Old ads, comics, and more...

Hi Teresa,

Just wanted to say I was excited to see an ad for Bear Brand hosiery on the blog, as my grandfather worked for them as an engineer, and received patents for improvements to sock-making machinery, along with his brother.  Kismet! ---UltraLameFest2

Out of the Blue

Tip: When referring to a date, don't just leave it at "today." It makes it harder for fans of "Day by Dave" to know which strip is being referred to. 

I believe that Markus shared his GoComics identity on the GC site, but I will leave it up to him to do so again. I think Markus is hoping for some feedback from other readers and, in this case, Dave Whamond.

#FB00819

The Onion Sisters with Johnny Stringbean (circa 1904)

And yet I'm told repeatedly that FA is one of the most unfunny strips around. I happen to think this comic is so dark that its hysterically funny.

#FB00812

Comics removed from the comics

What does it take for a comic strip to be pulled from its online source or from a newspaper?

June 12, 2023

June 13, 2023

June 14, 2023

June 15, 2023

Mike du Jour by Mike Lester is doing “The Gender Mystery Date” series this week and GoComics apparently has had second thoughts on running the arc. The website began the week running the strips and then belatedly pulled them and replaced them with reruns from 2020. 

--The Daily Cartoonist news

(Arcamax is running the series in its entirety.)

What does it take for GoComics to nix a comic or comics? I had one of my "Frog Applause" strips removed several years after it was already posted. I was notified before it happened. I wasn't notified by the person or persons who decided to take it down, but instead by an insider who let me know that it would be happening later that day. I didn't fight the decision. I wasn't terribly happy with the comic anyway. It was dumb and not worth defending. GoComics probably did me a favor, in fact.  If I could figure out where or when it was originally posted, I'd look to see if it magically reappeared. I'm not sure if that's possible, but with all the updates and temporary outages on GoComics, I wondered if it might have been accidentally restored. Back to my axed comic... this particular "Frog Applause" installment was blasé crude and not even lame enough to be honorably classified as lame. I take my lameness seriously. I am proud of my lameness, and I'm probably my harshest critic in that regard.

What do you think about the removal of certain comics? Do you consider it censorship? What exactly does it take for a comic to be removed? 

Language?

Here's a recent "1 and Done" comic by Eric Scott (it was not removed; language seems okay in most comics as long as it's not the language of hate):

Topic or subject matter?

See panel 5 of this "Doonesbury" Sunday comic from 2003. The fifth panel includes the throwaway panel, which, in this example, is comprised of the title of the comic and the cartoonist's name.

Read more about this removal here:

"Doonesbury": Jerked off the funny pages.

Am I seeing something in the first panel that is not there? Is it just my imagination?

Do you have any other examples of comics that were removed by GoComics or other sites? To send me an image of the comic, email me at my LLL address. Or, for those who don't have that address, write to me at roguebrain @ aol dot com. Include a comment, if you wish. If you'd prefer, I can keep your identity anonymous or include only your profile/user name as it appears on GoComics. 

Include your thoughts about removing certain comics. Is it always considered okay to refer to removal as censorship? What would, in your opinion, be valid reasons for removal? Websites like GoComics are privately-owned... shouldn't they be able to decide what violates their terms and conditions? (I'm not sure if this topic appears on this page, but I offer it for your perusal anyway.)

I look forward to your thoughts and examples! --Teresa

#FB00923

Blondie

 #FB00766

Bazooka Joe

#FB00726

1956: Comics Code Authority

In the 1950s the portrayal of a black man in a position of authority and a discussion of racism in a comic was at the center of a battle between Entertaining Comics editor William Gaines and the Comics Code Authority, which had been set up in 1954 to self regulate the content of US comics amid fears they were a corrupting influence on youth. Gaines fought frequently with the CCA in an attempt to keep his magazines free from censorship. The particular example noted by comics historian Digby Diehl, Gaines threatened Judge Charles Murphy, the Comics Code Administrator, with a lawsuit when Murphy ordered EC to alter the science-fiction story "Judgment Day", in Incredible Science Fiction No. 33 (Feb. 1956). The story, by writer Al Feldstein and artist Joe Orlando, was a reprint from the pre-Code Weird Fantasy No. 18 (April 1953), inserted when the Code Authority had rejected an initial, original story, "An Eye For an Eye", drawn by Angelo Torres but was itself also "objected to" because of "the central character being black."

The story depicted a human astronaut, a representative of the Galactic Republic, visiting the planet Cybrinia inhabited by robots. He finds the robots divided into functionally identical orange and blue races, one of which has fewer rights and privileges than the other. The astronaut decides that due to the robots' bigotry, the Galactic Republic should not admit the planet. In the final panel, he removes his helmet, revealing himself to be a black man. Murphy demanded, without any authority in the Code, that the black astronaut had to be removed. As Diehl recounted in Tales from the Crypt: The Official Archives:


This really made 'em go bananas in the Code czar's office. 'Judge Murphy was off his nut. He was really out to get us', recalls [EC editor] Feldstein. 'I went in there with this story and Murphy says, "It can't be a Black man". But ... but that's the whole point of the story!' Feldstein sputtered. When Murphy continued to insist that the Black man had to go, Feldstein put it on the line. 'Listen', he told Murphy, 'you've been riding us and making it impossible to put out anything at all because you guys just want us out of business'. [Feldstein] reported the results of his audience with the czar to Gaines, who was furious [and] immediately picked up the phone and called Murphy. 'This is ridiculous!' he bellowed. 'I'm going to call a press conference on this. You have no grounds, no basis, to do this. I'll sue you'. Murphy made what he surely thought was a gracious concession. 'All right. Just take off the beads of sweat'. At that, Gaines and Feldstein both went ballistic. 'F**k you!' they shouted into the telephone in unison. Murphy hung up on them, but the story ran in its original form.

Feldstein, interviewed for the book Tales of Terror: The EC Companion, reiterated his recollection of Murphy making the request:

So he said it can't be a Black [person]. So I said, 'For God's sakes, Judge Murphy, that's the whole point of the Goddamn story!' So he said, 'No, it can't be a Black'. Bill [Gaines] just called him up [later] and raised the roof, and finally they said, 'Well, you gotta take the perspiration off'. I had the stars glistening in the perspiration on his Black skin. Bill said, 'F**k you', and he hung up.

Although the story would eventually be reprinted uncensored, the incident caused Gaines to abandon comic books and concentrate on Mad magazine, which was EC's only profitable title.

#FB00827

Garfield thrown out the window

A parody site in which the last panel of every strip involves Garfield being thrown out the window.

https://twitter.com/yeetgarf

#FB00810

NO PANTS DAY

On May 7, 2021 more than twenty-five cartoonists plan to take part in the annual event NO PANTS DAY to encourage people to help charities hard-hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. Participating cartoonists will draw their characters without pants.

https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/article251178674.html

Dennis the Menace (Comics Kingdom; King Features Syndicate)

Dennis the Menace (Comics Kingdom; King Features Syndicate)

Frog Applause (GoComics, Andrews McMeel Universal)

Kindly send me a link to any comic strips or cartoons that are participating in this. I want to post them or provide a link to them.  Thank you. --Teresa


#FB00689

Animal Crackers by Mike Osbun

Arctic Circle by Alex Hallatt

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith by John Rose

Barney & Clyde by Gene and Dan Weingarten and Dave Clark with Horace LaBadie

Betty by Gary Delainey and Gerry Rasmussen

Bizarro by Dan Piraro and Wayno

Blondie by Dean Young and John Marshall

Breaking Cat News by Georgia Dunn

Brewster Rockit by Tim Rickard

Dennis the Menace by Steve Ketchum and Marcus Hamilton

Dick Tracy by Mike Curtis and Joe Staton

Gertie Gearhead by Mike Smith

Half Full by Maria Scrivan

Hi and Lois by Brian and Greg Walker and Eric Reaves

The Lockhorns by Bunny Hoest and John Reiner

Loose Parts by Dave Blazek

Mallard Fillmore by Bruce Tinsley

Marvin by Tom Armstrong

Mt. Pleasant by Rick McKee and Kent Sligh

Off The Mark by Mark Parisi

Rhymes With Orange by Hilary Price and Rina Piccola

Sally Forth by Francesco Marciuliano and Jim Keefe

Shoe by Susie MacNelly, Ben Lansing and Gary Brookins

Zippy the Pinhead by Bill Griffith

Secrets behind the comics

All those secrets for a mere dollar. Talk about a bargain.

#FB00059