Comics and cartoons were a big part of my childhood. I am not alone in that. My formative years were in the 80s and 90s. Saturday mornings were spent watching Bugs Bunny sing classic opera, and Daffy Duck chased by Elmer Fudd. Weekdays after school was Scooby Doo. For all the TV cartoons, it was comics that really caught my eye though.
I remember when I was six or seven, always having a plastic lunch box with me that had two things, my hot wheels cars, and Archie Comics. “My Collection” I called it. It was the comics though. I didn’t understand the 50s teenage drama of Archie’s love triangle, or what was up with that Reggie guy? But it was colourful, and told stories.
Newspaper comics were the best. Peanuts. For Better or For Worse. Then Calvin and Hobbes arrived…
Comic Strip copyright GoComics/Bill Watterston (https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2023/08/19)
The adventures of a six year old with his stuffed tiger spoke to me. I didn’t understand why until years later. But that is for another post.
Reading area newspapers and developing an interest in news and politics (like any nine or 10 year old naturally does) I gravitated towards editorial cartoons. A one-frame wonder that said everything about an issue, or a feeling, or a moment. Great cartoonists like Andy Donato, Aislin, and Duncan Macpherson documented the times and amused me. I think I annoyed a few people opening newspapers in the Beckers to find the cartoons as a kid.
Even now, editorial cartoons are part of my daily routine. Many of the names involved have changed. New artists, same old issues. At my workplace, on the wall around my desk are copies of some great ones printed and on display. Two of my favourites now, Theo Moudakis from the Toronto Star, and Michael de Adder.
de Adder’s work is often in the Star, the Washington Post, and elsewhere. Thanks to the internet, it’s easy to see good cartoonist work. One of my favourites was published just after the death of John Prine a few years ago.
Copyright belongs to Michael de Adder and Halifax Chronicle-Herald (https://www.deadder.net/prints?pgid=kihherem-058438ce-ed66-45bf-ba3a-2a81c06ecf04)
de Adder now has his own Substack. If you follow me, you should follow him too. If you don’t follow me, you still should follow him. Maybe follow me too.
Three Things:
Something to listen to – I haven’t checked out the Tiny Desk concerts in a while on NPR. Then this popped up.
The clip starts with Insane In The Brain – watch the whole thing if you want.
Something to watch – I wrote a few weeks ago about dipshits at concerts who have their phones out. Here is a video showing this crap. See how annoying it is.
Yes, this song is pop-laden and overplayed to an annoying point. But a bunch of idiots jumping and dancing with phones out just brings this to another level. Stop it please!
Something to read – Christopher Curtis with The Rover in Montréal published this piece on the death of Métro Média, a chain of newspapers in Québec that folded recently. Interesting to see how one action like eliminating flyers can also kill so much. It highlights the precarious position many media companies are in. Meta/Facebook/Instagram’s block on Canadian News because they don’t want to pay for it doesn’t help either. This is a great read and should sound some alarm bells on the industry. The problem is, so many alarm bells are going off, are we just tuning things out?
https://therover.ca/metro-media-folds/
Last word – I have no last words, no parting shots, nothing creative to say. Sometimes the best thing to say in these cases, is nothing at all.
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