TomTom - Thomas Kostron : 2003 Austria

2003-Sep-19

Thomas Kostron, also known as "TomTom," breaks rules on principle. The man who created the cartoon character of the same name has two official origin myths. On the one hand, he claims to have been born in 1512 as the son of Zeus and Aurora, abandoned in Arizona, and raised by Native Americans. On the other hand, he claims to be from the planet "Yoozq" and to subjugate humanity with his paintings, which he says contain subliminal messages.

As a student, Kostron had illustrated for magazines like "Ping Pong" ("completely absurd"), then for the youth section of the "Krone" and the "Kleine Zeitung." "That was frustrating because they always wanted something new after a year. But only then are you really familiar with your characters." So he looked for a motif for greeting cards. His unusual idea: black and white figures. In 1990, "TomTom," the little man with a bulbous nose and a hat, was created. TomTom quickly became the best-selling greeting card in Austria.

Loriot : Germany 2023

Bernhard-Viktor Christoph-Carl von Bülow (1923 – 2011 - Vicco von Bülow or Loriot), was a German comedian, humorist, cartoonist, film director, actor and writer. As an artist, he was almost exclusively known under his pen name Loriot, which is the French term for the oriole depicted as a crest in the coat of arms of the Bülow family.

He was best known for his cartoons, the sketches from his 1976 television series Loriot, alongside Evelyn Hamann, and his two movies, Ödipussi (1988) and Pappa Ante Portas (1991).

Suske en Wiske : 1997 Netherlands

1997-Mar-18

Suske en Wiske (Dutch) also known as Willy and Wanda (American) Spike and Suzy (UK) Luke and Lucy (2009 film and video game) Bob et Bobette (French) is a Belgian comics series created by the comics author Willy Vandersteen. It was first published in De Nieuwe Standaard in 1945 and soon became popular.

The books revolve around the adventures of the eponymous Suske en Wiske, two children, along with their friends and family. The stories combine elements of comedy, fantasy, and science fiction, such as talking animals, time travel and ghosts.Wiske! Wiske!... Come quickly with Pen's laundry basket! There was a whole pile of it in front of the door!

Globi : 1997 Switzerland

1997-Mar-11

Globi at the post office - Globi is a Swiss cartoon character occasionally referred to as Switzerland's Mickey Mouse. He is pictured as an anthropomorphic blue parrot with a yellow beak wearing a black beret and a pair of red and black checkered trousers. He was created by the Swiss cartoonist Robert Lips (1912-1975), as an advertising character for the Swiss department store Globus in 1932 for the company's 25th anniversary.

He initially appeared in a cartoon strip called Der Globi, and later appeared in a cartoon picture-book form called Globi's World Voyage in 1935. By 1944, the character gained so much popularity that Globus created a separate company for their mascot, and in 1948 Globi had sold over one million picture books. 

Animal Tales : 2006 Royal Mail

2006-Jan-10

Favorite Children's Book Animals - People have been telling animal tales for as long as people have been telling stories. this tradition lives on in the world of children's books where the art of the storyteller meets that of the illustrator.

The stamps designed by Rose Design, feature: Mark Inkpen's 'Kipper', The Tale of Jeremy Fisher' from Beatrix Potter's books, Roald Dahl's 'The Enormous Crocodile', Michael Bond's 'Paddington Bear', 'Comic Adventures of Boots' by Satoshi Kitamura, 'White Rabbit' from Lewis Caroll's 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland', The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, Maisey's ABC by Lucy Cousins

Peter Pan : 1945 New Zealand

The 1945 stamps feature the statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, London. Peter Pan was chosen for its connotations of immortal youth. Designed and issued just a few months after the end of the Second World War, the stamps reflect a romantic image far removed from the reality of heavily bombed London. The stamps were designed by James Berry, himself an expatriate Londoner, who sent regular food parcels from New Zealand to friends and family throughout the war.

Kensington Gardens were laid out around 1728-1738 as the private gardens of Kensington Palace. Long after they had been opened to the public, the King asked his Prime Minister the possible cost of enclosing them again - the answer was "a Crown". Kensington Gardens is now most famous as the setting of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan books and stage play. In 1912 Barrie paid Sir George Frampton, a renowned sculptor and one of the original eight members of the British School of Sculpture to create the bronze statue.

Never Land cinderella stamp

StampsNZ

International Comic Art Exhibition : 2018 Spain

2018-Apr-27

April 27, commemorates the 25th annual International Comic Art Exhibition organized by the Quevedo Institute of Comic Arts.The single 3.30 stamp in the sheet depicts a caricature of Spanish poet, writer and satirist Francisco de Quevedo y Villegas (1580-1645). Drawn by Ricardo Martinez, the caricature appeared on the cover of the March 1997 issue of the graphic humor magazine Quevedos.Works of other artists are shown in the border surrounding the stamp.

Pacific Festival of Arts : 1980 Papua New Guinea

1980-Mar-26 Port Moresby

3rd Annual South Pacific Festival of Arts, held in Papua New Guinea 1908-Jun 30:Ju12

A singsing costume in Papua New Guinea is a vibrant, sacred ceremonial outfit made from natural materials like bird feathers, shells, leaves, and animal skins to showcase a tribe's unique heritage

The Festival of Pacific Arts & Culture (FestPAC) is the world’s largest celebration of indigenous Pacific Islanders, drawing artists, cultural practitioners, scholars and officials from member nations of the Pacific Community (SPC). FestPAC is held every four years in a different Pacific Island nation.

Savage Republic

Bruce Licher is a musician, artist, and designer who founded Independent Project Press after learning the art of letterpress printing at the Women's Graphic Center in downtown Los Angeles at the beginning of 1982. His initial projects centered around creating album covers, postcards, and promotional stamps for his band Savage Republic. It didn’t take long before he was producing work for other Los Angeles underground music groups, along with a growing number of clients in the Los Angeles design community. 

Licher was nominated twice for a Grammy Award for his album packaging, and has been credited with starting the trend in letterpress-printed CD and record packaging using industrial-style chipboard. His graphic design and letterpress work has been featured in two major design exhibitions at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York City, and has also been exhibited in California, Arizona, and Paris, France. After 17 years living and working in Sedona, Arizona, Licher and his wife, the artist Karen Nielsen Licher, have relocated Independent Project Press to the Eastern Sierra town of Bishop, California.

 Intrigued by the conceptual possibilities of creating a series of faux-postal stamp designs for his musical group, he designed and printed postcards, stamps, and stamped envelopes picturing the flag and logo he had created for the band.  In the process he crafted an aesthetic mystique unlike any other.  Bruce’s concept extended to using these Savage Republic “postal” creations on all of the mail sent out from his Independent Project Records label during the 1980’s (alongside the appropriate amount of valid U.S. postage, of course), along with creating special stamps commemorating Savage Republic’s tours.

Film Noir/O Adonis 45rpm vinyl record cardboard sleeve withe Savage Republic faux stamp

Bruce Licher

Åland folklore : 2022

2022-May-09 Stories and Myths - The ‘sjörå’ as known from Åland folklore, and the motif is largely based on stories recorded in the 1890s in Åland. The sjörå is a female water nymph who rules the sea and the lakes. Her beauty only extends to the front; from behind, she is a hollow stump. The sjörå, also known as mistress of the sea, is closely related to the mermaid. The water nymph has her own pots and pans of glittering copper that she scrubs by the lake shore, and she keeps her own livestock. The sjörå keeps a pike as a pet, so, be careful if you catch a particularly large pike!

Asterix : 1999 France

1999-Jun-03

The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). Uderzo has continued the series since the death of Goscinny in 1977. The series follows the exploits of a village of ancient Gauls as they resist Roman occupation. They do so by means of a magic potion, brewed by their druid, which gives the recipient superhuman strength. This is often used for comic effect, as in a recurring sequence where the villagers sally forth from their village to rout the attacking Romans so easily as to consider it great sport.

Youth Philately - Boule et Bill : 1991 Belgium

1991-Oct-12 Belgium

Youth Philately set of 4 stamps

Boule et Bill is a popular comic, created in 1959 by the Belgian writer-artist Jean Roba in collaboration with Maurice Rosy. In 2003 the artistic responsibility of the series was passed on to Roba's former assistant Laurent Verron. The stories center around a typical family: a man and his wife, their young son Boule and Bill the cocker spaniel.

Lucky Luke : 1990 Belgium

1990-Oct-13

Lucky Luke is a Western comic album series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris (Maurice De Bevere 1923-2001) in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their partnership lasted until Goscinny's death in 1977. Afterwards, Morris collaborated with several other writers until his own death in 2001. Since Morris's death, French artist Achdé has drawn the series, scripted by several successive writers.

The series takes place in the American Old West of the United States. It stars the titular Lucky Luke, a street-smart gunslinger known as the "man who shoots faster than his shadow", and his intelligent horse Jolly Jumper. Lucky Luke is pitted against various villains, either fictional or inspired by American history or folklore.