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Ramblings & Reviews

Mort Walker 1923-2018 – RIP

Mort Walker (September 3, 1923 – January 27, 2018).

In memory of Mort Walker – My pic with cartoonists Mort Walker, Greg Evans, and Ray Billingsley. Circa 1992 at the King Features Christmas Party.

I’m biting my lip in this shot because I was just the young pup on staff at King standing next to three guys in the big leagues. My hobbit like size and ill-fitting suit just adds to the magic.

And here’s a 24-year-old Jim Keefe with Beetle Bailey up at King Features circa 1989 (when the offices were at 216 East 45th Street in New York).

As the colorist on staff at the time, I colored Beetle with Pantone sheets that had an adhesive back that you’d lay down, cut out, then burnish down.

I’ve been coloring Beetle for close to 30 years now (first on staff and now as a freelancer). My heartfelt prayers go out to Mort’s family and friends during this difficult time.

-Jim Keefe

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Francesco Marciuliano Sally Forth

Francesco Marciuliano on 20 Years of Writing Sally Forth

Check out Francesco Marciuliano’s blog Medium Large
as he looks back on twenty years of writing the Sally Forth comic strip.
It Was 20 Years Ago Today

Categories
Sally Forth

Letters – Washington Post

A reader’s response to the recent Sally Forth storyline featuring Ted’s Dad dying – from the Washington Post.

Categories
Sally Forth

NCS Thanks & Giving Auction

Would you like to own an original Sally Forth comic strip?
Click on image to go to the auction.

Sally Forth comic strip for November 23, 2017

The National Cartoonists Society has partnered with Heritage Auctions for the NCS Thanks & Giving Auction. All proceeds from the auction will be sent to Direct Relief, a charity that specializes in providing humanitarian aid to victims of natural disasters. The strip offered is from Thanksgiving day, and is written by Francesco Marciuliano and drawn by yours truly, Jim Keefe.

It’s your chance to get some comic art AND support a good cause all at the same time! Auction ends November 30th – so check it out soon…

-Jim Keefe

UPDATE:

Many thanks! As mentioned all proceeds from the auction will be sent to Direct Relief.

Categories
Francesco Marciuliano Sally Forth

Ted’s Dad Dies

A little behind the scenes on today’s Sally Forth strip.

First, Francesco Marciuliano’s script for this strip.

Monday
Scene: ONE PANEL. Interior, Hospital Hallway. Same Day. Long shot down the Palliative Wing Hallway. In the distance we see Ted and his mom hugging. They are crying but we don’t see really see their faces or any cartoon tears.

Original art.
Dot screen and lettering done digitally in Photoshop.
Color specification mirror inks.

The decision for the halo of light around Ted and his Mother was decided on as I had already done a hallway scene on October 22 where I tried to convey how you can feel all alone in a crowded hallway.

For the November 6th strip with Ted and his Mom I didn’t want to show the hallway completely empty (hospitals never are), but at the same time how the rest of the world goes away at that moment.

Hopefully it read that way for the readers as well.

Francesco has given me a lot of leeway on how to portray these scenes throughout.
I appreciate the trust he has in me in doing so, and hope the decisions I made in the illustrations did the story he beautifully crafted justice.

-Jim Keefe