Andertoons Cartoon Blog

Spot the Frog Ending

Some terrible news from my good friend Mark Heath - Spot the Frog, a rare laugh in the comics pages anymore, will be ending July 5.

To quote Mark:

This will be six month’s shy of the five year contract. The reason is the usual one: too few client papers, the need to earn money to replace my missing socks. I spoke with United Media and they were sympathetic to my odd sock fetish.

You'll have to read more to get the sock reference.

It just kills me when good work like this isn't given its due. Spot is funny, clever, sweet & kind. The papers and syndicate never knew what a gem of a strip they had.

Mark is considering a third book if there's enough interest. I know I'm interested, and you should be too.

Sign up here. And harangue your papers for not picking it up when they had the chance.

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A Movie's a Movie, No Matter How Bad

Being a father of two wee ones under five, I read a lot of Seuss. Which I love!

So seeing his wonderful books turned into awful move after awful movie... GRR!!

The Onion explains my anger perfectly in this recent post. Here's a sample:

Did you learn all but squat from The Cat In The Hat?
Please tell me you fired the prick who made that.
I would have stopped writing, maybe sold Goodyear tires.
If I knew one dark day I'd costar with Mike Myers.

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Andertoons Profiled at Business Owners' Idea Cafe

Business Owner's Idea Cafe bills itself as "A Fun Approach to Serious Business," and I've often marketed Andertoons as "Taking Funny Seriously," so I guess it's only natural that the two sites got together for this profile of Andertoons.

A few tidbits:

Anything you would have done differently?

I probably should've quit my day job sooner. I was surprised how much more art I could get done when I was downsized.

What advice do you have for others?

Figure out how to sell yourself online, and fast. Watch for those big trends (I discovered blogs earlier than most) and hit them hard. And get yourself a decent coffee maker. You're gonna drink a lot of it; get something that makes it taste good.

Favorite Food?

Chocolate chip cookies.

Go read the whole thing here!

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Jimmy's Non Sequitur

Regular reader, Jimmy, wanted to see a little more of the inside of the Trib's new comics section, especially the vertical Non Sequitur.

Here you go:

Sorry about the lighting and the general crumminess of the picture. I took it at 5:14 AM before my first cup of coffee.

I think NS holds up well. No idea if Wiley had to change anything.

Peanuts, however, doesn't work so well vertically:

Kinda awkward IMHO.

Anyway, there's a look inside for ya!

Technorati Tags: cartoon, cartooning, cartoonist, cartoons, comics

Chicago Tribune Comics Section Format Change

Thanks for being patient while I battled my sinuses for a few days there.

As promised, here's the old Trib comics section (left) and the new one (right).

Looks like about the same number of comics, although they're printed a bit smaller.

All in all I'd say it's a nice new format, it's a good size for kids' hands, and including it with the TV guide may spur some readership.

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Chicago Tribune Changing Sunday Comics to Tabloid Format

So I reading about the last season of BSG last Sunday, and I notice this on the inside cover of the Trib's TV Week:

Starting next Sunday, TV Week is becoming The Guide to TV and the Internet, with fresher TV listings, more channel listings and more color. And tucked inside The Guide will be your favorite color comics in an easier-to-scan tabloid format. Plus you'll get our experts' and readers' advice about the best sites on the internet, including those on chicagotribune.com and elsewhere.

Here are the details:

In our more up-to-date listings grids, you'll find nine new cable channels, plus color coding that will instantly guide you to movies, sports, news/talk, and our Best Bets.

In Comics, which will be a pullout section inside The Guide, Chicago's best comics and puzzles – now including the popular TV jumble – will be easier to hold ad share among the entire family.

Each week in our guide to the internet, we will cut through the jungle of millions of sites to the best ones as determined by Tribune experts and readers like you. Each week, we'll offer different topics for time-saving surfing.

Look for it next Sunday in the same spot you've been finding TV Week.

From the look of the graphic, it looks like The Guide is gonna be sized like Parade or the Trib's weekly local news mag.

Interesting huh? I'll post some pics next week of the new comics section.

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"On The Media" Talks Cartoons

One of my recent favorite podcasts is On The Media on NPR.

So I'm listening to it while coloring some greeting cards this morning and I heard all sorts of good cartoon talk via Nick Anderson and Professor Elaine K. Miller.

Both interview are great, but one sentence of Miller's really sprang out at me:

"Cartoonists mine the metaphors of the social landscape."

Wow! Is that great or what?!

Anyway, go listen to it.

Technorati Tags: andertoons, audio, cartoon, cartooning, cartoonist, cartoons, NPR

Learn the Lynch Way

Hey, good cartooning pal Mike Lynch is offering to let you in on his wealth of cartoony knowledge!

Via Andertalk:

I'll be teaching cartoon classes in the Southern New Hampshire area (Farmington/Milton/Middleton/New Durham) for 6 Wednesday nights from 7 to 8:30pm beginning February 13.

MAGAZINE CARTOONING FOR FUN & PROFIT

Professional cartoonist, Mike Lynch, will show you how to turn your ideas into a cartoon.
Through individualized instruction, we will target drawing challenges, and look at how you
tell a story through the single magazine panel cartoon. The classes are designed for the
individual, intermediate or advanced cartoonists. The course will finish with each
participant creating his or her own comic feature, including characters and story line.

Were I you, New Hampshire cartoonist-in-waiting, I'd sign up now!

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It's All About Tony Murphy

Hooray hooray hooray for Tony Murphy and his newly Washington Post Writers Group syndicated strip, It's All About You!

I met Tony via Mike Lynch at the Chicago Reubens two years ago where we discussed "The Electric Company" late into the evening.

The strip ran...

...for two years in Boston and New York’s free Metro newspapers before being picked up by The Washington Post Writers Group.

Wow! This is so great! Hoo-hoo! Congrats, Tony!!

(And thanks to Charles and Rod for the tip and the link!)

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Zippity-Zuda, Zippity Eh?

Tom Spurgeon writes about an article today in the Times wherein DC Comics announces its new Zudacomics.com.

Launching in October, some bullet points listed include:

• Zuda Comics will be all-new, original comics made specifically for the web.
• Zuda Comics will collect submissions from the Zuda community — that means you. You make the web comics and send them to us for publication.
• Not only that, but the majority of comics we publish will be selected by the Zuda community. We'll put up a batch of the comics you submitted each month. Then you and all of the other users will vote, comment, and rate the comics. The one you guys like the best is the one we'll sign up for a one-year contract.

I dunno, you see this type of thing a lot, and I'm really hoping this works out for somebody (and I have to admit, even I am a little tempted), but I'm skeptical.

I think I'll wait to see what the one-year contract includes.

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