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Comics Update: January 2002

New comics, new features, new products - don’t miss the latest news from Comics.com! This edition of the Comics Update announces:

Comics By E-Mail
Daily Get Fuzzy Strips On Posters
The New StockcarToons Book and an Interview With Cartoonist Mike Smith
Pearls Before Swine’s Print Debut
James Kemsley’s Gold Stanley Award
The Upcoming 9 Chickweed Lane Book
The Latest Peanuts Book
New Comics: Sheldon, Working Daze, Out of the Gene Pool
An Exclusive Interview with Sheldon cartoonist Dave Kellett
New E-cards: Dilbert, Rose is Rose, Luann and 9 Chickweed Lane
Dilbert Calendars
Hooded Sweatshirts Now in the Comics.com Store
Drabble Cartoonist Kevin Fagan’s Book Signings in California


Comics By E-mail

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Get free e-mail delivery of your favorite comics! Choose from more than 60 comics, and we’ll send your subscriptions to your inbox every day (Monday - Saturday).

Sign up


Get Fuzzy Daily Strips on Posters
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Every day (Monday - Saturday), you can have the latest Get Fuzzy strip printed on a poster!

Select any weekday strip from the past 90 days


StockcarToons
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While continuing as the Las Vegas Sun’s nationally syndicated cartoonist, Mike Smith started “StockcarToons” three years ago. In an interview in the Las Vegas Sun, Smith described how StockcarToons came about:

“It really started when I did the Richard Petty Driving Experience at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Afterward I think I had an endorphin rush for three or four days and I kept saying things to my wife like, “I was born to drive.” I started thinking maybe I should have been driving a car instead of drawing these cartoons, and I thought it was too bad there’s not some way I can combine the two.

Around the time the first Winston Cup race was coming here in March of 1998, I decided to draw up a handful of cartoons and we put them on the Sun’s website and they got a pretty good amount of reaction.”

The first book collection is now available: “StockcarToons: Grins and Spins on the Winston Cup Circuit.”

Buy the book at Amazon.com

Pearls Before Swine Debuts in Newspapers
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A big success on Comics.com, Pearls Before Swine has started appearing this month in newspapers! Created by Stephan Pastis, who works as an insurance lawyer during the week while cartooning on weekends, Pearls Before Swine features a megalomaniacal Rat who thinks he knows it all and a slow-witted Pig who doesn’t know any better.

Pastis told the San Francisco Chronicle, “When Rat first started, I was a more bitter, pessimistic person. But more and more I’m crossing over to Pig. Maybe it’s having kids, plus (getting syndicated). Rat’s dream never comes true. But all of this is coming true for me.”

Read a month of Pearls Before Swine

Ginger Meggs Cartoonist James Kemsley Wins the Gold Stanley Award
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James Kemsley won the 2001 Artist of the Year Gold Stanley Award, given by the Australian Black and White Artists’ Club. Kemsley is the first comic artist to win this prestigious award, which had always gone to editorial cartoonists. The Ginger Meggs cartoonist has previously won Stanley Awards for best comic strip and for his contribution to black and white art.

Read the award-winning Ginger Meggs

Hallmarks of Felinity: a 9 Chickweed Lane Book
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Brooke McEldowney’s first 9 Chickweed Lane collection will be published in March 2002,

Pre-order your copy now from Amazon.com

Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz
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The latest Peanuts book includes comic strips, commentary and never-before-seen items. It’s a fascinating tribute to a cartooning genius, and a must for any fan’s collection.

Order one

New Comics: Sheldon, Working Days, Out of the Gene Pool
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Sheldon by Dave Kellett
Sheldon is a ten-year-old boy who earned billions with his own software company. Despite his billions, Sheldon’s still very much a kid—happily going to school, relaxing with friends at the ol’ swimmin’ hole, and spending hours watching “Star Trek.” He’s raised by his grandfather: a warm-hearted man who barely understands the toaster, never mind these newfangled “computers.” Gramp and Sheldon are joined at home by Arthur, Sheldon’s sarcastic, talking pet duck.

Working Daze
Created by cartoonists Andre Noel and John Zakour, Working Daze looks at life in a modern, high-tech office. It centers around the staff of computer company MacroMicroWare. Though nobody is really certain what their main market focus is, the CEO is mega-rich, so the staff assumes that somebody somewhere must be doing something right.

Read the first Working Daze strips

Out of the Gene Pool
The newest addition to Comics.com, Out of the Gene Pool features hard-working dads, frazzled moms, inseparable friends, gossiping co-workers and some folks who are just plain bizarre.

Read the first Out of the Gene Pool strips

Exclusive Interview With Dave Kellett
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Question: What made you choose a duck as Sheldon’s pet?

Dave Kellett: Growing up, I had the good luck of owning two pet ducks, rather than your typical dog or cat. Those ducks were fantastic pets: they’d follow me around the neighborhood with their expressive little faces, and we’d have all sorts of crazy adventures together. When it came time for Sheldon to have a pet, a duck just seemed like the perfect choice!

Q: Assuming he doesn’t lose his billions, Sheldon doesn’t need to work. Does he plan to pursue another career just for fun when he’s older?

DK: Even though he probably doesn’t have to, Sheldon still loves working at his software company. But if he wasn’t working there, I know he’d go ga-ga if he could get cast as an extra on “Star Trek.” An incredibly short Klingon, perhaps.

Q: Does Sheldon still go to school?

DK: Despite his billions, Sheldon is still very much a kid. He still goes to school, hangs out with friends, and does all the things a normal kid would do. The only real difference is that he picks up the tab when the ice cream truck comes around.

Q: Do you plan to do a Sunday version of Sheldon?

DK: Now that Sheldon is getting settled in to his new home at Comics.com, I’m definitely planning on drawing Sunday ‘toons in the near future. The bigger Sunday format really allows for fun artwork, so I’m looking forward to it!

Read a month of Sheldon

Comic E- Cards at Yahoo! Greetings
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Whether you’re celebrating an occasion or just want to say “hi,” send a free comic e-card! Now at Yahoo! Greetings, choose from Dilbert, Rose is Rose, Luann and 9 Chickweed Lane.

To select cards for each comic, click on the link with comic’s name, or paste the URL into your browser:

Dilbert

Rose Is Rose

Luann

9 Chickweed Lane

Dilbert Calendars
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Still don’t have a new calendar? Don’t miss the 2002 Dilbert calendars

Choose a page-a-day, wall, or cube calendar

The weekly planner

Hooded Sweatshirts in the Comics.com Store
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There’s a new way to wear your favorite comic strips and characters: hooded sweatshirts! Just select your favorite design, and hooded sweatshirts will appear on the list of products your choice can be printed on.

Hooded Sweatshirts

Drabble Book Signing Dates
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Meet Drabble cartoonist Kevin Fagan! Fagan will be meeting fans and signing books at the following California locations:
Saturday, January 12 at 2:00 pm,
Borders Books and Music,
Los Altos Market Center,
2110 Bellflower Blvd,
Long Beach, CA.
Contact there is Jordan Fuller at 562-430-6275.

Saturday, January 19th at 2:00 pm,
Borders Books and Music,
12615 Artesia Blvd,
Cerritos, CA.

Saturday, January 26 at 2:00 pm,
Borders Books and Music,
1890 Newport Blvd,
Costa Mesa, CA.

Saturday, Feb 2nd at 2:00 pm,
Borders Books and Music, at “The River”,
Bob Hope Drive and Highway 111,
Rancho Mirage, CA.

Saturday, Feb 16th at 7:30 pm,
Barnes and Noble,
6100 Topanga Canyon Blvd,
Woodland Hills, CA.

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