Comic Strips

Born in Westfield, New Jersey, on this day in 1912, cartoonist Charles Addams showed his particular aesthetic proclivities from a young age. He was known by his peers for having a sense of humor that was “a little different,” and for being the kid who hung out at the cemetery and got caught breaking into one of the numerous spooky mansions that peppered his neighborhood. By his early 20s, he was working for True Detective magazine, where his job was to retouch photos of corpses, primarily to remove blood and gore. Naturally, he complained that they were “more interesting the way they were.”

In the spirit of previous comics such as The Klaubauf's Wager and Tio de Nadal, we at Comics Alliance are pleased to present a brand new exclusive original Christmas comic by Benito Cereno and Chuck Knigge. So to help celebrate this joyous Christmas Eve, please enjoy this traditional tale of Saint Nicholas, and a baker who has to learn a new way of counting.

ComicsAlliance Presents “New Comics,” an exclusive comic strip by acclaimed writer and cartoonist --- and ComicsAlliance favorite --- Tom Scioli. With The Force Awakens arriving in theaters, Tom recalls an experience from his childhood when he found an unorthodox way to immerse himself in the Star Wars universe while waiting between sequels.

ComicsAlliance Presents “Kate or Die,” a series of exclusive comic strips created by one of our favorite cartoonists, Kate Leth! In this episode, Kate has some suggestions for gifts that will always be welcomed by anyone with a lot of comics to sort and store. If you happen to be that person, well, maybe you can use this comic to subtly point out what great gift ideas these are to your friends and family.

On December 8th, 1894, Elzie Crisler Segar was born in the tiny town of Chester, Illinois. The youngest of eight children, Segar showed artistic skill from a young age. He spent his teenage years working various jobs (sign painter, house painter, vaudeville musician, movie projectionist), and after enrolling in a correspondence course in cartooning, he began writing and drawing the licensed strip Charlie Chaplin's Comic Capers for the Chicago Herald in 1916. He hopped crosstown to William Hearst's Chicago Evening American in 1918, where he created a new strip called Looping The Loop and contributed illustrations to the sports section. In the fall of 1919, he relocated to New York City, began working for King Features Syndicate, and on December 19th, launched the strip that would (eventually) bring him immortality: Thimble Theatre.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of A Charlie Brown Christmas, the 1965 television special that combined Charles Schulz's Peanuts characters, the jazzy music of the Vince Guaraldi Trio, and an honest look at the melancholy of the season, to become one of the most beloved and enduring holiday specials ever. It's a big anniversary, and that makes this year a better time than than most to talk about how it all came together. The folks at Mashable have done just that with a look behind the scenes of the television special, including animation cels and an original script page that are more than worth your time to check out.

ComicsAlliance Presents “Kate or Die,” a series of exclusive comic strips created by one of our favorite cartoonists, Kate Leth! In this episode, Kate looks at the phenomenon of geek merchandise aimed at women. There's just no market for it, you guys! No market!

It's safe to say that cartoonist Chester Gould, born on this day all the way back in 1900, is well known because of one strip: Dick Tracy. Though he did other work over the course of his long career --- much of it about his adopted home city of Chicago --- it's hard to deny that creating arguably the most famous fictional police detective and drawing a comic about him for 46 years is a whole career in itself.

This week sees the launch of the Kickstarter to fund the latest of Kel McDonald and Kate Ashwin's Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales anthologies, featuring folk tales recreated and reimagined by some of the finest independent small press and webcomic cartoonists in the business. After previous volumes focused on tales from Europe and Africa, the third volume is comprised of Asian folk tales from the storytelling traditions of China, India, Japan, Tibet, and beyond, adapted by an impressive roster of creators that includes E.K. Weaver, Carla Speed McNeil, Lucy Bellwood, Terry Blas, and Gene Yang. The Kickstarter is a third of the way towards its $29,000 goal, and with all the stories already completed and digital copies available from the $5 reward level, Cautionary Fables and Fairy Tales: Asia Edition is a safe bet for anyone who loves great comics or great storytelling. But if you still need convincing, we can whet your appetite with this unsettling Tibetan folk tale from O Human Star creator Blue Delliquanti, debuting exclusively on ComicsAlliance.

ComicsAlliance Presents “Kate or Die,” a series of exclusive comic strips created by one of our favorite cartoonists, Kate Leth! In this episode, Kate wasn't sure what to expect from the new Supergirl TV show...