Name of Site: Herblock's History
URL:
www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/herblock
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Review: Herbert Block, or "Herblock" as he is professionally known in the cartoon world, turns 93 this year and at the time of writing this review he is still kicking on and giving the politicians his best serving of satire and caricature. His career spans over 70 tumultuous years and his opinions on every world event in that time have been captured in extremely well drawn and witty cartoons. This site is a monument to his career and work and includes a choice selection of his best and most important work with excellent background information. Some of his cartoons were pivotal in changing public opinion about some major issues. The images are scans of his original drawings and are very clear. Herblock even contributes to the site himself with an insightful essay - "The Cartoon". A truly brilliant career. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: Pokey the Penguin
URL:
www.yellow5.com/pokey
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Review: Pokey began as an attempt to create something really crappy but somehow likeable - and it worked! Pokey is an awfully rendered cartoon basically done by mouse using really bad drawing tools on a computer and the dialogue is typed in dodgy balloons, half crossed out and retyped again. Somehow the stupid little characters - Pokey, Little Girl, Mr Nutty, Headcheese, The Skeptopotomous and gang - grow on you until you find yourself eagerly anticipating the next great adventure. All the stories are archived for your viewing pleasure. There is a printable Pokey poster to pin up on your bedroom wall, or somewhere far more prominent (Bus stop? Telegraph pole?). There are fan sites, critical essays on Pokey's philosophies and even a bad imitation, "Prodly the Puffin". All in all a delightful concept that only the Internet could have produced. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: Sinfest
URL:
www.sinfest.net
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Review: "We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world" is the slogan, which doesn't quite sum up what you get here. Yes its all youthful cynicism and irreverence, but the comic strips are definitely not crap. Stylish, cool and occasionally cute, the characters struggle through the daily challenges of life and all its political correctness, economic rationalism and sexual tension and manage to hit the giggle nerve of a fair slab of visitors. The attached forum is testament to the popularity and shows the angst and cynicism rife in the populace. There are some great contributions in the "resistance" section - rants and observations of life in the hope that it may one day change. It's not really a sin; you are just swimming against the current. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: PvPonline
URL:
www.pvponline.com
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Review: As with most comic strips on the Internet, the content is all in the archives. The daily dose is only ever going to be one strip, so until you are in the loop, you need to check the archive to see where the whole thing is going and decide if it is your cup of soup. Scott Kurtz is a diligent cartoonist and has been fairly consistent for the last four years churning out his brand of humour. A quick click around and you find his subject matter is very diverse and the simple clean characters deliver the snappy dialogue with great facial expressions. It's a bit "Dilberty" with less nerd and more cool. A selection of rants and raves as well as a huge forum accompany the library of strips laid out in a clickable calendar. It won't be long before you'll be making a daily drop-in to see how Chloe, Brent, Jade, Francis and co. are getting along. - SS
Rating: ***
Name of Site: WebComics
URL:
www.webcomics.com
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Review: If overdose is your thing, or your attention span is so short that you just need to keep switching from one gag to another, perhaps a cartoon portal is for you. WebComics collects a myriad of line art masterpieces and delivers them on a daily, weekly or random basis. The range of material is staggering, with new stuff pouring in every minute. By involving the audience to suggest new comics or even submit their own work, the site is expanding healthily. They have collected over 18,000 links to the kinds of sites cartoon lovers might enjoy - toys, humour, animation, kids stuff - and filled the site with news, a discussion board, top 30 toon chart, poll and quirky chat bots. It's all in good humour, so start poking around for a good laugh. - SS
Rating:
Name of Site: Dilbert
URL:
www.dilbert.com
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Review: In the age of IT and corporate culture it is no surprise that Dilbert has achieved such lofty success. Major syndication, spin-off products, a TV show and, of course, this Website. With the dollars flowing in from the four corners of the globe, Mr Scott Adams doesn't have too much trouble offering plenty of fun and games online, especially since he may also turn the site into a little earner at the same time. Hundreds of strips are here for your enjoyment, but then you can buy one and have it printed on a t-shirt or framed for your office cubicle wall. A fascinating section on the origins of Dilbert shows his very first attempts that were sent to the major newspapers and the rejection letters he received. They'd be kicking themselves now as Dilbert and company blaze a trail as large as any corporation Dilbert could ever work for. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: Stripcreator
URL:
www.stripcreator.com
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Review: What a great idea, and perfect for the Internet. Make your own comic strips! A three-panel strip offers a selection of countless characters and the choice of thought bubble or speech bubble. All you have to do is add the dialogue and you have yourself a comic strip. You can also alter the background and add narration, which just about covers anything you need. The community involvement here is heavy. Thousands of people have had a go at being budding Charles Schultz's and rating the work of their fellow creative geniuses. The forum is exploding with commentary in well-organised categories. All this amateur creativity might get a bit much for some, but like a good karaoke contest, you are likely to stumble across some pure gems. The artwork is first class to bolster the occasionally dubious dialogue. In no time you'll be signing up yourself and joining the hoards of instant internationally published comic strip creators. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index
URL:
cagle.slate.msn.com
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Review: Hidden inside the MSN ezine, "Slate", is this incredibly rich collection of works from around the world. Daryl Cagle, master cartoonist, has taken it upon himself to curate and update a massive archive of political editorial cartoons. Nothing is sacred here as all current topics are covered, from war in the Middle East to paedophile priests, privacy and the death penalty. The commentary is sharp and funny and really highlights the stupidity of our system, our leaders and our institutions. There are some interesting cartoons from places like Iran, showing their reaction to the Bush administration's "Axis of Evil" taunts. It's not all doom and gloom, though. There are sporting cartoons and general humour as well. Send a greeting card, check the daily updates or just scour through the countless syndicated and non-syndicated cartoons. There is even a complete guide to help teachers get the kids to understand what all this lampooning is all about. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: Comics.com
URL:
www.comics.com
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Review: With a domain name like this, you can expect a pretty major Website. The lucky registrant of comics.com is United Media, a major syndication company whose job it is to get hundreds of comic strips to be seen in thousands of newspapers. The content is so extensive you would get lost if it wasn't for the tabular and drop down menu system they have implemented, which take you to the innumerable strips. Each strip has archives, regular updates and the chance to email your favourites to a friend or get them regularly sent to your own in-tray. There is a large store, selling books, videos, clothing, mugs and more. UA have the rights to some major classics, like Peanuts and Li'l Abner so you will never tire of browsing around this comic superstore. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: YUKYUK.COM
URL:
www.yukyuk.com
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Review: If weird and twisted, warped and deranged describes your personality, then YukYuk is for you. These interactive shockwave cartoons of such freaks as Xylene, Beetleboy and Dr Fingo-Ho take you through some strange scenarios. They all speak alien languages with the translation popping up along the way, as you click on the pictures to bring life to various mutated creatures. What's the point? Who cares? Just keep clicking away and travel further and further down the road to insanity. You might just escape reality long enough to face it again, or you might just never come back. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: Joe Cartoon
URL:
www.joecartoon.com
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Review: If you haven't heard of the "Frog in a Blender" or "Gerbil in a Microwave" you are missing out on some of the best material the Web has produced. Joe Cartoon is a very sick man, and a very talented one, too. These animated splatter fests will desensitize you in minutes to the worst carnage you will ever encounter in your life. These gerbils, frogs and dolphins really cop a hiding and still manage to maintain their good humour. It's sick, it's perverted, and it's very funny. The voices and animations are first class and Joe just keeps adding to the archive more and more vomit-inducing grossness. Be sure to buy a t-shirt so that everyone will know just how insane you really are. You enjoy this gratuitous violence and you are proud of it. - SS
Rating: *****
Name of Site: The WackyCrackHeads
URL:
www.wackycrackheads.com
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Review: Prohibition has promoted Crack cocaine to the front pages of the newspapers and the top of the narcotics bestseller list in the US. It is time to make fun of the whole problem with a gang of freaky psychedelic crack whores and gangsters. The style is pure graffiti with a lot of obscenity and cartoon nudity and shoot-em-up violence thrown in for good measure. Plenty of Ebonics in the dialogue and no respect for anybody or anything - which is kind of exactly what the crack scene has become. If it wasn't so close to the truth it might be funnier. This site is a stoners' paradise. Drugs, flashbacks and freak-outs. Just don't try any of this at home. - SS
Rating: ***
Name of Site: Comics Page
URL:
www.comicspage.com
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Review: This is the cartoon portal for Tribune Media Services, a major supplier of mirth to publications around the globe. From Mad magazine's Spy vs. Spy to Dick Tracy, Broom Hilda and Fred Basset, the archives are filled with endless reams of comic strips for your enjoyment. Drop down menus provide an easy way to navigate through the content, whilst encouraging you to please buy a t-shirt or other merchandise along the way to help the Web division of the corporation turn a profit. Each comic has a brief "about" section and a bulletin board. The bulletin board system is a little inefficient since is spreads the users across dozens of comics, reducing the overall community involvement. Still, they own a lot of copyright, so you will not be disappointed in the substantial offerings provided. - SS
Rating: ****
Name of Site: Art Comics
URL:
www.artcomic.com/index.html
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Review: This is the world of the independent comic artist. The endless stream of work the major media channels reject. Why do they reject them? Well as you will see sometimes it is because they are just not good enough, but sometimes the material is just not appropriate for their corporate image or editorial stance. Unfortunately this site lacks a little in its presentation, which does not help the budding talents represented. The store is limited, and the "site map" link goes to a credits page and biog of the site's creator - no help. Once you finally do get into the comic strips and cartoons, you will be pleasantly surprised with the standard. Although rather inconsistent, it is certainly as readable as your average collection in your local paper. It's a nice tidy selection of regular characters with a few one-offs to pad out the pages. - SS
Rating: ***
Name of Site: The Funny Papers
URL:
www.thefunnypapers.com/main.shtml
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Review: Here is a combined cartoon and games portal to keep you occupied in those long late afternoon hours before knock-off time. Java games and solitaire share your attention span with a small but good quality selection of comic strips, single panel comics, serials and featured comics. You can choose to read a wide selection of material on one page or browse the comics by name. Users rank the comics and also rank and recommend comic links so that an active Top 100 links chart is created and the best comics on the site get priority linking on the main page. It is a good idea to have mixed in some games among the cartoons, since most cartoon-only sites can get a little tedious, at least here you can take a breather and blow up a few asteroids while you regain your sense of humour. - SS
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