UPDATED The Daily Cartoonist on Hiatus

(Above: Drawing of Alan Gardner copyright Mark Pett.)


The Daily Cartoonist, a news blog touchstone for cartoonists and fans of cartooning for nearly a decade, is suspending operation indefinitely according to its creator, Alan Gardner.

On Monday, Alan made the public decision to suspend The Daily Cartoonist. He wrote at length about his personal life and changes in his interests in the past decade that have lead to this.

"The Daily Cartoonist had 10+ year run. That’s not a declaration that I’m hanging up the blog or lost interest in comic art. But it is saying that the near-term outlook points to an hiatus of undetermined length. While I value and appreciate the friendships that have resulted from running this blog, my life has made several dramatic turns in the last two years resulting in a change of priority and focus. Let me share a little what’s going on in my world today."

Alan goes on to mention that after his divorce last year, he became interested in preserving the National Parks. He has

"... adopted a Heeler/Border Collie dog named Gracie – a hearty, active breed to go along with our adventures. I’m looking forward to enjoying as much time in the great outdoors as I can this summer and fall."

And he invites people to keep in touch if they like. Here's Alan:

"For the forseable feature, The Daily Cartoonist is on hiatus. I’m unsure when, but I’m confident the news will start flowing again. It took Berkeley Breathed 27 years to return to Bloom County. It definitely won’t be that long. I will keep the site up as a historical record of the news and comments of our community. 

"Until the blog relaunches/resumes if you’d like to keep in touch, you can follow me on my personalTwitter account or if you’ve met me personally send a friend request on Facebook or Instagram. 

"If you’d like to be notified when the blog becomes active, please make sure you follow @dailycartooniston Twitter, enter your name/email on this list or email me."

EDIT: Alan Gardner has corrected and amplified this entry. Here's his Twitter PM to me which I want to share:

Hi Mike. Thanks for the post. 

A couple corrections: I've been divorced for two years now. I have a goal to visit all 59 national parks which is different than saving Western public lands. NP are underfunded, but they're safe from land-grab efforts. Other land administered by BLM, Forest service or Dept. of Interior is what's at stake.