Laugh Tracks

Video: The Argyle Sweater on new greeting cards

From Universal Press Syndicate:

Beginning April 1, Recycled Paper Greetings (RPG) introduces an exclusive collection of cards featuring the comic panel The Argyle Sweater that will be available through mass retailers, drug stores and specialty stores nationwide. Included in the April launch are 12 birthday and just-for-laughs card designs. The Argyle Sweater is syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate.

Here's a video featuring The Argyle Sweater creator Scott Hilburn talking about the new card line:

 

And in case you missed it, here's an animated The Argyle Sweater cartoon that was created to promote the new book:

 

47% off The Complete Calvin and Hobbes on Amazon! HURRY!!

The Complete Calvin and Hobbes is available today at a staggering 47% off on Amazon.com from 10am-2pm PST! This 4-hour sale is your best chance to get every strip from Bill Watterson's masterpiece, preserved in a beautiful 3-volume hardback set. If there are any comic fans on your holiday shopping list (including you!), this is an offer too good to pass up!

Update: The sale is over, but you can still get The Complete Calvin and Hobbes for 37% off through the GoComics Amazon store. Just click on the ad below!

New book examines Trudeau, Doonesbury

A new book by a literature and humanities professor at Brigham Young University takes an unprecedented look at Garry Trudeau, Doonesbury and the role satire plays in the health of American society. Garry Trudeau: Doonesbury and the Aesthetics of Satire, by Kerry D. Soper, examines the history and aesthetics of the strip, Trudeau's satiric methods, character construction, narrative practices and the immense popularity the strip has enjoyed over nearly four decades of existence. The book is the latest addition to the Great Comic Artists series.

Click here to read a short article about the book by Dennis Lythgoe of the Deseret News.

Garfield Minus Garfield on Your Bookshelf

Dan Walsh's webcomic, Garfield Minus Garfield, is about to be collected in print. And Garfield creator Jim Davis has not only given his blessing - he's allowing the book to contain the original Garfield strips side-by-side with the G-G strips they inspired.

The webcomic, which has only been around since February 2008, quickly developed a large Internet following and made a fan out of Davis himself:

“I think it’s an inspired thing to do,” Davis said in an April interview. “I want to thank Dan for enabling me to see another side of Garfield. Some of the strips he chose were slappers: ‘Oh, I could have left that out.’ It would have been funnier.”

Walsh, of Dublin, Ireland, creates G-G by taking the original Garfield strips and removing all of the characters except Jon. What's left are the daily exploits of a lonely, isolated bachelor whose absurd behavior hilariously reveals a desperate longing for human interaction.

The book will be published by Ballantine Books and will be released simultaneously with a Garfield 30th Anniversary book arriving in stores this fall.

To read the official press release, click here.

Garfield Minus Garfield - July 23rd, 2008:

The original Garfield strip - March 6th, 1989:

R.C. Harvey on The Complete Peanuts

Comics guru R.C. Harvey offers his thoughts on The Complete Peanuts on his Rants & Raves blog, revisiting a 2004 interview with the book's designer, Seth:

"In taking the book design assignment, Seth (aka Gregory Gallant), a cartoonist himself (graphic novels like Clyde Fans: Book One and Wimbledon Green and It’s a Good Life If You Don’t Weaken), wanted “a chance to do something beautiful for Sparky [as Schulz preferred to be called]. It is a daunting task in that sense,” he continued: “The only thing that makes it easier is that there have been many many horrible editions of Peanuts, and his work still goes on unharmed. At the very least, I can’t hurt Peanuts.” Click here to read more.

Another Bill Watterson Sighting!

Legendary Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson, known for decades as one of the most private figures in comics, stepped out into the spotlight ever so briefly in 2007 to offer his praises for Richard Thompson's brilliant Cul de Sac.

Scarcely a year later, Watterson has once again emerged from his post-Calvin retirement, and once again, it's Cul de Sac that has him talking. The first Cul de Sac collection, Cul de Sac: This Exit, is set for September release and features a foreward by the enigmatic cartoonist.

"I thought the best newspaper comic strips were long gone, and I've never been happier to be wrong. Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac has it all--intelligence, gentle humor, a delightful way with words, and, most surprising of all, wonderful, wonderful drawings."

That's the Watterson equivalent of the State of the Union address right there, and that's just the first paragraph! You can read the entire forward (and pre-order the book) here.

Interview with Halo and Sprocket creator Kerry Callen

Kerry Callen, creator of the fun metaphysical comic series Halo and Sprocket, was interviewed by Newsarama about the upcoming release of Halo and Sprocket: Natural Creatures, a graphic novel-length collection of short stories to be released in July.

You can enjoy the first Halo and Sprocket mini-series everywhere you go by downloading the GoComics mobile comic book reader application for your phone. Visit m.gocomics.com on your mobile phone browser. Visit the GoComics Comic Book section for more info.

Screamland #1, On Sale Now!

Screamland, written by GoComics' own Harold Sipe with art by Hector Casanova, is on sale now! Look for it at your local comic book shop!

Screamland, from GoComics' Harold Sipe

Wednesday is the biggest day of the week for comic book fans, but March 12th is a bigger Wednesday than most for us here at GoComics.

A lifelong comic book fan, GoComics manager of product development Harold Sipe is the guy who sees to it that hit comic books like Bone, Elephantmen, GODLAND, TMNT and more make it to your mobile phone. Now Harold has taken his love for comics to the next level - he's written an excellent 5-issue comic book series called Screamland, the first issue of which lands in comic shops on March 12th from Image Comics.

The series follows the present-day lives of legendary film stars Frankenstein's Monster, the Mummy, the Werewolf and Dracula, all one-time A-listers who were discarded by Tinseltown with the rise of CG special effects. After decades of clinging to the last threads of their celebrity, the monsters have been offered a film project that may put them back on the Hollywood map.The pitch-perfect art for the series is provided by Kansas City-based artist Hector Casanova (The Lurkers, Midnight Album).

We'll have more info on Screamland in the next few days, leading up to its Wednesday release. In the meantime, check out these links:

• Newsarama interview with Sipe and Casanova.
• ComicMonsters.com interview with Sipe.
• ComicMonsters.com also has this very cool article in which Casanova discusses his mixed media approach to character design on Screamland, with lots of images.
• Get Screamland wallpapers for your mobile phone here.
• Screamland profile on MySpace.

HURRY! Amazon's Deal of the Day is THE COMPLETE CALVIN AND HOBBES!!!

TODAY ONLY!!! The Complete Calvin and Hobbes is Amazon's Gold Box Deal of the Day! Get one of the greatest comic strips of all time, collected in a beautiful, 1440-page, 3-volume hardcover set, at 55% off! Makes a perfect gift for any comic fan (or just treat yourself)! Click this link right now and take advantage of this one-day offer while supplies last!