The Cartoon Crier

Many months ago the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont contacted the National Cartoonists Society to enlist members to participate in an interesting publication project they were putting together called The Cartoon Crier. They described the project as follows:

“The Cartoon Crier” is a one-shot tabloid newspaper that will explore the relationship between humor and sorrow in comics.¬¨‚Ć The content will consist of comic strips, gags, articles, and illustrations created by NCS members as well as the students, alumni, and faculty of CCS.¬¨‚Ć The release date is March 2012 and the paper will be distributed for free at comics conventions and colleges.¬¨‚Ć The editors hope that “The Cartoon Crier” brings together great work from across the cartooning landscape.

The result is a fantastic 36 page tabloid-sized newsprint publication featuring work from well-known features like The Family Circus, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, B.C., and For Better and For Worse as well as individual comics by talented artists such as Ivan Brunetti, Mell Lazarus, Melissa Mendes, Joe Lambert, Tom Gammill, Hilary Price, Laura Park, Richard Thompson, Mo Willems, Cole Closser, R. Sikoryak, James Sturm and many, many more.

The Cartoon Crier has received some well-deserved accolades including being named “The Book of the Show” by Publisher’s Weekly at the recent MoCCA Fest in New York City. If you are planning on attending the upcoming Maine Comics Arts Festival, the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo, HeroesCon in Charolette NC or the Small Press Expo in North Bathesda MD, you will find copies available there. NCS members will find a copy in their goody bags at the Reuben Awards Weekend in Las Vegas later this week.

You can also see the whole issue for free online at the Center for Cartoon Studies website.