Page 31 - ARUBA TODAY

A31
PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 23 deceMber 2019
30-plus years of 'Garfield' comic strips to sell at auction

By JAMIE STENGLE said.
DALLAS (AP) — Cartoon- Indiana-based Davis says
ist Jim Davis is offering up that over the years he gave
more than 11,000 "Garfield" some strips to family, friends
comic strips hand-drawn and staff, while others are
on paper in an auction that on displays at museums, in-
will stretch into the coming cluding the Smithsonian In-
years, with at least a cou- stitution, and he even tried
ple of strips featuring the selling them on his website
always-hungry orange cat for a few years. But he kept
with a sardonic sense of hu- most of them, he says, stor-
mor available weekly. ing them in a fireproof, cli-
"There are just so many, mate-controlled vault.
and it was such a daunt- The auction, he said, "was
ing task to figure what to just a logical thing to do
do with them so that they with an awful lot of comic
could be out there where strips and an opportunity to
people enjoy them too," allow not just collectors but
said Davis, creator of the a lot of the fans over the
comic strip that appears years to have access to
in newspapers around the the strips as well without me
world and has spawned TV In this Monday, Nov. 18, 2019 photo, Heritage Auctions collectibles specialist Brian Wiedman dis- having to send them out
shows, movies and books. plays Garfield comic artwork drawn by creator Jim Davis in Dallas. one at a time."
Dallas-based Heritage Associated Press Brian Wiedman, a comic
Auctions began offering grader at Heritage, says
up the strips in August. The to 2011, when Davis began about 20 of the strips so far said he's drawn to the strips the daily strips are current-
auction house is selling drawing the strip digitally. and plans to bid on more. that feature several of the ly selling on average from
two daily strips each week, He says he still draws it by The 36-year-old said the characters and have a sto- around $500 to $700, and
along with longer Sunday hand but now it's with a sty- "Garfield" auction particu- ryline that strikes a chord, the longer Sunday strips are
strips being offered during lus on a tablet instead of on larly resonated because he in addition to ones that ran selling for $1,500 to $3,000.
the large-scale auctions paper with a pencil, pen loved as a kid watching the on meaningful dates. He said the value is of-
throughout the year. and brush. cartoons and reading the "I tend to go for the ones ten determined by "who
The strips span from the Comic art collector Nag- books. that kind of remind me is doing what, when and
launch of "Garfield" in 1978 ib Baltagi has purchased Baltagi, who lives in Miami, where I was in my life," he where." q
San Francisco musical, longest running in US, to hang up hat

By HAVEN DALEY and pop culture figures.
Associated Press Recent characters have
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — included Donald and Me-
When you think of Amer- lania Trump, Nancy Pelosi,
ica's longest-running mu- Vladimir Putin, Bernie Sand-
sicals, Broadway favorites ers and Oprah Winfrey.
such as "The Lion King" or Producer Jo Schuman Sil-
"Chicago" may come to ver said the show is ending
mind. not for financial reasons but
But there's a small San Fran- because she wanted it to
cisco show that's been a go out on a high note and
must-see for tourists and lo- felt the time was right.
cals alike for more than 45 Cast and crew, most of
years — and now the cur- whom have worked with
tain is closing. "Beach Blanket Babylon"
The campy "Beach Blan- for decades, say the re-
ket Babylon" debuted in maining performances are
1974, making it the nation's bound to be emotional.
longest continuously run- Stage Manager John Ca-
ning musical revue. Its final majani, who joined the mu-
performance is set for New sical in 1979, says his wife
Year's Eve. will be at the final show.
"It's going to be so bitter- "She'll be crying, and all of
sweet," said Curt Branom, In this Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019 photo, characters portraying Haight-Ashbury hippies and the us will be crying because
one of its longtime perform- Beatles perform during the musical "Beach Blanket Babylon" in San Francisco. it's the end of an era," he
ers. "We're all moving on Associated Press said.
to other things, but we all It's believed that "Phan-
know that a magical mo- costumes and massive hats, San Francisco experience. Bowie and Robin Williams. tom of the Opera," which
ment, really, in time that including one featuring San "Beach Blanket Babylon" The plot follows Snow White premiered in 1988 and
this place has been for all Francisco's entire skyline. It has since been performed around the world as she has continuously run on
of us." was originally scheduled to more than 17,000 times in searches for her Prince Broadway since, will now
The show spoofs politics run for only six weeks, but front of 6.5 million people, Charming. Along the way, become the longest-run-
and pop culture and fea- word spread, and it quickly including Queen Elizabeth she encounters an ever- ning musical still being per-
tures performers in colorful became a quintessential II, Prince Charles, David changing lineup of political formed in the U.S.q