''The Sunday Funnies'' is a publication reprinting vintage Sunday comic strips at a large size (16"x22") in color. The format is similar to that traditionally used by

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s to publish color

comics a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

, yet instead of newsprint, it is printed on a quality, non-glossy, 60 pound offset stock for clarity and longevity. Featured are classic American

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

from the late 19th century to the 1930s. The publication's title is taken from the generic label ("Sunday funnies") often used for the color comics sections of Sunday newspapers.

Publisher

It was launched December 2011 by editor-publisher

Russ Cochran Russell Earl Cochran (born October 31, 1958) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour Champions, having previously been a member on the PGA Tour and the Nationwide Tour. He is one of the few natural left-handed players to wi ...

, who was associated with the classic comics reprints of

Another Rainbow Publishing Another Rainbow Publishing is a company dedicated to the re-publication and greater recognition of the work of Carl Barks that was created in 1981 by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran. Its name references Barks's saying that there would be "always a ...

Gladstone Publishing Gladstone Publishing was an American company that published Disney comics from 1986 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1998. The company had its origins as a subsidiary of Another Rainbow Publishing, a company formed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran to ...

and

Gemstone Publishing Gemstone Publishing is an American company that publishes comic book price guides. The company was formed by Diamond Comic Distributors President and Chief Executive Officer Steve Geppi in 1994 when he bought Overstreet. Gemstone published licen ...

. Cochran stated, "These are full-size, full-page comics from the greatest years of newspaper comics. Initial print runs will be very small and early issues are likely to sell out." The source of the strips is the

Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum is a research library of American cartoons and comic art affiliated with the Ohio State University library system in Columbus, Ohio. Formerly known as the Cartoon Research Library and the Cartoon Library ...

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

, which houses

Bill Blackbeard William Elsworth Blackbeard (April 28, 1926 – March 10, 2011), better known as Bill Blackbeard, was a writer-editor and the founder-director of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, a comprehensive collection of comic strips and cartoon art ...

's collection of comic strips, the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Design and production is by Michael Kronenberg, who previously designed the

EC Archives The ''EC Archives'' are an ongoing series of American hardcover collections of full-color comic book reprints of EC Comics, published by Russ Cochran and Gemstone Publishing from 2006 to 2008, and then continued by Cochran and Grant Geissman's G ...

for Cochran.Grand Comics Database
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Comic strips

''The Sunday Funnies'' was originally planned as a 32-page monthly. Budget considerations, however, led Cochran to instead publish it as a 96-page quarterly, divided into three separate 32-page sections. Section one (labeled "Section A") of the first issue features ''

Alley Oop ''Alley Oop'' is a syndicated comic strip created December 5, 1932, by American cartoonist V. T. Hamlin, who wrote and drew the strip through four decades for Newspaper Enterprise Association. Hamlin introduced a cast of colorful characters an ...

'', ''

Bronc Peeler ''Bronc Peeler'' was a Western adventure cowboy comic strip created by Fred Harman in 1933, and ran until July 2, 1938. Harman is best known as the artist for the ''Red Ryder'' comic strip, which he created with Stephen Slesinger. Harman was on a ...

'', ''Crazy Quilt'', ''

Gasoline Alley ''Gasoline Alley'' is a comic strip created by Frank King and distributed by Tribune Content Agency. It centers on the lives of patriarch Walt Wallet, his family, and residents in the town of Gasoline Alley, with storylines reflecting traditio ...

'', ''

Krazy Kat ''Krazy Kat'' (also known as ''Krazy & Ignatz'' in some reprints and compilations) is an US, American newspaper comic strip, by cartoonist George Herriman, which ran from 1913 to 1944. It first appeared in the ''New York Journal-American, New Yor ...

'' and '' Wee Willie Winkie's World'', plus brief notes on the strips by Cochran. Section B features the above strips, plus Dudley Fisher's '' Right Around Home''. Section C introduces

George Herriman George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip '' Krazy Kat'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience ...

's ''Stumble Inn''. The daily ''Gasoline Alley'' strips of February 14–15, 1921, are added on ''The Sunday Funnies editorial page to show the arrival of Skeezix as a newborn baby on the doorstep of Walt Wallet. Also featured in the third section is an essay by Cochran, "The Vanishing Newspaper", decrying libraries' destruction of newspapers once they had been microfilmed and praising Blackbeard's role in comics preservation. Comic strips announced as forthcoming are Frank King's ''Bobby Make-Believe'', ''

Buck Rogers Buck Rogers is a science fiction adventure hero and feature comic strip created by Philip Francis Nowlan first appearing in daily US newspapers on January 7, 1929, and subsequently appearing in Sunday newspapers, international newspapers, books ...

'',

Frank Godwin Francis Godwin (October 20, 1889 – August 5, 1959) was an American illustrator and comic strip artist, notable for his strip '' Connie'' and his book illustrations for ''Treasure Island'', ''Kidnapped'', ''Robinson Crusoe'', ''Robin Hood'' ...

's ''

Connie Connie is a given name. It is often a pet form (hypocorism) of Concetta, Constance, Cornelia, or Cornelius. Given name or nickname Women * Connie Achurra, Chilean chef * Connie Binsfeld (1924–2014), American politician * Connie Booth ...

'', ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

'', Billy Ireland's ''The Passing Show'', ''

Polly and Her Pals ''Polly and Her Pals'' is an American comic strip, created by cartoonist Cliff Sterrett, which ran from December 4, 1912, until December 7, 1958. It is regarded as one of the most graphically innovative strips of the 20th century. It debuted as ...

'',

Winsor McCay Zenas Winsor McCay ( – July 26, 1934) was an American cartoonist and animator. He is best known for the comic strip ''Little Nemo'' (1905–14; 1924–26) and the animated film ''Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914). For contractual reasons, he worke ...

's ''A Tale of the Jungle Imps by Felix Fiddle'' and ''

Terry and the Pirates ''Terry and the Pirates'' is an action-adventure comic strip created by cartoonist Milton Caniff, which originally ran from October 22, 1934, to February 25, 1973. Captain Joseph Patterson, editor for the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate, ...

''.

Reaction

Captain Comics reviewed the debut issue of ''The Sunday Funnies'': :''Gasoline Alley'': The current ''Walt and Skeezix'' series (volume five of which shipped recently and covers 1929-1930) reprints dailies only. There was a single volume of color Sundays released a couple of years ago, but it is not comprehensive. Frank King is known equally for his innovative Sunday layout and design as he is for his ongoing narrative in which the characters age in real time. The earliest strips are printed in duotone red and white, but full color was added after a while. This is easily my favorite feature. ''Alley Oop'': There isn’t a comprehensive collection of ''Alley Oop'' dailies or Sundays. My second favorite feature... ''Stumble Inn'': A thematic precursor to

Berke Breathed Guy Berkeley "Berke" Breathed (; born June 21, 1957) is an American cartoonist, children's book author, director, and screenwriter, known for his comic strips ''Bloom County'', '' Outland'', and ''Opus''. ''Bloom County'' earned Breathed the Pu ...

’s ''

Bloom County ''Bloom County'' is an American comic strip by Berkeley Breathed which originally ran from December 8, 1980, until August 6, 1989. It examined events in politics and culture through the viewpoint of a fanciful small town in Middle America, wh ...

'' (the early days, anyway). Herriman must have been an influence on Breathed, because certain aspects of later ''Bloom Country'', and especially its follow-up, ''Outland'', greatly resembled ''Krazy Kat''... These strips are reprinted in the original size, a Sunday broadsheet. The paper stock is thick, non-glossy and brilliantly white, beautifully showcasing the original colors (as well as the slight yellowing of the source paper)... Editor Russ Cochran also provides his e-mail address for feedback regarding future features.Captain Comics, January 13, 2012.
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References

External links

Russ Cochran official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sunday Funnies, The Comics publications American comic strips

Publisher

Comic strips

Reaction

See also

References

External links