R.I.P. John Updike, Cartoonist; Update on HA #16

[Hogan's Alley]

Dear fellow comics fan,

We just wanted to update you on the status of Hogan’s Alley #16--it’s
shipping from the printer this week and should be on newsstands and in
comics shops next week (or, given the vagaries of freighting, the week
after). Subscriber copies will go out as soon as we receive them from
the printer. We deeply apologize for the delay and appreciate your
patience.

We also wanted to take a moment to remember John Updike, who died on
January 27. While he will be remembered as one of the greatest
American authors, cartooning fans will also remember a lesser-known
part of his career: cartoonist. In Hogan’s Alley #3, we ran a
selection of his cartoons, along with an essay he wrote for the
magazine. We are happy to present the essay, along with his cartoons:

http://www.cagle.com/hogan/features/updike/updike/main.asp

A bit of background about the Updike feature, from HA editor Tom
Heintjes: I was talking in 1995 with caricaturist David Levine to
obtain his permission to run his drawing of author Flannery O’Connor
that accompanied our feature on O’Connor in HA #2. In the course of
that conversation, Levine discussed how numerous authors had an
interest in cartooning, and he mentioned that Updike had been a
published cartoonist while in college. I wrote to Updike in care of
the Society of Illustrators (Levine told me the Society forwarded mail
to him), and he graciously responded with the offer of an original
essay and a stack of originals. I was petrified to have this artwork,
so I scanned it and returned it as promptly as possible. Updike never
asked for a penny for his essay, and any fee we could offer him would
be laughably small, especially for someone of his accomplishment. So
we sent him two vintage Big Little Books featuring Disney characters,
which he wrote in his essay were early favorites of his. His thank you
note, sent very promptly, was genuine and heartfelt. We sent him every
copy of Hogan’s Alley after that, and we were proud to include him in
our list of contributing writers. Sadly, his inclusion in issue #16
will be the last one.

SUBSCRIBE TO HOGAN, WIN ORIGINAL ART: Once again this issue, we will
be randomly inserting pieces of original comic art into subscriber
copies of Hogan’s Alley #16. June Brigman has generously offered
Hogan’s Alley subscribers a couple dozen originals from her strip,
“Brenda Starr,” autographed by her and Roy Richardson, her inker and
letterer (and husband). The art is lovely, and it’s on two-ply Bristol
board, suitable for framing. You can subscribe in time to receive
issue #16 and to have a chance to win a Brigman original, at
http://www.cagle.com/hogan/subscribe.asp or send $22.95 (for four
issues) via Paypal to hoga...@gmail.com. REMEMBER: If you’ve never
experienced the wonders of Hogan’s Alley, you can order a sample copy
for a mere three dollars at that web page as well. (But the chance to
win a “Brenda Starr” original is open only to subscribers.)

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(At that site, you can also read an archive of past newsletters.)
Please visit our Web site at http://www.hoganmag.com and our shop
featuring classic comics characters at http://www.hoganshops.com.