April 1st
To open April Fools’ Month, we present two pages from the 1925 collection, Cartoons from Life, in which artist Ellison Hoover uses contemporary comic strip characters to communicate editorial opinions (above), and to “improve” famous paintings (below). Comic strips involved in these parodies include: Polly and Her Pals; Bringing Up Father; Captain and the Kids [...]
COMIC BOOK COMPULSIVE — Horace and Dotty Dripple #32
Here’s another comic strip that I never knew existed, let alone lasted for nearly thirty years. Created in 1944 by cartoonist Buford Tune (he had a lot of credits but the most interesting, to me anyway, was a stint painting giant balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade) under the name Dotty Dripple. Renamed Horace and Dotty [...]
Bringing Up Father & Katzenjammer Kids Plays
This week in our ongoing Theatrical Cartoons series, a few examples of ads for plays based on popular comic strip series. Above, a flyer for Bringing Up Father in Gay New York, based on the newspaper strip by George McManus. Below, two more Bringing Up Father ads, this time in the form of ink blotters. [...]
Makin’ Links’ # 34
Today we point you toward some online comic strip sites. King Features Syndicate runs DAILY INKwhere you can read some recent strips for free and a bunch of vintage classics for a small annual subscription fee (less than those porn sites you’re always joining!). Did you know they were still making THE KATZENJAMMER KIDS? FLASH [...]
This Day in Arf History: Rudolph Dirks was Born
On this day in 1877, German comic artist Rudolph Dirks was born. Kirks moved to Chicago at the age of seven and is probably best known for The Katzenjammer Kids. He was one of the most successful comic pioneers.
Scandal Rocks Toon-A-MILF Contest: Mama Katzenjammer Alleged Child Beater!
The “America’s Top Toon-A-MILF-Battle of the Cartoon Moms” Contest (scroll below) has been rocked with scandal with photos being posted all over the internet of Mama Katzenjammer by all appearances brutally beating the Katzenjammer Kids. A representative of The Arf Lover’s Blog has issued this statement: “We don’t advocate or in any way support child [...]
So Bad They’re Good!
Johnny Ryan’s comics are so good because he’s such a bad boy! Johnny sent Arflovers a review copy of his latest prank Comic Book Holocaust II. If the Katzenjammer Kids drew comics you’d have the work of Ryan. Johnny remembers to put the comic in comic book. His strips are so funny I didn’t forget [...]
