I hope that's "Fiz" on the table.

Yo! To join yesterday's post, here's another Hubert and Abby comic strip from this past week. I thought I'd post one again to give cartoonist Mel Henze a little boost. We're all about helping the little guy here at Zingerding. Strips like Garfield don't need the extra buzz.



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What's with that bottle of "Fiz?" Did Hubert spill it so he can stand in it? Did he pee on the table? It's an odd thing to reveal in the final panel. If it has anything to do with the zinger, it is beyond me but I think it's funny anyway!

Tuesday or Thursday Comic Strip?

Yo, here's a comic strip called Hubert and Abby by Mel Henze. Hubert is a hamster or guinea pig or some sort of house rodent. Abby, well she's a nurse. I just began reading the strip and so far, so good. Abby seems to just float by in life doing the best she can. Hubert causes trouble around the house more out of ignorance than rebellion. He is always giving his two cents that Abby at least entertains listening to.

I like this strip from this past week. I'm a fan of when nonsensical thoughts make sense to those who speak them. Hehe. The whole concept of swapping days around was also a common theme in my favorite comic strip, Pogo. I like it here too. Enjoy!



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Comic Strip Syndication: Bad Business

Last month, I blogged about newspaper syndication, explaining what it is and giving them some praise. However, the system is faulty more than it is supportive of the cartoonist, the newspaper and the syndicate itself. Why is this? Simply because the business of newspapers comic strips has changed over the decades, even before the internet. Syndication was in fact a pretty good system at one point and parts of it still are.

Though the business has changed, the syndication system has not adapted well. The result is not so much in how comic strips are distributed, rather in what has happened to the funny pages. They have become stagnant with a lack of fresh new comic strips.

A business must grow to not only succeed, but to survive. Growth comes from continuous higher returns. The life of a comic strip used to end when a cartoonist retires or dies. The result is a sudden loss of income for the syndicate. But this provides a great opportunity to introduce a new strip, right? The problem is that the new strip cannot make as much money as the old strip, because it takes time for the new one to gain popularity and readership. This is then a financial loss for the syndicate. Their growth is stunted.

The syndicate's answer to this problem is to continue the old strip as either reruns or under penmanship of a new cartoonist. This way, they avoid having to take a loss and can at least keep their current level of income from that strip, even if it is no longer substantially gaining readership because it's like 30+ years old! Throw into the mix several syndicates competing for that rare open slot and you have a tough situation. Newspapers, cartoonists and you, the readers suffer.

Do you think there is a better answer? Let me ask you my dear blog readers, what do you think can re-ignite the funny pages, the same old comic strips or fresh new ones?

Pogo has met the enemy.

Yo! I've introduced Pogo to you before. This Pogo comic strip is perhaps the most famous of all the work by cartoonist, Walt Kelly. It was done for Earth Day in 1971. I'm not going to talk about this one today. I'll just let the strip speak for itself. Click it to enlarge and see the amazing artistry.

Last Snow of the Season

Yo. About a week ago, I blogged about several snowman-themed comic strips. Here is one more from a strip called 'Off The Mark' by cartoonist Mark Parisi. He actually has a bunch of snowman comics on his site under the winter category. His differ from the other ones I posted earlier in that his jokes aren't about the snowman being built by someone (though maybe they are) but rather they have life, ala Frosty. And with that comes a whole bunch of funny new concepts. A majority of his snowman strips revolve around the carrot nose. This is a mark of a good cartoonist, that he has thought up several funny ideas based on a very particular theme, not just the snowman, but his nose. Great job, Mark! This one made me laugh. Click it to enlarge it.

Strip-searching the Japanese, a comic strip classic.

This is the final post on our series of WWII anti-Japanese comics. Check out Terry and Pat strip searching a Japanese POW. That's right, have the juvenile Terry be the one to remove the guy's "g-string". There's nothing weird about that!



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Then we get a nice little summary of military propaganda with a humiliated Japanese man in his g-string. Also mentioned is the "short, squat, fairly heavy beard". Beard? There is no earlier mention of a beard but if you look at the previous pages, one would conclude it is meant to say "build". Oops, someone must have forgotten to proofread.

Purely on speculation now, one would conclude that the US military commissioned this little piece from cartoonist Milton Caniff due to the popularity of his strip. Are these Caniff's sentiments? Most likely not but he was a serious American patriot as seen throughout his career. And during the war, political enemy-hating is what brought prejudices like this to life.

Caniff himself often drew ethnic characters with stereotypical exaggerations like the Chinese guide, Connie here from the 'Terry and the Pirates' comic strip. Then again, Connie is the humor relief character in a serious adventure strip so a sillier execution of style is more appropriate. Even still...

It's not an excuse but it was a different time, you know. At least today our culture has the decency to respect Arab and Islamic people while we're at war with them.

More Anti-Japanese WWII Comics

Yesterday we introduced this series to you drawn by famous adventure strip cartoonist Milton Caniff. This is part of a guide for American soldiers to be able to tell the allied Chinese from the Japanese enemy. These comics are absurdly racist.

Did you know that all Japanese people have buck teeth? Did you know that they all shuffle when they walk? Did you know they all wore wooden sandals before entering the military, thus having mutated, calloused feet? Gee, I'll just have to check with my Japanese friends about this. They all seem pretty normal and cool to me but maybe I just haven't noticed that they "usually expect to be shot". Come to think of it, Ichiro does expect to be shot when playing Halo 3 on his Playstation.




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Oh and look at Terry, the light-hearted blonde American who pokes fun at the Japanese. Make them talk funny, what a laugh! It really is a disgrace that these comics were passed out, not to mention even made in the first place.

I've got the final installment of this series for you tomorrow. Do you think there are secret comic strip guides today telling US military how to tell Iraqis from Saudis? Or terrorists from regular airline passengers like old ladies that get "randomly chosen" for security checks?

Flashback: WWII. Comics don't like the Japanese.

Let's now jump from discussing sexism to racism in comics. Today we're showcasing a series from cartoonist Milton Caniff who drew the famed adventure strip, Terry and the Pirates. This series was drawn for the U.S. Military and printed the "Pocket Guide to China" which was given to soldiers during their stay in China.

Remember, Japan was a political enemy and the derogatory term "Jap", was not generally considered offensive during WWII, unless of course you were Japanese. What this comic attempts to do is distinguish the physical differences between Chinese and Japanese persons. While they are indeed two different nationalities, the points made are absurd. People come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, no matter where one is from. To indicate that the Japanese are always shorter is a gross generalization, the heart of racism itself.



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Not only should the Japanese find this offensive, but Chinese as well. If any of you out there know Terry and the Pirates, you'll also agree how strange it is to call Terry "an average American." He's a kid! This is only the beginning. We'll feature more pages of this series tomorrow. What do you think of these?

Oh, the irony!

Yesterday we discussed the common sexism seen in Andy Capp. This Andy Capp comic strip was printed the following day in the papers. Here, read it. Click it to enlarge.







I cannot even tell if this strip is sexist or not. On one hand, Flo is making a stand by pointing out how wrong it is that cake cutting is "women's work" eluding to the mindset of women belonging in the kitchen. On the other hand, that's supposed to be the zinger! So are we to laugh at that? "Ha ha. Women's work. Good one!"

This one brings up sexism in an unusual way for an Andy Capp strip. Usually, Andy and Flo bicker at each other while Andy makes ignorant comments about women in general. This strip actually points out the negative of such a mindset. Maybe the new creators are bringing Andy into the 21st century after all? Oh wait, read the next day's strip.

What? Andy Capp is sexist? No?!

Yo. Andy Capp is still running after all these years. Started in 1957 by British cartoonist Reg Smythe who died in 1998, the comic strip is now created by Rogers Mahoney and Kettle. This is one of those unfortunate instances where comics are kept going for too long.

Check this one out. Click it to enlarge.







Aren't we past the time where sexism equals humor? Is this funny? I'm a guy and I'm offended. Hey I'm not sayin' these aren't issues that comic strips shouldn't tackle. But that's not what Andy is about. He is known for his hostile, cutting remarks toward his wife. But it's the 21st century now, people. It's not cool to call your wife "pet" while demanding dinner.

Are you offended by such a strip or do you shrug off the crazy ol' outdated Andy? Leave a comment.

Snowman Love

Yo, here's a twisted snowman comic strip by artist Katie Skelly. Here's why this one is so great. The visual joke itself is funny but the the line in the last panel makes it downright hilarious. It makes you wonder what kind of "issues" Teresa has.


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Nothing says "I love you" like an icecube.

Yo! Here''s another comic strip in our Snowman Series. Yes, I didn't realize we'd be doing a snowman series either. It is mid-March and spring is upon us so enjoy these comics before they melt.

This Foxtrot strip by Bill Amend was printed around Valentine's Day. I think it makes more sense when you know it's a v-day comic. Otherwise, it's just odd for a Foxtrot. It's not in Jason's character to build a romantic snowcouple, even though the cartoonist tried to cover that by writing in that he was put up to it. Still...



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The Famous Mutant Snowman

Yesterday Hank posted a baffling strip involving a creepy looking snowman and small boys. Does this sound familiar? The specific origin of when funny snowmen first made their appearance in the humor pages is unknown, but this comic strip device was made famous by cartoonist Bill Waterson of Calvin and Hobbes. He even named a book after it. There are numerous ways in which Calvin has expressed himself through the creation of snowmen. Most of the C&H strips involving funny snowmen don't even involve Calvin, rather they have his parents discovering just how deranged their child is.

Check out these great Calvin and Hobbes examples. How unsettling is that third strip?



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Comic Strip Review: 44 Union Avenue

Yo! Check out this comic strip, 44 Union Avenue by Mike Witmer. First of all, I don't get this one. I think I understand what the joke is supposed to be. The kid is scared of the snowman and it reminds him of his nightmares or he just doesn't want the snowman in his nightmares. I think.



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If he's so freaked out, then why does he stand and stare up at it for two whole panels before running in terror? The silent first panel indicates an even longer sense of time taking in the horrifying snow monster. And why in a state of fear does the kid turn around in panel four and strike a pose of triumphant declaration with a finger pointed to the sky?

Here's why I really don't get the joke. (Is there a joke?) The question posed is what the melting snowman reminds the kid in glasses of. That comment is what triggers his friend running of which he doesn't understand. And then we don't find out what it reminded him of. Huh?

I may have a birdbrain but I know comic strips. Please, please, please, if you understand this strip, explain it to me!!!

Comic Strip Review: Yenny

Yo, here's a unique new strip called Yenny by David Alvarez. Yenny is a Puerto Rican wanna-be supermodel with oversized feet. I've read a few weeks of this strip and from what I can tell, her train doesn't run on rails. She drives off to modeling college, crashes the car, hitchhikes on an ice cream truck, makes out with the ice cream guy, befriends other models at school and struggles with a bigfoot complex.

The art is well done in a modern, cartoony pinup sort of way with high-fashioned, expressive characters. However I feel the wonky perspective of the backgrounds do not fit the feel of the strip itself. David obviously likes drawing scantily clad girls over beach huts and ice cream trucks.

The writing, well let's just say I had trouble finding one to showcase for the blog. The humor is derivative of typical amateur comic strip devices and not very original. Check this one out. Do you believe Yenny is actually thinking of giving up modeling? No. So the zinger is not much of a surprise.

If you read more of the strip, you'll see this one stands out as an odd situation. The girls all seem fairly snobby about their lifestyle and campfire chats don't quite fit in. Why hasn't her friend's hand caught fire? It almost does in panel two. Maybe it's the power of her fireproof stick.

What do you think of Yenny?



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Comic Strip Review: On a Claire Day

Yo. I dig the modern comic strip, On a Claire Day by Carla Ventresca and Henry Beckett. The strip is about Claire (duh) who recently moved into her first apartment and learns to adjust to the real world. She still has close ties with her parents as seen in these two examples.

It is a very simple comic strip in writing, art and humor. The cartoonist, Carla, comes from a greeting card background and it shows. And it works! The art is light and whimsical. The writing in each strip follows an easy-to-follow, linear path toward the zinger at the end. What I mean is that the 'setup' for the joke is not complicated and flows like natural conversation. Nice.

This bird gives Claire a feathers up. What do you think of it?



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What's the deal with "Classic Peanuts"?

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Charles Schulz died on Feb. 12, 2000. He personally wrote and drew every single Peanuts comic strip without an assistant for nearly 50 years. His death should have marked the end of Peanuts' syndication.

Now I know what you're asking. "But Marilla, don't lots of comics continue after an artist's death?" Yes they do and unfortunately, it is quite common. However in these cases, another artist picks up the brush and continues the saga. Schulz's personal dedication to his craft would have been quite dishonored if someone else were allowed to continue the strip.

The newspapers, so fearful of losing readership don't want to give up the immensely popular Peanuts whom millions of readers adore. United Feature Syndicate distributed it to thousands of newspapers for decades, certainly one of their top money-makers. Afraid to lose that revenue, they (along with Schulz's estate) decide to reprint old strips as "Classic Peanuts". This is what you see in the papers today.

Now here is the main reason why this is bad for the funny pages: There is less room for new comics! How are they (syndicates and newspapers) to find the next Peanuts level success if they limit their opportunities? Do they plan on running Classic Peanuts for another 50 years? How deep in fear will they get before readers simply get tired of rerun comics? Has this terrible precedent been set and will we one day be reading Vintage Doonesbury, Retro Ziggy, Antique Garfield and Archaic Dilbert?

From my bag of Peanuts

Yo! You shoulda heard Marilla griping last night about "Classic Peanuts" being printed in the papers these days. She was so fired up she wrote a blog post about it for tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll wet your whistle with a good 'ol Peanuts comic strip from 1961. This one made me laugh.


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Dick Tracy - then and now

Yo... To illustrate Marilla's point from yesterday's post, here are two Dick Tracy strips. The first is from Sept. 23, 1944 and when printed, spanned the width of the newspaper page. The second strip is from Feb. 20, 2007. Look in your paper and see how small they are printed today. There are commonly two rows of comics with ads or puzzles along the side of the page. The modern comic strip is less than a third of the width of the page. Click on the 1944 strip and check out the level of detail drawn in the background (and this example is mild). That just can't be done in today's comics.



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Tomorrow I promise to bring you funny comic strips. Enough of this adventure stuff, eh?

What happened to adventure strips?

They used to be quite popular but the genre has been slowly dying out. Several factors affected the staying power of adventure strips, or any other kind of the more serious "continuity comic strips".

When the adventure strip was born in the 1930s, comics were not the small strips you see today. They were printed larger, across the entire width of the newspaper page and artists had more space with which to work. An artist often had a full page for their own Sunday comic! This provided great possibilities for portraying the dramatics needed for adventure storytelling. Comics have gotten smaller and smaller over the decades, thus space limitations have taken its toll on the ability to portray adventure and suspense.

So comic books picked up the slack with the ability to fully explore and expand the devices needed to depict adventure. Artists interested in the genre then went to the booming comic book industry rather than newspapers. However, through World War II, several war hero strips popped up in the papers and continued great success well into the 50s and beyond.

Besides comic books, other forms of entertainment became competition for the adventure strips. Radio drama, television and movies grew in popularity and as they became more sophisticated (especially TV and film) the shrinking adventure strip could hardly compete. If you want action and suspense, would you read the comics or watch a movie? And these days we have the internet for people to spend their time reading brilliant blogs by stunning alligators and hip birds.

Sure you still see adventure strips in the papers. But how adventurous are they? Do you read any of them? Leave a comment and let us know!

Now some Steve Canyon

Yo! As explained yesterday, 'Rip Haywire' is an homage to the adventure strips of the 1940s and 50s. So today I thought I'd bring you 'Steve Canyon' by Milton Caniff.

I don't have a date on this one but it looks to be the late 40s. The chick in the strip is Copper Calhoon, a villain/love interest. As in all adventure strips, this one is plucked right out of an ongoing storyline. The previous day's strip showed Steve fist-fighting with Copper's thugs. Now in this one, he's got a stream of blood running down his face. But he remains collected and sharp-tongued.

Would you trust a woman with eyebrows like that?


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Rip Haywire

Yo! Here's the first internet-only comic strip (a.k.a. webcomic) we're featuring here at Zingerding. It's called 'Rip Haywire' by cartoonist Dan Thompson. The strip is both an homage and a spoof of classic adventure strips like 'Steve Canyon' or 'Captain Easy' mixed with a contemporary edge and sense of humor. Plus it's beautifully drawn!

Rip is the captain of a cargo plane and his dog/sidekick's name is TNT. Cobra Carson is the girl and so far I can't tell if she's a love interest or a "bad guy". She's probably both. Oh the drama! What will Rip do?

Here's a sample strip from the middle of an ongoing storyline. I dig the action in this one!


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Yo! Here's a weird Willie the Penguin comic strip advertising Kool cigarettes. I don't have a date on this strip but I do know they were printed in comic sections of the paper along with the regular strips. Something tells me that wouldn't fly these days.

I've heard stories about Willie from some of the old-timer comic characters. They say he was a sellout and once he got hooked on nicotine, it was all downhill from there. I think he was probably drunk in those first two panels, skating with half-lidded eyes into a sign right in front of him. And did he remove his feet in panel three? They don't have the skates on the bottom and they match his girlfriend's feet. Hmm.

Joe Camel got a bad rap for presumedly marketing cigs to kids. I think Willie is worse. What do you think?