Shoe

 

You already know that I am a huge fan of the comics, and I still read more than a dozen of them every day, courtesy of the Arizona Republic.

https://tohell-andback.blogspot.com/2018/04/i-love-comics_23.html

One of my favorites is Shoe, which was started by Jeff McNally in 1977. Although he died of lymphoma in 2000 (age 52) the strip lives on today, and is penned by his widow Susie and fellow cartoonist Gary Brookins.

https://www.gocomics.com/shoe/2021/01/19

McNally is one of 5 people who have won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning three times. (1972, 1978, and 1985).  In 1977, he received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. In addition, he won the Reuben Award in 1978 and 1979, and the "Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year" from the National Cartoonists Society in 1978 and 1979.

MacNelly won the Thomas Nast Award  in 1985, and he also won a George Polk Award the same year.. He was the first cartoonist inducted into the UNC School of Journalism Hall of Fame in 1985.

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_MacNelly 

In 1993, at the suggestion of his wife, he also launched “Pluggers”, which relies on reader submissions (referred to as "Pluggerisms") for the premise of each day's panel. In the context of this strip, "pluggers" are defined as rural, blue-collar workers who live a typical working-class American lifestyle, accompanied by a mentality characteristic of the G.I. and Baby Boomer generations. In the comic, pluggers are portrayed in the form of anthropomorphic animals, most often a plump bear, dog, chicken, or rhinoceros, sometimes a kangaroo or a cat.

https://www.gocomics.com/pluggers/2021/01/23

Some of our better journalists have provided political commentary for decades. Tom Brokaw recently retired (at the age of 80) from NBC, where he had worked for 55 years.

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/01/22/after-55-years-at-nbc-news-tom-brokaw-announces-retirement/

Walter Cronkite, “the most trusted man in America, was the anchor for CBS Evening News for 19 years, and Hugh Downs was the anchor for 20/20 (NBC) for more than 20 years.

Like the TV anchors that we know and trust, many of the best cartoons remain in print for decades. “Pogo” lasted 27 years, “Li’l Abner lasted for 43 years, “Shoe” has been in print for 44 years, and Doonesbury was first published 50 years ago.

Jeff McNelly has been gone now for more than 20 years, but his genius lives on today in “Shoe” – a strip that is strictly for the birds.

 

 Perfesser Cosmo Fishhawk is an over-educated underachiever. He is the reporter and columnist for Shoe's newspaper, The Treetops Tattler-Tribune although he'd much rather be a famous novelist. Even though he's slightly on the chubby side, Cosmo insists he's not fat... he's just fluffy. When not fighting his war on calories, he specializes in being late for work, striking out with the ladies and taking naps at his desk.