Laugh Tracks

A Shania Twain reference in a recent For Better or For Worse new-run strip (below) prompted one fan to ask an interesting question in the most recent installment of 'Elly's Coffee Talk,' the blog section of FBOFW.com in which Lynn Johnston answers fan mail. Do the new-runs take place in 1981, the year they were originally created, or does the storyline now take place in the present? The reference would seem to point to the latter. Read Lynn's response here.

Today marks the launch of the new GoComics gadget for iGoogle! (Read the official press release here.)

We are truly excited here at Uclick to offer this new gadget, which was many months in the making. It gives iGoogle users direct access to today's comics (with expandable views), plus comments, tags, and recently favorited comics. In other words, you get a lot of the fun, interactive features - the experience, if you will - of GoComics.com, right on your iGoogle page.

Get the GoComics gadget for your iGoogle page now!

A 'virtual cast signing' is taking place right now on the Cleats page. Stop in and sign Jack's cast by posting a comment!

Berkeley Breathed has announced that Opus will come to an end on November 2nd, the Sunday before the presidential election. Opus, a follow-up to Breathed's wildly successful Bloom County and Outland strips, launched in 2003 after the cartoonist had taken nearly 8 years off from comics.

"The Opus Paradise Contest," in which readers can guess the ultimate fate of Opus the Penguin, begins October 12th on Breathed's website.

Read the official press release from Washington Post Writers Group here.

Alan Gardner also has a great quote from Breathed, transcribed from this NPR interview, in which Breathed describes the experience of drawing Opus for the final time.

- Congrats to Garry Trudeau, creator of Doonesbury, for his Harvey Award win Saturday night! Doonesbury took home the award for Best Syndicated Strip or Panel.

- The first Ted Rall animation is up! (I'd post it here, but the YouTube screenshot is a bit suggestive.) The cartoon plays on the wildly unreasonable expectations of Barack Obama's very first day as President...

- Angry feedback over a recent Pat Oliphant cartoon depicting Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin speaking in tongues has led Deborah Powell, the ombudsman for the Washington Post, to speak out in an article entitled "The Power of Political Cartoons."

- Bleeker: The Rechargeable Dog was optioned for a TV show a few months back; now creator Jonathan Mahood reports on his blog that Radical Sheep Productions has reached a deal with TVO to develop 26 11-minute episodes. 

Poncho, star of Paul Gilligan's Pooch Cafe, has hit the road! A hand-made, stuffed Poncho doll has begun his journey to all parts of the globe, where at each stop a fan will take his picture in unique settings and then send him on to the next fan. The first Poncho's Travels pics were taken in Kansas City, where the doll was created, and photos of Poncho at his first stop are up on the Pooch Cafe blog now!

Check out this "Weekend Magazine" news segment featuring Garfield creator Jim Davis and the late, great Doug Marlette, among others. It originally aired on WAGA in Atlanta in 1982:

(Thanks to Tom Spurgeon)

Ahoy, mateys! We've pillaged and plundered the comics treasure chest to present this collection of pirate-themed strips, all to help you celebrate International Talk Like A Pirate Day on September 19th. Keep a sharp lookout for "sissy girls" with Callvin and Hobbes, sing G-rated sea shanties with Jason from FoxTrot, pillage the kitchen for cheese with Dog Eat Doug, and find lots more pirate fun with your favorite GoComics strips.

Not sure what to make of all this pirate business? Check out the home of International Talk Like A Pirate Day on the web! And click here for a comprehensive pirate glossary!

Pab Sungenis, creator of The New Adventures of Queen Victoria and producer of the soon-to-be-launched Idiot Box video podcast, was the guest for the 50th Comics Coast to Coast podcast. Click here to listen.

Check out the show's archives for excellent interviews with other GoComics creators, including Wiley Miller (Non Sequitur), Paul Gilligan (Pooch Cafe), Mark Tatulli (Lio and Heart of the City) and more.

Today Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac, a Bill Watterson favorite that's been called the "first great newspaper comic strip of the 21st century," celebrates one year in newspapers and on GoComics! Congrats and thanks to Richard for a year of laughs courtesy of the Otterloop family.

Read the official press release from Universal Press Syndicate here. And don't forget to treat yourself to a GoComics Pro membership so you can read Cul de Sac from the beginning!