Laugh Tracks

Uclick GoComics at San Diego Comic Con!

TMNT, FoxTrot creator Bill Amend, and an all-new, groundbreaking comics project from the legendary Stan Lee are just a few of the attractions in store for visitors to the Uclick GoComics booth (#1217) at this year's San Diego Comic Con. Stop by for all of the signings and you might even win a few prizes, including tickets to the TMNT 25th Anniversary Party, iPhone apps and our grand prize iPod Touch with over 130 Uclick comic and game apps. Also, come get the lowdown on digital comics at our “Made for Mobile” panel Saturday at 5:30pm.

See you in San Diego!

This year's SDCC signers include:

	Bill Amend - Saturday, July 25, 1pm Talk about a creator and strip made for Comic Con! Superstar Bill Amend's FoxTrot has long been considered the quintessential comic strip for fans of comics, sci-fi, fantasy, technology - you know, all of the great stuff you'll be lining up to see at this year's Con! Come and meet the creator of one of the most successful comic strips of the past decade.
	Brooke McEldowney - Thursday, July 23, 4pm and Saturday, July 25, 10:30am The epic fantasy Pibgorn is characterized by dynamic, breath-taking art, meticulously-crafted dialogue and stories of sweeping scale. And then there are the dappled, leather-clad and other wise suggestively dressed fairies, succubi, and various, run-of-the-mill, smokin' hot sirens. And as if Brooke McEldowney's five-days-per-week on Pibgorn isn't enough, he's also the creator of the hit daily comic strip 9 Chickweed Lane!
	Lucas Turnbloom - Thursday, July 23, 2pm and Friday, July 24, 2pm Come and meet the creator of one of the most dynamically drawn, sharply-scripted comic strips just making its way onto the national radar. Lucas Turnbloom's Imagine This is a strip that's on the rise, thanks to a premise that starts with your innocent memory of a comic strip boy talking to his stuffed animals and demonstrates what an epic failure that boy would be if he'd never lost his 'gift' for anthropomorphic hallucination.

Lucas Turnbloom Fills in on Haiku Ewe!

Lucas Turnbloom, creator of Imagine This, is this week's guest cartoonist on Haiku Ewe while creator Allison Garwood recovers from a wrist injury. Go check it out! Lucas is hitting this guest stint out of the park!

Lucas has also announced that the first Imagine This collection, entitled "The Clovax," is now available in a special artist's edition on his site and in a regular edition on Lulu.com! And as if page after hilarious page of Imagine This strips weren't enough, "The Clovax" even features a forward by Scott Hilburn, creator of the GoComics smash hit, The Argyle Sweater!

Haiku Ewe Contest Winner Announced!

Allison Garwood made the Haiku Ewe contest winner announcement on her blog this morning:

"Valerie Waters is the winner of the Draw Haiku Ewe For A Week Contest! She sent in a great submission that made me lol, for real, not just typing it to type it. You will get to see her submission on July 27 and then her other drawings all through the week until July 31."

Click here to read the full announcement.

Congratulations, Valerie!

Allison Garwood Wants YOU to Draw Haiku Ewe!

Allison Garwood, creator of the colorful single-panel cartoon Haiku Ewe, needs your help!

Here's the scoop, from Allison herself:

HAIKU EWE'S ILLUSTRATOR FOR A WEEK CONTEST!

Have you always wondered what it would be like to illustrate a comic about a sheep who speaks in haiku? Now is your chance!!

I (Big Al, the gal) tore a ligament in my drawing hand (long story involving an angry shark and some floss) and I want YOU to illustrate a week of Haiku Ewe for me! Email a sketch of the following haiku to haikuewe@gmail.com:

Friends suggest mischief
Though farmer strictly forbids
It looks really fun

The best drawing will win its creator a week as the Haiku Ewe illustrator! I'll email the other four haikus for that week and you can get to work. Your artwork will be seen by thousands of people and it will go live the week of July 27-31, 2009.

* Deadline for entries is midnight July 3, 2009.
** Winner will be announced July 6, 2009.
*** No entries from family members of Big Al, the gal, or Haiku Ewe will be considered.
**** Please note: Rough sketches are fine, submissions don't need to be final art, but please keep the files small!

Sincerely,
Allison Garwood
a.k.a. Big Al, the gal

Well, what are you waiting for? Your Haiku Ewe contest entry isn't gonna draw itself! Get crackin'!

GoComics.com Reviewed by The Daily Cartoonist!

The new GoComics.com has been reviewed by Alan Gardner of The Daily Cartoonist, and it's safe to say he likes what he's seen:

"From where I sit, any feature launching today has about five years to battle it out for a limited newspaper slot. After that, its promise will be on the web. If I were to pick a partner with whom to launch, their digital strategy and capabilities would weigh heavily on my mind. Right now, Universal Press and Uclick has the upper hand in that department.”

Click here to read the entire post.

Mark Tatulli and Dave Coverly on Tall Tale Radio!

Mark Tatulli (Lio) and Dave Coverly (Speed Bump), winners of this year's Reuben awards for Newspaper Comic Strip and Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, respectively, were recently interviewed by Tom Racine for Tall Tale Radio. Listen here.

Reubens Winners: LIO, Dave Coverly, Michael Ramirez!

The National Cartoonists Society held their 2009 Reubens Awards weekend May 22-24, and high honors went to three cartoonists whose work you can find right here on GoComics!

• The Newspaper Comic Strip award went to Mark Tatulli's Lio, the gleefully creepy little pantomime strip that has been a fast-rising hit since its debut in 2006.

• The Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year award went to Dave Coverly, creator of the single panel hit Speed Bump.

• The Reuben award winner for Editorial Cartoons was Michael Ramirez, who was also the most recent winner of the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning.

Congrats to all of our Reuben Award winners and nominees!

Uclick Brings Free Comic Book Day to the iPhone!

For the first time ever, Uclick is celebrating Free Comic Book Day by making several of our iPhone apps free for a limited time. (Click here to read the official press release.)

What does this have to do with GoComics? A few of your favorite GoComics titles are part of the promotion!

Look for apps featuring GoComics favorites The Argyle Sweater, Basic Instructions and Pibgorn, as well as comic book apps starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters and many more. All will be available for free on the App Store starting Friday afternoon and ending Saturday night at 11:59pm PST.

 Click here or on the image below to open up the Uclick page in iTunes.

Animated Pooch Café!

Check out these animated Pooch Café strips, posted on YouTube by RingTales.com. (Via Alan Gardner of the Daily Cartoonist.)

RingTales has also posted a series of Cul de Sac animations:

So what does everyone think about animated comic strips?

Steve Breen wins the Pulitzer Prize! (Again!)

Congratulations to GoComics editorial cartoonist Steve Breen, winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize! Breen, who is the staff editorial cartoonist at the San Diego Union-Tribune, was cited for "his agile use of a classic style to produce wide ranging cartoons that engage readers with power, clarity and humor." This is Breen's second Pulitzer - he won for the first time in 1998.

Click here to read a collection of Breen's best of 2008.