The 10 Biggest Comic Strip Stories in 2018
by Stephen RothA lot happened in 2018 in the world of comic strips and political cartoons. Much of it also involved GoComics.com, which we see as a good thing.
Below is our authoritative but completely unscientific list of the biggest happenings for comics over the past year. You'll notice a few of them involve short animation, which is a brand-new form of storytelling for GoComics (you can view the outstanding finalists for our first-ever "Short Shorts" animation contest here).
Anyhoo, here's our Top 10 for the biggest comic strip stories of 2018!
The Reboot of Nancy
In April, Olivia Jaimes took the creative helm of Nancy, injecting the classic comic with a fresh look and modern sensibilities. Some longtime Nancy fans were a little startled by the change, but reviews and reception for the revamped comic have been overwhelmingly positive.
Alley Oop's Creators Retire
On Sept. 1, longtime Alley Oop creative duo Jack and Carole Bender published their final strip. However, that won't be the last word for the time-traveling caveman, who dates back to 1932.
The classic comic strip will be relaunched in early January with a new creative team: Jonathan Lemon of Rabbits Against Magic, and Joey Alison Sayers of Joey Alison Sayers Comics. We can't wait to see Alley Oop's new look and story lines!
DeFlocked Joins GoComics
DeFlocked was added as a new GoComics feature this year, but Jeff Corriveau has been writing the hilarious comic about three farm animals and their human friend for 12 years. In this recent interview with us, Corriveau weighs in on Greek philosophy, TV sitcoms, and how Larry David and Thomas Kinkade became fans of his offbeat strip.
Sarah's Scribbles Gets Animated
This summer, GoComics unveiled an exclusive series of six short animations that brought beloved web comic Sarah's Scribbles to life. Animated shorts represent a new form of storytelling for GoComics, and Sarah Andersen's comic about coming to grips with adulthood is a natural fit for this emerging genre. Click here to view all six animations!
Garfield's big, fat 40th
On June 19, the big, orange, lasagna-loving cat celebrated his 40th anniversary. As you can tell from the comic below, Garfield is still coming to grips with officially entering middle age.
A New Comic From Georgia Dunn
Breaking Cat News creator Georgia Dunn unveiled a new feature that she had actually been working on for several years. Swan Eaters, about a old witch who has to look after a family, actually ran from 2011 to 2013 before Dunn shelved it to focus on other work. Now Swan Eaters — which draws inspiration from several spooky sources - is back.
"I grew up loving The Addams Family and The Munsters, stories of Baba Yaga, Rasputin, witchcraft, freak shows, Irish travelers, and Russian folklore," Dunn recently told GoComics.
Garry Trudeau Marks 50 Years of Cartooning
"It was more of an accidental career," Doonesbury creator Garry Trudeau said in a recent interview with his wife, Jane Pauley. "It didn't seem to me that I was going to be bound to this thing for an extensive period of my life."
Fifty years after his first strip, originally called Bull Tales, debuted in the Yale University student newspaper, Trudeau is still at it. You can read Doonesbury from the beginning by clicking here, or purchase the latest Doonesbury collection, #SAD!: Doonesbury in the Time of Trump.
Catana's Little Moments of Love
Creator Catana Chetwynd got the idea for Little Moments of Love from her partner, John, on Thanksgiving Day, 2016. One hour later, the first strip was created, starting a whirlwind creative andenture that included the debut of Little Moments of Love as a twice-weekly feature on GoComics in September, and publication of a popular new collection of the same name.
The comic strip, which has more than a million followers on Facebook, captures those playful moments of tenderness and random silliness that young couples experience.
Editorial Cartoonists Under Fire
It was a turbulent year for journalism as a whole, including editorial cartoonists. Rob Rogers was fired by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in May after the newspaper rejected a few of his cartoons that were critical of President Trump. Longtime political cartoonist and Duplex creator Glenn McCoy left the Bellville News-Democrat after budget cuts at that newspaper. Other editorial cartoonists are also feeling the pressure of cash-strapped newspapers and heightened sensitivities about a range of political and social issues.
Real-Time Texting From Mittens
Another recent addition to GoComics, Angie Bailey's Texts From Mittens,follows the frantic digital exchanges between high-maintenance indoor cat Mittens and his patient, long-suffering human "mom." We brought four Texts From Mittens strips to life through animation, making the idea of a tech-savvy cat with opposable thumbs almost believable. Click here to view all four short videos.
