The Hogan’s Alley website is the online companion to the print edition, and here you’ll find features from past issues, Web Extras supplemental material, and other exclusive content you won’t find anywhere else! Dive right in, and we hope you’ll return often to discover the wonders of the award-winning Hogan’s Alley magazine! (And please note that the website contains only a small fraction of what the print edition features.)
As expansive as the print edition of Hogan’s Alley #23 is, we always end up with lots of material we can show. So we invite you to gorge yourself on the Web Extras for this issue, the overflow from the print magazine and the material we couldn’t show in its original glorious color!
As Lincoln Peirce’s “Big Nate” prepares to make the jump from children’s books and newspaper comic strips to the small screen, Tom Heintjes talks to Peirce about the character’s evolution to animation and how he helped adapt his creation to a new medium.
Jack Mendelsohn had a hand in many iconic comics properties, from the animated Beatles cartoon Yellow Submarine to his fondly remembered newspaper strip Jackys Diary. JOHN PROVINCE interviews the creative chameleon Mendelsohn about his long and eclectic career.
Comic strips exist squarely at the intersection of art and commerce, and this has perhaps never been more true than in the case of Robotman (later rechristened Monty), Jim Meddick’s innovative strip that began its life as a children’s toy tie-in. TOM HEINTJES talks with Meddick about the circuitous path to creating a strip whose vision eventually became his own.
Journalists have a storied role in the history of comics, from breaking news to breaking hearts and heart-stopping antics in between. MICHELLE NOLAN gets the scoop on the fictional Fourth Estate.
ANDY BROOME looks back at the highs and (literal) lows of the career of Ted Mullings, a cartoonist who toiled for many years in extreme conditions.
An Atlanta-area university is hosting a major exhibit of original comic art, including works by legends such as Winsor McCay, Bill Watterson, Will Eisner, Neal Adams and dozens more. DOUG DeLOACH walks you through the exhibit’s many wonders and includes information on attending.
Three Black cartoonists—Barbara Brandon-Croft, Ray Billingsley and Lonnie Millsap—discuss the challenges of working in syndicated cartooning as African Americans in a conversation with Hogan’s Alley editor Tom Heintjes.
Cartoonist Bill Holbrook discusses his new graphic novel, Dethany and the Other Clique—an exploration of the younger years of Dethany the Corporate Goth—in an interview with Hogan’s Alley editor Tom Heintjes.
Comics veteran Hy Eisman has had more ghostly adventures than Casper. Mark Squirek talks to the man who has drawn a who’s who of famous characters.
Once almost entirely the professional domain of men, cartooning has seen its practitioners diversify considerably in recent years. Hogan’s Alley editor Tom Heintjes sat down with some female cartoonists to discuss their experiences in the industry and changes they’ve seen during their careers.
Charles M. Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, is among the most influential and respected cartoonists of all time. But people haven't always shown that respect by taking the time to make sure they've spelled his name correctly. Nat Gertler surveys some errant attempts at crediting a globally known icon.
When Cathy Guisewite chose to retire her popular strip Cathy, the comics page lost one of the pioneers of bringing a female perspective to the comics page. Tom Heintjes talks to Guisewite about her career and her decision to leave on top.
Lee Salem, editorial director and vice president of Universal Press Syndicate, saw a lot in 25 years in syndication. In this candid interview, he discusses the challenges and opportunities facing the comics industry and what must be done to continue to thrive in a changing world.
Generations of children grew up reading the antics of Nicky and Dicky, better known as the Tracy Twins. Drawn for decades by Dik Browne for the Boy Scouts’ Boys’ Life magazine, the strip is as sewn into the fabric of yesteryear’s boyhood as an Eagle Scout patch. Brian Walker chronicles the strip’s development and evolution into an American institution.
During the heyday of sheet music, comics characters often appeared on the music's cover in one of cartoon merchandising's first successes. Kevin Lanagan examines this tuneful genre.
You’re not familiar with Irma Peterson? In the ’50s, she was Queen of All Media. Andrew Pepoy examines her comic strip incarnation.
Though largely forgotten by the animation world by the time of his death, John Sutherland was a seminal figure in instructional and propaganda cartoons. Mark Arnold profiles the influential producer.
Zippy the Pinhead creator Bill Griffith has had a lifelong interest in the circus-sideshow subculture, and he recently produced Nobody’s Fool, a remarkable look at a singularly fascinating performer in that unique entertainment world. In an interview, Griffith discusses what prompted him to create the book and the challenges of researching a lost era.
Nat Gertler sheds some light on the career of Fanny Hillman, the Jewish madam whose career was illustrated by MAD magazine maestro Sergio Aragonés.
It’s our photo album from the National Cartoonists Society’s 2019 meeting, filled with exclusive, behind-the-scenes images you won’t find anywhere else! It’s your chance to see dozens and dozens of your favorite cartoonists as you’ve never seen them before!
The National Cartoonists Society’s annual awards banquet, the Reuben Awards, will be held on May 18. Hogan’s Alley fearlessly weighs in with our predictions of who wins, and why, in more than a dozen categories.
Sexual harassment is in the headlines, but it’s hardly a recent phenomenon. JEAN KILBOURNE recounts a period early in her stellar career when Li’l Abner creator Al Capp sought to exploit a power imbalance.
Most people know the late JOHN UPDIKE as the world-renowned author, but few know that he once aspired to be a cartoonist. We present a gallery of Updike's cartoon work, much of it unseen for decades—and an essay by Updike on his lifelong love affair with cartooning, written exclusively for Hogan’s Alley.
Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t fit everything that we wanted into Hogan’s Alley #22, so take a look at these great Web Extras, which we hope will enhance your reading experience.
In Hogan’s Alley #22, TOM HEINTJES chronicles the career of Betty Brown, pharmacist and comics’ first female degreed professional, and here we present an excerpt from the article.
The glitz! The glamor! Enjoy our exclusive photo album from the National Cartoonist Society’s 2018 Reuben Awards weekend.
In 1951, Li’l Abner creator Al Capp ran a contest in his strip to discover the woman he could proclaim to have the world’s sweetest face. More than 40 years later, senior editor Tom Heintjes caught up with the contest’s winner.
Dan Piraro, the inimitable force behind Bizarro, has taken readers on a guided tour of his mind’s recesses for years. Here, he talks with Tom Heintjes about this career, meeting his fans (one of whom was possibly homicidal) and the demands of being funny whether he feels like it or not.
For a small group of cartoonists, opportunity knocked on the nursery door. Jeff Keane, Mason Mastroianni, Brian Walker and Greg Walker discuss the privileges and pitfalls of entering the family business .