Comics.com
Comics.com
Privacy Policy Privacy Policy
Terms of Use Terms of Use
  Browse Features: Alphabetically or by Category
Home Features Store E-cards Members Get Comics by E-mail

Comics Update Archive

Back to Archive | Subscribe

Comics Update: November, 2002

This Comics Update invites you to:

Download New Wallpaper Designs
Send Free E-cards
Read an Interview With Big Nate Cartoonist Lincoln Peirce
Get Comic Characters on Clocks
Guess Who Said That
Avoid a Thanksgiving Mess
Celebrate Thanksgiving With Peanuts
Test Your Comics Knowledge
Order Potluck Parish Products

Download New Wallpaper Designs
------------------------

Change your desktop picture every day!

New holiday designs feature Snoopy, Woodstock, and more of your favorite Peanuts characters:

http://www.snoopy.com/comics/peanuts/fun_and_games/wallpaper.html

Bring some magic to your desktop with one of the new Pibgorn or Drusilla designs:

http://www.comics.com/comics/pibgorn/html/wallpaper.html

Send Free E-cards for Thanksgiving
----------------------------------

Wish someone a Happy Thanksgiving with the newest Peanuts e-card:

http://www.snoopy.com/comics/peanuts/fun_and_games/e_cards.html

Celebrate every occasion with an e-card featuring your favorite comic characters!

Arlo and Janis, Get Fuzzy, Luann, Marmaduke, Monty, 9 Chickweed Lane, Pearls Before Swine, Raising Duncan, Rose Is Rose, Working Daze:

http://www.comics.com/ecards/index.html

Dilbert:

http://www.dilbert.com/comics/dilbert/e_greetings/index.html

Interview with Big Nate Cartoonist Lincoln Peirce
-------------------------------------------------

Question: When did you first know you wanted to be a cartoonist?

Lincoln Peirce: It grew into a real ambition by about the sixth grade. Prior to that, I had taught myself to draw by copying strips I knew and liked: "Peanuts," "Fred Bassett," "Andy Capp," etc. Then, in sixth grade, I began inventing my own characters. That was important. I began to think of myself as a cartoonist, someone capable of telling original stories. I identified myself with cartooning the way other kids identified themselves with music or sports.

Q: Who were some of your cartooning influences?

LP: Who wasn't?? I firmly believe you absorb stuff from just about anything you read. But, obviously, some influences are more profound than others. Just about everyone from my generation cites "Peanuts" as a major inspiration, and I'm certainly no exception. Charlie Brown, to me, is one of the greatest comic characters of all time. Trudeau's writing style in "Doonesbury" had a huge impact on me. And, since my late teens, I have found inspiration in the great comic strips of the past: "Krazy Kat," "Li'l Abner," and my favorite, "Polly And Her Pals" by Cliff Sterrett. I'm also a huge Popeye fan.

Q: What was sixth grade like for you? Has Nate done anything in sixth grade you wish you had done?

LP: I remember sixth grade very fondly. I have vivid memories of it having been an eventful year, which is probably the main reason I made Nate a sixth grader when I started the strip 12 years ago.

As for Nate, he is much more of a rogue than I ever was. I think, from the relatively safe vantage point of adulthood, it is natural to wish that you had been a little more daring; maybe even that you had got in trouble a little more. It makes for a more colorful past. Nate takes part in many of the same activities I did as a boy (baseball, soccer, drawing his own comics), but he does them with more gusto. And, last spring, he did something I never came close to doing: he won the deciding match in the state chess championship. Not only did I never win a chess championship, I never actually played the game! I still don't.

Q: Have any of the experiences you had as a teacher appeared in Big Nate?

LP: I was an art teacher, and so anytime you read strips featuring Mr. Rosa, I'm probably accessing pretty directly some of my own classroom experiences. One of my favorite series of strips involved Nate "job shadowing" Mr. Rosa. That's happened to me several times, and the kids who are shadowing me always seem a little disillusioned that the life of a cartoonist isn't more scintillating.

Q: Does fan feedback affect the strip at all?

LP: It's particularly helpful in finding out which strips and stories people really like. Recently I did a whole week of strips which featured Nate bonking himself on the head with an empty plastic soda bottle; and a bunch of people emailed me to say, "I'VE done that!" I struck some sort of chord there. I get a lot of positive feedback about Nate's soccer exploits, his chess career, and his love life. But I've never actually used a reader's suggestion as the basis for a strip or series of strips. If I did that, I wouldn't feel that the strip was authentically my own.

Read a month of Big Nate here:

http://www.comics.com/comics/bignate/index.html

Get clothing, mugs, canvas bags and aprons in a variety of Big Nate designs! Orders of $50 or more in November qualify for free shipping.

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=bignate

Comic Characters on Clocks
--------------------------

Perfect holiday gifts, these ten-inch wall clocks feature some of your favorite comic characters!

Clocks are $2 off through November 20th, and orders of $50 or more in the U.S. qualify for free shipping! Batteries are included.

Dilbert:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=dilbert.3729269

Get Fuzzy:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=getfuzzy.3520258

9 Chickweed Lane:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=chickweed.3656794

Pearls Before Swine:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=pearls.3727469

Rose Is Rose:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=roseisrose.26137

Guess Who Said That
-------------------

Which comic character said, "I eat onyums while playing online video badminton." The answer appears after the next section.

Aprons for Thanksgiving
-----------------------

Whether you're cooking, eating, or cleaning up, keep the turkey off your T-shirt with an apron featuring one of your favorite comic characters. Orders of $50 or more in the U.S. qualify for free shipping in November!

Get Fuzzy:

Bucky puts salmon in the blender:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=getfuzzy.2416034

Bucky drops tomato sauce:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=getfuzzy.2416039

Committed:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/prod.aspx?p=committed.3511358

Frazz:

Choose from one of five designs here:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=frazz.17471

Pibgorn:

Choose from one of six designs here:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=pibgorn.616

Big Nate:

Choose character designs or selected strips:

http://www.cafepress.com/cp/store.aspx?s=bignate

Potluck Parish:

Choose from selected strips:

http://www.cafepress.com/potluckparish

Here's Who Said That
--------------------

In Over the Hedge, Verne reads a letter that says, "I eat onyums while playing online video badminton." Find out why here:

http://www.comics.com/comics/hedge/archive/hedge-20021019.html

Celebrate Thanksgiving with the Peanuts Gang
--------------------------------------------

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (DVD):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004W5UL/unitedemail-20

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (book):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0689850271/unitedemail-20

Test Your Comics Knowledge
--------------------------

Which comic character fits this description?

She's a practical joker, retiree, contrarian and Scrabble savant. She knows just how to get under everyone's skin, and she does so with glee.

The answer appears after the next section.

Potluck Parish Products
-----------------------

New in the Comics.com store, get selected Potluck Parish strips on clothing, mugs, mousepads and aprons:

http://www.cafepress.com/potluckparish

Orders of $50 or more in the U.S. qualify for free shipping in November!

Answer to the Comics Knowledge Question
---------------------------------------

In Rudy Park, Sadie Cohen is a practical joker, retiree, contrarian and Scrabble savant. She knows just how to get under everyone's skin, and she does so with glee.

Read a month of Rudy Park:

http://www.comics.com/comics/rudypark/index.html

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

To request a new subscription to the Comics.com Update, change the address where you receive your Update, or to unsubscribe, click the link below or paste the URL into your browser:

http://www.comics.com/dailycomics/subscribe

To report problems in subscribing with the automated system, send e-mail to:

subscribe.update@unitedmedia.com.

To report problems in unsubscribing with the automated system, send e-mail to:

unsubscribe.update@unitedmedia.com.

ABOUT UNITED MEDIA | TERMS OF USE | COMICS NEWSLETTER
FAQS AND CONTACT | PRIVACY STATEMENT