Comic Riffs

The 'Riffs Interview: WES ANDERSON introduces his fantastic 'Mr. Fox'

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:30:09 -0500

Mr. Fox, voiced by George Clooney, left, and Mrs. Fox, voiced by Meryl Streep, are shown in a scene from "Fantastic Mr. Fox." (Fox Searchlight Pictures) ..... When I began a personal International Animation Tour of sorts a year ago, tracking down some of the world's best and brightest minds in the industry, I scarcely expected to cinematically end up at a tiny puppet-scale streetscape modeled uncannily after a pathway in Bath. But now, my journey to locate my biggest animated surprise of '09 has come to a full-stop motion. Since last fall, my quixotic questing to plumb the present and future of animation has led me to the near-requisite interviews with Tim Burton and Mike Judge and Stephen Hillenburg and Robert Smigel; to roundtables with John Lasseter and Hayao Miyazaki; to time with minds behind "Wall-E" and "Up" and "Monsters vs. Aliens" and "Ice Age" and "Frog and

Break Out the Crayolas! It's the Official COLOR 'CUL DE SAC' Contest

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:05:00 -0500

For many readers, it's become a starkly black-and-white issue: They want to see "CUL DE SAC" in color.. So it's time to take matters into your own hands. Literally. As most of you know, Richard Thompson's Post-grown comic strip has run in black-and-white instead of color on most Sundays since moving to the Arts&Style section nearly two months ago. So Comic Riffs, with the aid and abetment of Mr. Thompson himself, today announces the first official Cul de Sac Coloring Contest. That's right--it's your turn to color this beloved comic strip how you see fit. The rules: Color any "Cul de Sac" strip yourself -- be it by crayola or computer -- and send it to Comic Riffs. The contest is open to "kids" of all ages, be you 9 or 99. Comic Riffs encourages youngsters to write their age on their entries. "Cul de Sac's" Richard Thompson (Courtesy

Mike Keefe, Matt Wuerker & Ann Telnaes are honored

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 18:25:59 -0500

UPDATE: Mike Keefe responds Friday to winning the award. Over at The Daily Cartoonist, Alan Gardner reports that Denver Post political cartoonist MIKE KEEFE has just won the Berryman Award. So first let us say: Huzzahs, because Comic Riffs has long been an admirer of Keefe's, who has been plying his craft for more than three decades. On Friday, Keefe shared with Comic Riffs his reaction to winning the award: "It's a rich environment for cartoonists today. [There's] plenty happening on the local, national and international scenes. I applaud the diminishing number of newspapers that value cartooning enough to keep a full-timer on staff." Runners-up for the Berryman were Politico's Matt Wuerker (who was a Pulitzer finalist earlier this year) and our Post colleague Ann Telnaes, the Pulitzer winner who draws animations for washingtonpost.com. Former Memphis Commercial Appeal cartoonist Bill Day received a "certificate of merit" for his cartoons

Would you downsize 'Dilbert'? Time to Defend That 'Toon

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:15:00 -0500

'DILBERT' (UFS)Enlarge Image In recent weeks, some 'Riffs readers have questioned why it was the Scott Adams comic strip "DILBERT." and not the homegrown "CUL DE SAC," that was chosen to remain housed in The Washington Post Magazine, where it lives on Sundays, in gloriously guaranteed color. Well, one pithy reply to that query is: If you're the Post editors involved, do you prefer your humor more whimsical or withering, more acidic or innocent? By their choice, Post editors have spoken. There is little debate, on one hand, that "Dilbert" was THE Zeitgeist strip of the cubicle-dwelling, mission-stating, downsizing '90s. ("The Far Side" and "Calvin and Hobbes" reached superstardom in the Reagan '80s, and "The Boondocks" caught only the tail end of the '90s.) And for many readers, Adams's comic continues to strike extremely resonant chords. For that very reason, "Dilbert" found a home in the business sections of

READER POLL: Does 'risqué' 'Liberty Meadows' go too far?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 09:55:04 -0500

"LIBERTY MEADOWS" Enlarge Image The reader has a provocative point. Yesterday, 'Riffs commenter "scmonty1" had no problem with "Tank McNamara." The reader did, however, have a serious issue with Monday's "LIBERTY MEADOWS," the comic by Frank Cho (Maryland's own, natch) that runs in The Post's online comics lineup. Specifically, "scmonty1" wrote that in taking certain visual, um, liberties, this "Liberty Meadows" is "absolutely over-the-line. C'mon, WaPost, this does not belong in the 'Comics.' Great art, cool story-line, great characters, but, in the Comics??....no way!!" The funnypages are no stranger, of course, to putting the "strip" in comic strip: "Pibgorn," "9 Chickweed Lane" (both Brooke McEldowney productions, natch) and "Judge Parker" are well-known for their physical eye-candy. (Heck, even a recent "Zits" -- which parodied the "Love Is..." cartoons -- came in for a little "put-some-clothes-on" criticism.) Some comics fans even point back to such strips as "L'il Abner" when

REDSKINS POLL: Is this cartoon over the (goal) line?

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:45:13 -0500

"TANK McNAMARA" (UPS)Enlarge Image When it comes to the Bronco-bustin' Washington Redskins, is the comic "TANK McNAMARA" guilty of unnecessary roughness this weekend? Last week, we posted an item about "Tank McNamara's" skewering of the Redskins -- particularly team owner Dan Snyder. Cartoonist Jeff Millar, co-creator of the longtime strip with Bill Hinds, even explained why business was business in terms of this satire. On Friday, "Tank" took perhaps its harshest shot yet at the whole team, saying any time on the field is "garbage time" for the burgundy-and-gold. So the question 'Riffs posts to you is: Do you like the gag, or is this a case of satiric clipping, an unfair shot? You make the call. poll by twiigs.com

UPDATE: A new Congressional app for your iPhone? Artist says Apple finally bites

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 11:15:45 -0500

Kerry, McCain & Pelosi (among others), as you may never see them -- thanks to Apple. (Courtesy of Tom Richmond ) UPDATE: MAD artist Tom Richmond tells Comic Riffs this weekend that Apple has just notified him that -- amid all the attention to his story -- the decision has been reversed and his iPhone app "Bobble Rep" has now been approved and is available via iTunes. Flatulence has proved to be a killer app. So have virtual brewskis and beer pong. You want a lightsaber or a Zippo lighter? Dude, there's an app for that. But light political amusement for your iPhone? Apple, it seems, is unable to think that different. MAD magazine artist Tom Richmond tells Comic Riffs that Apple has shot down his application concept. His apparent sin, he says: Drawing caricatures of our vaunted men and women serving on the Hill. The would-be iPhone app,

You want 'CUL DE SAC' in color? Well. 'You've got to get mad'

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:05:37 -0500

When Richard Thompson's warm and whimsical strip "CUL DE SAC" moved into a new neighborhood recently -- migrating from its native Post Magazine to take up residence in Sunday's Arts&Style -- we were mildly shocked. Like some sort of cartoon version of the Tobey Maguire film "Pleasantville," everything once in color was suddenly rendered in black-and-white. What hot, fresh monochromatic hell was this? Not to worry, Comic Riffs and its readers were assured. On weeks when the Sunday pages allowed for a color "Cul de Sac," it would be forthcoming. Petey would again, for instance, get back his pumpkin-colored hair. Well, it's been -- what? -- some six weeks or so now, and our Sunday "Cul de Sac" is still devoid of Technicolor? There's only one course of action, O 'Riffs readers. To quoth Howard Beale in the great satirical film "Network": "All I know is that first, you've

The comic strip that ruined a friendship, rankled a newspaper and landed in court. And that was BEFORE being launched.

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:05:18 -0500

NOTE: With some stories, the "full disclosure" clause cannot wait till the end, like some sort of buried, "oh-by-the-way" afterthought. In this case, with this story, I'm obligated to disclose up top that I know or have known most all the principals -- either worked with them or for them. That is because the epicenter of this legal case lies along a fault line (so to speak) -- a low-lying San Diego valley -- where sits a former employer of mine, the Union-Tribune. So as you might imagine, my attention has been rapt. Yours just might be, too. It's not often that a single comic strip involves two prominent political cartoonists, let alone an unsavory court case. One of the cartoonists, Steve Breen, is the Union-Tribune's current Pulitzer-winning artist; the other, Steve Kelley, is the Union-Tribune's former longtime editorial cartoonist, now drawing for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. This case

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Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:05:18 -0500

Why do so very few comic strips bother to mark Veterans' Day?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:05:23 -0500

In a time of war (or wars) and so soon after the Fort Hood tragedy, it seems especially a pity that so few comic strips bother to even take note of Veterans' Day. No, noting the holiday shouldn't feel like an obligation to cartoonists, particularly in a strip devoted to, say, anthropomorphized animals beating the living snot out of each other like some sort of line-art Whac-a-Mole. Some of our servicemen and women die, in fact, partly for the artistic freedom not to draw attention to Veterans' Day. (And how roundabout is that?) Still, it would be a welcome sight to see at least a handful of cartoons mark the day of honor and tribute and gratitude. And this is one day,at least, on which I'm glad "PEANUTS CLASSICS" in on the page to represent -- and not AWOL because it was shipped to KidsPost, surrendered for "Frazz's" safe

Should We Forget 'Fuzzy'? Time to Defend (& Commend) That 'Toon

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:05:04 -0500

Bucky Katt's backhanded insults: The feisty feline can certainly make a racket, if not wield one. (United Feature Syndicate) Some readers have asked Comic Riffs why features that are generally acknowledged to be "more popular" still need to be defended, or commended, in this forum. To which I have merely a two-word reply: "Ziggy Lives." By that I mean, I've never met anyone, ever, who has publicly proclaimed to me their deep devotion to "Ziggy." And yet the round-shouldered one -- who stares at us with a sort of bland existential half-grin, as if he can never hold more than 12 words in his head at one time -- marches on, outliving and outmaneuvering some strips of far more substance. In other words: In comics, you can rarely take the subjectivity of "popularity" for granted. That said, I think "GET FUZZY" is absolutely one of the best half-dozen newspaper

REDSKINS: Ex-'Sports Jerk' Dan Snyder takes a satiric sacking -- again. The cartoonist explains why

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:30:35 -0500

NOTE: This post, originally published Sunday, has been updated to include a short Q&A with "Tank McNamara" co-creator Jeff Millar. A safe-for-prime-time "replacement" strip from "Tank" last August. "TANK McNAMARA" Enlarge Comic The path toward becoming a national laughingstock of a sports franchise is typically a gradual one. The early signposts include increasing inepitude on the field and questionable leadership off of it, too. You know you're pretty far down the field, however, when the cartoonists show up to get in their licks. If "TANK McNAMARA" is any indication this coming week, the Redskins are well into the Red Zone of comedic fodder. And it's not just their win-loss record (2-6), but the entire style of leadership that comes in for some visual blind-side blitzing. Notably, the week of Redskins takedowns -- largely satirizing the front office's handling of head coach Jim Zorn's status -- will run in The

Remembering Comic-Con co-founder Shel Dorf

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:00:20 -0500

In this June 29, 2006 picture, Sheldon Dorf holds a Dick Tracy comic book in Ocean Beach, Calif. (AP Photo / San Diego Union Tribune) I met Shel Dorf just once, in the mid-'90s in San Diego, but boy, did his reputation precede him. Sheldon Dorf seemed to be within six degrees of separation -- and much of the time, just a single degree -- from all things comics in Southern California. Dorf, who died this past week of diabetes-related complications at age 76, devoted a life to promoting cartoons and comics culture. In the headlines, Dorf is most often hailed as the co-founder of the world-famous behemoth that is San Diego Comic-Con. Strangely, on the floor of this year's 40th Comic-Con, Shel's name went little mentioned. That was likely for two main reasons: (1) The Con was begun in 1970, as the Golden State Comic Con, by a

Henry Allen speaks: When the reader reaches a tipping point

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:10:55 -0500

When the Comics Reach the Readers' Tipping Point NOTE TO READERS: In the wake of recent newsroom events, more than a few readers have urged and encouraged Comic Riffs to re-post this rant, which was first published two weeks ago today. So, never one to refuse my readers, here's that re-post. All references to "shrinking patience" and "bout" are, quite seriously, coincidental. (I should also note: After Henry read this, he grinned a Cheshire grin, mulled in bemusement for a moment, then offered only two words: "That's. Good.") *Phew.* Henry Allen's patience is shrinking like a stamp-sized comic. Pica by evaporating pica, the funnypages are testing his will to read. He might find "Judge Parker" beautifully drawn, but it is Henry who will be rendering his decision to swear off the micro-funnies. "It's not worth it anymore. They're too damned small," he bemoans over the transom. Henry, who happens

Have a favorite cartoonist video? Show us your links

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:05:51 -0500

More and more, Comic Riffs is sent video. Or rather, video links. Here's a cartoonist peddling a book. Here's a cartoonist inking a panel. And oh look, here's a cartoonist inking a panel at a comic-con while telling amusing anecdotes between taking audience questions -- in order to peddle a book. Some of these videos, though, distinguish themselves in eye-catching ways. For instance, "MAD" cartoonist Tom Richmond -- whom we interviewed recently upon his return from his USO tour to the Mideast -- has posted this short clip from the trip. The comic-book panel effect is stylish enough that I wish the video were longer. Here's the travelogue taste that leaves me wanting more: TOM RICHMOND's USO TOUR: Another video link 'Riffs was recently sent is part of cartoonist Tom Gammill's continuing video series, done with a self-aware shtick. The grabber here is the piano of "Momma" and "Miss