I can’t claim any connection to the cartoonist Shannon Wheeler, despite the name similarity. Oh, he lives in Portland, as does my brother — but I think that’s as close as it gets. The Wheelers are a vast clan, with our fingers in all of the world’s pies, and Shannon’s branch is very distant from…
As you may know if you’ve read my column recently (and if you haven’t, what’s wrong with you?? Well, don’t worry – you can always catch up here), I’ve declared it Interview Central, following on my time at Awesome Con DC. There, I interviewed the amazing voice actors Phil LaMarr and Billy West. Both were delightful,…
This book — collecting the cartoons Mauldin created for syndication from July of 1945 through the end of 1946 — cannot be fully appreciated by justreading those cartoons. Luckily, Willie & Joe: Back Home also includes a long, in-depth introduction by Mauldin’s biographer Todd DePastino (Bill Mauldin: A Life Up Front, which I reviewed in…
Tonight, a Master Class with Bill Griffith, creator of Zippy The Pinhead: GRIFFY’S TOP 40 LIST ON COMICS AND THEIR CREATION: The Daily Life of a Working Cartoonist: Pencilling, Inking and Making People Laugh, Maybe. Single session: Wednesday July 25, 7:00 PM-9:00 PM. Tuition: $60. For more information and to register, call 212-228-2810 or go…
Tom Wilson, the creator of the comic strip Ziggy and artist from 1971 to 1987, passed away in his sleep last Friday at the age of 80. Born August 1st, 1931 ,Wilson served in the U.S. Army from 1953 to 1955. He attended the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, graduating in 1955. He was a former…
As always: 110 Stories by John M. Ford. Also: Cartoonists remember 9/11.
Continuing a great and long-standing tradition, about 90 of our top newspaper comic strips will be commemorating the tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on and in Boston MA, New York City NY, Newark NJ, Shanksville PA and Washington DC by producing special strips, with each cartoonist making his or her individual comment on the…
The annual National Cartoonist Society annual awards were awarded Saturday night. The prestigious Reuben Award for cartoonist of the year went to Richard Thompson for the newspaper strip Cul de Sac. Jill Thompson was selected as best comic book artist for Beasts of Burton, beating out Stan Sakai and Chris Samnee, and Joyce Farmer and her Special Exits took home the…
It’s been a good week for cartoonist / columnist / bon vivant Ted Rall. The Mad Magazine regular and incendiary editorial cartoonist was named president of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists. GIven how some newspapers are dropping their local editorial cartoonists in an organized effort to trim down their page count while chasing away their…
Cartoonist / animator / musician Joe Fournier has been doing some sweet stuff online, including this clever black-and-white cartoon about Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics… something about a… train wreck? Joe’s illustrations have appeared in all sorts of places – Playboy, Forbes, Premiere, and all sorts of newspapers – and he plays a vital role…
Cartoonist Ted Key, creator of the popular newspaper comic panel Hazel and the classic cartoon characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman, died today at 95. Born Theodore Keyser in 1912, Key created Hazel for the Saturday Evening Post in 1943. The panel shifted over to King Features Syndicate in 1969 after its creator acquired the rights…
Great cultures yield great artists, and I’m not talking necessarily about Ancient Rome or the Renaissance periods of either Italy or Harlem. The cowboy culture of the Southwestern Frontier has spawned its share of artistry, from poets and musicians to painters and, yes, cartoonists. Conventional wisdom holds that Charles M. Russell (1864-1926), was the most…
