Celebrating a Half Century of Doonesbury
Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury is approaching its 52nd birthday this year, and R.C. Harvey is your guide to the origins of this American institution.
Hare Tonic
Remembering Playboy & Hef
R.C. Harvey first encountered Playboy in 1955, two years after it started publishing. Today, in 2022, he eulogizes what the magazine used to be, and laments what it eventually became.
How Comic Books Have Changed
In this installment of R.C. Harvey’s long running column, he switches his focus from the comics of the past to look at the work of today: new work from Eduardo Risso, Sean Phillips, Jeff Lemire, Matthieu Blanchin, Howard Chaykin, and more. Thinks may have changed–but Bob has changed with them!
The Importance of June 16th to James Joyce, And a New Graphic Biography of the Famously Obtuse Writer
Bob has always liked his James Joyce biographies, when they’ve shown up in prose. He also, as you well know, likes his comics. So is a comic biography of Joyce, like the one by Alfonso Zapico, going to be the peanut butter to his chocolate? Let’s put it this way: the word “best” is about to get a bit of a workout.
Mister Oswald and His Hardware Store: Russ Johnson’s Long-running Comic Strip
Bob takes us back to the hardware store (which is near the woodshed) to uncover the story behind one of the longest running comic strips in the history books, and the only comic strip that can claim consistent Hardware Retailer serialization on its resume
Another Look At Bill Mauldin
There’s never a bad time to talk about Bill Mauldin, but it’s especially a good time when you’ve got a whole bushel of Maulidin trivia, history and gossip to share thanks to Bob tracking down a copy of 2020’s Drawing Fire: The Editorial Cartoons of Bill Mauldin.
Scrawling Editoons & Pop’s Place: When Your Surname Is Rawls And Your Initials Are S & C
Bob takes a look at Sam C. Rawls (Scrawls), whose name never provided him a choice about what kind of profession he was best suited for, his work throughout the 80s and 90s both as a strip & editorial cartoonist, and his more recent environmental activism.
Shoes & John Q. Public
Bob is calling class to order, and this time, he’s looking back at Vaughn Shoemaker, the question of who invented the “Q” in John Q. Public, how the Gospels made it past the editing stage, and supplying some professional anecdotes of the way things used to be, professionally..
Thomas Inge, 1936 – 2021: Pioneering Founder Of Comics Scholarship Dies
Bob looks back at the life and career of M. Thomas Inge, his friend, editor, and collaborator, and reflects on the groundbreaking work that Inge did in the world of comics scholarship.
Bob Montana’s Archie Newspaper Comic Strip…And Who, Actually, Invented Archie
Is there a secret history to the beginnings of Archie and his fellow Riverdalians? Bob’s been doing some reading and researching, and is ready to deliver his hot take, that take being: “Maybe!”
Frank Thorne, Red Sonja, Ghita—Gone, But Never Forgotten
“To foster acceptance of any aspect of the human condition, to nurture enjoyment of it, and to vanquish meaningless guilt seem to me to be acts of high morality: such acts elevate the human spirit. If this be pornography, we need more of it.”
’Way Out West in the Golden Age
Bob goes back to the Golden Age of Western Comics in his latest column, which he was inspired to write after he read a book, aptly titled “Golden Age Western Comics”. History and snark abound!
More Anniversaries: JumpStart and Herb and Jamaal Both Hit (and Pass Through) 30
By way of helping to celebrate Black History Month, we take a look at a couple of 30th year anniversaries. Robb Armstrong, it sez here in this promotional blurb, is the first Black cartoonist to have a comic strip with Black characters to run for 30 consecutive years. To honor the 30th anniversary of his… Read more »
“Naked” Is Dutch for “Nude”: The Early History of the Dutch Treaters
Bob’s here with a brief history of the Dutch Treat Club, their notebook of nudes, and their old President, James Montgomery Flagg.
A Great Work Of Imagination: But All The Facts Are There, Too
Bob is here, with a look at Derf Backderf’s Kent State comic from earlier this year for the latest installment of Hare Tonic!
When You’re Lonely, You Contemplate Yourself
Bob takes a look at Tomine’s latest, and proposes an alternate title.
American Daredevil: Comics, Communism, and the Battles of Lev Gleason
Bob takes a look at the story behind the making (and breaking) of a Golden Age publisher, as told in a recent book on Lev Gleason.
Morrill Goddard: Godfather Of The “Comics”
Morrill Goddard is nearly unknown because the man had a passion for anonymity. All that we know about him is divulged herewith—in connection with what we have been calling “comics” for generations.
Henry Boltinoff: 1914-2001
His signature was everywhere—magazines, comic books, comic strips. R.C. Harvey sat down with back in 2001 to find out what was behind it all.
Cecil Jensen, Elmo, and Colonel M’Cosmic: An Editoonist Who Also Drew a Comic Strip
It’s time to talk about Cecil Jensen. And there’s only one place with the guts to provide that kind of coverage: Hare Tonic!
Doomsday Clock: What’s It All Mean?
R.C. Harvey isn’t going to let Geoff Johns get away with spending a huge amount of time messing around with old Watchmen comics and thousands of alternate DC universes without giving the end result the old once over. Can Bob resist the bombast?
The Shame of Shazam: Its Present Debacle and Abuse
Shazam hasn’t had the easiest run of things for a good long while–don’t let the box office receipts fool you! R.C. Harvey is here with the latest installment of Hare Tonic, focusing on the Big Red Cheese!
Eric Stanton: Master Fetish Artist
The story of the bondage artist who shared a studio with Steve Ditko and possibly helped create Spider-Man
Hubris and Chutzpah: How Li’l Abner Kayo’d Joe Palooka and Both Their Creators Came to Grief (Part 9)
Final thoughts on what was really behind the feud between Al Capp and Ham Fisher.
