Kat lovers unite - you’re about to be hit with a brick! Craig Yoe has just started a website devoted to cartoonist George Herriman.

It’s a treasure trove of all things Krazy including separate blogs filled with Herriman comic strips, rareties, animation, news and more! Go there now!

(In the archival photo above: producer Charles Mintz, unknown, Miss Krazy Kat, animators Ben Harrison and Manny Gould)

Wanna meet three comic art legends? The YIVO Institute in New York will be presenting one-on-one interviews with three comic book innovators.

Al Jaffee, Jules Feffier and Harvey Pekar will be interviewed by comics writer and critic Danny Fingeroth. YIVO’s Comics and the American Jewish Dream series kicks off Wenesday January 21st at 7:00 pm with The MAD, MAD, MAD (Jewish) World of AL JAFFEE. The series continues with Jules Feffier on Tuesday, February 3, at 7:00 P.M. and Harvey Pekar on Tuesday, February 17, 7:00 P.M. The YIVO Institute For Jewish Research is at 15 West 16th Street, in Manhattan. Admission $25 / YIVO members: $18 / students: $12. For tickets call 212-868-4444 or visit smarttix.com.

A few nice collections of holiday-themed cartoon artwork to keep you entertained during the cold weather…

Beautiful drawings by “Walt Disney Staff” illustrating a short story by Pearl S. Buck that appeared in a 1956 issue of Family Circle.

Illustrations from Jingle Bells, a Little Golden Book by the great J.P. Miller.

An incredible collection of Disney Studio holiday cards from the 1930s-’50s.

Delightful and humorous holiday imagery from the early-20th century published in Life magazine.

Holiday comic art including some great Frosty comics, as well as the creepy Littlest Snowman cover above.

In case you missed it - Today’s Lio comic strip by Mark Tatulli.

It’s comic book time on Cartoon Brew.

I recently acquired a rare 16 page promotional comic book for Kinney Shoe Stores produced by animator Dave Tendlar. I’ve decided to post it here for three reasons: It’s not listed in the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, it’s quite brittle and its very possible my copy might be the only one in existence.

It is not particularly “oddball”, nor especially attractive, but it has a few things classic cartoon fans might find interesting. First, notice on page 16 Kinney Komics was “prepared by Tendlar Publishing”. Did Tendlar produce other promotional comic books? Next you’ll note the main story, Little Jimmy Stout is illustrated by Howard Post (Anthro, Hot Stuff, Spooky). I have no idea what year this book was produced, but based on this Post story, I’d guess mid-to -late 40s.

Tendlar himself drew pages 2, 13 and 14 and may have drawn the center spread (pages 8 and 9). Note that the lettering on pages 1, 2, 15 and 16 is the work of the mysterious Fleischer/Famous Studios lettering genius, who designed the logos and signage in hundreds of Paramount cartoons.

So there you have it. If anyone has additional information on this, please let us know. Enjoy!

Warner Bros. Motion Comics division has created new series of Peanuts Animated Comics to bring a group of Charles Schulz comic strips to life. They are now available through Apple’s iTunes Store. Here’s a sample:

If you need a hit of old-school Charlie Brown, here are several suggestions: 1. Check the Brew TV episode we posted last week. 2. Slate posted a nostalgic article on the DVD re-issue of the Peanuts holiday specials. 3. The Slate article also includes a link to a 1985 Peanuts documentary posted on YouTube.

(Thanks, Alex Rannie and Variety’s Hal Blog)

Worthy of noting in this week before the U.S. elections, Gemstone’s Uncle Scrooge #381 (on sale this week, cover pictured below left) features a story (Breakfast of Champions by Bruno Concina and Lara Molinari) about Scrooge trying to promote his name brand marmalade by getting celebrity endorsements on the cheap. Along with thinly disguised actors and sports stars, the celebs include spoofs of our presidential candidates as well (including Governor Palin).

While I’m at it, I might as well plug Gemstone’s entire line of Disney comic books. The current editors, writers and artists really know the classic characters, and their love of Disney lore comes through on every page. In addition to the terrific new material, they aren’t stingy on reprinting classic work by Carl Barks, Floyd Gottfredson and Paul Murry. Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories #696 (pictured below right) doubles as a special issue for Mickey Mouse’s 80th anniversary. Along with rare Gottfredson and Romano Scarpa Mickey comics material, they’ve got a new birthday story by Byron Erickson and Cesar Ferioli. Not to mention what I think is the first-ever modern publication of a 1929 Iwerks ad drawing from PLANE CRAZY’s sound re-release (see portion in center thumbnail below)!

I enjoyed today’s Argyle Sweater, Scott Hilburn’s daily panel cartoon, and I just had to share.