Monday, September 22, 2008

You know you're a teenager when



Today's "Zits" gave me a laugh. I'm not sure about his locker, but I can confirm this is my son's notebooks and backpack.

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Poncho's excellent adventure



Saw this on The Daily Cartoonist today.

Paul Gilligan, creator of "Pooch Cafe," is creating a plush version of Poncho to send to fans. They're asked to take a photo of themselves with Poncho and send him on to another fan who'll do the same.

You can see photos of the stuffed Poncho here at Gilligan's site.

We should definitely host Poncho here in Colorado Springs, don't you think!? I mean, it's THE BEST CITY FOR DOGS!!!

He could visit Garden of the Gods and the cadets at the Air Force Academy. Go up Pikes Peak - how could he resist America's Mountain?

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Monday, September 15, 2008

'For Better' returns?

This strip appeared in Sunday's Gazette comics section:



Does that mean we'll continue running "For Better or For Worse"?

No, it doesn't look that way. There doesn't seem to be an outpouring of support for the re-runs. There are people who would have liked the story to continue, however.

We'll still have the strip in Sundays for a week or two because they're printed so far ahead -- it's an outsourcing thing.

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Tuesday, September 09, 2008

Comics of a different sweater




Ha! That's one of my cats - Darth Grayder - for sure. Have I mentioned she also plays fetch? She's such an odd little bundle of fur.


Well, after a flurry of early morning e-mails, it appeared our paginators were all set to add "The Argyle Sweater" and "The Knight Life" to Wednesday's paper. (Somehow the request to add the comics beginning Monday was overlooked.)

Then the last e-mail came. "Argyle" is available only as a panel. Doh! I knew there was a reason we didn't test it last month.

So, I'll need to find another panel to test alongside it. Maybe "Speed Bump?"

In the meantime, to get the tests off and rolling and give you all a chance to see 2 other comics, we're shooting for a Wednesday (although it could be Thursday) start to "The Knight Life" and "Deflocked."

Here's a little intro to "Deflocked."

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Monday, September 08, 2008

comics go geopolitical

I really needed this bit by "Pearls Before Swine" creator Stephan Pastis. And it works perfectly on our pages because "Hi & Lois" sits right next to "Pearls."

He kills me when he riffs on other creators.

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Ouch! Too close to home

I saved most of today's comics till the now, as I wait to proofread Tuesday's Business section.

This one, appropriately, carries a business theme. Too bad it's a bittersweet humor for those of us working in newsrooms (who number fewer and fewer each day).





I have another "Non Sequitur" posted next to my computer:


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The end of



The Daily Cartoonist and The Comics Reporter are pondering whether the end of "Opus" is near, foreshadowed with this visit by Elvis in Sunday's strip.

We used to run "Opus" in The Gazette, in all its gorgeous technicolor glory. I hated to give it up, because when Berkeley Breathed is on, he's ON. But detractors ended up taking too much of my time. Still, it was great to hear from people who cared so much!!

BTW, if you want a magical Christmas book for a kid, check out Breathed's "Red Ranger Came Calling." I have read that book to my son, now 14, numerous times each Christmas season since he was 4 or 5. I don't know if he'll sit still for any stories this year, but if there's one that captures his imagination, it'll be this one.

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Not even an Argyle sweaterlet

Well, we were supposed to see a change in the Comics Test Center today. Apparently not.

I've sent an e-mail to our paginators asking what happened. No word yet.

But here's "The Argyle Sweater" you should have seen in today's Gazette.




And here is an example of "The Knight Life," although I don't think it's the one that would have appeared in today's paper. I think the creator, Keith Knight, has a set of strips he uses to introduce the comic to new readers.




Let me know what you think. It doesn't look like the strips will appear in Tuesday's paper, either, so I'll try to post them here first thing.

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Thursday, September 04, 2008

'Peanuts' animator dies

I saw this on the wire last night, but the night deskers didn't get it into The Gazette. (Editing my note: Yes, they did, it just didn't show up on a Web search.)

Bill Melendez, who animated Charles Schultz's wonderful "Peanuts" for TV, voiced Snoopy (think back - remember those overly dramatic acks and howls?) and worked for Disney, died in California at age 91.



Check out this piece in the LA Times, if only to see the wonderful photo of Mr. Melendez. What a character he must have been!

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" has been part of my Christmases my entire life. Someone, probably my mom, even sent me a tape that I played and watched with my friends the Christmases I spent overseas.

Thanks, Mr. Melendez, for decades of fine work. Rest in peace.

I can see the gang around the little tree and Linus standing in the spotlight on stage right now. I feel less riled, too.

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Funny in a painful way



The weekend's "Madam & Eve" from South Africa. Nice dig on Mugabe, who has driven Zimbabwe into quite a hole in the past decade, from supplying food to other southern African countries to not being able to feed its own people, from a growing black middle class to driving millions into desperate poverty.


It's not even 8:30 and I've already spent an hour on the ice AND I'm both riled and caffeinated. Look out!

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Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Tundra cartoonist honored

Saw this on The Daily Cartoonist.

Chad Carpenter, who creates "Tundra," a fairly recent addition to The Gazette's comic pages (well, in the scope of Gazette history), was named Alaska's "Cartoonist Laureate."

Check it out, complete with photo of the official document.

I don't see enough "whereas" phrases!

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Zits creator takes buyout

Jim Borgman, creator with Jim Scott of the hugely popular "Zits" comic strip and winner of a Pulitzer Prize for cartooning, has taken a buyout from his employer, the Cincinnati Enquirer, after 32 years there.

Looks like he'll continue to create "Zits," which is a relief to teenagers and parents and grandparents of teenagers everywhere.

Here's a bit more on what happened and what he'll be doing.

Here's today's strip:

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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

So far, calls / emails in favor of change



It's early yet, but in the first dozen responses to dropping "For Better or For Worse," the approvals have it.

A couple of folks called to say they were upset, but when they learned the continued comic isn't entirely new, they said they'd rather we continue searching for a replacement than run reworked or even revived old strips.

The Daily Cartoonist is asking people to report it on what's happening at papers around the country. Some are dropping, some continuing, some giving it a trial, some keeping it only online.

Here's the LA Times' plan, which calls for keeping it in limited form, at least for the next month or so, I believe.

Of course, this brings up the question of what to do with other strips that are in reruns or close enough, such as "Peanuts," "Dennis the Menace," "Marmaduke," "Blondie"... The difference, it appears, at least to readers, is the other strips don't have the continuing, involved storyline.

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Change sooner than expected



I was told we couldn't change the comics pages this soon, but it appears the paginators were able to make the switch and place "Cul de Sac" in the spot previously held by "For Better or For Worse." It'll still take a few weeks to see any changes in the Sunday comics pages. Apparently they're now done nearly a month ahead...

"Daddy's Home" got a pretty good reception. We'll see what happens with "The Knight Life" and "The Argyle Sweater." Those two strips should begin appearing in the Comics Test Center area Monday the 8th.

Let me know what you think!

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