August 3rd, 2017

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas?!

by John Rose

Last year’s Snofte Smith Christmas Comic Book created for our wonderful readers in Norway!

Here we are in the Summer of 2017, but as a cartoonist, I’ve been thinking a lot about Christmas lately.  That’s how it is when you’re a cartoonist and have to work so far ahead on deadlines. The Barney Google and Snuffy Smith comic strip is translated into many languages including Swedish, Danish and Norwegian.  As I have mentioned before in this blog, each year in the country of Norway, there is a special Snofte Smith Christmas Comic Book that comes out every December.  Through King Features, it has been my honor to work with Egmont, the publisher in Norway, for many years on the Snofte Smith Christmas Comic Book, or Julehefte, as it is known.  Starting in May, I began working on cover designs for this year’s Christmas comic book.  Once a sketch is approved, I create the final art for the cover and turn it into the publisher.

The inside of the comic book features pages full of past Snuffy Smith Sunday comic strips, but every year the cover requires new art to be created.  I’m so thankful that I get to do this each year for our wonderful readers in Norway!  For many years, comics have been a very popular part of northern European life, especially during the Christmas season.  While I can’t reveal this year’s cover until next year, I can show you last year’s cover (above).  Each one of these covers has been a bodacious joy to create!