Tomie DePaolo : 2023

The U.S. Postal Service celebrates children’s book author and illustrator Tomie dePaola with the release of a Forever stamp. A dedication ceremony for the stamp was held May 5 at the Currier Museum of Art.

DePaola (1934-2020) produced an extraordinarily varied body of work that encompasses folktales and legends, informational books, religious and holiday stories, and autobiographical tales. Deceptively simple, his stories contain layers of emotional meaning that appeal to readers of all ages.

DePaola is probably best known for the “Strega Nona” picture book series. Set in southern Italy, the gently humorous stories focus on Strega Nona, or “Grandma Witch,” who uses magic to help with matters of the heart and to cure her neighbors’ ills. Published in 1975, the first book in the series received a Caldecott Honor as one of the most distinguished picture books published that year.

Backwoods Comic Festival : 2012 Louisville MS

2012-Sep-29 Backwoods Comic Festival - Louisville, MS

Postmark features Herman from Bubbaworld Comix by Andy B Childress, who also draws the web-comics Space Rednecks, Mississippi Swamp Dragons, Quick Appliance Repair, Cap n' Geezer and Dawn of Time...

Swamp Dragons featuring Psychotic Chicken - BubbaWorld Comix

Funky Winkerbean - Tom Batiuk

 

1997-Nov-22 Elyria OH

2012-Nov-17 Elyria OH

40th Anniversary of Funky Winkerbean from the Black River Stamp Club, Elyria, Oh. The cancel features Postal worker Crazy Harry, which is difficult to see since his face hits the stamp...

Thomas Martin Batiuk is an American comic strip creator, best known for his long-running newspaper strip Funky Winkerbean. Funky Winkerbean first appeared in print on March 27, 1972. With the success of the strip, Batiuk authored two spinoff strips, John Darling, which ran from 1979 through 1990, ending with the death of the title character, and Crankshaft, which began syndication in 1987. These strips sometimes experience crossovers.

Casper the Friendly Ghost : 1991 Halloween

1991-Oct-31 Casper WY pictorial postmark

Casper the Friendly Ghost is a fictional character who appeared in animated short films produced by Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios. He is a translucent ghost who is personable and keen to socialize with living beings, much to the chagrin of his three wicked uncles, the Ghostly Trio. 

The character was featured in 55 theatrical cartoons titled The Friendly Ghost from 1945 to 1959, and has been featured in comic books published by Harvey Comics since 1952. The origins of Casper are disputed, with both Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo claiming to be the character's creator. 

Casper is a city in, and the county seat of, Natrona County, Wyoming, United States.  Casper is nicknamed "The Oil City" and has a long history of oil boomtown and cowboy culture, dating back to the development of the nearby Salt Creek Oil Field. The city was established east of the former site of Fort Caspar, in an area that grew for European settlers during the mid-19th century mass migration of land seekers along the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails

Bonzzo - John Rivas

1999-Jul-30 San Juan PR

Bonzzo is a comic strip created by John Rivas, who describes Bonzzo as a young likable adult facing life with a child's mentality. The comic represents daily life, as well as reminding us of happy events and how we filter each moment in our lives. First published in 1998 in Puerto Rico the strip eventually found its way to mainland newspapers.

2012-May-10 San Juan PR

Bonzzo was celebrated with it's seond USPS postmark, when Bonzzo was honored with the exhibit 'The Art of Bonzzo at the General Archive of Puerto Rico'.

Kid Paddle : 2013 Belgium

2013-Jan-19 Belgium

Kid Paddle is a Belgian gag-a-day comic series created by Michel Ledent (Midam) in 1993. It was first published in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou before branching out into its own volume of comics in 1996. The series inspired an animated television series that premiered on 2003-Sep-02

Green Arrow : 2006 DC Comics

2006-July-20 San Diego CA

Green Arrow – Art by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer – Green Arrow made his debut in More Fun Comics #73 (Nov 1941). Since then the Emerald Archer's most notable escapades were in stories drawn by legendary comics creator Jack Kirby in Adventure Comics #250-256 and World's Finest Comics #96-99 (spanning 1958-1959).

Green Arrow #15 – Sep 2002 Art by Matt Wagner

Trapped on a deserted island, billionaire playboy Oliver Queen learned to hunt with a bow and arrow. He escaped and became Green Arrow, a modern-day Robin Hood who uses his unparalleled skill as an archer on behalf of the underprivileged

Adventures of Zvitorepec, Trdonje and Lakotnik : 1998 Slovenia

1997

Trdonja,Zvitorepec, and Lakotnik

Miki Muster (Nikolaj Muster 1925-2018), Slovenian animator , illustrator , comic book artist , sculptor , journalist and film director.

His most famous comic book characters are Zvitorepec , Trdonja and Lakotnik , who appeared in "The Adventures of Zvitorepec, Trdonje and Lakotnik"(1952-1973). Muster's works have been published in several collections. He was known for the picture books Neewa the Bear, Lupinica, Maya the Bee , Stezosledec, Snežek, Skoz duščavo i goščavo and for many others.

The Voyages of Tintin : 2007 France

2007-May-12 France – The Voyages of Tintin, represents the various adventures Tintin had traveled through images of his friends. The six characters depicted are Tintin and Snowy, Capt Haddock, Professor Calculus, Bianca Castafiore, Chang Chong-Chen and the Thompson Twins 

Japanese Commemorative Postmarks

2017-Jul-17 Entertainment Square - Tezuka Osamu World - Shinjuku

2016-May-01 : 16 Makoto-chan - Commemorating the installation of the Makoto-chan post box at the Stamp Museum

2016-Nov-05 Makoto-chan - 20th Anniversary Stamp Museum - Toshima Post Office

2020-Mar-22 Opening Tokiwa-so Manga Museum - Toshima

In Japan, many post offices have a original pictorial postmark (36mm), which can be stamped on a mail, or in travel journals like an Eki stamp although they require postage. Many of these postmarks can be found on post cards as they carry the minimum required postage for mailing. Any mail that may be outgoing from Japan will also receive a smaller black postmark beside the pictorial postmark.

These postmarks usually focus on tourist attractions, local products, festivals or sporting events located near the post office. Similar to an Eki stamp these are collected as validation of a visit to the area. There have been several instances of these postmarks commemorating Japanese anime or Manga

Taisho 10-15 : 1921-1926

Showa 1-64 : 1926-1989

Heisei 1-31 : 1989-2019

Reiwa 1-12 : 2019-2030

In Japan, years are sometimes written in the Japanese era calendar, which is based on the reign of the Emperor, especially on documents issued by the bureaucratic offices. For instance, the Western year 1968 is 43rd year of Showa era (which started in 1926). The name of the era is changed when the Emperor on the throne is replaced by another due to the death of His Majesty or abdication.

Example of envelope with both red commemorative pictorial postmark and smaller black outgoing postmark.

Flying on a Dragon - Germany : 1994

1994

Germany - Children's Stamp - Flying on a Dragon

 

Lucca Comics & Games : 1997 Lucca

1997-Mar-21 - Luca Boschi "Hong Kong, addio!"

1997-Mar-23 ©Astorina Edizioni - Diabolik "Strisce di storia (History strips)"

1997-Oct-20

1997-Nov-02 ©Silvio Cadelo "Yug sul cuore di Vogliadicane (Mark-of-the Dog)"

Bakelandt - Hec Leemans : 2002 Belgium

2002-Jul-14 Belgium

The Flemish comic artist Hec Leemans is best known as the creator of the historical series 'Bakelandt', and as the author of the 'FC De Kampioenen' comics. Hector Leemans was born in 1950 in Temse, and received his artistic education at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dendermonde. After his studies, he entered the comics field as the co-worker of Sylvain Polfliet in 1969. Together, they made the espionage strip 'Brian Howell' in the daily newspaper Het Volk.

On 20 October 1975, Leemans achieved his breakthrough when his strip 'Bakelandt' was published in the Belgian newspapers Het Laatste Nieuws and De Nieuwe Gazet. Leemans created the comic in cooperation with scriptwriter Daniel Jansens, with whom he also produced some short stories for Kuifje. Lambiek