Sunday Comics | ‘Beetle Moses’ arrives on Comics Kingdom

Check out recent webcomics by Harris Fishman, Coleman Engle, Kay King and more.

Here’s a round up of some of the best and most interesting comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

Beetle Moses, the quirky comic strip featuring a lot of animals and pop culture references by Harris Fishman, has debuted on Comics Kingdom.

If you aren’t familiar with Beetle Moses, well, you probably are, as it’s one of those strips that’s done well on social media and probably went across your feed at some point without you realizing it. It’s typically three stacked panels, so already it looks like a meme from the get go.

Fishman spoke with Canvas Rebel about it just a few weeks ago, and this quote resonated with me: I make webcomics, which as a medium have the benefit of being shareable since they are built for social media. Comics are an interesting artistic medium because it feels like they are often overlooked by creators of fine art, and also not respected as an art form by casual consumers. People who love comics know that neither of these mentalities are true, and that the world of comics is endlessly rich and saturated with incredible writers and artists. Webcomics fall into an even less respected niche, and there is some blame to go around. There’s a lot of same-y looking styles thanks to trends in oversimplification over the last decade. Webcomics are still a very new medium, and they differ slightly from printed comics in a few ways. Webcomic creators are still feeling out the ground floor to see exactly where webcomics can go. I think in some ways this freed me as a webcomic artist, since I had a few viral hits early on that broke the typical conventions of the contemporary “scene”. A lot of casual viewers still look at my social media accounts as a “meme page” and don’t consider that I’m one guy actually drawing these things. But that doesn’t discourage me at all. In fact, I think there are some amazing fine artists who would grow both on socials, and in their own creative journey by trying their hands at comics.

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Comic strip news: Flash Gordon returns, Spider-Man canceled

Dan Schkade takes over Flash Gordon, bringing us new strips for the first time in 20 years.

This Sunday the Flash Gordon comic strip returned with new strips for the first time since 2003, both online and in print.

King Features has enlisted Dan Schkade, creator of Lavender Jack, to write and draw the strip. For the last 20 years King Features has offered reruns of the strip, as drawn by Jim Keefe (which can still be found online).

“The initial version of Flash I pitched was a little more purposefully a himbo,” Schkade told the Washington Post. Schkade won a competitive tryout earlier this year to take over the strip, and he agreed to make Flash less of a himbo and “a more classic, straightforward hero.”

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Flash Gordon will soar again at Mad Cave

The publisher plans both new and reprint titles, which will kick off next year.

Mad Cave Studios and King Features have announced plans for Mad Cave to publish new Flash Gordon comics, along with reprints of older material and graphic novels.

In addition Papercutz, the middle-grade imprint owned by Mad Cave, will publish new Flash Gordon comics aimed at that younger audience.

“As one of the first action heroes Flash Gordon has always been powerhouse in the comics universe,’ said Christina Nix Lynch, King Features’ licensing director. “We’re delighted to have a partner like Mad Cave Studios on board who are true Flash fans as well as publishing experts. This program will bring a long-awaited, regular stream of new and legacy content to generations of readers.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Tea Fougner

The editorial director of comics at King Features talks about their website Comics Kingdom, legacy comic strips, finding new creators and more.

Tea Fougner is a writer, editor, cosplayer and currently the editorial director of comics at King Features. In this job she oversees a wide variety of strips ranging from Beetle Bailey to Zippy the Pinhead, Prince Valiant to Macanudo, Mark Trail to Rhymes with Orange.

Fougner loves comics and comics history, and in recent years has been introducing new artists, new voices and new ways to pay tribute to characters and strips like Flash Forward, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Flash Gordon movie.

Fougner and I attended college together many years ago, and we spoke recently about Comics Kingdom, newspapers and getting at the heart of legacy comic strips.

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Sunday Comics | Flash Gordon, trolls and Monster MACS!

Check out new comics from Pia Guerra, Joe Infurnari, John Reppion, PJ Holden and Kerry Callen.

Here’s a round up of some of the best comics we’ve seen online recently. If we missed something, let us know in the comments below.

Dec. 5 is the 40th anniversary of the cult classic Flash Gordon film and to celebrate, King Features is doing a host of activities, like re-releasing the film, launching a motion comic and doing a comic strip anthology. Creators like June Brigman, Liniers, Erica Henderson and Tana Ford will participate in Flash Forward and create strips featuring the space-faring hero.

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Smash Pages Q&A: Erica Schultz

The writer and instructor discusses the new ‘Legacy of Mandrake the Magician,’ her work at The Kubert School and more.

Mandrake the Magician was one of the great classic adventure strips. Created by Lee Falk, who also created The Phantom, the strip ran from 1934 until 2013 and told of a stage magician and hypnotist who also traveled the world fighting criminals and occasionally supernatural forces.

The comic strip ended in 2013, but now has a new life in comic books in the new series Legacy of Mandrake the Magician. The new series from Red 5 Comics and StoneBot Comics launches next week; it’s about a young teenager named Mandy who’s trying to figure out her own talents and her own relationship to the original Mandrake.

The writer behind the comic is Erica Schultz, who readers might know from her work on comics like Forgotten Home, M3, Xena and Charmed. She’s also an instructor at The Kubert School and was kind enough to answer a few questions about what’s essential about the character, what elements needed updating and why Mandy has a secret identity.

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