Tagged: strip

GoComics Adds ‘The Doozies’

GoComics Adds ‘The Doozies’

  • News
  • December 20, 2008

GoComics.com as added The Doozies, a new strip from Tom Gammill. Dean Doozie will be the focal point, a “lovable boob” married to Dana and father to Eve. The new strip will update three times a week and is now live.

"What I meant to say was I’m a lovable boob," the Emmy Award-winning TV writer/producer said in a release. "Dean Doozie is a dynamic new character and a welcome addition to any comics page. He’ll be tackling hard-hitting topics like the importance of flossing."

Additionally, Gammill and writing partner Max Pross will produce Learn to Draw videos. "When I was a kid I bought a lot of "How To Draw" books by famous cartoonists who nobody had ever heard of, and weren’t very good artists," Gammill says. "I’m proud to be following in that tradition."

Gammill has written episodes of Seinfeld, The Critic, and The Wonder Years, and has co-produced episodes of The Simpsons and Futurama.
 

Tim Boyle Wants to Direct ‘The Phantom Legacy’

Tim Boyle Wants to Direct ‘The Phantom Legacy’

  • News
  • December 20, 2008

Australia loves The Phantom, so when news broke over the weekend that the comic strip legend was returning to the silver screen, the local media began covering it in earnest.

Tim Boyle told the Courier Mail that he would love to direct The Phantom Legacy which he is writing. The writer/director most recently saw his The Plex released internationally. He has worked with far smaller budgets than the $87 million producer Bruce Sherlock estimated the film will require.

Boyle says he’s up to the challenge and envisions Sam Worthington as ideal for the Ghost Who Walks.  Worthington will next be seen in Terminator Salvation next May. Worthington also appeared in Boyle’s Fink so they are familiar with one another.

The writer has moved to Los Angeles for three months to work with Sherlock on locking down pre-production details from distribution to casting. A director choice is expected in January.
 

Frank Miller Moves from Central City to 25th Century

Frank Miller Moves from Central City to 25th Century

  • News
  • December 19, 2008

No sooner did Buck Rogers get optioned for a feature film this summer than the rumors named Frank Miller as the director, something that everyone involved has denied until now.  The Hollywood Reporter and Variety both say Odd Lot Entertainment is close to signing Miller to adapt the comic strip to the screen.

Odd Lot hired Miller to direct The Spirit, which opens on Christmas Day and producer Deborah Del Prete let slip in October that Miller would move to the science fiction hero next. Odd Lot obtained the rights from Nu Image/Millennium, which has been holding the rights since the summer, obtained from the Dille Trust. The Trust is headed by John Flint Dille, a longtime friend of Miller’s, and he may have started the rumor at the time of the deal.

Miller will reportedly write and direct the adaptation which will likely follow his personal dark vision of dystopias.

Acclaimed for his work in comics on Daredevil and The Dark Knight Returns, his film work has been less well received starting with his work on RoboCop 2.  His Sin City was a major success and 300 was based on his Dark Horse graphic novel, although it was adapted by Zack Snyder.  Miller is making his solo debut on The Spirit, based on Will Eisner’s legendary comic strip.  Early reviews broke yesterday and have been uniformly negative.  This could well be the second straight super-hero misfire from Lionsgate, which delivered Punisher War Zone DOA earlier this month.

Buck Rogers was based on a 1928 novella, Armageddon 2419 AD by Philip Francis Nowlan which appeared in Amazing Stories. It quickly spawned a sequel and the stories caught the imagination of John F. Dille, president of the National Newspaper Service syndicate. He brought the feature to the newspapers as a comic strip in 1929, coming to own the property. America’s first SF comic strip, it was written by Nowlan with art by Dick Calkins. Through the years, the strip was graced with terrific art from the likes of Murphy Anderson and George Tuska, until it ended in 1967. The strip was revived in 1979 by artist Gray Morrow and writers Jim Lawrence and Cary Bates lasting until the strip’s ending in 1983.

Buck Rogers has appeared in comic books (with stunning Frank Frazetta art), serials (with Buster Crabbe), a four-times-a-week radio serial from 1932 through 1947; a 1950 half-hour television series and the 1979 NBC series (the horrible adaptation with Gil Gerard).

The Dille Trust under Flint Dille has repeatedly attempted to revive the character for modern audiences through Role Playing games, comics and media. All the attempts have yet to capture the fancy of today’s audiences.

‘Rip Haywire’ gets Syndicated January 5

‘Rip Haywire’ gets Syndicated January 5

  • News
  • December 12, 2008

Cartoonist Dan Thompson will see his humorous Rip Haywire adventure strip go from the web to newspapers when United Media syndicates the strip as of January 5, 2009.

“Featuring stunning artwork and blending melodrama with deadpan humor, Rip Haywire is not only a loving update of thrilling golden-age comics like Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates, but also a witty satire of the action genre in general,” Ted Rall, United Media’s acquisitions editor said in a release. “Dan Thompson’s masterpiece sends up all manner of macho icons, from action movie heroes like Schwarzenegger to TV shows like 24. I was instantly hooked.”

The syndicate describes the character as “a soldier of fortune cast as a comic version of Indiana Jones, James Bond and Jason Bourne. Along for the ride in his adventures are his cowardly dog, TNT, and his ex-girlfriend Cobra.”

Rip Haywire has been on the web for nearly two years and has briefly been part of Viper Comics and Humorous Maximus.  Thompson is also known for the webcomic Lost Sheep.

Thompson began working for a Connecticut animation studio before going freelance.  His work has been seen in releases from Mad kids Magazine, Platinum Studios, and Universal Press Syndicates/Uclick. He is a member of the National Cartoonist Society and makes his home in North Carolina.
 

‘Mutts’ Comments on Obama Dog Adoption

‘Mutts’ Comments on Obama Dog Adoption

  • News
  • December 4, 2008

Mutts has never been afraid of dealing with current events and now, a new storyline begins on Monday as the characters begin discussing the hunt for a dog as pet for president-elect Barack Obama’s children.

Patrick McDonnell’s comic strip is currently syndicated in over 700 newspapers most recently advocated in favor of a California proposition and now focuses on the desire for the Obamas to find a dog from a shelter.  The new First Family’s every step is carefully chosen these days for its symbolic meaning and Obama keeping his campaign promise to his daughters is now different.

McDonnell uses strip regulars Mooch the Cat and Earl the Dog to spotlight the 7.5 million dogs and 16.2 million cats now living in American homes, all of which came from shelters.
 
The Humane Society of the United States has showered McDonnell with their Genesis Award three times to date. He’s been singled out for using Mutts to show how hard the staff and volunteers at animal shelters work to rescue and care for the more than six million animals living in shelters in this country.. Shelter Stories: Love Guaranteed collects 100 of the strips along with 70 candid photos of rescued dogs that have gone on to new homes through the adoption process.
 

Aaron McGruder’s Next Act

Aaron McGruder’s Next Act

  • News
  • December 1, 2008

Aaron McGruder emerged as a fresh voice in cartooning with his racially-tinged Boondocks comic strip, which debuted in 1999 and lasted until 2006.  The comic strip about two young boys living in urban Chicago also made it to television as an animated series on the Cartoon Network after Black Entertainment Television refused McGruder’s offer to adapt it themselves.  The artist and BET feuded for some time as a result. Despite that, he and former BET exec Reginald Hudlin cowrote Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel, which was illustrated by Kyle Baker in 2004.

A second season of the animated series remains in production but has been delayed.  In the meantime, he also works on the The Super Rumble Mix Show. The 34-year-old creator also just launched BoondocksBootleg, described as the "Official Unofficial YouTube channel of Aaron McGruder".
 

Zuda Adds Print to Web

Zuda Adds Print to Web

  • News
  • November 19, 2008

Zuda Comics will offer up their first print compilations next summer according to Wired. Bayou by Jeremy Love will have his feature collected first, coming in June.

The magazine says the strip “tackles racism and violence in 1930s Mississippi, is as hypnotic as it is unsettling.”

Our own Dave Gallaher’s High Moon, illustrated by Steve Ellis, will be out in time for Halloween.

Zuda is now in its second year of existence and has been DC’s unique approach to digital comics.  While advertiser supported, the print compilations will go towards monetizing the site for parent company DC Comics.

The magazine notes, “What’s new is Zuda’s ability to use the internet as a minor league for major comics fame. Now that its webcomics are beginning to metamorphose into printed graphic novels, the operation should reach even more comics fans.”
 

TMS says ‘Dick Tracy’ not Headed for Retirement

TMS says ‘Dick Tracy’ not Headed for Retirement

  • News
  • November 18, 2008

When Dick Tracy writer/artist Dick Locher told Dubuque’s Telegraph Herald that he was likely to retire, rumors spread quickly that the legendary detective was likely to be retired as well.

Tribune Media Service’s Mary Elson stated “there are no plans to shutdown the comic.” She also said she knew of no formal retirement plans for Locher, who not only does the strip but produces editorial cartoons for the syndicate.

The 77 year old police strip was created by Chester Gould who handled the feature until his retirement in 1977.  Max Allan Collins and Gould’s longtime assistant Rick Fletcher then produced the feature, taking the status quo back to its earliest days.  Locher, who previously assisted Gould, stepped when Fletcher passed away in 1983. Mike Kilian replaced Collins as writer in 1992 until his death in 2005 when Locher took the writing reins as well.

Legal rights stemming from the 1990 Disney film which was directed by star Warren Beatty, have held up any additional media exploitation of the character, one of the longest running adventure strips still being published.

Garry Trudeau Addresses the Troops

Garry Trudeau Addresses the Troops

  • News
  • November 17, 2008

Garry Trudeau wrote a piece that ran in Stars & Stripes, commenting on the current military and their reaction to his comic strip, Doonesbury.

Noting that S&S began running the strip during the Vietnam war impressed him, he said, “the strip was unambiguously anti-war in outlook, it was a counterintuitive move on the part of the editors, and there were several campaigns to dump it. Fortunately, there was always a noisy cadre of readers who stood ready to support it, and the strip somehow survived.”

What prompted him to write was the tenor of the letters he’d been receiving from soldiers and related personnel who took issue with his depictions of soldiers here and aboard.

“Since I was first invited to visit with troops in Kuwait in 1991 (following an in-theater exhibit of my work that toured regional bases), I have talked with hundreds of military personnel. During my visit, I received Certificates of Achievement from both the 4th Battalion 67th Armor (‘For significant contributions to the morale of the United States Forces’) and the Ready First Brigade (For providing aid and comfort to the United States Forces’). More recently, I have toured military hospitals from Landstuhl to Walter Reed to Brooke, and VA hospitals and Vet Centers from Kansas City to Palo Alto, interviewing scores of wounded warriors about their experiences with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) and military sexual trauma (MST).

“I also maintain and edit a milblog called The Sandbox at doonesbury.com to which scores of active-duty military personnel contribute on a regular basis. A collection of their work was recently published, again to benefit Fisher House. In recognition of the strip, I’ve been honored to receive the Commander’s Award for Public Service by the Department of the Army, the Commander’s Award from Disabled American Veterans, the President’s Award for Excellence in the Arts from Vietnam Veterans of America, the Distinguished Public Service Award from the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and a special citation from the Vet Centers


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Guest Strip Project Nears 100th Entry

Guest Strip Project Nears 100th Entry

  • News
  • November 16, 2008

The Guest Strip Project has announced a new fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation (one of our personal favorites) as it nears its 100th strip.  The project was conceived in April and was announced as a one year event that would raise money through ads, donations and upcoming merchandise.

The spot reserved for the 100th strip on December 1 is up for grabs.

Program leader Mike Rouse-Deane says, “If you haven’t already contributed to the Guest Strip Project all you need to do is a Christmas strip and be one of the 31 artists, webcomic artists or even just fans. As long as you can pick up a pencil, that’s all we need!”

When we first profiled the charity site, we outlined the requirements which remain:

One artist can only do one guest strip, they won’t be asked back, once their page is completed it’ll go into the archives and they can never return. This means its much more complicated but also allows other talented people out there to have a chance of making an impact.

At the side of each page are banners and also donation buttons where people can donate money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. There’s also the store which will every so often have exclusive merchandise as well as spin-off books, posters, t-shirts and artwork up for grabs all donating to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Entries can be e-mailed to moovok@yahoo.com and a selection will be made just before the release date.

The strip must be 700 x 221, in a gif format and have a Christmas theme including one (or all) of the established characters. Your submission should contain your email with your website.

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