The Family Circus

Hi, all! I hope you are recovering from your Thanksgiving feasts if you celebrate! Today, Saturday, November 26, is a very important day for comics history: the 100th birthday of Charles “Sparky” Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, one of the most beloved comic strips of all time. Usually, we only post about birthdays related to King Features comics, but Mr. Schulz was such an inspiration and good friend to so many of our cartoonists and had so much influence on the direction of not just comics but pop culture in the 20th century that we wanted to celebrate his legacy. Patrick McDonnell, the creator of MUTTS, spearheaded this project in collaboration with the Charles M. Schulz Museum to celebrate this special birthday! As you look around Comics Kingdom today, you will see many of cartoonists have contributed to this celebration by honoring Mr. Schulz in their comic strips. Here is a collection where you can see them all together! Todd the Dinoaur by Patrick Roberts Crankshaft by Tom Batiuk and Dan Davis Rhymes With Orange by Hilary Price & Rina PIccolo The Lockhorns by Bunny Hoest and John Reiner Daddy […]

Friday has arrived! To celebrate, let’s take a look at our editorial staff’s top picks for the week.   1) Carpe Diem March 29, 2021 Cats have joined the space race.   2) Hi and Lois March 30, 2021 When your Monday was just THAT bad.   3) Macanudo March 31, 2021 Never hold a boring meeting around Lord Vader.   4) The Family Circus April 1, 2021 Funny or cruel?   5) Zits April 2, 2021 Jeremy won’t take the hint.

Everyone wants to be a prankster on April 1st. With only a few days ’till the big holiday, here’s a list of Top Ten Comics on April Fools’ Day to prepare you and maybe give you some wild ideas!   Don’t forget to stay tuned for new April Fools’ comics coming this Thursday.   1) Take It From The Tinkersons April 1, 2020 It’s a joke, right? RIGHT?!   2) Blondie April 1, 2020 Okay but these kids really should apologize…   3) Hi and Lois April 1, 2015 Have you done your taxes yet?   4) Mother Goose & Grimm April 1, 2015 Funny or cruel?   5) Mutts April 1, 2020 Nooo we don’t wanna see Mooch or Earl leave!   6) Six Chix April 1, 2014 You better hope this trick is performed on April Fools’ Day.   7) Dustin April 1, 2019 What would you do if your doctor said this to you?   8) The Family Circus April 1, 2019 Nice try, kiddo.   9) The Lockhorns April 1, 2013 Should companies start recognizing April 1st as a free holiday?   10) Baby Blues April […]

SCOTTSDALE, AZ — We caught up with a local family of six (you heard that right) who just made plans to go to the beach over the weekend. The family wasn’t interested in talking but one of the children, Jeffy, insisted on giving us an exclusive interview. The parents wouldn’t allow it, but after several minutes of nonstop screaming and crying, they gave in and accepted young Jeffy’s request at giving us this exclusive. The 3-year old had plenty to talk about, from his favorite ice cream to his exposed tactics at avoiding Mommy’s yucky dinner.   CK: So how are you today, Jeffy? J: Yes.   CK: Are you enjoying the summer so far? J: Well I keep getting water all over my head for no reason and my clothes always get soaked whenever I go outside, even if it’s not raining! But it’s been- it’s been- it’s been…FUN!    CK: Do you love your brothers and sister? J: Billy tries to teach me stuff and Dolly is always being bossy . Also, PJ cries a lot. I don’t know. I think I might [love them] but it’s a secret! […]

“Fourteen?” you say.  “That can’t be right,” you say.  But it’s true!  Today is The Family Circus’ fourteenth birthday– because The Family Circus was launched on Leap Day, 1960! Here’s the very first Family Circus Strip, from February 29, 1960: It’s not every year we get to celebrate the anniversary of this beloved comic! Bil Keane created Family Circus when he was a father with a young family, himself:    Jeff Keane is now Ringmaster of the circus, and we’d like to take the opportunity to wish Jeff and the entire family a very happy anniversary– even “Not Me” and “Ida Know” — and we’d never forget our beloved dotted line!    Have a happy Leap Day, and here’s to fourteen more birthdays for Family Circus!   

Hi and Lois Sunday page, February 24, 2002. This Hi and Lois Sunday page was a tribute to Bil Keane’s Family Circus. Keane’s original round panel was called Family Circle when it debuted on February 29, 1960, but Keane had to change the name six months later because there was a magazine with the same name. The Family Circus Sunday page often features a large, detailed drawing. The kids are shown commenting on a single subject in a multi-balloon format or having elaborate fantasies that are revealed in a single dream balloon. Keane frequently drew aerial views of the neighborhood showing Billy’s wanderings with a dotted line. This idea has been recycled many times and is a favorite with readers. The earliest appearance of the dotted line was on April 8, 1962 (an un-dotted path first appeared on February 25). Below is a classic example of a dotted line Sunday page. The Family Circus, August 8, 1989. In an interview, Jeff Keane, who now produces the strip, says he creates the line by drawing one continuous black line and then breaking it into segments with white. We hope our readers […]

Over here at King Features, we’re gearing up for NYCC! Remember, if you’re going to be at the show, TOMORROW is our signing at the IDW booth (Booth 1844), where you can purchase a copy of King of the Comics for you to buy! From 4-5:30 on Thursday, five King Features cartoonists will be there to sign your books: Patrick McDonnell (Mutts), Brian Walker (Hi and Lois), Jeff Keane (The Family Circus), Hilary Price (Rhymes with Orange) and Ray Billingsley (Curtis). Join us later at 6:30 for our PANEL on the history of King Features Syndicate! And I’ll be around, too, dressed up as Flash Gordon in true Comic Con fashion! In the spirit of the week, I asked our cartoonists to tell some of their favorite fan stories! Bill Holbrook, Kevin & Kell, On the Fastrack, & Safe Havens: My fan story concerns cosplaying; in particular, the time three “Kevin & Kell” readers (led by Robert King) created costumes of Kevin, Kell and Linsdesfarne. At the Midwest FurFest I participated in a skit they wrote, in which I stood upstage imagining gag ideas while they acted them out. Bud […]

Hello, TeeVee fans- Thanks for tuning in to Channel Chuckles, a gag panel that was created by comics great Bil Keane (1922-2011) for the Register & Tribune syndicate, running from 1954 to 1976. It’s a funny feature, I guess provided you get the jokes. It was a clever idea because you could never run out of material, with TV’s shows, personalities and issues constantly changing. Keane is, of course, known for The Family Circus, the warm, wholesome family panel that he began in 1960 and that continues today, drawn by his son, Jeff. You wouldn’t know it from the Circus that Keane also had a sharp, satiric wit. Channel Chuckles could have been part of MAD magazine. Since your Archivist is old enough to remember the great moments of TV, not to mention some awful ones, I’ll drop off a few panels and if you’re too young to remember the golden age of video, or you are old enough, but weren’t paying attention, I’ll leave a few notes below:  Top: 20 March 1954, (1) 10 May 1954 (2), 27 May 1954, 10 July 1954Below: 2 December 1954, 3 December 1954 […]

   Last week, as part of the National Cartoonists’ Society Weekend. we had the pleasure and privilege of being hosted by the Library of Congress for a panel called “Cartooning and Our Culture.”  The panel was moderated by our very own Editor, Brendan Burford, and features six incredible King Features cartoonists: Patrick McDonnell of Mutts, Brian Walker of Hi & Lois and Beetle Bailey, Jeff Keane of The Family Circus, Hilary Price of Rhymes With Orange, Ray Billingsley of Curtis, and Mike Peters of Mother Goose and Grimm.     The Library of Congress has a fantastic collection of cartoon art, and they displayed a selection of King Features art from every period in our history.  It was really amazing to get to see these original pieces of legendary art up close and personal.   Speaking to a standing-room-only audience, Brendan began by introducing us to the history of King Features, from the beginnings of comic history at Hearst, which started in earnest in 1896, when William Randolph Hearst hired Richard Outcault, Pulitzer’s most poular cartoonist, to create the now-legendary comic, The Yellow Kid.  Brendan led us through the pre-King […]

First of all, today is Family Circus’ birthday! I wanted to wish Mommy, Daddy, Billy, Dolly, Jeffy, and PJ a wonderful day!    Second, I’m really excited to show you these awesome new Flash Gordon and Phantom watches available from DRx and Bamford Watch Department! If you ask me, Bamford Watch Department should just go ahead and shorten their name to “BAMF.” They made this cool video to promote the Phantom watch! It’s pretty spiffy. Finally, everybody at King Features was terrible saddened by the loss of Leonard Nimoy on Friday. Growing up here in New York, I remember going to the planetarium and hearing the beloved voice of Mr. Spock describe the Milky Way and the Nebula Galaxy. Even before I fell in love with Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy made me fall in love with astronomy. David Reddick of Intelligent Life is a lifelong Star Trek fan extraordinaire, and he sent me this photo of himself meeting with Mr. Nimoy a few years ago, while David was writing “The Trek Life” comic strip for CBS.   David also sent this remembrance of Mr. Nimoy: Remembering Leonard Nimoy… I remember […]