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Connecticut's Cartoon County

Connecticut Public Radio | By Jonathan McNicol
Published March 30, 2021 at 1:00 PM EDT
A page of the cartoon Prince Valiant
Jonathan McNicol
/
Connecticut Public Radio
A panel from a 1986 edition of Prince Valiant as drawn by John Cullen Murphy and printed in Cullen Murphy's book Cartoon County.

For a period of about 50 years, many of America's top cartoonists and illustrators lived within a stone's throw of one another in the southwestern corner of Connecticut.

Comic strips and gag cartoons read by hundreds of millions were created in this tight-knit group -- Prince Valiant, Superman, Beetle Bailey, Hägar the Horrible, Hi and Lois, Nancy, The Wizard of Id, Family Circus... I could keep going.

This hour, a look at the funny pages, and at Connecticut's cartoon county.

GUESTS:
  • Bill Griffith - The creator and author of the daily comic strip Zippy
  • Henry McNulty - A writer and editor who worked for the Hartford Courant for more than 25 years
  • Cullen Murphy - Editor-at-large for Vanity Fair and the author of Cartoon County: My Father and His Friends in the Golden Age of Make-Believe

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe, Kevin MacDermott, and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired January 11, 2018.
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Jonathan McNicol
Jonathan is a producer for ‘The Colin McEnroe Show.’ His work has been heard nationally on NPR and locally on Connecticut Public’s talk shows and news magazines. He’s as likely to host a podcast on minor league baseball as he is to cover a presidential debate almost by accident. Jonathan can be reached at jmcnicol@ctpublic.org.
See stories by Jonathan McNicol

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.

Protect Connecticut Public

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