Month: June 2005

Cartoon Sightings

andertoons

OK, some more Andertoons cartoon sightings for you:

One of my kids cartoons is in the July 4 issue of First for Women.

This cartoon in the July/August issue of The Saturday Evening Post, as is this cartoon.

(Thanks to cartoon comrade Mike “Blind Lemon” Lynch for the heads up on First!)

I’ve also been getting some lovely write-ups about my new daily cartoon feature.

There’s Easy Bake Weblogs, Surfilicious, and Blogging Business to name just a few!

Thanks to everyone out there for continuing to support my work!

Best Batman Ever!

andertoons

And I really like the original Burton film. Heck, I even like the 1963 Adam West movie with the noble porpoise. But this one’s got ‘em all beat.

I’m no Batman afficiando, but Batman Begins seems to have recaptured what’s great (and disturbing) about Batman without seeming so comic-booky.

I’m so glad at least some of Hollywood has discovered that special effects and costumes do not a superhero movie make. Good writing, good directing, good actors – all these can and do help comic book flicks immensely.

There’s some nice nods to the comic, but never anything that feels like “this is for the comic fans!” There’s also some clever outside references that the director is smart enough to not beat you over the head with.

One thing that did bother me was a certain constant perkiness on Katie Holmes. Come on people; she can’t always be freezing cold in the chestal area. You’d think Gotham was located in Alaska for crying out loud! (Maybe this was an homage to Batman Forever?)

Anyway, go see it. Go see it now!

Cartoon Cruising

andertoons2 Comments

I read in the Trib the other day that Celebrity Cruise Lines is booking three “cartoon cruises” featuring New Yorker cartoonists Sam Gross, George Booth, Jack Ziegler and others.

I’m not sure exactly what these cruises will entail, and writer Jay Boyar offers no real specifics, but it’s an interesting, if expensive, way to connect with cartoonists.

(Note – I’m offering paddleboat rides with me for significantly less money.)

But the whole cruise ship angle got me thinking about my younger days as a professional trombonist, or as I liked to put it, “sackbut for hire!”

I played for various cruise lines for about 2-1/2 years. I spent a summer cruising around Alaska, about a year in and around San Juan, and I’ve been to the Bahamas somewhere around 120 times.

Musicians generally worked about 2-3 hours a day and the rest of your time was yours. Sure, you never got a day off, and the accommodations were cramped, but all in all, not a bad way to spend one’s youth.

Anyway, I crawled up into some boxes in the garage and pulled out some photos of the artist as a young musician. Check them out in my photo album on the left sidebar.

Save Spot the Frog!

andertoons2 Comments

OK, Wisconsinites, this blog’s for you.

Regular readers of our little cartoon blog will recognize Spot the Frog creator, and all around great guy, Mark Heath as a regular commenter.  (BTW, check out Mark’s Frog Blog too!)

I’m a big fan of Spot.  It’s a rare gem of a strip that combines laugh out loud funny with a sort of philosophical sweetness not seen since Calvin and Hobbes.  But there’s a problem…

Readers of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel can no longer spot Spot.  The editors there have dropped the strip.  This is where you cheeseheads come in…

Please please please drop the Sentinal’s editors a line and ask for Spot’s return!  Don’t settle for lesser comics.  To paraphrase early Beastie Boys, you’ve got to fight for your right to laugh hearty!

Editors hate getting mail about comics.  It’s not their favorite section of the paper and they’d prefer it just hum along quietly.  So, when readers speak up, they’re usually quick to make changes so they can get back to runaway brides and such.

Save Spot!  Write now!

New Andertoons Features!

andertoons4 Comments

I promised you some big news, and, man, am I gonna deliver!

If you’ve been observant at our favorite cartoon website in recent days, you’ll have noticed what I think are the biggest changes to Andertoons since, well, Andertoons.  Let’s start with what has been the bane of visitors for years now…

Andertoons.com cartoon watermarks. It drove many loyal readers (and this cartoonist) crazy, but it’s now nothing but a bad memory.  Instead, cartoons now carry a simple copyright notice and my website’s URL at their tops, giving an unimpeded view of the artwork.

So what took so long?  The website wunderkind at Karma have engineered a solution that will allow me to continue to protect my work, while giving everyone a clear view of the cartoons. It’s something I’ve wanted from day one, but was never clever enough to figure out on my own.  Score one for surrounding yourself with smart people.

(OK, you serious webbies out there will, I’m sure, find a way around it, but I’d like to politely ask you not to use my cartoons without my consent.  Cartoons are how I earn my living and I’d like to continue doing that.  Thanks.)

OK, now on to some really fun stuff! 

I’m a blogger and have been for over a year now and I love the personal creative expression it allows me.  I get to share things that are uniquely me with a wide audience on a regular basis.

One of the things that I think helps define us is our individual sense of humor.  And it’s that idea that motivated the new (and free!) Andertoons Daily Cartoon!

Yes, now you can have my cartoons appear daily on your website or blog.  Simply pick what types of cartoons you’re interested in, cut and paste some code, and your readers will get to share your sense of humor too.

It will appear as a cartoon thumbnail on your site/blog.  But, when your readers click on it, they’ll be treated to the full size version in a small new window, again, sans watermark!  (Check out my right-hand sidebar for an example.)

What’s really neat is that you can pick the topics of the cartoons.  If you run a business-themed blog, you can get all business cartoons.  Church site?  Get all family cartoons!

Check out my new Free Toons page for the skinny on it all.  I think you’ll be as excited as I am about it.

There’s some more new stuff under the hood, and we’ve moved everything to what seems to be a good new host, but that’s about it for new features.  Don’t worry, though – as always, I’ve got a bunch of new ideas that should make Andertoons.com even better!

So, go dig around the site, pass the word, and enjoy the new changes!