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My parents bought the Peanuts books for us kids when we were growing up. We subscribed to the Oakland Tribune, but sometimes bought the Sunday SF Chronicle to enjoy Hal Foster's Prince Valiant and Gus Arriola's Gordo. I found bits and pieces of the great adventure strip Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell and Jim Holdaway in various fanzines and two imported mass market paperbacks.
As a teen going to Comics & Comix in Berkeley, my brother Stuart and I discovered the Menomenee Falls Gazette and some of the great story strips such as Stan Drake's Heart of Juliet Jones and Leonard Starr's Mary Perkins On Stage. Our friend Mando who helps out Stuart at WonderCon and San Diego writes eloquently on Jim Holdaway, Romero, Drake, Starr, and Al Williamson at The Rules of Attraction.
Please support the new publisher of Leonard Starr's Mary Perkins On Stage.


Norm and Reine by Michael Jantze

SCOTT ADAMS
Dilbert
Dogbert sketch

DIK BROWNE
Hi & Lois and Hagar the Horrible
Hi & Lois November 8, 1971 daily

FRANK CAMMUSO
The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)
Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective



FRANK CHO
University Squared and Liberty Meadows
LM prelim 1
Prelim 2
Prelim 3
Preim 4

STAN DRAKE
The Heart of Juliet Jones, Blondie, and Kelly Green
Juliet Jones April 6, 1978 panels
Juliet Jones September 8, 1983 daily

RAMONA FRADON
Artist: Brenda Starr, Aquaman and Metamorpho
Brenda Starr drawing

JIM HOLDAWAY
Artist for Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise
Modesty Blaise daily #707, Saturday, July 8, 1965

MICHAEL JANTZE
The Norm
Sunday Aug. 18, 2002 prelim
Norm and Reine drawing
Boy Norm
Wookiee

LYNN JOHNSTON
For Better of For Worse
Sunday September 4, 1994
Patterson family sketch

CAROLYN KELLY
Carolyn is the daughter of Pogo creator Walt Kelly.
Pogo June 15, 1992 daily

PATRICK McDONNELL
Patrick won the Rueben Award from the NCS in 2000.
Mutts sketch

DALE MESSICK
Creator: Brenda Starr
Brenda Starr, San Francisco 1993

ROMERO
Creator: Axa
Artist: Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell
Modesty Blaise #2223

CHARLES M. SCHULZ
Snoopy sketch

LEONARD STARR
Mary Perkins On Stage, Annie, and Kelly Green
On Stage May 30, 1966
On Stage January 30, 1974

MIKE TWOHY
New Yorker cartoonist
That's Life panel

MORT WALKER
Beetle Bailey May 16, 1988 daily

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Frank Cho and Michael Jantze Sunday Funnies panel WonderCon 2001

       On Sunday, Frank was on his third panel of the con. Joined this time by The Norm creator Michael Jantze. Led by moderator Bryan Uhlenbrock, they began by reading some of the Sunday comics from the San Francisco Chronicle. Bryan said the SF Examiner, just recently under new ownership, ran Liberty Meadows for a short time, but dropped it.
       Frank spoke of hating his syndicate and the feature editors of the newspapers for so much censorship of his work. He sees the same type of material on TV. Liberty Meadows is doing well on the east coast, but not in the Bible belt or the west coast. In the west, it's so liberal, it's conservative.
       Michael said cartoonists never contact newspapers directly. The syndicate representatives cannot merely sell a new strip, but have to unsell another strip. The newspapers will only devote so much space to comics. The internet helps cartoonists make contact with readers and fans.
       Bryan asked if the internet was a viable alternative. Frank said he likes to read paper. He joked his computer time is spent downloading porn. Michael said people are used to getting the comics free with the paper. It's the psychology of the reader. The newspaper is a bargain and convenient. A cartoonist cannot charge for a single strip.
       Michael, who used to work on a newspaper staff, said they are seeking new readers among young adults, minorities, and women. Newsprint prices are going up and ad revenues are going down.
       Frank said newspapers are suffering a gradual decline. He thinks they should expand the comics section. Feature editors are easily scared and stick to older, unfunky strips like Peanuts, Hagar, and Family Circus.
       Michael spoke of how Peanuts took years to develop. Popeye was a late entry to the Thimble Theatre strip. The pre-World War II cartoonists often became successful only after their second or third strip.
       Frank said Creators Syndicate liked University Squared, his college strip, and signed him up. Afterwards, they wanted changes to make it a watered down Peanuts.
       Frank spoke of older cartoonists who leave their strips to sons or assistants. Michael took up the theme and said he has no objection to having older strips available. He compared them to classic TV episodes of Lucille Ball. However, there needs to be new material. He and Frank have made it past step one. They need to get their syndicates excited about their strips to get over the next hump.
       Michael brought up the history of comics in newspapers. Pulitzer vs. Hearst, trying to develop brand loyalty. They made some cartoonists millionaires. Remembering the old Chronicle, Michael spoke of how they used to put the comics on the outside of the Sunday paper. Blondie was always on the front, three rows above the fold, but the fourth and final row was below the fold.
       Frank then spoke of the 1950's when Schulz and Walker brought a breath of fresh air to comics. They influenced a generation of superstars. Frank named Johnny Hart, Brent Parker, Dik Browne, and Bil Keane.
       Michael said the current era has comics selected in the newsroom. There are 2000 papers running comics. The news staff dislikes the polls because of the time taken up. Michael proposes comic selection should be handed back to the marketing folks who see the value in them as marketing tools. He also mentioned how some Sunday strips are bundled by the printer so 7 or 8 papers would all have the same comics.
       Someone asked about colorization of dailies. He noticed The Norm is always purple in the local paper. Michael said it was by his request because of bad colors previously. The syndicate hired a service to do the work and they could not follow his color guides. Michael thinks the single color makes the Norm stand out on the comic page. He noted Wiley does not allow colorization of his dailies. Frank said he stopped worrying about it.
       There was a question on the BC controversy. Michael suggested the Sundays are not carefully edited and it might have got past the syndicate. Frank says Hart is Creators top cartoonist and they were afraid of losing him. He could not get away with something similar.
       Someone asked about Sunday formats and the infamous throwaway panels. Michael said the "big block" with a title panel throwaway is taking over. Frank once put his title panel on the right side. Michael joked we're in America, not China. Frank said the syndicate sent out proofs with the artwork cut off on the left, so there was a partial big block and title page, instead of just the big block. "No respect."
       Frank said he'd love to do a full page Sunday like the old days, but the syndicate would throw a fit and newspapers would not bother to include it.
       On censorship, Frank said there are 5 untouchables: sex, religion, violence, race relations, and drugs. He likes to include one everyday. If its funny, I'll do it. Michael said there is no consistency. He may get one complaint per month, but usually runs it anyway. He tells the syndicate it was the best joke he could think of that day.
       I love both Frank's Liberty Meadows and Michael's The Norm. They've taken innovative steps to increase the spread of their strips beyond the current number of papers carrying them. Frank with his comic book through the direct market. Now he's going to print his own LM book collection. Michael self-publishes his strip as zines collecting three months of strip at a time. Two complete years are available in a signed slipcase holding four zines on his site and at Amazon.com. He also offers subscriptions to the current year. Now Michael is pursuing the direct market too.

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