Library Gets Huge Cartoon Collection

By: Dave Astor As a teenager during World War II, Art Wood worked for two years at the Library of Congress. His tasks included staffing the check-in counter, conducting tours, and -- eventually -- drawing 20 cartoons for an LOC handbook.

Sixty years later, Wood is donating more than 35,000 original drawings to the LOC.

"I've always had a closeness to the library," he said, adding that about 20 universities had also expressed interest in the collection.

Wood is donating originals by thousands of artists from the U.S. and abroad. A big part of the collection includes the work of famous editorial cartoonists, including Thomas Nast and most Pulitzer Prize winners. There are also numerous comics -- such as "Peanuts," "Little Nemo," "Krazy Kat," "Blondie," "Terry and the Pirates," and "Prince Valiant" -- as well as many illustrations and animation cels. The oldest original dates back to the 1740s.

The 76-year-old Wood started collecting in 1939, and received many of the 35,000-plus cartoons directly from their creators. He met his peers as editorial cartoonist for papers such as the Washington Star, Richmond (Va.) News Leader, and Pittsburgh Press; as a founding member and past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists; and as a member of the National Cartoonists Society since 1948.

From approximately 1950 to 1975, Wood also received permission from syndicates to pick the best work from piles of originals about to be thrown out. That was when most people didn't know how valuable cartoon art would become.

Cartoons that Wood received for free were given to the LOC. Those he purchased were sold to the library; Wood is putting those proceeds into a scholarship fund.

The LOC will make the collection available to researchers on site and online. The art will also be exhibited, with the LOC's first major showing slated for 2005.

Wood, who's keeping about 100 cartoons, previously had his collection displayed at the National Gallery of Caricature and Cartoon Art in Washington. That museum opened in 1995, but shut its doors two years later because of a funding shortage.

"It hurt to close, but I don't believe in debt," said Wood. The collection went into storage, though cartoons made appearances at venues such as the Newseum in Arlington, Va. Wood lives in North Bethesda, Md. -- just a few miles from the Washington-based LOC.

"The Library of Congress is very pleased to accept Mr. Wood's unparalleled collection, which nearly doubles our holdings of original cartoon and caricature drawings," said Librarian of Congress James Billington in a statement.

Earlier this year (Syndicate World, March 10), the LOC received a donation of more than 14,000 Herblock editorial cartoons.

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Mort Walker Feted for 80th Birthday

Many Praise the Cartoonist and Museum Founder

President Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Senator John McCain, cartoonists, King Features Syndicate executives, family members, friends, and others wished Mort Walker a happy 80th birthday at a Sept. 6 party in Greenwich, Conn.

Bush, Powell, Rumsfeld, and McCain weren't there, but sent personal birthday wishes that were prominently displayed on a table. About 175 other people did attend the event, and heard various speakers praise Walker for a career that includes creating "Beetle Bailey" and founding the International Museum of Cartoon Art (IMCA).

King President Rocky Shepard named two dozen of Walker's characters -- including Beetle, Sarge, Gen. Halftrack, Miss Buxley, Otto the dog, Zero, Plato, Lt. Flap, and Chip Gizmo -- and commented on how memorable and distinctive they are.

Former King President Joe D'Angelo said to Walker: "Thank you for all the laughter and joy you've brought to everyone over the years." He added that Walker "taught me more about the cartooning industry than I could ever have learned on my own." D'Angelo recalled that he met Walker 38 years ago and became close friends with the cartoonist. He also has worked closedly with Walker on IMCA.

D'Angelo said Shepard asked him to announce that King was donating $10,000 to IMCA, the 1974-founded museum that closed its doors in Boca Raton, Fla., last year but may reopen in New York City.

Walker thanked the syndicate for the donation. "King has always been there for us," he said.

"Beetle Bailey" has clients throughout the world -- 1,800 newspapers in all -- but one of its strongest fan bases is in Scandinavia. Alf Thorsjo, editor of "Beetle Bailey" magazines in that region, recalled Walker appearing at a 1988 book fair in Sweden. "There was a huge line for him that blocked all the other booths," he said. "Mort has had an astonishing impact in Scandinavia."

Brian Walker, who works on the "Hi and Lois" comic started by his father and the late Dik Browne, noted that Mort is not a loner like some comic creators. He said the large turnout Sept. 6 "is a tribute to my father's generous and gregarious spirit."

Mort -- who noted that cartooning "is still so much fun" -- thanked everyone for attending. "What a turnout," he said. "I feel so fortunate."

The party was organized by Mort's wife, Cathy Walker. And one of the musicians playing at the event was Chance Browne -- son of Dik and artist for "Hi and Lois."

King has syndicated "Hi and Lois" since 1954 and "Beetle Bailey" since 1950.

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'Bloom' Creator Returning

Sunday 'Opus' Comic Starts Nov. 23

"Bloom County" creator Berkeley Breathed is returning to newspapers Nov. 23 with "Opus," a weekly comic starring his famous cartoon penguin.

Breathed had hinted he might do a Sunday-only comic again during a speech at the National Cartoonists Society meeting this spring (Syndicate World, June 5).

"Opus" will be in a half-page format at a time when many newspapers run five strips on a Sunday page. But Washington Post Writers Group Editorial Director/General Manager Alan Shearer told E&P Online that most of the 30 or so newspapers WPWG has already approached plan to buy Breathed's comic. "If you ran it before, you're going to want it again," said Shearer.

"Bloom County," which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1987, appeared in nearly 1,300 newspapers via WPWG before ending in 1989. Its successor strip, the Sunday-only "Outland," ran in about 225 papers before ending in 1995.

Ideally, papers would expand their comics sections to make room for the large-format "Opus." But when Bill Watterson's "Calvin and Hobbes" went half page more than a decade ago, a number of newsprint-cost-conscious papers responded by shrinking or dropping some other comics.

Shearer said Breathed has made great artistic use of the half page. "It's absolutely breathtaking," he said.

Newspaper editors are being shown "Opus," but are not allowed to retain copies of it. "We're trying to keep it off the Internet," explained Shearer. "The one place and the only place to see 'Opus' will be in newspapers. This is a tremendous opportunity to increase circulation."

Shearer said "Opus" will be topical and -- unsurprisingly given the comic's name -- spotlight the penguin even more than "Bloom County" and "Outland" did. The WPWG executive wouldn't say whether or not other "Bloom County" characters besides Opus would appear.

The story about Breathed's Nov. 23 return to newspapers was broken in the Sept. 9 Washington Post.

Breathed is currently working on a film featuring Opus, and has done a number of children's books since ending "Bloom County."

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Many Run Alternate 'Doonesbury'

American Color Says 84% Avoid 'M'-Word

It was expected that many newspapers wouldn't run the Sept. 7 "Doonesbury" mentioning masturbation. But the number turned out to be unusually high.

When contacted by E&P Online, an American Color spokesperson said 84% of its newspaper clients opted to publish a substitute Sept. 7 strip by Garry Trudeau. These 200-plus clients include papers that use American Color prepress services or get their Sunday comics printed by American Color Graphics.

"Doonesbury" runs in about 1,400 daily and Sunday papers, meaning the American Color figures don't represent every Sunday client of the Universal Press Syndicate comic.

The Sept. 7 strip mentioned a real-life study saying regular masturbation might help prevent prostate cancer (Syndicate World, Sept. 4). Ironically, many newspapers discuss sex and other potentially controversial topics outside their comics sections, but many of these same papers feel the funnies should be "family-friendly" because they have a lot of younger readers.

A number of papers published pieces about why they did or didn't use the comic mentioning masturbation.

The Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram was one of the papers that used the replacement comic. "We saw no redeeming value in testing local society's tolerance for droll humor about a personal matter that people generally treat discreetly," wrote Reader Advocate David House.

The Orlando (Fla.) Sentinel was one of the papers that ran the original strip. Public Editor Manning Pynn wrote: "I find adult sqeamishness about sex, particularly in the context of a medical study, a little foolish."

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'Far Side' Back for 'Encore'

Newspapers Being Offered 92 Panels

Universal Press Syndicate is making an "encore" serialization of "The Far Side" available to newspapers from Sept. 28 to Dec. 28.

The serialization is being done to promote a massive two-volume collection of Gary Larson's famous comic that will be in bookstores Oct. 21 (Syndicate World, Aug. 7). The Complete Far Side is from Andrews McMeel Publishing, Universal's sibling company.

Universal said it's providing newspapers with the comics -- 78 black-and-white dailies and 14 color Sundays -- at no cost other than a minimum fee to cover the cost of production and distribution.

"The Far Side" started in 1980 with Chronicle Features, and was appearing in 1,900-plus papers via Universal when Larson ended the comic after a 14-year run. Reruns have been distributed internationally by Creators Syndicate in recent years.

More than 100 million "Far Side" books and calendars have been sold.

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Wilson Promoted at United

She Becomes Senior Vice President

Lisa Klem Wilson has been promoted from vice president to senior vice president at United Media.

She had previously been named general manager last year, and has since overseen national and international sales, editorial, promotion, and production.

Wilson joined United in 1988, and became vice president of sales and marketing in 1992.

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Et cetera

Atoosa Rubenstein's "Ask CosmoGirl!" newspaper column has been retitled "Dear Seventeen," according to King Features Syndicate. Rubenstein was recently named editor in chief of Seventeen magazine after serving as founding editor in chief of CosmoGirl! magazine.

The American Teleservices Association's toll-free line was jammed with thousands of calls after Dave Barry put the ATA's phone number in a late-August column. The ATA responded by switching the number to a voice recording rather than answering it live. In the piece, Barry humorously discussed how much the public hates telemarketers. The columnist is with The Miami Herald and Tribune Media Services.

A "Howard Huge" cartoon will be on the 2004 calendar issued by the White House Commission on Remembrance. The calendar is given as gifts to children of military people who have died, to troops and their families, and to others. The Parade magazine-based "Howard Huge" is by Bunny Hoest and John Reiner, who also do "The Lockhorns" comic for King. Other comics featured on the calendar since 1976 have included "B.C.," "Beetle Bailey," "Blondie," "Crock," "Garfield," "Hi and Lois," "Marvin," "Miss Peach," "Momma," "Mutts," "Prince Valiant," and "Tank McNamara."

The first Andrews McMeel Publishing "Luann" collection has been released. The Curves Ahead book is by Greg Evans of United Media. AMP also published Road Trip! by "Zits" creators Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman of King.

Bill Scheurer has launched "The Village Well" (www.thevillagewell.com), a weekly column focusing on the work of nonprofit organizations.

Creators Syndicate Op-Ed columnist Ray Hanania is bringing his standup comedy act to the Al-Khayam Restaurant in Chicago every Thursday through Nov. 20.

Robert Unger, who contributed gags to the "Herman" comic by his brother Jim Unger, died Sept. 3 in Victoria, B.C., at the age of 63.

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Editor's note: This November, E&P is scheduled to run its third annual "Features of the Year" spread. If you have any syndicated features you'd like to nominate, please e-mail Dave Astor (at the address below) their names and a brief explanation of why you feel they're having a particularly good 2003. The four categories include best comic, best editorial cartoons, best column, and best feature. The last category can include non-Op-Ed columns, puzzles, children's features, paginated pages, etc.