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The Comics Curmudgeon
by Molly McCall
Mon, July 02, 2007, 8:00 am PDT

Meet Josh Fruhlinger, the Comics Curmudgeon. For years now, the mainstream funnies have been subjected to his sharp eye, sharper tongue, and troublesome insistence on truth—or at least consistency. From Archie to Ziggy, from syndicated strip to single-panel gag, nothing escapes Josh's scrutiny. And the results are hilarious. Not only is The Comics Curmudgeon a web success, but the site consistently draws praise from such online stalwarts as the Reverend Brendan Powell Smith (amen).

We wrote about Josh's blog almost two years ago. We check in with him now to find out how the Curmudgeon is holding up, what advice he has for building a blog readership, and what online comics get his stamp of approval...

Josh, you know we love your site. And we're not the only ones. Your posts now garner hundreds of comments, you've scored a couple other comics-related gigs (like at Wonkette), and you got a rousing reception at ROFL. Has anything about the boom in readers been tricky for you?

The trickiest thing for me has been just keeping on track of all the comments. Every single one is e-mailed to me! On my typical days, most of which are spent in front of the computer, it's manageable, but when I step away from the keyboard, even for just a day or so, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of stuff to wade through when I get back. But I hate to just cast them aside unread as so many are so funny! Read the full profile...

Filed under: Blogs, Comics, Humor, Cartoonists, Rants, Yahoo! Picks Profiles

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Person of the Day
by Molly McCall
Tue, March 13, 2007, 3:00 am PDT

For decades, editorial cartoonist Steve Brodner has mocked, teased, panned, and occasionally praised creatures of the public realm. Neither politician, nor media mogul, nor cultural icon has escaped his sharp-witted, jowly sketches, and nearly every major periodical has hosted his work. Now, we can catch the "satirical illustrator" daily in this Monday-to-Friday update from the site Drawger. In past months, everyone from Osama bin Laden to Barry Bonds has skulked through Person of the Day. Some lucky types even score a personalized title: On January 20, Simon Cowell became the "Ersatz Person of the Day" and February 16 marked the "Hillary War Vote Explanation of the Day." Yes, this stuff is unabashedly political. The guy's not short on opinions. But at least he's a bipartisan of bile; power brokers and blabbermouths from across the political spectrum have suffered their likeness in his work. Assuming that Brodner stays Brodner, they will continue to for a long time to come, too.
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Filed under: Politics, Humor, Cartoons, Political Humor, Cartoonists

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Motion Picture Purgatory
by Mike Krumboltz
Fri, August 18, 2006, 3:00 am PDT

Most movie reviews are just a bunch of words. Hell, given a thousand years and a typewriter, even a monkey could bang out a decent recap of "Superman Returns." But could a primate do this? Motion Film Purgatory takes a unique approach to the stodgy world of film criticism by imbedding drawings of key scenes in each review. For example, "Super Size Me," a documentary about a man's 30-day McDiet, is both reviewed and illustrated in loving detail (note the little specks within the vomit). Creator Rick Trembles tackles everything from "Kill Bill" to "Punch Drunk Love" to "The Birds." No film, no genre, and no bodily function is safe. While we had a blast clicking around, keep in mind some reviews may be a bit racy for kids.
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Filed under: Movies, Cartoons, Film Reviews, Cartoonists

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The Comics Curmudgeon
by Jon Brooks
Sun, July 31, 2005, 3:00 am PDT

During a newspaper strike in 1945, New York's Mayor LaGuardia famously read the Sunday comics on the radio so kids wouldn't miss their beloved funnies. This ain't that. Since he was a kid, Josh Fruhlinger has been assimilating newspaper comics with a vengeance, and now he offers trenchant commentary on almost 50 strips. From iconoclastic favorites like Boondocks, to pre-ironic chestnuts such as Beetle Bailey, to postmodern envelope-pushers like Zippy the Pinhead, no genre escapes his scrutiny. It's a safe bet that anyone who can write 200 words on a single Rex Morgan M.D. and calls Peanuts' Lucy "the Jungian archetype of the hostile therapist" has something to say about everything. Thus, we get entries with titles like "Extreme crap," not to mention a welter of scorn for Family Circus. No, these aren't your parents' funnies... they're Josh's.
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Filed under: Blogs, Comics, Newspapers, Cartoonists

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Frank Cammuso
Sat, February 28, 2004, 3:00 am PST

Comic book detective Max Hamm is a lot like other private dicks. Tough as nails, this "fairy tale detective" dishes compliments to dames faster than Clear Channel drops Howard Stern. But that's where any similarity to Sam Spade ends because Max also happens to take his meals from a trough. Yep, fans of noir mysteries that rock to a different beat should investigate this pig on the prowl at Nite Owl Comix. Run by political cartoonist Frank Cammuso, the site also features an archive of Cammuso's work from the Syracuse Post-Standard as well as an interactive mystery where you decide what steps to take next. Check it out, but keep your snout clean or Max will be on your case like pork on chop.
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Filed under: Comics, Cartoonists

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