Comics and Cartoons Posts

Duluth Van and Storage Company

The Looney Tunes animated short Design for Leaving was released on March 27, 1954 — 70 years ago today. One-minute into it, door-to-door salesman Daffy Duck shoves Elmer Fudd onto a nonstop bus headed to Duluth. Fudd returns moments later on a Duluth Van and Storage Company truck after Daffy has updated his home with futuristic appliances.

Gettin’ it Done with Albert Ordean

Duluth’s Ordean Foundation was started 90 years ago by Albert and Louise Ordean. As part of the 90th anniversary celebration, the Ordean Foundation produced several videos, including an animated story about one of Albert Ordean’s adventures out west. Local historian Tony Dierckins of Zenith City Press makes a cartoon cameo. The video was animated by Brian Barber and written by Mike Scholtz.

Former Duluthian writes about hockey-playing cousin

Former Duluthian Crystal Gibbins writes about northeast Minnesota hockey legend Henry Boucha on the Coffee House Press website.

Saturday Morning TV

While this post isn’t specifically about Duluth, I am hoping that posting will bring some Duluth stories out of the woodwork.

Below are lists of Saturday-morning cartoons as they ran in my childhood. I remember many of them (Scooby-Doo, of course; repackaged cinema cartoons like Bugs Bunny Looney Tunes; originals like the animated Star Trek).

Selective Focus: Maelo Cruz’s Comics and Paintings

Photo by Jess Morgan

A few years after moving to Minnesota, Maelo Cruz self-published a 64-page comic called “Part Timer,” about a character who “dreams of being a full time artist while working a regular job that sucks the life right out of them.” His artwork is primarily autobiographical and self-reflective, giving viewers a glimpse of his experience living and growing up in Puerto Rico and fatherhood. View and learn more about his comics, below.

Free Republic of Duluth Funnies, 2005

Below are artifacts from the Richardson brothers 2005 Free Republic of Duluth events. The idea was a Duluth secession into a city-state embodying Situationist ideas of art-as-life. It culminated in a community art event at Washington Studios where these were displayed. Allen and I created these in the spirit of détournement, the practice of subverting commercial art like comic strips to revolutionary ends. Our house became a collaborative artspace freakout, reflected in the fact that the lettering in the last strip was done by someone I can’t remember, it could have been anyone, some citizen of the Free Republic …

In Honor of Minnesota’s New Pot Situation

I published this in the Ripsaw News more than two decades ago in my strip “Crackbrained Comix.” Thank you Governor Walz and everyone who finally legalized/decriminalized pot in Minnesota, as of today.

Snoopy thinks Woodstock’s mom could be in Duluth

This weekend’s syndicated Classic Peanuts comic includes a mention of Duluth. The strip was chosen for Mother’s Day weekend because Snoopy speculates on the location of Woodstock’s mother, who “could be in Anchorage, or in the Caribbean or Duluth for all you know.”

Highlights from “The Guys Who Never Stop Fighting”

My comic strip “The Guys Who Never Stop Fighting” originally appeared a few times in the Ripsaw News in my “Crackbrained Comix” series. I revived the GWNSF for the Transistor where it ran for several years. Both publications are now defunct. Here is a gallery of ten highlights.

Blueprints of Paul Baby

Found the blueprints on the internet and this anonymous cartoon in an old notebook.

Paul Baby

Empire Lanes: Who knows the stories behind this story?

I found this comic in a fifty-cent bin. The online summaries are engaging.

Duluth Chapbooks: Poetry, Fiction, Comics, etc.

From laureates to total hacks, writers and other artists have compiled their works into inexpensive little booklets for hundreds of years. The history of street literature in Duluth has perhaps not yet been explored in depth.

Gathered in this post is by no means a comprehensive collection of chapbooks produced in Duluth, but rather just a smattering of publications that happened to be gathering dust in the Perfect Duluth Day library.

Got one to add? Mention it in the comments and/or email the cover art if you have it to: paul @ perfectduluthday.com.

Sun in the First Weekend of Summer

It was sunny out this past weekend. I argued a little bit with a friend about how warm it was, until I realized that I was at the top of the hill. How quickly I forget that the top of the hill is warmer in summer by as many as ten degrees.

[That temperature phenomenon is discussed here and here.]

But it was a fun weekend of stories in the sun.

Selective Focus: Lydia Noble


Lydia Noble is an artist who loves making comics, and is also branching out into printed products like shirts and bags. She talks about finding work right after school, investing in her own career, and staying motivated to build her own business.

LN: I graduated a few years ago with a BFA in Entertainment Design with a concentration of Comics in Sequential Art. Nothing makes me happier than making comics. Comics is a way I can express my wildly varying emotions with my love of illustration. The comics I’ve made have varied from one panel digital comics to a 50-page water colored graphic novel. Lately I’ve been working exclusively with my tablet drawing digitally. When I moved back to the Twin Ports I was told to invest in myself as an artist, so I bought a large Wacom tablet. I draw on the tablet and it pops up on Photoshop, where I can swiftly change colors, draw and re-draw lines, experiment with fonts and textures. It makes the process of drawing and illustrating much more effective- especially when working with clients and doing freelance work.

Charlie Parr – “Peaceful Valley”

“Peaceful Valley,” from Charlie Parr’s album Dog is a fantasy of closing the door, drinking coffee, listening to records and becoming a good recluse.

Animation by Jake Huffcutt.