In case you missed it, last weekend the National Cartoonists Society had their annual awards in New Orleans. This year the honors for Cartoonist of the Year went to veteran Mad contributor Al Jaffee. Al added his own brand of wit to Mad magazine for more than five decades. He is perhaps best known for the Mad Fold-In that is always at the back of the magazine, something he still does to this day. The New York Times has taken a few of these fold-ins and made them interactive (because folding a computer screen is pretty had to do). Check 'em out!

While I don't think I'll ever make it into the hallowed hall of fame like Al Jaffee, Sergio Aragones, Garry Trudeau, Gary Larson, Cathy Guisewite, Mike Peters, Jim Davis, Lynn Johnston, Bill Watterson or Charles Schulz, I can at least continue to draw inspiration from their body of work. Congratulations, Al!

Labels: Al Jaffee, Fold-In, Mad Magazine, NCS, Reuben

Hey folks, here's some things for you to consider.

There's a new gamecreature cartoon up. It's been up since the beginning of the week, but I forgot to mention it. Sorry!

I've added five new games to the arcade. There's something for everybody - go check them out!

The much anticipated fourth film in the Indiana Jones series premieres today, to mixed reviews. I probably will go see it, but it's going to be hard to beat the impact of Iron Man thus far.

Finally, it's Memorial Day weekend, and it looks like we'll have great weather for cooking out and enjoying the backyard. Which needs to be mowed again. Oy!

Labels: arcade, games, Indiana Jones

I just added high scores to both Critter Crunch and Catch of the Day. Give them a try and see how you stack up against players from around the world!

Labels: arcade, catch of the day, Critter Crunch, games

Or something like that. As hinted in today's comic, Yesterday I went to see Iron Man, the new movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and directed by John Favreau.

Is it worth it? If you've endured Fantastic Four 2 and Spiderman 3, then Ironman is the reward for your pennance. It's a well crafted, superbly paced action film that pushes all your buttons at just the right moments. Robert Downey is excellent as the spoiled rich genius who finds himself thrust into circumstances beyond his control and has to reassess his priorities. But enough about that. Here's some trivia:

• The Iron Man Mark I armor weighed 90 pounds.
  
  
• An animatronic puppet of the Iron Monger was built for the film by Stan Winston Studios. It stood 10 feet tall and weighed 800 pounds, and was built on a set of gimbals to simulate walking. It required five operators to run it.
  
  
• Jon Favreau describes the film as "a kind of independent film-espionage thriller crossbreed; a Robert Altman-directed Superman (1978), with shades of Tom Clancy novels, James Bond films, RoboCop (1987), and Batman Begins (2005)."

There's a big hint about the sequel at the end of the film's credits. I'll say no more. What are you waiting for? Go see it.

Labels: Iron Man

Happy Mother's Day, everybody! I just wanted to take a moment to plug my good friend Mark Anderson's first book, "Rub My Tummy and it's a Deal." Mark is an accomplished magazine cartoonist (Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Barron's and Harvard Business Review, just to name a few) and this book is a collection of some of his best business cartoons. Pop on over to Amazon and pick up a copy for yourself, your mother and your friends. He'll be glad you did.

Labels: Andertoons, business cartoons, rub my tummy and it's a deal

Just added 5 new games to the arcade. Check them out!

Labels: arcade, games

Can you guess what I was doing when I came up with this week's cartoon?

Yes, Spring is in the air and the wildlife is doing what comes naturally. This morning, at least three rabbits have been running the dog ragged. For some reason, they feel compelled to get into our yard, so much that one rabbit would run up to the fence to distract the dog while two more would run through the space she just vacated. Clearly these critters can take care of themselves, but their young can be easily caught by the dog. I hope they don't try to make a burrow in our back yard. But then again, they're just silly rabbits.

Labels: rabbit, Spring