Between Friends

I’m still trying to process the 80th Annual Reuben Awards. For three days in Columbus, Ohio; cartoonists, illustrators, wirters, animators, editors, and fans came together to celebrate the people who make this art from so special. The National Cartoonists Society was founding in 1946, and there was something really meaningful about marking 80 years in a city with such a deep connection to cartooning history. Columbus was an amazing host. Between the National Cartoonists Society conference, the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum, and the energy around Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, the whole weekend felt like a love letter to the craft. And honestly, I felt like a kid in the candy store! Working with King Features means I get to be around some truly legendary creators, but imposter syndrome definitely creeps in sometimes. Then you find yourself standing in a room with cartoonists whose work you’ve admired for years, talking shop, sharing a laugh, or watching them draw for a crowd, and it all becomes altogether rewarding. King Features was proud to be represented by an incredible group of nominees: Ricardo Siri, better known as Liniers (Macanudo), Ricardo Martinez (Goomer), […]

In this week’s episode of Inside the Kingdom, we sit down with Between Friends creator Sandra Bell-Lundy—whose strip has been capturing the humor, heartbreak, and grace of everyday friendship for 35 years. Sandra’s story begins where all great comic stories do: with a love of the funnies, a sketchpad, and a lot of persistence. After self-syndicating for several years, she got the call every cartoonist dreams of—an offer from King Features’ late comics editor Jay Kennedy. As Sandra recalls in the episode, “I didn’t even know what to ask him—I just said, how soon can you send the contract?” That leap of faith launched one of the most beloved modern strips in newspapers around the world. Between Friends follows three women—Kimberly, Maeve, and Susan—as they navigate careers, family, and the passage of time with humor and honesty. Over the years, Sandra’s storytelling has expanded beyond the daily laugh: from infertility and adoption to domestic violence and digital-age burnout, her characters have aged and evolved just as her readers have. But even as the medium shifts from newsprint to screens, Sandra finds new ways to connect. “The feedback is instant now,” […]

Sandra Bell-Lundy has released a new Between Friends collection book featuring many mom-themed stories, from raising toddlers to becoming empty nesters. These were all hand-picked by Bell-Lundy herself, reaching up to 128 pages of funny and relatable stories for every trying mom out there! Click here to get your copy today, and to read more Between Friends, stick around with us here on Comics Kingdom. New comics daily!

This year marks the 30th anniversary for Between Friends! The syndicated strip has enjoyed its share of success over the years, appearing in over 175 newspapers in 10 countries as far and wide as Australia, India, South Africa and Guam. It’s strong messages relating to feminism and positivity (as well as parenting) has touched the hearts of many.   To celebrate the ocassion, Comics Kingdom brings you an exclusive interview with the cast of the strip: Susan, Kim and Maeve! They were happy enough to sit down with us at their favorite local coffee shop somewhere in Ontario, Canada (it’s so pretty out here, definitely worth the trip). So how did they all meet? What do they have going on today in 2020? What’s next for them?? Find out below!     To start off, when and how did you all meet? Maeve: We went to high school together.     How did you all stay friends for this long, and do you have any advice for maintaining a healthy friendship for many years? Kim: High school is when you begin your independent life…when you have all those “firsts”. Sharing […]

When my editor sent me an email asking if I would like to write something for the 30th anniversary of my strip “Between Friends”, I wrote back telling her I thought she had made a mistake. Thirty years? I couldn’t possibly have been writing my comic strip for THIRTY YEARS. Seriously, could I be that old? Apparently I am, and so is my strip. I should have known. My characters (much like their creator) don’t look quite the way they did once upon a time. When I first began the strip, Maeve was married to Simon. Susan was single. Kim was a white woman named Laura. I had sold my strip to 3 Southern Ontario daily newspapers and a couple of weeklies. I was making $100 per week…and working at a Duty Free Shoppe on the Fort Erie/Buffalo border. After self-syndicating for about 4 years I was just about ready to throw in the towel. Then one day, my husband and I came home from a shopping trip and my answering machine was blinking (for the pre-voicemail people, this indicated I had a message). Turned out it was Jay Kennedy, […]

Canada’s well-respected newspaper, The Telegram, recently got together with our very own Sandra Bell-Lundy to discuss Between Friends, her achievements, and growing up in her native province of Ontario. She also talks about her mother and grandmother’s home island province of Newfoundland and Labrador, where she often draws stories and inspiration from. Read the full story in the link below!   https://www.thetelegram.com/news/local/ontario-cartoonist-often-draws-on-link-to-newfoundland-344202/?fbclid=IwAR39xf_99mAWjaoOSB6OCl0c_UHqTuMnzAipLTmGXsxoN829FqCMh3BNhJo     Susan definitely aproves of this.    

So, here’s another highlight in my cartooning career. Today (Nov. 14, 2018) I am the guest jumbler in Jeff Knurek’s and David Hoyt’s JUMBLE!  Here’s what I learned…if you thought figuring out the answer to the Jumble was challenging, you oughta try figuring out the question! I was surprised how stumped I was and I was starting to worry about getting my contribution done. However, Jeff came to my rescue. I sent him a list of different ideas that had a “Between Friends-ish” flavour and he sent back (almost immediately) a variety of pun ideas. If only my mind could be that nimble. Drawing the clue was the most fun. (of course) Plus I got to submit the scrambled clues. This was so much fun to work on and I was thrilled to open my newspaper this morning and see Susan in the Jumble. And yes…I’m framing it and hanging it in my studio. Thanks Jeff!  

If any of you are considering donating to the the Kickstarter: Hand Drawn Life, a documentary on the influence and history of the newspaper comic strip, I just wanted to let you know that I have donated ten copies of my Between Friends collection “Death of a Saleswoman” as a Reward Perk. Only three days left! Hand Drawn Life https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/228655795/hand-drawn-life?ref=project_facebook

For all your burning questions about just about everything “Between Friends”, read my interview with Michelle Tompkin at Celebrity Cafe. Sandra Bell-Lundy: The woman behind award-winning comic strip ‘Between Friends’ You can also see my first-ever selfie. I’m not really cross-eyed…I just couldn’t quite figure out where to look…and this was the best photo out of 375-ish. Sigh. The hair looks okay though, wouldn’t you say?

It’s Best Friends’ Day!  We owe so much to our friends, so I asked our cartoonists to share their feelings about friendship!  Bill Griffith, Zippy the Pinhead: Clearly, friendship is a good thing. A very nice thing….so very nice, in fact, that the niceness of it triggers an eruption of Mr. The Toad in me—- Friendship—the Dark Side! John Rose, Barney Google and Snuffy Smith: Jughaid’s best friend is Jamey and I really enjoy drawing the strips they appear in together. Often, they are getting into trouble in school or plotting together about causing mischief. I especially enjoy drawing the strips when they are playing outside and having outdoor adventures, like rock-hopping, climbing trees and hanging out in their treehouse. They remind me so much of my two brothers and I when we were children. Mort Walker, Beetle Bailey: My best friend in high school was a guy named David Hornaday. We did everything together and had a great time even though he had his faults. I drove by his house one morning to take him to a golf tournament. His mother said he was still in bed so I […]