Barney & Clyde strip loses Boston Globe

For those who aren't on Facebook, or friends of the Barney & Clyde page, I reproduce this note:

I'm not sure the Globe quite knows why they dropped us either -- they liked us. After nine months of gaining papers, it is only our first cancellation, which is unusual for a new strip, and heartening. For those in or around Boston or who might read the Globe online: An email of complaint goes a long way with comics decisions; newspaper editors listen.

Barney and Clyde channels Doonesbury

The Weingartens and Clark strip Barney and Clyde is channeling 1971 Doonesbury yesterday and today. That's Marvelous Mark Slackmeyer before he became an NPR host. Gene W, a friend of Trudeau's, is undoubtedly paying tribute to the 40th anniversary celebration of the strip - which is still one of the absolute best running.

Jef "Frazz" Mallett's kind words for Weingarten

Meet new faces on the comics pages: Frazz and Dustin
By The Times-Union October 3, 2010

In this interview, Mallett says, "The funny thing is I spent most of my adult life trying to draw like George Booth and write like Gene Weingarten. I’m not there yet …"

Today - Weingartens' chat on 'Barney and Clyde' at noon

Weingartens discuss 'Barney and Clyde'
Gene and Dan Weingarten
Comic strip writers
Monday, June 21, 2010; 12:00 PM

Dan and Gene Weingarten discuss their new comic strip, Barney and Clyde, about the unlikely friendship between a homeless man and a billionaire.

Comic Riffs poll on Barney and Clyde

Defend That 'Toon: Does 'BARNEY & CLYDE' spark a billion laughs -- or bum you out?
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog June 21, 2010

Since they're still setting up their cast, I don't see why anyone's even considering how good it is yet. I think it needs 6 months before you can really decide.

Weingarten Barney & Clyde article in today's Post

This article appeared online days ago, but is in today's Style section.

Weingarten interviewed himself on Barney & Clyde

'Barney & Clyde' a tale of rich man, poor man, Miami Herald June 6 2010.

I guess the Herald couldn't spare a reporter...

And here's the note the Post ran about the strip a week ago - A note to comics readers, Sunday, June 6, 2010.

Comic Riffs' full court Weingarten press

The interview -

The 'Riffs Interview: GENE WEINGARTEN, New Cartoonist, dares to attempt comic pearls before breakfast
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs June 4, 2010

The discussion of the strip at the Post Hunt event -

POST HUNT: When a comic strip stands between you and $2K

PR: Wash Post Introduces Gene Weingarten's Comic Strip: "Barney & Clyde"

I meant to post on this over the weekend, but got behind. Cul de Sac has moved next to Doonesbury to make space for this strip.

The Washington Post today introduces a new comic strip by Pulitzer-Prize winning Post columnist Gene Weingarten and his son, Dan Weingarten, with illustrations by David Clark.  "Barney & Clyde" is about an accidental friendship between a billionaire and a homeless man. Fans of Weingarten's "Below the Beltway" humor column will recognize his wit and lack of social grace in this comic, a satire that re-examines measures of success, failure, and fulfillment. The comic  will run Monday-Sunday in The Washington Post's comic pages.

 Barney & Clyde is the newest addition to The Post's comics and puzzle pages in Style. Last April The Post added The Post Puzzler, a crossword puzzle from celebrated puzzle writer Peter Gordon.  

  To visit Barney & Clyde, go to http://www.postwritersgroup.com/comics/bcl2.htm#.  

 To visit the Post Puzzler, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artsandliving/crosswords/.  

 

Weingarten's co-author on Clowes

Gina Barreca, who has collaborated with Gene Weingarten on his column in the Washington Post Magazine, looks at the recent Dan Clowes cover for the New Yorker - Is There a Doctorate in the House? Chronicle of Higher Education blog May 21, 2010.

Chatalogical Humor on Weingarten's new comic strip

Today's Chatalogical Humor is on Gene Weingarten's new comic strip "Barney & Clyde" as well as the quality of early Dennis the Menace.

Updating this a little, Barney and Clyde is a comic about a billionaire and a pauper. It's got a Facebook page now, and will be appearing in the Post when it launches.

Weingarten on Arnold comic strip

In his January 5th Chatalogical Humor chat, Gene Weingarten polled his readers on the Arnold comic strip by Kevin McCormick.

The responses to the Arnold strip were:

Richmond, Va.: When I was looking at the first Arnold strip, my eyes accidentally leaped to the last panel where I saw the balloon "I consumed white death!" It made me smile, and I went back to read the whole thing. Er...mayonnaise is the white death? Er...okay. The only way I could think there's a joke in there is if it is a running gag - he hates mayo and the lunch ladies tricked him into eating it with the tuna salad. Anyway, it was kind of deflating that such a cool punchline had such a bad setup. I may use that line, though.

Gene Weingarten: Yes, his hatred of mayo was a running gag -- as was his war with the cafeteria ladies. But I contend this was all implicit in the strip you read.

----

And lastly, I put Arnold in there because it was a near-great strip. Arnold never succeeded because Arnold was, at its wicked little heart, really mean-spirited. It scared newspaper editors who (incorrectly) believed that the comics pages were the province of children. Arnold was really daring, and different -- it featured a child who had no innocence whatsoever.

When Arnold failed the cartoonist gave it all up and became (I kid you not) a minister. That's what he's doing now.

_______________________

Lansing, Mich.: Hey, Gene! I was talking about "Arnold" with someone at Jef's book-release party last month (I wish I could remember who -- he specifically cited the "white death" strip you ran as one of his favorites.)

I had a (possibly unreasonably) strong devotion to "Arnold" when I was in college and find in reading it now that I'm still rather fond of it, although I have a little tougher time with the quality of the art these days.

I gave it a "pretty good".

Gene Weingarten: I asked a comics editor about this recently, and she, too, had some problems with the art; I don't see it, but you and Jef and she are pros, so I bow.

I love his nasty spirit.

Weingarten on Doonesbury's perceived 'anti-Semitism', comic strip salaries and Ted Rall

Here's some bits from Weingarten's last two chats:

Chatological Humor: Grammatically Speaking; Late-Term Abortion (Updated 6.5.09)
aka Tuesdays With Moron
Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 2, 2009; 12:00 PM

Isn't this your guy, Gene?: From Illinois' State Journal-Register last Friday, 5/29:

"From health care to torture to the economy to war, Obama has reneged on pledges real and implied. So timid and so owned is he that he trembles in fear of offending, of all things, the government of Turkey. Obama has officially reneged on his campaign promise to acknowledge the Armenian genocide. When a president doesn't have the nerve to annoy the Turks, why does he bother to show up for work in the morning?

"Obama is useless. Worse than that, he's dangerous. Which is why, if he has any patriotism left after the thousands of meetings he has sat through with corporate contributors, blood-sucking lobbyists and corrupt politicians, he ought to step down now - before he drags us further into the abyss."

Rush Limbaugh? Nope. Dick Cheney? Nope. Bill Ayers? Nah. It's none other than Ted Rall, whose cartoon work and political insights you've always admired so much. Here's the whole column.

Enjoy.

Gene Weingarten: This is CLASSIC Ted Rall.

Rall often has good points to make, but then makes them with such wild overstatement that he undercuts himself. And occasionally has to apologize.

Here's a cartoon of his

after Antonin Scalia said he'd be in favor of slapping terrorist prisoners under certain circumstances.

Here's another one

that's self-explanatory.

----------------------

15th Street, D.C.: Gene- What do you think of Sunday's "Doonesbury"? Do you think it could have been perceived as a tad anti-semitic? I am not even close to being politically correct but thought Trudeau took an...interesting path to make a not funny or interesting point.

Best- A 31 married Jewish guy in D.C.

Gene Weingarten: I don't see any antisemitism here, and I think it was a very funny and interesting comic.

The joke is about the current economy, and what bankers have done to us.

_______________________


Chatological Humor: Insuring Your Weekly Quota of Yuks. And Yucks (UPDATED 5.29.09)
aka Tuesdays With Moron
Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 26, 2009; 12:00 PM

Westminster, Md.: Gene, I am curious about how cartoonists are paid. If a cartoonist is syndicated in 1,000 newspapers, as some are, and is paid a mere $5 by each paper, the cartoonist (and his distributor, agent, etc.) make $5,000 PER DAY for drawing a cartoon. But it seems equally unreasonable that a paper like The Post pays a mere $5 for something that may draw more eyes than the headline story on the Metro page. So what's up?

Gene Weingarten: As the old Yiddish expression goes, re wishing something stated were true: "From your mouth to God's ear."

Alas, no. The formula for comic strips is that the author and the syndicate split about $1,000 a YEAR for each newspaper that runs the strip. So, if a strip is in 1,000 newspapers (this is almost unheard of) the cartoonist would get $500,000 a year.

A typical, moderately successful strip might be in 100 papers. Do the math. It isn't pretty.

Weingarten on his new comic strip's lettering

Not much on comics this week, but this tidbit...

Chatological Humor: Single-handedly Saving the Newspaper Biz
aka Tuesdays With Moron
Gene Weingarten
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 12, 2009; 12:00 PM

Princeton, N.J.: Hey Gene - This may sound like a dumb question, but is the text in comics always all done by hand as well as the drawings? It always just seems so perfect and unwavering.

Thanks, mister.

Gene Weingarten: Some toonists still letter by hand. Some use computer lettering, which has gotten very sophisticated. Even the purist Garry Trudeau made the switch to computer lettering a couple of years ago -- I believe to a lettering system created from his own past lettering.

Barney and Clyde, the strip Dan'l and I are doing, will be hand lettered by the artist, David Clark.

Weingarten's comic strip picked up, opinions on other comics cease

From the April 7th chat, Gene Weingarten says,

I have a wonderful announcement about how Chatological Humor is going to get even better! This is exactly like announcements you've been seeing in other newspapers practically every day now about how they are cutting costs, paper quality, paper size, staff and features in order to bring to you, the reader, an EVEN BETTER, MORE STREAMLINED PRODUCT!

Well, this is the last week Chatological Humor will offer its picks for the best comics of the previous week. Yes, the CPOW [Comic Pick of the Week] is dead. All for your benefit!

Okay, as it happens, there is nothing dastardly or craven behind this decision and no one I can yell at self-righteously. Last week, the Washington Post Writers Group syndicate picked up its option on "Barney and Clyde," the comic strip being developed by me, my son, Dan, and cartoonist David Clark. Editors at The Writers Group feel that I can no longer offer my half-assed, semi-knowledgeable opinions about other comic strips that might, in the future, compete for space with mine. I hate to admit it, but they have a point.

_______________________

Alexandria: So, when does Barney and Clyde's run begin? And what will it replace? (this is news, not commentary, I'm asking for)

Gene Weingarten: No clear answer to either question; no way of knowing even if The Washington Post will run it. There are no obligations in any direction.

_______________________

Comics abomination: Gene, I noticed on Sunday that while some of the regular strips seem to have shrunk or the panels squeezed together oddly (Pearls especially got the short end of the stick), the Slylock Fox panel has grown significantly.

I'm all for encouraging youngsters' abilities to solve petty crimes through observation, but does it really need to be larger than most of the other strips?

Gene Weingarten: This may be deliberate, and smart. Pearls Before Swine (Pastis will hate me for this) seems to be drawn shrewdly, to deter shrinkage. Its characters are simple, dialogue simple, spaces big. It can shrink without injury more than most can.

_______________________

Re: Pearls Before Swine: I disagree with Pastis' strategy - I think he is inadvertently enabling shrinkage instead of deterring it. A comic editor might see his strip and assume that shrinking all comics won't hurt the content. What if the comics fought shrinkage by adding more art and content, so that readers would complain to the comics editors?

Gene Weingarten: Uh, that would be a lot of nose-cutting for face-spiting.

_______________________

Pearls shrinkage: I think you might be missing the point. Whether or not Pastis is deliberately drawing his strip to survive the Great Comic Shrink of 2009 or not, SLYLOCK FOX IS GETTING BIGGER!

Surely another comic deserves enlargement before Slylock.

Gene Weingarten: If you are going to run Slylock, you need to give it space! A lot of stuff is going on in there.

Cagle and Cavna; Weingarten on comic strips

Off to the Herblock award, but check out "The Twitter Interview: Cartoonist Daryl Cagle," By Michael Cavna, April 2, 2009.

Gene Weingarten has a longish discussion of comic strips so I won't quote all of it - "Chatological Humor: Comics Section Shrinkage, Erogenous Zones (UPDATED 4.2.09)", Washington Post.com (March 31 2009).

Finally, there's a play with a superhero theme in town -
"A Crusade Against Religion: In 'The Faithkiller,' an atheistic superhero gets mixed reactions," by Express contributor Erin Trompeter, April 2, 2009.