna took a second place award in the General Features category from the Society for Features Journalism for his Washington Post profile of courtroom artist Jane Rosenberg. GENERAL FEATURE (999 words or fewer): Excellence in short feature writing…
As suspected, waiting 24 hours brought in more cartoons about the debate than can possibly be used here, which, by-the-by, is a good indicator of how little cartoonists are really constrained by schedules, deadlines and rules. A more critical factor is evident in Nick Anderson (Tribune)’s piece: The immediate reaction for Democrats was, indeed, a…