Laugh Tracks

“I Thought I Was On The Fo’c’sle of A Tramp Steamer!”

This has nothing to do with comics, but in exchange for my insubordination, I will make this solemn pledge to you, dear reader and/or cartoonist or both. If you can get the phrase “I Thought I Was on the Fo’c’sle of a Tramp Steamer!” into your strip, whether it actually be syndicated or done by your labrador puppy, I will post it here and marvel in your genius. My thanks. -JG

Oliphant called "anti-Semitic" by ADL

 

Pulitzer Prize winner and two-time Reuben award-winner Pat Oliphant's 3/25 editorial cartoon has been called "anti-Semitic" by the head of the Anti-Defamation League.

Comics and Hollywood

Apologies, as I couldn't find the right size or resolution on this "Tom the Dancing Bug" Super Fun Pak edition. But I had to acknowledge the venerable Mr. Ruben Bolling, for his brave work on telling the story of the other side of the Hollywood dream.

Not everyone gets to taste the fame and glamor, some cartoon characters toil in obscurity for years and can't break through. Keep trying Mr. Chilly! And stay out of the sun!

-JG

Thanks to Lucas for the tip.

Ask the editor: Territory rules

Years ago, the territory rule existed to protect newspapers who bought a strip, so that their competitors couldn't run the same thing. (See Lucas' earlier post about the Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post's Garfield fight).

Now, with the dearth of two-newspaper markets, it really only comes into play in a few places like Boston, Chicago, New York ...

It was a blessing for cartoonists and syndicates as it forced competitive markets to run different (and more and more cutting-edge) comics rather than what we see today, where an editor sadly and usually prefers not to mess with the status quo of the comics section.  And they don't have to, because there's no competition to push them to improve the section.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great and savvy editors when it comes to comics -- just fewer and fewer -- and with less resources to handle the complaints of those vocal souls who feel scorned by their decisions.

-JG

Universal Press Syndicate's Reuben Award Winners

With the good news about Mark Tatulli and Richard Thompson being nominated in the "Best Strip" category by the National Cartoonists Society, I thought I'd give you a rundown of whom at UPS has won "the big one" namely "The Reuben" award for best cartoonist of the year. Legend has it that the NCS Board enacted the "you can only win the Reuben once" article into their constitution due to Watterson and Larson's dominance in the late 80s/early 90s.

As you might notice as you peruse the list, some overqualified people don't win for years after their launches. Cases in point, 1994 for Garry Trudeau, 1992 for Cathy Guisewhite, 2006 for Foxtrot? That's just silly.

It's my read, that the NCS hasn't historically given awards to newer features, which makes Mark's and Richard's (and even Stephan's) nomination in the strip category a possible hopeful sign that things might be changing.

Meanwhile, our champions:

Pat Oliphant (1968)*

Pat Oliphant (1972)*

Lynn Johnston (1985)

Bill Watterson (1986)

Bill Watterson (1988)

Jim Davis (1989)*

Gary Larson (1990)

Cathy Guisewhite (1992)

Garry Trudeau (1994)

Gary Larson (1995)

Bill Amend (2006)

* Not on the Universal roster at the time of the award.

-JG

Dill's on Facebook!

 

Everybody's favorite secondary Cul De Sac character (narrowly beating out Ernesto Lacuna) now has his own Facebook page!  

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dill/58619104543?v=wall&viewas=0

Be his friend! Join his Group! Invite him to events even though he's fictional!

-JG

More from ... In the Sticks

Today’s installment of In the Sticks is especially poignant. We get a revealing glimpse into Cosmo’s tortured poet’s soul. I can say without hesitation that Cosmo is the World’s Greatest Poetry Writing Blue Jay.

Sure there’s a vocal minority out there that would like you to believe that Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Roy Halladay is a better Blue Jay poet, but that’s just silly … baseball players have a hard enough time writing much less writing poetry.

Interesting golf story to note, that John P. McMeel (UPS co-founder/current AMU chairman and admittedly not-so-great golfer) was once invited to play at Augusta National (the Masters course) ... at the conclusion of his round where he scored a robust 130 or so, his host asked him if he liked the course, JPM replied that indeed, he thought the course was gorgeous, then his host replied, “well, take a good look around, because you’ll never see it again.”

When felines ruled the earth

(photo by John Leyba, Denver Post)

With the recent closing of the Rocky Mountain News (founded in 1859) and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (founded in 1863 as the Seattle Gazette), the days of Denver and Seattle as two-newspaper towns have come to a close. 

Blogger Eric over at talkaboutcomics.com takes an interesting look at what these kinds of rivalries used to mean for comics pages -- specifically, the bidding war over who got custody of the Garfield comic strip. After the Rocky Mountain News took over Garfield, they celebrated its addition by decorating their building with a giant replica of Garfield and Odie. Only, if you look at the picture, you'll notice Odie seems to have retained his loyalty to the competition. 

According to former Post reporter Pat O'Driscoll, the rolled-up newspaper was part of an elaborate prank between the papers. You can read about that here. 

Eric also calls attention to a Rocky Mountain News article that mentions how their Sunday edition used to be the "Greatest Comic Section in America," with no less than 40 comics in full color over 20 pages. Obviously not something we'll be seeing again in print anytime soon, at least not unless the whole Taste It Notes thing takes off. But it kind of makes your mouth water, doesn't it? 

Milk & Doonesbury

I watched Milk last week and thought it was interesting that in the end roll, they mention that Harvey was buried with, among other things, Doonesbury cartoons ... apparently Harvey was a tremendous comics fan.

Photo by Daniel Nicoletta.

Adam Evolved

 

Recently, Rob "Big Top" Harrell took over the art duties on Brian Basset's Adam@Home. There have been a few posters on the gocomics site that claim that Harrell's art (last panel) doesn't match Brian's (first two panels). Funny enough, I think Rob does a better job than Brian replicating Adam's look (compared to the late '80s version).

Let me explain, please. If you check the images above you'll see how much Brian's own Adam evolved over 20 years ... and no one really notices it because the evolution is slow. I'm really proud of both Brian and Rob. Brian for letting go of his baby and trusting it to someone else. Rob for his professionalism and his ability to wear tank tops. Rob actually got two "FU" e-mails from people right after the change. Come on, people.

But art evolution is common, if not a given. Have you ever seen early Peanuts? The line is straight and sure ... it almost looks like a different artist than Schulz. It's true of almost all strips and it can be really interesting to see the difference between a character at debut than when it grows and lives many years later.

And for those of you who love Brian's art .. be sure to check out the awesome "Red & Rover." www.gocomics.com/redandrover

-JG