Sunday, March 30, 2008

Sunday morning toons

It's a big week for the artists at Daryl Cagle's toon round-up--Hillary's excesses, breaking the 4,000 mark in Iraq, and much more. So without delay:

p3 Picks of the Week: Mike Keefe, Larry Wright, Sandy Huffaker, and Mike Thompson.

And R. J. Matson, Jeff Parker, and Bill Day all take a shot at America's somewhat odd priorities--as far as the numbers go.

It's an Ann Telnaes twofer today: The Clueless George and Dick Show.

Opus longs for some great, good place where thing really are as they appear. (Salon Premium)

Today's NYTimes profiles long-time Mad Magazine artist/writer Al Jaffee--still a freelancer at the humor magazine after almost half a century, which is an indication of his patience as well as Mad's fabled stinginess toward its writers and artists. Go for the article, stay for the cool interactive tribute to Jaffee's signature "Fold-Ins."

DC Comics and Time Warner lost a court ruling this week to the heirs of Jerry Siegel--who, with collaborator Joe Shuster, created the Superman character in the 1930s but never owned the copyright:

A federal judge [in Los Angeles] on Wednesday ruled that the heirs of Jerome Siegel — who 70 years ago sold the rights to the action hero he created with Joseph Shuster to Detective Comics for $130 — were entitled to claim a share of the United States copyright to the character. The ruling left intact Time Warner’s international rights to the character, which it has long owned through its DC Comics unit.

And it reserved for trial questions over how much the company may owe the Siegel heirs for use of the character since 1999, when their ownership is deemed to have been restored. Also to be resolved is whether the heirs are entitled to payments directly from Time Warner’s film unit, Warner Brothers, which took in $200 million at the domestic box office with “Superman Returns” in 2006, or only from the DC unit’s Superman profits.

p3 Bonus Toon: Jesse Springer notes that Oregon has experienced an exceptionally odd news week. (Click to enlarge.)

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