Doonesbury U.S. Protest Stamp : 1990

The top two panels of the May 1990 Sunday comic shows Zonker Harris picked up his mail and looking disgusted. He says "Another 1989 postmark! Time to take action!This is followed by four panels with Zonker announcing his Protest stamps, along with a pseudo-sheet of 18 stamps featuring 2 designsHi! Former U.S. Postal Service Temporary Zonker Harris here! Have the proposed new postal rates got you steamed?Sure U.S. Postal rates would still be among the lowest in the world, but aren't ypu fed up anyway? Uhu?Sure you are! So why not affix these dandy 5c protest stamps to all your mail? What better way to send a message to your Postal Service?They're attractive, convenient and possibly illegal! So go ahead, slap on a U.S. Protest Stamp? You won't be sorry!

The Postal Service was not amused. A USPS spokesman told reporters that the Doonesbury stamps were "definately illegal." In fact, used risked a fine of $300. The USPS did report that many envelopes containing the bogus stamps were caught during the sorting process and removed from the mail stream. However there were some stamped envelopes that reached their final destination.

- Doonesbury's Cinderella Story: Protest Stamps and Comic Timing, Ashley Bowen-Murphy

Tales of Terror : 1997 United Kingdom

 

1997-May-13

1959-Sep-20 Romania : 500^th Anniversary of Bucharest – Prince Vlad Tepes and Document from 1459 - Vlad III, commonly known as Vlad the Impaler was Voivode of Wallachia three times between 1448 and his death in 1476/77. He was regarded as a hero in Romania due to his opposition to the Ottoman Empire and he is considered an important ruler in Wallachian history. Stories about Vlad's brutal acts began circulating during his lifetime. Works containing the stories about Vlad's cruelty were published in Low German in the Holy Roman Empire before 1480. The name Dracula was for centuries known as the sobriquet of Vlad III. Bram Stoker's Dracula, was the first book to make a connection between Dracula and vampirism - Wikipedia

“There lay the Count... the white hair and moustache were changed to dark iron-grey, the cheels were fuller, and the white skin seemed ruby-red underneath; the mouth was redder than ever, for on the lips were gouts of fresh blood...” Dracula by Bram Stoker, 1897

“His yellow skin scarcely covered the work of muscles and arteries beneath; his hair was of a lustrous black, and flowing... but these luxuriances only formed a more horrid contrast with his watery eyes...” Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 1818

“Mr Hyde was pale and dwarfish' he gave an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation, he had a displeasing smile... not all of these together could explain the hitherto unknown disgust...” The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson 1896

“A hound it was, an enormous coal-black hound... Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap were outlined in flickering flame.” The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 1901

Roald Dahl : Gibraltar - Europa 2010

2010-Apr

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, The BFG, The Twits

Roald Dahl (1916 – 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. He has been called "one of the greatest storytellers for children of the 20th century".

The first book Roald Dahl and illustrator Quentin Blake worked upon together was “The Enormous Crocodile”. The two soon became firm friends, cementing one of the most eye-catching and distinctive collaborations in children’s literature.

Disney : 2004 France

2004-Mar-06 France - 2004 Stamp Festival

 

John Coulthard

 John Coulthard (1903-1964) Modesto CA, was an artist-cartoonist who produced of cachets for Naval, first day and event postal covers. Many of which are highly valued by collectors. On the humorous side, Coulthard would produce cachets for curious town postmarks.  During the 1930s post offices had nice hand postmarks (rubber stamps) which are not available today. It can be difficult to obtain a nice hand stamped postmark. Some of the towns Coulthard produced art for included: Horse Haven, OR ; Auto WV; Gasoline TX; Competition MO; Rural Retreat VA (cartoon featured an outhouse); Romeo CO; Bachelor CA; Mud WV; Begood VA; Horseshoe FL; Boggy Depot OK; Looking Glass OR.....

1936-Arp-01 USS Pennsylvania - Aprils Fool's Day

1938-Apr-07 Diablo CA

1939-Aug-09 Wonderland CA

1939-Mar-18 Shaver Lake CA

1939-Jul-20 Cardif-By-The-Sea

Generic California cachets were used with postmarks from various California cities

Coulthard cachets were either directly printed on the envelope or a small label would be applied

Several designs were found on eBay and Cinderella Stamp Forum

Moomins - Stamp Show 06 : 2006 Japan

2006-Apr-28:30 Asakusa Japan

Stamp Show '06

Asakusa, Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Trade Center Taito Hall

Shō-chan no Bōken (Shō-chan's Adventures) : 2004 Japan Letter Writing Day

2004-Jul-23 Letter Writing Day

Shō-chan no Bōken (Shō-chan's Adventures) is a Japanese four-panel manga drawn by Katsuichi Kabashima (Tōfūjin) and written by Nobutsune Oda, serialized in Asahi Graph and Asahi Shimbun from 1923 to 1926. The comic depicted various adventurous journeys of the main character, a boy named Shō-chan and his sidekick squirrel Risu, and was very popular among readers of the time for its fantastic stories, reminiscent of fairy tales and illustrations with a Western flair.

Fumi-no-Hi (Letter Writing Day) stamps are special commemorative Japanese stamps issued annually by Japan Post to promote letter writing, typically released around July 23rd and featuring cute, artistic, or culturally significant designs

Professor Baltazar : 2018 Croatia

2018-May-03

Croatia issued a stamp May 3 honoring the 50th anniversary of the animated television series Professor Baltazar, which originally aired in Croatia from 1968 to 1977. The title character was created by Croatian animator Zlatko Grgic (1931-1988).

Croatian Post described the professor as a “likeable scientist who resolves the problems his fellow citizens are facing with the assistance of a complex machine, but actually with a lot of imagination and positive energy.”  

Baltazar was also part of the 1997 100th anniversary of Motion Pictures issue

Mäuse - Uli Stein : 2005 Switzerland

2005-Aug-03 Bern Switzerland - Mäuse

Ulrich Steinfurth, better known as Uli Stein, (1946 – 2020) was a German cartoonist. Stein's cartoons mainly focus on day-to-day-situations, often with anthropomorphic mice, cats, dogs, penguins and pigs. He also created cartoons for other events and subjects, such as politics or soccer. Although he mainly sold books and post cards with his cartoons, there is a variety of other products based on them, such as games and articles of daily use.

San Diego Comic-Con : 2025 Málaga

2025-Sep 25:28 Málaga Spain

For the first time in its history, San Diego Comic-Con International left the United States and landed in Spain. From 25 through 28 September 2025, Málaga hosted the first official Comic-Con outside American soil. Four days later, the balance is clear: huge success, serious growing pains, and a city that has already secured Comic-Con for future editions.

Greetings : 1994 United Kingdom

1994-Feb-01

Dan Dare and the Mekon, from the Eagle ©1994 Egmont H Peterson Fond Gutenberghus; The Three Bears ©Janet Ahlberg 1994, based on an illustration from The Jolly Postman ©1986 Allan and Janet Ahlberg; Rupert Bear from the Rupert Bear cartoon as seen in the Daily Express, illustrated by John Harold ©Express Newspapers plc 1994; Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll illustrated by Paul Slater; Noggin and the Ice Dragon, from Noggin the Nog books ©Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin 1999 illustrated by Peter Firmin; Peter Rabbit posting Letter illustrated by Beatrix Potter © Frederick Warne & Co 1927, 1987, 1994 adapted by Alex Vining; Red Riding Hood and Wolf illustrated by Alan Cracknell; Orlando the Marmalade Cat from the Orlando books by Katheen Hale ©Kathleen Hale 1994 reproduced by permission of Frederick Warne & Co, illustrated by Hashim Akib; Biggles from the Biggles books by Capt W.E. Johns © W.E. John (publications) LTS, illustrated by Alan Cracknell; Paddington Bear from the Paddington books by Michael Bond ©P & Co. 1994

Popeye - E.C. Segar : 1995 Comic Strip Classics

1995-Oct-01 Boca Raton FL

Popeye – E.C. Segar (1894-1938) Popeye was an overnight success when he made his debut on the stage of the Thimble theatre comic strip in 1929. His adventures mixed thrills, satire, parody and nonsense; his sayings “I yam what I yam...” are part of our language. The strip began in 1919. ©1995 King Features Syndicate Inc.  

- Olivoyla fantasy postage due stamp

USPS Stamper card

1949-Nov-01 Crystal City "Spinach Capital of the World" TX first flight Popeye caceht

1989 - USCGC Firebush Kodiak AK insignia cachet featuring Popeye

Kaassassuk : 2011 Greenland

2011-May-09 Greenland

Kaassassuk loses his parents while only a baby. He soon finds himself unwanted by the other people in the settlement, who don’t give him much to eat and lift him up from the bench by his nostrils. Only one old man and an old woman are kind to Kaassassuk. One day the old man says that he thinks Kasssassuk should seek out the Lord of Power. He takes the old man’s advice and the Lord of Power gives him superhuman powers. Suddenly the people of the settlement are kind to him but their kindness is false and much too late. So Kaassassuk wreaks a terrible revenge… Milik Publishing