USPS 2010 Stamps

Bill Mauldin, Calvin & Hobbes, Mother Theresa and more -- all honored with 2010 USPS Postage Stamps next year.

66 years ago this very day -- December 31st, 1943 -- Life magazine photographer John Phillips snapped the above photo of Bill Mauldin in Italy. In March 2010, the above commemorative stamp will be for sale.


From the USPS press release:

"The Sunday Funnies stamp pane honors Archie, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes. The stamps will go on sale in July."

There are paragraph-long descriptions of each of the comic strips in the press release, but why oh why are there not the names of the creators? These newspaper comic strip did not spring out of nothing! They should be acknowledged:

• Archie Bob Montana
• Beetle Bailey Mort Walker
• Dennis the Menace Hank Ketcham
• Garfield Jim Davis
• Calvin and Hobbes Bill Watterson

There are also stamps commemorating Winslow Homer, abstract expressionist painters, cowboys of the silver screen, Kate Smith, and the Negro Leagues, among others.

More hi res images at the Washington Post's Postal Service releases 2010 stamps article. Beware: you will be held hostage to a 30 second Bank of America ad.

USPS announcement is here.

My thanks to the ever vigilant Sean Kelly for the heads up. Thanks, Sean!

Off-topic, but she's one of my fave actresses: the USPS honors Katharine Hepburn with this art based on a still from WOMAN OF THE YEAR. Stamp for sale May 12, 2010.

GETTING LACED

Its that time of year again!! Everyone is polishing the chrome, the paint, getting the grills ready, the cameras ready and the family... We are all getting ready for the Biggest Cruise Day of the year hosted by the Majestics Car Club. Here are a couple fliks of last years thanks to JaeBueno for the fliks.

STAY SHARP

We just got in some inventory from Greenspans of the original Pendleton's, Cascade, Carhart Jackets (U.S. made deadstock) and these grey Fedoras..
for those of you that haven't heard of Greenspans they are an original clothing store that have been open since 1928 in the same location.
Come through and get yours at
The Last Laugh
129 e 6th st
L.A. Ca, 90014
213.488.0313

FOR THE LADIES

Here is a piece from a while ago.. She wanted a piece to inspire the rest of the ladies.

GOING ALL OUT

Here is a recent piece.. Our client wanted to start his sleeves for his first tattoo!

SOUL SUNDAY

Here is another rare classic soul record for all loyal listeners.

The Whispers - Great Day

Sale

Christmas is over, time to buy what you really want! Check out the SALE at my Zazzle Store!

Happy Christmas all blog readers.

 

Happy Christmas to all visitors, and thanks for your support and encouragement. Expect some big changes for 2010.

Get the other cartoons starting here.

TRAILER OF THE WEEK

One of our clients sent us a copy of this documentary after seeing our collection of films in the studio. Since then we have kept it on our top ten list.
Check it out!

Merry Christmas

Here are a few Holiday links of cartoony interest from a few of my friends and myself.

Above: Enjoy this rarely seen Pogo spoof: "A Visit From St. Nicholas (To the Moon)."



My friend, the one and only great gag cartoonist Don Orehek, gives us some Christmas cheer!


The NY Times shares some Tintin Holiday cards.


Walt Kelly's rare 1942 giveaway comic The Little Fir Tree is presented by the Hairy Green Eyeball blog. The more Kelly the better, I say.


Remember when the paper would run a special Christmas comic strip during those pre-Christmas weeks? My friend Ger Apeldoorn does and he shares Heavenly Daze by Ben Martin today.


Sam Henderson showcases Holiday covers to humor magazines, as well as his annual gag cartoon.


Sandra Bell-Lundy reminisces about her favorite TV special, The Snowman by Raymond Briggs. The Vintage Children's Books My Kid Loves blog scans in some of the Brigg's drawings from the book.

My pal Brian Fies showcases his annual Holiday greeting card. I love getting these in the mail, and here's Brian telling the significance of these 2 young women:

"Above is this year's drawing for our family Christmas card, featuring, as it has for 21 straight years, my twin girls. The cards make a real neat family history all strung together on a knotted ribbon across our living room wall."

And then he gives us the lyrics to Deck the Halls With Boston Charlie!



Petey has a Christmas dream at my friend Richard Thompson's Cul de Sac blog. If you know Petey, you know things go awry.


My inky pal Mark Anderson scans in a 1958 Will Eisner comic: Spaceman Discovers Christmas.

Happy Holidays to all my friends out there!

The 12 Rejections of Christmas

Ahh! The gag cartoonist's life! All true, all dialogue verbatim.

EY HOMES

Merry Christmas !

STORY TIME

Cheech and Chong, Santa and his old lady from chris clark on Vimeo.

Check out the Santa Clause and his Old Lady story with the classic comedy duo Cheech and Chong. We were trying to see if anyone put together a video for this, but sometimes you just can't replace the original..

Things Not to Buy Me for Christmas

CAT BUTTS: A FIELD GUIDE. Do not want!

Hat tip to Ed Tucciarone.

The Great Ham Caper

My wife, Stacy, wrote a poem way back in Christmas 2006. The poem is about us and our cats, Rufus and Sam.

Stacy's poem got a lot of very nice emails, and I've rerun annually it since then. Hard to believe that since then we've moved and found a stray kitten at the milk farm up the road (or, rather, SHE adopted US) and then we rescued another stray just last month.

For auld lang syne, here is the poem again:


The Great Ham Caper
Words by Stacy Lynch
Pictures by Mike Lynch

’Twas the week before Christmas
When Rufus and Sam
Hatched a devious scheme
To make off with the ham!

The ham that would grace
The holiday table!
Roo was the brains.
Sam, wiry and able.


They devised a plan
Of Goldbergian proportions
With pulleys and weights
And kitty contortions.

And on Christmas day
They’d eat until stuffed
(The very idea
Made their tails slightly puffed!)

’Til then, they’d lay low,
Little angels to see.
But that made us suspicious –
Wouldn’t you be?


So we snooped and we sleuthed
And uncovered their caper -
“The Ham-Stealing Plan”
Diagrammed on a paper!

“No silly cat’s gonna
Steal my roast beast,”
Exclaimed Mike. “Just watch,
I’ll ruin their feast!”So he countered their scheming
With mad plans all his own
And all I could do
Was inwardly groan!

Who’d win this contest
Of wits they were planning?
Would Mike, Roo or Sam -
Be last man or cat standing?

As Christmas day dawned
The four of us waited
For the ham to be served
With breaths that were bated.

But before the main course
Could even be plated
Their plans took a turn.
Some say it was fated...

What happened to stop them
So cold in their tracks?
Why, cat-nip and husb-nip
(in big canvas sacks)Was all that it took
To stop their foul warring.
And they rolled and purred
And drooled on the flooring.And as long as I kept
My fingers and toes
Away from a hubby and two cats
In nip’s throes -
My own Christmas day
Turned out merry and calm;
The ham moist and succulent,
The champagne, a balm.

When they “awoke”,
hostilities abated,
We all ate some ham
And went to bed sated.

And such peace we wish
To you and to yours:
An end to fighting;
An end to wars.

Happy Holidays!

Mike and Stacy and Rufus and Sam


UPDATE: and Trout and Dexter.

The New Cat

The new cat, Dexter, the shy stray that lived in our woods and was finally lured into the house for permanent affection and shelter, is doing fine.


He has a clean bill of health from the vet and is adjusting to the other cats.


He even has a favorite chair and poses a bit when his photo is taken. Yes, he forgets about gravity sometimes.

Glad we got him before the snows and the howling winds and the below zero temps.

Steve Brodner: Three Kings

Steve Brodner draws us the Three Kings --

"Of all the Santas of all time here are my top three, and the guys who drew them."

Steve draws illustrators Haddon “Sunny” Sundblom (the guy who drew the "Coca Cola" Santa), Norman Rockwell and (above) Thomas Nast.

POR VIDA

Here is a flik of one of the latest backpieces... Treat yourself, don't cheat yourself!