Ginger Meggs covers on ebay

There's a couple of Ginger Meggs (from Australia) covers on ebay. Here's one.
And here's another.

Link for ordering the Portuguese cartoon centennial stamps

http://www.ctt.pt/femce/category.jspx?lang=01&shopCode=LOJV&showAll=1&categoryCode=8174 is the English link. I've ordered 1 of each which appears to be the full set of things, although Leonardo de Sa suggests writing to them at filatelia@ctt.pt to confirm that.

Family Circus stamp lobbying started

PV plans bronze statue of Keane's characters
Town effort will honor 'Family Circus' creator
by Philip Haldiman - Oct. 29, 2012
The Republic | azcentral.com
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/2012/10/26/20121026pv-plans-bronze-statue-keanes-characters.html

Portugal's Humorist Show Centenary

Leonardo de Sa informs me that Humorist Show Centenary, a set of Portuguese stamps honoring turn of the 20th century cartoonists is out now. You can see them at https://www.ctt.pt/fectt/wcmservlet/system/galleries/download/particulares/filatelia/FOLHETO_Nx5_12_convertido.pdf

This page, under "16 Out" at the bottom should have further info. Unfortunately, even Leonardo can't figure out how to order stamps on the site.

Funky Winkerbean anniversary cover

I found this note in Ohio State University's Billy Ireland cartoon library:

Black River Stamp Club Station, Elyria, Ohio, 25th Anniversary of the cartoon strip Funky Winkerbean program and envelope.

I'm just noting it for the record.

Mike Royer on creating a 'Kirby' Green Arrow for DC Comics stamps

The whole interview is interesting, but there's one question in particular that's relevant to us...

Stroud, Brian D.  2012.

Mike Royer Interview.

Silver Age Sage (April):

http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/royer_1.shtml and

http://www.wtv-zone.com/silverager/interviews/royer_2.shtml

BDS: Did you get credit for the postage stamp that features your Green Arrow?

MR: No, no. What really gripes me about that…I tried to set the record straight in the Jack Kirby Collector, but I don't think it ever resonated with anybody. Everybody talks about the "Green Arrow stamp inked by Mike Royer." DC sent me a scan of a photo-copy of a western Jack Kirby 1950s character named Bullseye. He was in fringe, leathers, a cowboy hat with a feather, pulling back on a bow and inked by somebody who inked his own personality over Jack's pencils, rather than inking it the way Jack would have inked it. DC asked, "Can you take this pose and make it an early 1970's Jack Kirby/Mike Royer Green Arrow?" Which is exactly what I did. It's his pose, his stance, his dynamics, but I made it Green Arrow with his entirely different costume, all the folds, etc., and everything else the way I believe Jack would have penciled it in the '70's, so I don't think it's fair to just say that it's "Green Arrow inked by Mike Royer." It was printed on a comic book; a special one-shot reprint of Kirby's '50's Green Arrow and then a few years later it winds up being on a postage stamp. Its first day issue was at Comic Con in San Diego and I think they figured they might sell $200,000.00 worth of stamps. A buddy of mine in the Post Office gave me the Post Office newsletter stating that they sold over $500,000.00 worth of stamps at Comic Con the first day!

BDS: Whew!

MR: I think I must have signed at least two or three dozen first day envelopes for the Post Office employees. Or at least you'd like to think it was for their employees. Not a week goes by that I don't see a Mike Royer signed first day signed envelope on eBay for $5.00. If I'd known that, I'd have grabbed as many as I could and taken them with me. "One each for my kids and one for myself."…that's all. Just like the Grant Simmons, "Come in and take anything you want!" All right, I took what I wanted (for family) rather than something I thought might make me some money down the road. Oh well….

USPS has Burroughs and Tarzan stamps

Edgar Rice Burroughs' Tarzan is a creation of the pulps, but he's been in comic strips and books and cartoons for so long that it's worth noting that the Post Office has just released a stamp of Burroughs and Tarzan.

One can order them here.

The Post reports The Simpsons stamps undersold

Simpsons stamps wasted $1.2 million for Postal Service, report says [in print as Inspector general to Postal Service, D'oh! $1.2 million wasted on overproduction of 'The Simpsons' stamps, report says, p. B4]
By Angela Grieling Keane / Bloomberg News
Washington Post August 22, 2012
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/simpsons-stamps-cost-postal-service-12-million-in-waste/2012/08/21/1a7442d2-ebb5-11e1-a80b-9f898562d010_story.html

Local cartoonist George Mercer passes away

GEORGE DANIEL MERCER (Age 88) 
Published in The Washington Post on August 15, 2012
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?pid=159182597

The death notice says he was "Cartoonist for the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper" and that he designed nine stamps.

Airship Envelopes by cartoonist Joe Sutliff

Northern Virginia cartoonist Joe Sutliff tells me, "I did them years ago; just found them while cleaning out the studio. The program director asked for those specific views. I did a bunch of conceptual paintings too, but no idea where those are…"

 

Comment on Belgian post issues new Tintin stamp.

I'm promoting this from the comments to the main blog because the site he references is really useful.

Dave Ahl has left a new comment on your post "Belgian post issues new Tintin stamp":

If you're interested in Tintin philately or Herge's lesser-known characters, check this out: swapmeetdave.com/Herge/.
BTW, there's another Belgian Tintin stamp scheduled for release Sept 2012.

Bongo Comics value stamps.

 RRobinson left a comment on the post "Rex Zombie Killer value stamps" that I thought was worth passing along through the larger blog and mailing list: "FYI Bongo Comics did the same with Simpsons stamps - go to www.snpp.com/guides/comics_bbs.html "

Pixar stamps special cancellations

I accidentally just ran across this page which shows 5 different special cancellations for the new US Pixar stamps.

2012's US Pixar stamps available now

2012 Mail a Smile Stamp

General Information

On June 1, 2012, in Orlando, Florida, the Postal Ser­vice™ will issue Mail a Smile commemorative stamps (For­ever® priced at 45 cents) in five designs in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 470000) and a $15.95 Premium Stamped Postal Card Booklet of 20 (Item 470066).

The stamps will go on sale nationwide June 1, 2012.

With these stamps, the U.S. Postal Service® presents the second of two issuances featuring beloved Dis­ney•Pixar characters. Following up on Send a Hello, which was issued in 2011, Mail a Smile includes five different designs that spotlight Flik and Dot from A Bug's Life (1998); Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) and Dashiell "Dash" Parr from The Incredibles (2004), with "Dash" also shown running in the background; Nemo and Squirt from Finding Nemo (2003); Woody, Bullseye, and Jessie from Toy Story 2 (1999); and Boo, Mike Wazowski, and James P. "Sulley" Sullivan from Monsters, Inc. (2001). The back of the stamp pane shows blue-pencil sketches of characters from these movies interspersed among text that exhorts readers to "mail a smile" to a loved one. Art director William J. Gicker worked with Disney•Pixar to design the stamp art.

How to Order First Day of Issue Postmark

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first day of issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™, at The Postal Store® website at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 1-800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

MAIL A SMILE STAMP
MAIN OFFICE — ORLANDO
10401 POST OFFICE DRIVE
ORLANDO, FL 32862-9998

After applying the first day of issue postmark, the Postal Service™ will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by August 1, 2012.

How to Order First Day Covers

The Postal Service also offers first day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items post­marked with the official first day of issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic Catalog, online at www.usps.com/shop, or by calling 1-800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 1-800-782-6724 or writing to:

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE
CATALOG REQUEST
PO BOX 219014
KANSAS CITY, MO 64121-9014

Philatelic Products

There are ten philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

• 470063*, First Day Cover Set of 5, $4.45.
• 470066, Postcards (20) 4 of each design, $15.95.
• 470067*, First Day of Sale Set of 5, $4.45.
• 470068*, Digital Color Postmark Set of 5, $8.00.
• 470084, Uncut Press Sheets, $36.00.
• 470091*, Ceremony Program (random single), $6.95.
• 470092*, Stamp Deck Card, $0.95.
• 470094*, Stamp Deck Card w/DCP (random single), $1.95.
• 470097*, Panel, $9.95.
• 470099, Cancellation Keepsake (Random DCP w/Pane), $10.95.

Items with an asterisk (*) will use the 128 barcode from Stamp Fulfillment Services. All other philatelic products will continue to use barcode series A, with the exception of the Yearbook and the Guide Book.

Rex Zombie Killer value stamps

I picked up a second copy of Washington, DC-area comics writer Rob Anderson's Rex Zombie Killer #1 at a convention last weekend, and on the letters page were these two faux 1970s value stamps like Marvel did in their comic books.

One Piece postage stamps

Anime News Network has the story on One Piece postage stamps coming out next week.

Ever Meulen's Visit Belgium stamp

Information and picture here, courtesy of Wim Lockefeer.

Family Circus' annual Food Drive cartoon

Today's mail brought the annual Family Circus cartoon for the Letter Carriers Food Drive, this time on a Valpak envelope.

Schuiten Titanic stamps

Pedro Cleto's got the story on Francois Schuiten's new Titanic stamps (and I'm counting on one of my Belgian buddies to get me  the sheet of 2 stamps).

Paul Gravett on British comics stamps

British Comics: 75 Years of Fun & Thrills
by Paul Gravett
March 16, 2012
http://www.paulgravett.com/index.php/articles/article/british_comics3/

The Royal Mail is issuing a set of ten stamps celebrating British comics...

Royal Mail comics stamps are out

Here's the page to buy them.

Mark Doeffinger's I Love NY cartoon stamp

Check it out here - http://www.thelitestuffcartoons.com/home/March_12-24.html
Mark says of it: "March 14: The GOV stamp is a takeoff on The Love Stamp and the I Heart New York logo."

British comic book stamps coming

GB Stamp has the story.

75 years of British comics from Royal Mail

A preview of a new set of comics-themed stamps from the Royal Mail was presented a while ago on the GB Stamps site.  This set, slated for march 2012, consists of ten stamps, each featuring an important comics magazine from the past 75 years and on of the key characters from that magazine.  They include the Dandy (with Desperate Dan), the Beano (with Dennis the Menace), the Eagle (with Dan Dare), Topper (with Beryl The Peril), Tiger (with Roy of the Rovers), the Bunty (with the Four Marys), Buster (with Buster as drawn by Hugh McNeill), Valiant (with The Steel Claw), Twinkle and, finally, 2000AD (with Judge Dredd).

As yet there's no mention of the stamps on the Royal Mail website, but you can order both the limited edition Girls' and Boys' FDC's from the British First Day Covers website.

R.K. Laxman cover at Indian stamp exhibition

Common Man graces special cover
TNN  Jan 14, 2012,
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Common-Man-graces-special-cover/articleshow/11480616.cms

PUNE: A special cover of noted cartoonist R K Laxman's cartoons was released by the department of posts at the state-level philatelic exhibition 'Mahapex 2012', at the Balewadi sports complex on Friday. ...

Roald Dahl stamps from Royal Mail

The British Royal Mail last week issued a new series of stamps, celebrating the main characters from the books by Roald Dahl, as visualised by cartoonist and illustrator Quentin Blake.  Six stamps feature characters from Matilda, The Fantastic Mr Fox, The Twits, James And The Giant peach, The Witches and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Since the series coincides with the thirtieth anniversary of the publication of Dahl's The BFG,  this book is the subject of a separate minisheet of four stamps.

The stamps were designed by Magpie Studio, who last year also created the Winnie The Pooh issue, featuring art by E.H. Sheppard.

The stamps are published in a myriad of packages and formats, such as FDCs, stamp cards, presentation packages and framed sets.  More on the Royal Mail website.

(via DesignWeek - artwork © Quentin Blake 2004, 2001, 1999, 2001, 2010, 1997, 1983 & 2012)

'Cinderella' stamp from Comic Book Marketplace

I was browsing through Comic Book Marketplace #72 from October 1999 and found this illustration for their letter column.

Disneyana on Stamps Society launches

Bill Silvester writes in:

Disneyana on Stamps Society has just become a Study Unit of the American Topical Association.

As a member of DoSS you are entitled to access to the Society's Journal Disnemation, a complete Disneyana on Stamps Checklist, access to back issues of the Disnemation newsletter and more to come. Enjoy and have a Magical New Year.

Visit http://www.disnemation.8m.com/HOME.htm fill out the membership application and send it to me and then I’ll send the access information to the Journal.

I signed up this evening and checked out the site. It's in the early stages, but should be a great resource.