Comic Riffs is a blog devoted to the comics fan. Come in, sit down and put your feet up as we celebrate, contemplate, eviscerate and pontificate on cartoons.
Comic Riffs: February 1, 2009 - February 7, 2009
Are Too Many Newspaper Comic Polls a Sham?
It's the ugly little secret that, within the newspaper comics industry and among avid comics followers, is nobody's secret at all: Namely, that the frequently used Newspaper Comics Reader Poll might be long-standing, but it is hardly upstanding. It has...
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Michael Cavna
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February 6, 2009; 11:00 AM ET |
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The Riffs
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The 'Riffs Poll: Fishier Than a Florida Recount
It was 3 a.m. and I couldn't go back to sleep, so I did what many a journalist -- if not many an American -- does when insomnia occurs in the Information Age: I clicked on my computer. I surfed...
By
Michael Cavna
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February 6, 2009; 9:30 AM ET |
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The Morning Line
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Drawing Obama: My Life With Controversial Caricatures
Why is Will Ferrell's dramatic caricature of President Bush so different from, say, those of impersonators Frank Caliendo or Steve Bridges? "Because he's got a true comic 'take' on Bush," says Post colleague and drama critic Peter Marks, who's just...
By
Michael Cavna
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February 5, 2009; 11:00 AM ET |
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The Political Cartoon
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What's the Steamiest Comic Strip? (Oh, So Many Contenders)
Panting? Petting? Lip sucking and, well, more lip sucking? Just what in the name of family comics is going down around here? Given all the libidinous hot-plot lines in comics lately, the family funnies may soon actually be "in a...
By
Michael Cavna
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February 5, 2009; 8:00 AM ET |
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The Morning Line
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When Comics Feel the 'Michael Phelps Effect'
I'm beginning to really worry about poor Rob Wilco. "Get Fuzzy's" favorite agoraphobe is obsessing something serious about "Dr. Strangelove" film reviews. From 1964. Talk about not being able to take criticism well (even formal arts criticism). For something that...
By
Michael Cavna
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February 4, 2009; 11:15 AM ET |
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The Charts
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Who Drew It Worst? The "Bad" Art Poll
The Burning Question o' the Day is as straightforward as it is simple: Which comics display the worst art on the page? Straightforward, yes, but perhaps not as simple as it seems. One fan's trashy style is another fan's fine-lined...
By
Michael Cavna
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February 4, 2009; 8:00 AM ET |
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The Morning Line
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Three Words You Just Can't Say on the Funnypages
Some comic-strip creators, such as "Family Tree's" Signe Wilkinson and "Prickly City's" Scott Stantis, have told Comic Riffs that the limits placed on even "PG"-equivalent language in the funnies are a frequent source of frustration. In other words: The...
By
Michael Cavna
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February 3, 2009; 12:00 PM ET |
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The Morning Line
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What's Your Fave Webcomic? Noms Now Accepted
One thing's abundantly clear, based on yesterday's feedback from you, fellow Riffians: As many newspapers cut back on their print funnies, many cartoon fans keep migrating online to get their fill of comic fodder. And as they do, webcomics reap...
By
Michael Cavna
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February 3, 2009; 7:30 AM ET |
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The Webcomic
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Write a Caption, Win a Cartoon
Morning, Cartoon Nation... So last week, I invited you to offer captions for my "Warped" cartoon, whose caption I've never really been happy with: (Michael Cavna) Enlarge Comic From your many clever entries (by comment and e-mail), a handful of...
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Michael Cavna
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February 2, 2009; 11:15 AM ET |
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The E-Mailbag
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How Do You Read Your Comics--Online or on Paper?
As I was hanging in the bookstore's Humor Section, as I so often do, a short streak whisked past. It was a boy of about 8, making a beeline for the comic-strip books. Within seconds, this Norman Rockwell Boy cracked...
By
Michael Cavna
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February 2, 2009; 6:00 AM ET |
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The Morning Line
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