About The Comic News

The print edition of The Santa Cruz Comic News is a monthly journal of progressive editorial cartoons. Each issue features well over 100 cartoons from the nation’s leading political cartoonists. The Comic News is the granddaddy of all cartoon newspapers — established 1984. Publishers: Thom Zajac and John Govsky.

Our online edition features daily, weekly, and monthly updates of the best progressive editorial cartoons in the nation. Our website also has an archive of thousands of progressive editorial cartoons going back to 2005.

History of The Comic News

Thom September 12, 1984: The first issue of The Santa Cruz Comic News is published. In a rare moment of clarity, founder Thom Zajac had come up wit h the idea of using only syndicated material — primarily editorial cartoons — to create the first newspaper of its kind, and it becomes an instant hit. Over the course of the next ten years, The Santa Cruz Comic News will inspire the creation of over 100 “comic newspapers,” including The Manhattan Comic News, The Eugene Comic News, Funny Times, The Moscow Comic News, Arcata’s Comic Relief, The Boston Comic News, The No Joke News (Chico), The Oslo Comic News, The Tucson Comic News, The Boulder Comic News, Charlotte’s Comic Review, Sacramento’s Comic Press News, The Amherst Comic News, and The Tokyo Comic News.

John May, 1995: The US Postal Service releases the Richard Nixon postage stamp, and The Santa Cruz Comic News quickly follows suit by releasing The Nixon Envelope. Placing the president behind bars, The Nixon Envelope becomes a media sensation gracing the front pages of newspapers across the nation, as well as the pages of Time Magazine and Playboy. Even though the envelopes are not available in stores — and the Internet is not yet commercially viable — over 500,000 envelopes are sold, making The Nixon Envelope the most popular political envelope in history.

August, 2004: John Govsky becomes co-publisher and brings The Comic News into the cyber world. The Web site begins modestly, offering free samples and accepting electronic subscription payments.

January, 2007: Now featuring a cartoon blog, along with nearly all the offerings of the print edition, a massive archive, daily updates, national advertising, and PDFs of the print edition, thecomicnews.com is modest no more!

Some of the Cartoonists Published in The Comic News

Kirk Anderson
Tony Auth (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Rex Babin (The Sacramento Bee)
Scott Bateman (King Features)
Clay Bennett (Christian Science Monitor)
Ruben Bolling (Universal Press Syndicate)
John Branch (San Antonio Express-News)
Daryl Cagle (Cagle Cartoons)
Cam Cardow (The Ottawa Citizen)
Paul Conrad (Tribune Media Services)
Jeff Danziger (Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate)
Matt Davies (The Journal News)
Brian Duffy (The Des Moines Register)
Tim Eagan
Brian Farrington (Cagle Cartoons)
David Horsey (Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Sandy Huffaker (Cagle Cartoons)
Taylor Jones (Tribune Media Services)
Mike Keefe (The Denver Post)
Jeff Koterba (Omaha World-Herald)
Mike Lane (Cagle Cartoons)
Mike Lester (The Rome News-Tribune)
Jimmy Margulies (The Record, New Jersey)
RJ Matson (The New York Observer)

Doug Marlette (Tallahassee Democrat)
Vince O’Farrell (The Illawarra Mercury, Australia)
Jack Ohman (The Oregonian)
Pat Oliphant (Universal Press Syndicate)
Simanca Osmani (Cagle Cartoons, Brazil)
Jeff Parker (Florida Today)
Mike Peters (Dayton Daily News)
Joel Pett (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Ted Rall (Universal Press Syndicate)
Mike Ritter (The Arizona Tribune)
Kevin Siers (The Charlotte Observer)
Tab (The Calgary Sun)
Ann Telnaes (Tribune Media Services)
Tom Toles (Washington Post)
Tom Tomorrow
John Trevor (Albuqurque Journal)
GB Trudeau (Universal Press Syndicate)
Kirk Walters (The Torledo Blade)
Dan Wasserman (The Boston Globe)
Signe Wilinson (Philadelphia Daily News)
Monte Wolverton (Cagle Cartoons)
Don Wright (Palm Beach Post)
Larry Wright (The Detroit News)
Mark Zepezauer