Laugh Tracks

Lynn Johnston featured in Washington Post

The Washington Post ran an article yesterday featuring Lynn Johnston, whose megahit comic strip For Better or For Worse closes out its current storylines this weekend.

Mr. Media interviews Jim Borgman

Jerry Scott, Rick Kirkman and GoComics' editorial cartoonist Jim Borgman, the creators behind the hit comic strips Baby Blues and Zits, will join Mr. Media for a live interview today at 4pm EST. Follow this link before and during the interview for call-in and chat information.

Animated Rall?

In a post titled "Early Warning," Ted Rall told readers of his blog yesterday to "Stay tuned...I'm rolling out my first ever animated cartoon in a week or two." More info as it becomes available...

Publishers Weekly Covers Digital Comics

Publishers Weekly has just posted an excellent piece on the rise of digital comics, and GoComics is featured throughout:

With initiatives either launching or under way at nearly every major comic book, manga house and traditional book publisher, digital comics are on the verge of becoming an important part of how the medium is marketed and sold, and suddenly nobody wants to get left behind.

“It's changed from people saying someday we need to do this to saying we need to do this now,” says Jeff Webber, v-p of product development at uclick, a mobile entertainment company that distributes comics content on cell phones.

Besides reading your favorite comic strips on mobile, GoComics also offers the GoComics mobile comic book reader, featuring a wide range of comic book and manga titles from major publishers including TOKYOPOP, Image, Virgin Comics, Devil's Due, IDW and more. As mentioned in the article, GoComics is also breaking new ground by offering IDW's Presidential Material comic biographies of Barack Obama and John McCain on mobile phones on October 8th, the same day they are released in print.

Click here to read the Publishers Weekly article. Click here to check out the GoComics mobile comic book reader.

New book examines Trudeau, Doonesbury

A new book by a literature and humanities professor at Brigham Young University takes an unprecedented look at Garry Trudeau, Doonesbury and the role satire plays in the health of American society. Garry Trudeau: Doonesbury and the Aesthetics of Satire, by Kerry D. Soper, examines the history and aesthetics of the strip, Trudeau's satiric methods, character construction, narrative practices and the immense popularity the strip has enjoyed over nearly four decades of existence. The book is the latest addition to the Great Comic Artists series.

Click here to read a short article about the book by Dennis Lythgoe of the Deseret News.

Comics Coast to Coast with Baldo's Carlos Castellanos

Even more GoComics on Comics Coast to Coast! Baldo co-creator Carlos Castellanos drops by to discuss marketing comics work on the Internet.

Comics Coast to Coast talks Comics Sherpa

GoComics' own David Stanford dropped in at Comics Coast to Coast a few weeks ago to talk Comics Sherpa. Great interview for anyone who's ever wondered what Comics Sherpa is all about, as David talks about the history of Sherpa, future plans for the site and the benefits of putting your strip there.

A new beginning for Johnston's FBoFW!

What is in the future for Lynn Johnston's For Better or For Worse? The current storylines wrap up on August 31st, and starting on September 1st, the strip starts over again. But does that mean the end of new FBOFW material? Shockingly, no!

For an explanation, check out the official press release from Universal Press Syndicate, and the accompanying video from Johnston herself:

The For Better or For Worse 'new-runs' and archives will continue to be available on GoComics.com.

A Darrin Bell interview, too!

Another in-case-you-missed-it: Chris Mautner interviewed Candorville creator Darrin Bell and posted it on his Panels and Pixels blog last week.

"I kind of forgot about (cartooning) then when I went to college. I wanted to go into journalism...I wrote articles and at the same time I had these cartoons that I was drawing in my spare time. I just dumped them on the paper and told them run whenever they feel like.

When my articles ran I asked my friends what they thought. None of them had read any of the articles but everybody had read my cartoons and loved them. So after a few months of that I figured maybe my future lies in that direction."

Click here to read more.

Lengthy Richard Thompson interview!

Chris Mautner of the Patriot-News of Harrisburg, PA interviewed Cul de Sac creator Richard Thompson and posted it on his Panels and Pixels blog last week. Read the interview (which was actually conducted several months ago) for wonderful nuggets of info like this one:

Q: You talked about how you wanted to avoid making a daily strip for a long time. How has the adjustment been?

A: I’m not real far ahead. I’m so used to deadlines that it’s not as bad as I thought. There’s still miles of Bristol board to cover. I still pull all-nighters sometimes. I was talking to Mark Tatulli and we talk in the middle of the night. “What are you doing?” “Same thing as you.”

Click here to read more.