Free for All roundup of short critiques of The Post
Washington Post Saturday, December 26, 2009
Christmas spirits
What a heartwarming Christmas message the "Lio" comic strip put forth Dec. 23. I only hope that when my 5-year-old is waiting in front of a liquor store to score some booze, he remembers that I prefer single-malt Scotch!
Mitch Katz, Falls Church
Showing posts with label Lio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lio. Show all posts
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Weingarten's Chatalogical Humor chat on some comics
Comments on comics from the past two weeks including Chatological Humor: Denim Friendly Since 2001; Talking Susan Boyle (UPDATED 4.24.09) aka Tuesdays With Moron, Gene Weingarten, Washington Post Staff Writer, Tuesday, April 21, 2009; 12:00 PM.
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What were they thinking?: So the comics editors brought back "Judge Parker." Okay, fine, I'm cool with that. I was wondering if Sophie was going to make the cheerleading squad. But to make room, they chose a strip to move to the KidsPost page, and the strip they chose was... "Agnes"? Um, has anyone involved with this decision actually read "Agnes"? It's often incomprehensibly edgy, certainly for the KidsPost demographic.
I have a ten-year-old daughter who likes to read some of the comics, and I can tell you without a doubt which strip most appeals to her: "Baby Blues." It manages to be truly funny but also understandable to kids. If the point of this exercise is to get more kids to look at KidsPost, they should really rethink the choice of strip.
Could you go slap the comics editors around for me, Gene?
Gene Weingarten: I am not allow to slap comics editors.
_______________________
I am not one of your sycophant groupies...: I want you to know how utterly reprehensible it is that your weekly harangue against Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Family Circus et al should result in your comic strip being picked up by a syndicate. Many of us cut our teeth and learned how to read from those very strips and what you don't seem to understand is that not every comic has to appeal to the tastes of a 60 year old, old fart like yourself.
So go enjoy your ill gotten fruit but know that some of us recognize the dublicity of it all especially picking on poor little PJ -- I mean heck, he's just a little kid !
Gene Weingarten: I think P.J. is something like 48 years old.
_______________________
[apropos of a previous discussion of what makes a hero]
Krypt, ON: I find it interesting that Superman would not be considered a hero here for doing good since he risks nothing and expends, for him, little effort, but would be because he does it on his own time. Sometimes. When he isn't defrauding a newspaper. Which may be the real reason newspapers are going under.
Gene Weingarten: Whoa, whoa. He is a hero. It's not a question necessarily of what you risk, it's what you sacrifice. He sacrifices privacy. He sacrifices the ability to be a fully realized person. He is definitely a hero.
Rockville, Md.: Gene,
Is there something wrong with me because I was incredibly turned on by seeing Janis topless in yesterday's Arlo and Janis? I'm a happily married 39 year old guy if it makes a difference.
washingtonpost.com: Arlo and Janis, (April 20)
Gene Weingarten: I've said it before. Arlo and Janis is the hottest comic strip maybe ever.
_______________________
Funny Pa, PR: Since you're not allowed to bring this up: the April 17 Lio was genuinely unreadable at the size the Post printed it. The only way to make sense of it was to work backwards: there was a staggering drunk spider, so the spiderweb must have had something intoxicating in it.
At first there didn't seem to be anything in the middle of the web at all. Prolonged close study revealed what I guess was a beer can. Figuring this out was not worth the eyestrain.
Gene Weingarten: This was absolutely true. It's how I had to read it to get the joke. Liz, can you link to this? Online, it will be bigger; but imagine trying to figure it out at an inch high.
and a 'new' contest, although Cavna's been doing this off and on at Comic Riffs, usually with editorial cartoons.
Chatological Humor: Swine Flu Fever; Quiet Cars; Cat Calls (UPDATED 4.30.09), Gene Weingarten, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, April 29, 2009; 12:00 PM
Several weeks ago, Chatological Humor discontinued its regular Comic Pick of the Week feature, on the theory that it would be unseemly for me to critique comic strips if I were soon to be the author of one. I promised to find a replacement feature, and here it is. It's going to be reader-generated, and the first submission is by Justin Stone.
That's what we're doing. Rewrite dialog balloons for any current comic strip; you can either post your results on a Web site like flickr or Facebook, and send me a link, or you can send it right to me at weingarten(at)washpost.com. Important: You must make your dialogue fit the existing balloons. As Justin discovered, this can be hard. Comic-strip writing is Pinteresque.
Gene Weingarten: Ooh, this just in. Chatological Humor might have had a beneficial, tangible effect in the world.
Last week, a chatter noted, correctly, that "Agnes" was a tone-deaf joice as the comic strip chosen to appear on the KidsPost page. Very, very true: It's excellently cynical, even nihilistic, with big words and complex themes.
Someone apparently listened. I've just heard that it goes back on the comics page, and will be replaced in KidsPost by Frazz. Much better choice. Frazz or Big Nate would have been my choices.
I disagree here, as did some other Comic Riffs commenters. Garfield or Peanuts would have been a better choice. My 11-year-old daughter doesn't read Frazz.
--------------
What were they thinking?: So the comics editors brought back "Judge Parker." Okay, fine, I'm cool with that. I was wondering if Sophie was going to make the cheerleading squad. But to make room, they chose a strip to move to the KidsPost page, and the strip they chose was... "Agnes"? Um, has anyone involved with this decision actually read "Agnes"? It's often incomprehensibly edgy, certainly for the KidsPost demographic.
I have a ten-year-old daughter who likes to read some of the comics, and I can tell you without a doubt which strip most appeals to her: "Baby Blues." It manages to be truly funny but also understandable to kids. If the point of this exercise is to get more kids to look at KidsPost, they should really rethink the choice of strip.
Could you go slap the comics editors around for me, Gene?
Gene Weingarten: I am not allow to slap comics editors.
_______________________
I am not one of your sycophant groupies...: I want you to know how utterly reprehensible it is that your weekly harangue against Hagar the Horrible, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Family Circus et al should result in your comic strip being picked up by a syndicate. Many of us cut our teeth and learned how to read from those very strips and what you don't seem to understand is that not every comic has to appeal to the tastes of a 60 year old, old fart like yourself.
So go enjoy your ill gotten fruit but know that some of us recognize the dublicity of it all especially picking on poor little PJ -- I mean heck, he's just a little kid !
Gene Weingarten: I think P.J. is something like 48 years old.
_______________________
[apropos of a previous discussion of what makes a hero]
Krypt, ON: I find it interesting that Superman would not be considered a hero here for doing good since he risks nothing and expends, for him, little effort, but would be because he does it on his own time. Sometimes. When he isn't defrauding a newspaper. Which may be the real reason newspapers are going under.
Gene Weingarten: Whoa, whoa. He is a hero. It's not a question necessarily of what you risk, it's what you sacrifice. He sacrifices privacy. He sacrifices the ability to be a fully realized person. He is definitely a hero.
Rockville, Md.: Gene,
Is there something wrong with me because I was incredibly turned on by seeing Janis topless in yesterday's Arlo and Janis? I'm a happily married 39 year old guy if it makes a difference.
washingtonpost.com: Arlo and Janis, (April 20)
Gene Weingarten: I've said it before. Arlo and Janis is the hottest comic strip maybe ever.
_______________________
Funny Pa, PR: Since you're not allowed to bring this up: the April 17 Lio was genuinely unreadable at the size the Post printed it. The only way to make sense of it was to work backwards: there was a staggering drunk spider, so the spiderweb must have had something intoxicating in it.
At first there didn't seem to be anything in the middle of the web at all. Prolonged close study revealed what I guess was a beer can. Figuring this out was not worth the eyestrain.
Gene Weingarten: This was absolutely true. It's how I had to read it to get the joke. Liz, can you link to this? Online, it will be bigger; but imagine trying to figure it out at an inch high.
and a 'new' contest, although Cavna's been doing this off and on at Comic Riffs, usually with editorial cartoons.
Chatological Humor: Swine Flu Fever; Quiet Cars; Cat Calls (UPDATED 4.30.09), Gene Weingarten, Washington Post Staff Writer, Wednesday, April 29, 2009; 12:00 PM
Several weeks ago, Chatological Humor discontinued its regular Comic Pick of the Week feature, on the theory that it would be unseemly for me to critique comic strips if I were soon to be the author of one. I promised to find a replacement feature, and here it is. It's going to be reader-generated, and the first submission is by Justin Stone.
That's what we're doing. Rewrite dialog balloons for any current comic strip; you can either post your results on a Web site like flickr or Facebook, and send me a link, or you can send it right to me at weingarten(at)washpost.com. Important: You must make your dialogue fit the existing balloons. As Justin discovered, this can be hard. Comic-strip writing is Pinteresque.
Gene Weingarten: Ooh, this just in. Chatological Humor might have had a beneficial, tangible effect in the world.
Last week, a chatter noted, correctly, that "Agnes" was a tone-deaf joice as the comic strip chosen to appear on the KidsPost page. Very, very true: It's excellently cynical, even nihilistic, with big words and complex themes.
Someone apparently listened. I've just heard that it goes back on the comics page, and will be replaced in KidsPost by Frazz. Much better choice. Frazz or Big Nate would have been my choices.
I disagree here, as did some other Comic Riffs commenters. Garfield or Peanuts would have been a better choice. My 11-year-old daughter doesn't read Frazz.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Tatulli of Lio interviewed by his syndicate
Lio's one of my favorite strips in the Post. Universal editor John Glynn just posted 14 questions in "And now ... a very special interview with Mark "Lio/Heart of the City" Tatulli," December 8 2008. Tatulli speaks very well of Our Man Thompson's Cul de Sac therein.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Great Pumpkin resonates in comics
Two strips in the Post today, Lio and Little Dog Lost, both tipped a wink towards Peanuts and Linus' search for the Great Pumpkin. If Dave Astor still was at E&P, I wouldn't have to write posts like this.
In the USA Weekend magazine including in the Examiner, there's a funny Walmart ad for the video of the Incredible Hulk movie. A family is watching the Hulk movie, and the Hulk himself has busted through the wall of their house and is crunching one side of their sofa as he settles in to watch himself on the tv. The paper also included a trick-or-treat bag for Halloween with ads for animated movies Madagascar 2 and Monsters vs. Aliens.
In the USA Weekend magazine including in the Examiner, there's a funny Walmart ad for the video of the Incredible Hulk movie. A family is watching the Hulk movie, and the Hulk himself has busted through the wall of their house and is crunching one side of their sofa as he settles in to watch himself on the tv. The paper also included a trick-or-treat bag for Halloween with ads for animated movies Madagascar 2 and Monsters vs. Aliens.
Friday, July 25, 2008
New book of wordless graphic novels by David Berona
Some years ago, I worked on a wordless comics bibliography - "Stories Without Words : A Bibliography with Annotations" compiled by Michael Rhode, Tom Furtwangler, and David Wybenga, International Journal of Comic Art,v. 2, no. 2 (Fall 2000), p. 265-306.
David Berona's done more than anyone else to bring some forgotten works back to public view. Here's a profile of him: "Central alum writes the book on wordless books; David Berona links wordless books of '30s to today's graphic novels," By Andrew McGinn, Springfield News Sun Thursday, July 24, 2008.
Needless to say, the bibliography's out of date. Lio's my current favorite wordless comic strip.
David Berona's done more than anyone else to bring some forgotten works back to public view. Here's a profile of him: "Central alum writes the book on wordless books; David Berona links wordless books of '30s to today's graphic novels," By Andrew McGinn, Springfield News Sun Thursday, July 24, 2008.
Needless to say, the bibliography's out of date. Lio's my current favorite wordless comic strip.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Calvin returns! In Lio?
This week, Mark Tatulli's Lio, through a Frankenstein-like experiment has featured a familiar boy ... and today, his tiger as well.
Friday, February 29, 2008
Mark Tatulli of Lio chat on WashPost.com
See "Meet the Comics Pages: Mark Tatulli, Cartoonist -- Lio", Friday, February 29, 2008; 1:00 PM. Note our man Thompson get schooled by Tobin towards the end for daring to ask about Beetle Bailey.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
3 bits quickly
According to Dave Astor at E&P Online, Mark Tatulli of Lio will be on the Washington Post chat at 1 pm on Friday, February 29th.
Italians have discovered Cul de Sac even though it doesn't appear to be available in Italian. BTW, Italians have a very rich comics tradition, but almost none of it has been reprinted in the US - just Diabolik and a Tex Willer book by Joe Kubert, I think. Oh, and a lot of Disney stories.
Today's Post chat was on "TV Week: The Return of George of the Jungle: Back In the Swing" with Tiffany Ward, Executive Producer (and Jay Ward's daughter), Tuesday, February 19, 2008.
Italians have discovered Cul de Sac even though it doesn't appear to be available in Italian. BTW, Italians have a very rich comics tradition, but almost none of it has been reprinted in the US - just Diabolik and a Tex Willer book by Joe Kubert, I think. Oh, and a lot of Disney stories.
Today's Post chat was on "TV Week: The Return of George of the Jungle: Back In the Swing" with Tiffany Ward, Executive Producer (and Jay Ward's daughter), Tuesday, February 19, 2008.
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