tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30504207694461170642007-12-22T20:38:19.486-07:00ZingerdingBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-86770739659672122662007-12-22T20:20:00.000-07:002007-12-22T20:38:19.511-07:00

Egads! Has it been since July that I last posted?! Where have the months gone? Fear not, readers - the Zingerding Blog is coming back in January 2008. Readers? Do we still have readers? Is this thing on? Hello? What's on the horizon, you ask? Hank and I have been developing a new strategy for the blog. Zingerding.com has been in development and is making headway. In preparation for the

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-89495307889207892002007-07-03T11:50:00.000-06:002007-07-03T11:59:38.843-06:00

Don't worry Zingerfans, we're still here. Yeah, yeah, Hank and I haven't posted anything in a while. Give an alligator a break. I've been working on the Zingerding website and Hank had to go do this family migration thing. Anyway, we'll be revving up the blog again shortly with more comic strip reviews, featured new talent and updates about the development of the site with our vision of the

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-80912465936507903812007-05-14T08:20:00.000-06:002007-05-14T08:33:18.491-06:00

Well Zingerfans, I have to admit that we've been holding out on you. Zingerding is not merely a blog. It's a plot to change the face of the funny pages forever. Today we announce Zingerding.com, a new website that will push the boundaries of what the internet can do for comic strips. Click here to check out Zingerding.com! We're still working on the main site so after you get all zinged up,

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-78177268128000033772007-05-11T09:41:00.000-06:002007-05-11T09:47:42.343-06:00

Yo Zingerfans! A while back I featured a Pepsi and Pete comic strip advertisement for Pepsi Cola from 1941. Here is a modern comic form ad for Alaskan Summer Ale. They similarly end with drawings of the bottled beverages. Not much has changed there. -- Click to enlarge. I'd like to point out a few interesting zings about this strip. If you look at the five panels in the center, they are

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-51278504252270490132007-05-09T00:22:00.000-06:002007-05-09T00:28:56.677-06:00

Yo Zingerfans! On Monday I pointed out the need for more bird comic strips. I mean, we all agree that there aren't enough birds in comics, right? It's a universal understanding I am sure. So today I bring you The Boids comic strip by cartoonists Campbell and Merrill, first names Larry and Steve (though I couldn't find who goes with which last name). It's a pretty zing new strip about a

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-4794027859325006372007-05-07T10:32:00.000-06:002007-05-07T10:35:58.898-06:00

Yo Zingerfans! This one reminded me of a dog I had years ago. (Actually, he was my roommate but it was like having a dog. A bird with a dog? Ha ha!) This Dog Eat Doug comic strip by cartoonist Brian Anderson made me laugh. Dogs love the smell of all kinds of things I would never put my beak to. -- Click to enlarge There are soooo many zinging dog strips out there! How do they compete?

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-22082474748963456802007-05-02T12:44:00.000-06:002007-05-02T12:49:47.182-06:00

Yo zingerfans! Marilla and I are back from our little jaunt to the Pacific Northwest. Boy, moss grows on everything up there - trees, brickwork, signposts, cats. Now back at Zingerding HQ, we're refreshed and ready to bring you some more comic strips! We'll start out with the syndicated strip, Prickly City, about a girl named Carmen and her friend Winslow, a coyote pup. Created by

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-9368645378452472712007-04-25T11:28:00.000-06:002007-04-25T11:36:39.158-06:00

Yo! Here's a comic strip called Squinkers by cartoonist Sandra Lamb. This one features a couple of flirtatious pigs but that's not what the strip is really about. Squinkers centers on a young girl, her mother and grandpa who live and work on a farm/bed & breakfast. It's a well-drawn strip with engaging characters and storylines. The zingers are sometimes too pun-based for my taste but the

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-84673974850785543752007-04-23T09:18:00.000-06:002007-04-23T09:25:21.198-06:00

Yo! Here's a spoof comic by cartoonist Mark Tatulli, creator of Liō, a syndicated strip about a strange young boy. The regular strip is quite offbeat and one of the best new strips to zing into the newspapers. It is told in pantomime, thus having already hit an international audience with relative ease. The humor is dark, often involving strange creatures and questionable situations. Now

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-38917715896491650022007-04-20T10:37:00.000-06:002007-04-20T10:51:05.231-06:00

Only eight days after Johnny Hart's death, Brant Parker, the cartoonist behind 'The Wizard of Id' passed away last Sunday. The two were co-creators of the strip and longtime friends. Parker also collaborated with cartoonists Bill Rechin and Don Wilder on their comic strips, Out of Bounds and Crock. Let's hope their days are not numbered now. Brant Parker started The Wizard of Id in 1964 with

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-29175147447787114082007-04-18T07:09:00.000-06:002007-04-18T07:13:20.945-06:00

The two basic types of humor found in comic strips are situational and character-driven. What does that mean? Simply put, situational humor comes from what happens in a comic strip. Character-driven humor relates to how the characters react to what happens. Situational is where it starts. This is the basic premise of any comic strip, the core of the cartoonist's idea. The zinger in the last

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-75960489613380066092007-04-16T11:18:00.000-06:002007-04-16T11:24:55.488-06:00

Here's a Mutt and Jeff comic strip from 1913 drawn by the original creator, Bud Fisher who drew it from 1907 to 1932, which at that time it was taken over by cartoonist Al Smith. Here we have Mutt (Jeff is not in this one) applying for a job as a motorcycle cop. What I like about it is that he shows up decked out in his modern 1913 motorcycle gear, goggles and all. What's he got wrapped around

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-51196670314037489632007-04-12T09:18:00.000-06:002007-04-12T11:05:24.671-06:00

This comic strip from 1929 is called 'Merely Margy' by illustrator, John Held Jr., well-known for capturing and defining the "roaring 20s". His flappers became synonymous with the times and 'Merely Margy' is no exception. She embodied the care-free attitude of the era, lounging around teasing her numerous, mindless suitors. The strip first appeared in 1927 and lasted into the early-1930s when

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-48126343762851045272007-04-11T08:37:00.000-06:002007-04-11T08:39:58.091-06:00

Yo! So there's this Finnish company called Futuremark Corporation which does some sort of computer technology stuff, blah blah blah. For some reason they spun a comic strip competition into their marketing efforts. Heck, why not?! Here's the 1st place winner, an 'Unsolved Mysteries' strip by Uros Jojic and Borislav Grabovic. It's pretty good and gave us here at Zingerding a good laugh. You

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-32923836987295622452007-04-10T09:05:00.000-06:002007-04-10T09:11:02.332-06:00

In comic strip news, Johnny Hart, creator of B.C. and co-creator of The Wizard of Id passed away a few days ago on the 7th. He was drawing in his studio when he suffered a stroke. Hart was an old-time player in the industry, having started B.C. in 1958. He also was one of the rare cartoonists who single-handedly wrote and drew every single strip throughout the decades. -- Click to enlarge.

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-86999057243988416722007-04-09T08:44:00.000-06:002007-04-09T08:57:16.168-06:00

Yo! Here is a new comic strip to hit the web in the last few months, Bleeker: the Rechargeable Dog by cartoonist Jonathan Mahood. Starring the dog Bleeker and his kid, Skip. Bleeker is today's do-all electronic gadget - email, digital camera, daily planner, printer, GPS and more. It's a good strip, well drawn and very enjoyable. I don't think the humor is all that... yet. This is the kinda

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-3367853768274075932007-04-07T10:09:00.000-06:002007-04-07T10:25:06.073-06:00

Yo, friends. This is one bizarre comic strip advertisement for Pepsi, from May 1941. Read it and let me dissect this one for you. Sorry for the poor quality scan but that's how these rare ones often are. -- Click to enlarge Panel 2, the opening of the story. Pepsi (the bigger fat one) and Pete fall from the sky after passing through "the wrong door" into a magical tropical world of

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-90785372143063738172007-04-04T09:11:00.000-06:002007-04-04T09:22:41.175-06:00

Here's the first Garfield comic strip to feature lasagna, dated 7-15-1978, about a month after the debut of the first strip. Upon reading it, it's not really that funny. But try to erase your mind of the fact that popular culture has known about Garfield and lasagna for almost 30 years. If this was the first time you saw a cat have a thing for a pasta dish, maybe you'd laugh. I mean, the

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-47750792610499462182007-04-03T08:40:00.000-06:002007-04-04T09:25:46.093-06:00

Yo! I introduced the 'Krazy Kat' komic to you yesterday. Here's another one to wet your whistle with some odd facts about the strip. Krazy has no specified gender and has been referred to as both male and female throughout the life of the strip. Ignatz the mouse and Officer Pupp have generally been konsidered male. Strangely koincidental, it was for a while unknown of kartoonist George

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-58255495414075368892007-04-02T10:16:00.000-06:002007-04-04T09:26:15.311-06:00

Yo! One of this bird's faves is George Herriman's 'Krazy Kat' komic strip which ran from 1913 to 1944. The strip focuses on a relationship triangle between Krazy Kat, Ignatz the mouse and Officer Pupp, a dog. Here's the rundown. Krazy is in love with Ignatz. Ignatz acts as his nemesis by throwing bricks at Krazy which the kat takes as a sign of affection. Officer Pupp tries to keep order by

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-495163415852939212007-03-30T08:27:00.000-06:002007-03-30T08:36:34.463-06:00

Yo! To join yesterday's post, here's another Hubert and Abby comic strip from this past week. I thought I'd post one again to give cartoonist Mel Henze a little boost. We're all about helping the little guy here at Zingerding. Strips like Garfield don't need the extra buzz. -- Click to enlarge. What's with that bottle of "Fiz?" Did Hubert spill it so he can stand in it? Did he pee on

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-25422454786761199312007-03-29T08:38:00.000-06:002007-03-29T08:52:14.220-06:00

Yo, here's a comic strip called Hubert and Abby by Mel Henze. Hubert is a hamster or guinea pig or some sort of house rodent. Abby, well she's a nurse. I just began reading the strip and so far, so good. Abby seems to just float by in life doing the best she can. Hubert causes trouble around the house more out of ignorance than rebellion. He is always giving his two cents that Abby at least

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-81512584692603096892007-03-28T14:02:00.000-06:002007-03-30T08:49:12.332-06:00

Last month, I blogged about newspaper syndication, explaining what it is and giving them some praise. However, the system is faulty more than it is supportive of the cartoonist, the newspaper and the syndicate itself. Why is this? Simply because the business of newspapers comic strips has changed over the decades, even before the internet. Syndication was in fact a pretty good system at one

Marilla P. Alligatortag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-64530240836527128942007-03-27T09:30:00.000-06:002007-03-27T09:37:36.514-06:00

Yo! I've introduced Pogo to you before. This Pogo comic strip is perhaps the most famous of all the work by cartoonist, Walt Kelly. It was done for Earth Day in 1971. I'm not going to talk about this one today. I'll just let the strip speak for itself. Click it to enlarge and see the amazing artistry.

Hank the Birdtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3050420769446117064.post-62614566538275873322007-03-26T08:19:00.000-06:002007-03-27T09:30:49.891-06:00

Yo. About a week ago, I blogged about several snowman-themed comic strips. Here is one more from a strip called 'Off The Mark' by cartoonist Mark Parisi. He actually has a bunch of snowman comics on his site under the winter category. His differ from the other ones I posted earlier in that his jokes aren't about the snowman being built by someone (though maybe they are) but rather they have

Hank the Bird