December 30th, 2013

Editor’s Dispatch: Ringing in the New!

by Countess Tea

Hi, all! If you poke around Comics Kingdom today, you’ll notice something new: the fabulous art by Terry Beatty debuting today on Rex Morgan, MD!

You’ll recognize Terry, of course, from his great work on the Sunday stories from The Phantom— now he’s taking over artistic duties on Rex Morgan, and we couldn’t be more excited! Congratulations, Terry!

With 2013 drawing to a close, we’re setting our sights on all the new and exciting things coming up in 2014.

It’s a big anniversary year for a number of King Features comics. Thimble Theatre, the original home of Popeye, Olive, and all their friends, is turning a sprightly 95 years old this year. And Popeye himself is going to be 85!

In comparison, Snuffy Smith, of Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, Mandrake the Magician, and Flash Gordon are all turning 80 (man, there must be something in the water in Hootin’ Holler), along with Henry (Gosh! No wonder the kid’s gone bald!).

But they have nothing on Barney Google himself, who is turning 95 this year (but I hear Spark Plug managed to eat his cake).

Meanwhile, Hi & Lois have been going strong for 60 years (that’s one heck of a marriage!) while Grimmy is celebrating 30 years of giving Mother Goose more than her fair share of grey hairs in Mother Goose and Grimm.

The team of On The Fastrack has been sweating away at their 9-to-5 for 30 years, while Mallard Fillmore has been working the news desk for 20. The ladies of Between Friends have been balancing work and family life for 20 years, as well, while Mooch and Earl of Mutts have been balancing naps and walks for just as long (that’s tough work).

Whew, that’s a lot of big anniversaries to celebrate! We’ll be checking in with all those comics over the course of the year– but for now, we’d just like to wish everyone a happy and healthy 2014!