Easter/Johnny Hart

Well, sometimes some things just don't work out. I was originally going to write about the lack of Easter-themed strips this year. Easter, Income tax deadline, and Memorial Day are normally the three days a cartoonist can't let pass without a special Sunday strip about it. I didn't notice many Easter strips in the paper this morning and thought that that was peculiar enough to write about. But then I went on-line and found plenty. And then I re-read today's newspaper and found plenty more. (I must have been distracted the first time around by my arguing with the TV during the This Week with George Stephanopoulos round-table.) Easter is still celebrated in the funnies. No story there. So then I thought I would just fall back on an old comic-bloggers stand-by--complaining about B.C. His Easter strips are simply something else. And today did not disappoint:



That deserves a big "WTF?"

But, sadly, Johnny Hart passed away today. He was, in fact, an extremely influential and talented cartoonist. His loss is a great one. Mark Evanier wrote a very interesting piece on his blog today about Johnny Hart. He knew him personally and offers a fair critical assessment of his work. Now that Hart's weak and bizarrely religious work will no longer be annoying us everyday, hopefully his good work can be remembered and given its proper due.

And I am sure he is just pleased as punch to die on Easter Sunday.