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💬 Lynn Johnston on honesty and truth in storytelling, from Hogan's Alley 1, Fall 1994: LYNN JOHNSTON: I spoke to Garry Trudeau… He was very comforting, and he said, “If you want to make a statement, you have to make it with all honesty and truth and be comforted knowing that it was made with your own strong sense of values and truth.” 
TOM HEINTJES: You’re handling …

💬 Lynn Johnston on the reader response to the Lawrence "coming out" storyline, from Hogan's Alley 1, Fall 1994: TOM HEINTJES: How is your mail running, now that a large part of sequence has run?
LYNN JOHNSTON: At this point, it’s overwhelmingly supportive… For the most part, I’m hearing from families, psychiatrists, doctors, teachers, very open-minded people who are saying, “Good ー we have …

💬 Lynn Johnston on wanting her work to be meaningful, from Hogan's Alley 1, Fall 1994: LYNN JOHNSTON: …I never thought that I could do this. I never applied for this job. I never sent anything in and said, “Hey, check this out, give me a job.” When I signed a contract at Universal Press Syndicate, the people around that big rosewood table were interested in …

💬 Lynn Johnston on drawing as a child, from Hogan's Alley 1, Fall 1994: TOM HEINTJES: Did you devise any sort of escape mechanism for the life you had? 
LYNN JOHNSTON: I was very reclusive. I spent hours and hours in my room drawing. That was my other release, and that was my way of surviving. You see, anything I imagined, I could draw. And I found that if I was in a …

💬 Charles Schulz on comic strip character merchandising, from an address at the 1994 National Cartoonists Society convention, printed in Hogan's Alley 1, Fall 1994: “I don’t know Bill [Watterson]; I’ve never talked to him. I wrote a foreword for one of his books, but I’ve never talked to him. Like I said before, we’re all individuals, and I dreamed of becoming a comic strip artist. I never thought about licensing or anything like …

💬 Matt Groening on licensing and merchandising, from The Comics Journal 141, April 1991: GROENING: I respect Bill Watterson’s resistance to all the offers to exploit Calvin and Hobbes, but I don’t think it would compromise him personally, and certainly not financially. I think people love his comic strip so much that they just want to participate in it in a greater way. And …

💬 Walt Kelly on people misunderstanding his work, from The Comics Journal 140, January 1991: Kelly said people sometimes didn’t understand his work, even early on: “I remember being about three and drawing something; it really wasn’t anything more than a scribble. My aunt and other family members looked at it and asked what it was. At a loss for an answer, I responded that …

💬 Walt Kelly on George Herriman, from The Comics Journal 140, January 1991: FROM THE AUDIENCE: Walt, were you influenced by [George] Herriman at all; did you love his stuff? 
KELLY: Not too much because, you know, that guy’s all by himself. I’ve just borrowed devices from him. He had animals and I had animals. I was more influenced by say, [Arthur] Frost, [Rube] …

💬 Walt Kelly on political cartooning having to be weeks behind the news, from The Comics Journal 140, January 1991: KELLY:… We’re in a hell of a lot of trouble now. We have a built-in comic named Agnew who is our vice president, and he has come out with a lot of things that are ripe for comment, and we’re in a stupid business where you have to wait six to eight weeks before you can say anything …

💬 Lynda Barry on Jim Davis, from The Comics Journal 132, November 1989: “The guy that I will not eat my words about is Jim Davis, who I think ought to go straight to hell on a greased pole. I think he’s evil. The content of his strip is horrible and mean and terrible. I think the characters in Garfield are the same jerks that are in the White House. Garfield is a …

💬 Bill Watterson on licensing, from The Comics Journal 127, March 1989: “Basically, I’ve decided that licensing is inconsistent with what I’m trying to do with Calvin and Hobbes. I take cartoons seriously as an art form, so I think with an issue like licensing, it’s important to analyze what my strip is about, and what makes it work. It’s easy to …

💬 Bill Watterson on what Hobbes really is, from The Comics Journal 127, March 1989: WATTERSON: Hobbes is really hard to define and, in a way, I’m reluctant to do it. I think there’s an aspect of this character that’s hard for me to articulate. I suppose if I had to choose from those four, the brother and the friend would be the closest. But there’s something …

Happy labor dabor youtu.be/KBXsx1ZHg…

💬 Jules Feiffer on Gary Groth and others' criticisms of Will Eisner, from The Comics Journal 124, August 1988: [For context, Gary Groth had written an editorial in an earlier Comics Journal criticizing Eisner’s work. He basically goes on for quite a while about how overrated he thinks Eisner is. It’s not that great in my opinion] “Eisner was interested in comics. And if you’re in comics, …

💬 Jules Feiffer on his and other cartoonists' view of comic strips as art, from The Comics Journal 124, August 1988: GROTH: Were your parents proud in any sense that you were a cartoonist, that you were working on an art form that you were developing?
FEIFFER: Oh, it was never thought of as an art form by anybody in those years. Including cartoonists. I remember Walt Kelly’s hackles would rise if you talked …

💬 Harvey Pekar on the potential of comics, from The Comics Journal 123, July 1988: “Comics is as good, as expressive, as versatile an artistic medium as any other, including the novel, theater, and film. You can write as well in comics as in any other form. Comic book writing is very similar to writing drama: you write dialogue and directions, to the actors and director in one …

💬Katherine Collins on the troubles at Disney in the late 70s and 80s, from The Comics Journal 120, March 1988: “Ironically, of course, a year after this interview, trouble did in fact begin to brew at the studio. The first manifestation of this was when Don Bluth led a group of experienced Disney animators in a mass exodus, to create their own studio. The group subsequently produced The Secret of Nimh. The …

When you’re so lost you’ve even lost your sense of the direction of words. Nancy, by Ernie Bushmiller, from July 16, 1953.

💬 Floyd Gottfredson on how he got the job drawing the Mickey Mouse strip, from The Comics Journal 120, March 1988: “So I went in to animation then and started training as an in-betweener, and the first 18 strips were pencilled by Ub. They were written by Walt. Walt had lifted gags out of the animated shorts–the Mickey shorts up to that time–and adapted them to the strip. Ub pencilled the first 18, …

💬 Mort Walker on his inspiration for Gamin and Patches, from The Comics Journal 116, July 1987: “Actually Gamin in some ways is patterned after a kid I met in Naples, Italy, who took me for $15 for a diamond ring. [chuckles] He came up and said he wanted to sell me diamond ring, and I said I wasn’t interested in a diamond ring. But he said, “This is my mother’s diamond …

When your dog is well trained in one area but not in another. Louie, by Harry Hanan, from July 12, 1953.

💬 Milt Caniff on depicting the military in Steve Canyon, from The Comics Journal 108, May 1986: SABA: I must say that 10 years ago, you and I would have probably been on very different sides of the war.
CANIFF: Not necessarily, and this is a funny thing. It’s come up quite frequently. Let me put it this way: the people who were fighting the war in Vietnam were not there of their own …

💬 Milt Caniff on Al Capp, creator of Li’l Abner, from The Comics Journal 108, May 1986: “…although Capp and I were rivals, we were old friends. I even took over Colonel Gilfeather from him. Capp once wrote a story about that. He said, “My work was once given to guy named Milton Caniff-what ever happened to him?” [laughter] …People used to think we were bitter rivals, which …

💬 Milt Caniff on cliffhangers, from The Comics Journal 108, May 1986: “I do six novels a year. The difference is that there’s a carefully contrived umbilical between the end of one of my stories and the next, so that the audience doesn’t get turned away. When you say ‘The End,’ then lots of people take you to your word, and that’s the end …

💬 Milt Caniff on working as a cartoonist, from The Comics Journal 108, May 1986: CANIFF: …I’ve heard a cartoonist say this, and it always saddens me when I hear it–“Oh, good God, I hate to think of sitting at that drawing board today.” Well, they ought to get into some other trade if that’s the way they feel about it. To just go there under …

For a unique vacation experience, visit Echo Canyon. Herman, by Clyde Lamb, from July 5, 1953.

💬 Milt Caniff on "shifting camera angles" in comics, from The Comics Journal 108, May 1986: CANIFF: …all the years that I’ve been at this thing, I’ve never drawn two panels the same. Ever.
SABA: Not that you know of, anyway. 
CANIFF: Well, it doesn’t occur to you at the time, but when you have two people talking, you still shift the camera around, so to speak, so that it …

When you somehow got roped into hosting a party you didn’t want to attend. Just Nuts (also known as Dumb-Bells) by Charles “Gar” Dunn and Joe Cunningham, from July 24, 1925.

💬 Katherine Collins on studying comics history, from The Comics Journal 108, May 1986: I don’t suppose that in fact there really is any prerequisite that you have to know anything at all in order to enjoy, or even create, popular art, as long as you’re having fun. But I think it adds to the depth of reader’s enjoyment of any reading if he knows the context and …

When your facial hair choices frighten children. Kitty Higgins, the topper to Moon Mullins by Frank Willard, from July 26, 1936.

💬 Katherine Collins on Caniff's view of his own work, from The Comics Journal 108, May 1986: “I think it is a very interesting, enlightening, and complete interview, and gives a very good picture of Milton Caniff’s thinking. You will see, however, that despite my repeated rephrasing of the same basic question–are comics Art or aren’t they?-that he never truly addressed …

Catching strays from passing children. Henry, by Carl Anderson, from July 22, 1954 <img src=“https://micro.arkholt.com/uploads/2025/the-atlanta-constitution-thu-jul-22-1954-.jpg" alt=“A young buy walks along and meets a portly man wearing a hat. The boy gestures for the man to …

💬 Hal Foster on the inspiration for Prince Valiant characters, from The Comics Journal 102, September 1985: SABA: …what methods did you use to write the story? How did you settle what it was going to involve?
FOSTER: Well, those ideas have to come to you.
Mrs. FOSTER: He just picks them out of thin air, I think. … Mrs. FOSTER: Or something that you read.
FOSTER: Yes. 
Mrs. FOSTER: It would …

💬 Hal Foster on romance and family in Prince Valiant, from The Comics Journal 102, September 1985: Mrs. FOSTER: …Once or twice Sylvan Byck complained, because you showed Aleta pregnant, that was in the days you couldn’t do those things in the comics, you know, no snakes.
SABA: But you did it anyway. 
FOSTER: Yes.
Mrs. FOSTER: Well, he made her coat a little fuller, and that’s …

💬 Hal Foster on his upbringing in Canada, from The Comics Journal 102, September 1985: SABA: …Do you feel that your upbringing in Canada has had any particular influence on the kind of work that you do, or in any way on your life?
FOSTER: Oh, yes, greatly. It gave me all my backgrounds. I didn’t do very well in school. Of course, I always won a prize in drawing, but so …

When babies conspire against you. Smitty, by Walter Berndt, from July 23, 1939.

💬 Hal Foster on the expressiveness of hands, from The Comics Journal 102, September 1985: FOSTER: …Now, if you’ll notice any other illustrator, any other illustration that you see, they’ll paint the face, and probably feet, and they’ll paint the hands, but the hands are useless, they’re not doing anything. They’re turned over too much, or they droop …

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate. Little Debbie, by Cecil Jensen, from June 4, 1953.

💬 Rick Marschall on comic strip reprint books, from The Comics Journal 100, July 1985: “…Complete works of great writers like Dickens and Twain are in every library, and every home library, but some day, there will be complete works of Segar and DeBeck, Caniff, people like that. There should be, and there will be.” notes.arkholt.com/pubs/thec…

When you want to do crimes but you have to do it legit. “Life’s Darkest Moment,” by H.T. Webster and Herb Roth, from May 6, 1953.

💬 Mort Walker on the importance of sight gags, from The Comics Journal 95, February 1985: “An editor told me a long time ago,” Walker writes, “that if you could cover up the drawing and still get the gag by reading the caption, then you were a writer and not a cartoonist. With that advice, I’ve always tried to get as many funny pictures into my work as …

💬 Mort Walker on humor, from The Comics Journal 95, February 1985: Writing in his 1975 book, Backstage at the Strips (still probably the best book around about the life of a cartoonist), Walker discusses his attitude toward humor. He disagrees with Jules Feiffer, who says “you have to hate to be funny. Humor, Feiffer says, comes from dissatisfaction with …

💬 Will Eisner on lighting, from The Comics Journal 89, May 1984: “…Lighting is very revealing. Lighting, for an artist, generally depends on how he sees something, his sense of perspective. Those artists - if you look at comic books, you’ll see them - those artists who come from the far west, or outside of major cities, think in terms of horizons. Their …

💬 Max Allan Collins on learning comic strip history, from The Comics Journal 77, November 1982: “I think that there are a hell of a lot of fans that are very ignorant about comics, where the comics of today came from, and they’re very ignorant about them and about the newspaper strips. I can’t imagine someone considering themselves a fan or a buff in an area and not taking the time …

💬 Will Eisner on Humor vs. Tragedy, from The Comics Journal 47, July 1979: “…I think satire is a form of rage, an expression perhaps of anger. There is kindly humor and there is bitter humor. There’s kindly tragedy and there’s bitter tragedy. There is a relationship between the two in my mind -I can’t keep them separate. Every time I do a very tragic …

💬 Will Eisner on how an artist's style changes over time, from The Comics Journal 47, July 1979: “…we all seem to go that route. Michelangelo too - in his later years he began to have a looser approach to his carving. The unfinished statues that you find in Plorence are an example of that. And Milton Caniff - look at the change in his work over the years. As one gets older, as one matures, the …

💬 Will Eisner on the phrase "sequential art”, from The Comics Journal 47, July 1979: “I must say that I am still the same Will Eisner of 1942-43, trying to expand the horizons of my medium, my medium being a sequence of pictures on paper. I believe that sequential art is the oldest communicating art form, I think it has the validity of any other art form – and while it may not …

Every time I hear somebody say “according to Google AI” all I hear is “according to my drunk belligerent uncle who insists he has a great memory but doesn’t”

Controversial opinion that I had no idea was controversial until I shared it in a forum where I assumed a majority of people agreed with me of the week: Controversial opinion that I had no idea was controversial until I shared it in a forum where I assumed a majority of people agreed with me of the week: Works of art should be able to stand on their own. You should not need to read a book length explanation of a work of art in order to appreciate …

Art cannot be separated from the artist, but they don't necessarily need to be: I have said in the past, very publicly, on the internet, that art and artist should be separated, but I don’t believe that anymore. The artist does not separate themselves from their art when they make it, so it’s not possible to separate them from it after it’s made. That said, I …

The news of the death of newspaper comics has been (slightly) exaggerated : People praising certain webcomics by saying they’re “just like old newspaper comics” is wonderful, but sad. It’s great that web cartoonists are still doing 3 and 4 panel gag comics like that, and that people appreciate it, but saying it that way implies that newspaper comics …

Better to light a candle than curse the darkness: Better to excitedly talk about how great newspaper comics are and how they’ve influenced American culture and society than to sit around bemoaning the fact that no one seems to care about them anymore. austinkleon.com/2024/09/0… Because when you do, you find more people actually do care …

With how the newspaper comic landscape is now, it’s really hard to explain to rising generations how much more important comic strips were to people in previous decades.

One of the things you realize when you study the history of a thing is how much longer it has existed than people think. Sequential art has been with us for centuries. It has incredible staying power. How it’s published and consumed may change, but the medium will not die.

💬 Milt Caniff on the social significance of comic strips, from TCJ 108, May 1986: “…It may end being socially significant, or accepted, or whatever, but at the time, almost without exceptions, it was a way to make living. It starts that way, anyway.” notes.arkholt.com/pubs/thec… It’s interesting that cartoonists who started their careers in the 1930s, like Milt …