Communications : 1988 France

 

Twelve of France's leading comic strip artists designed the twelve stamps that male up France's 1988 “La Communication” booklet; each artist was also a Gran Prize winner from the Comic Strip Festival of Angoulême, France, from 1976 through 1987.

GB Trudeau - Doonesbury

Garretson Beekman Trudeau is an American cartoonist best known for creating the Doonesbury comic strip.Trudeau won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1975, making him the first comic strip artist to win a Pulitzer. He is one of only two comic strip artists to win the award, the other being Berkeley Breathed, whose work was influenced by Trudeau.

Trudeau published The Doonesbury Stamp Book in 1990, through Penguin Books, 16 pages of faux postage stamps, along with larger labels utilizing characters from the Doonesbury comic strip. Includes many references to the 1980s, including Poppy Bush, Dan Quayle, Donald Trump (the Ivana years), smoking cheerleader "Buttsy Butts", his friend "Mister Jay" etc.

Several signed items by GB Trudeau also have stamps from the album included as part of the art

Doonesbury Collector

Paddington Bear - Greetings : 1994

Paddington Bear was featured on one of the 1st class Greetings Messages stamps, released by Royal Mail on 1 February 1994

Paddington Bear, also known as Paddington Brown, is an anthropomorphic bear in British children's literature. He first appeared on 1958-Oct-13 in A Bear Called Paddington by British author Michael Bond. He has been featured in 29 books written by Bond, the last of which, Paddington at St. Paul's, was published posthumously in 2018. The books have been illustrated by Peggy Fortnum, David McKee, R. W. Alley, and other artists.

Gilligan's Island

Gilligan's Island (1964-1967) inspired a set of fantasy labels (poster stamps) from the island. The labels were issued around 1967 in two values: $1 green and $2 brown, both perforated 11.5 and imperforated. Forgeries and repints are known to exist

A later printing of the $1 value in blue on goldenrod paper was issued. The stamps can be found on cover with various markings (still looking for some)

The television movie Rescue form Gilligan's Island released in 1978 inspired antoher issue, this time with the word RESCUE inscribed on the island's mountain.Printed with four stamps per sheet in various colors

The island view from the shows opening credits was Coconut Island, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii

-Cinderella Scene by Jim Czyl, Linn's Stamp News 1986-Dec-15

Charlie Chaplin

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (1889 – 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, singer, film editor and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is considered one of the film industry's most important figures. His career spanned more than 75 years, from his childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977.

Alice in Wonderland - Tristan da Cunha : 2015

Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of the publication of Alice in Wonderland. The souvenir sheet features the Reverend Edwin Dodgson, brother of author Lewis Carroll, who served as a pastor on the islands

The Great Race - Westport CT

Westport CT - The 1st Great Race was held in 1976, as part of America’s bicentennial celebration. It lasted a few years. In 1991, Sunrise Rotary resurrected it. It was an all-hands-on deck competition. Kayaks, canoes, dinghies, windsurfers, catamarans — and everything else, from Tom Sawyer rafts, to boats in the shape of Smurfs and Elvis, to science experiment failures — were launched from the library park. They made their way to Cockenoe Island. 

Around 1999 the race was suspended, only to be resurrected as a Duck Race, where small numbered rubber ducks raced down stream

The Flash : 2006 DC Comics

2006-July-20 San Diego CA

The Flash – Art by Carmine Infantino & Murphy Anderson

An explosive mixture of lightning and laboratory chemicals endowed police scientist Barry Allen with superhuman speed, transforming him into the “Silver Age” Flash, Fastest Man Alive. The Scarlet Speedster was first set into motion in Showcase #4 (Sept/Oct 1956).

The Flash #111 Feb/Mar 1960 Art by Carmine Infantino & Joe Giella

The Flash is capable of moving at speeds so great he can make himself invisible or travel through time and between dimensions. His fast-paced adventures highlight pseudo-science while pitting the hero against an extensive “Rogues' Gallery” of villains - USPS

 

André Franquin : 2024 France

2024-Jan-29

France honored André Franquin (1924-1997), creator of Gaston Lagaffe. Gaston appeared in 1957 in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine Spirou.The stamp shows a self-portrait that appeared in Bon Pur – dessins de famille. Belgin born artist André Franquin's characters also appeared on Belgium stamps in 2008 Spirou and Fantasio and 2017 Gaston

Laurel and Hardy

Laurel and Hardy were a comedy team from 1927 to 1955, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a team in the silent film era, they transitioned easily to the new talking pictures and became internationally famous for their slapstick comedy. Laurel's character was clumsy and childlike; Hardy's was domineering and genteel, but both were inseparable friends. Their theme song, known variously as "The Cuckoo Song", "Ku-Ku", or "The Dance of the Cuckoos" (by Hollywood composer T. Marvin Hatley) was heard over their films' opening credits, and became as identified with them as their derby hats.

1991 US Comedians issue - Gillcraft cachet

Stepex '91 Hal Roach cachet

They appeared as a team in 107 films, starring in 32 short silent films, 40 short sound films,and 23 full-length feature films. 

1947 Hollywood Starstamps

Stan Laurel was part of the Royal Mail 1991 Smilers issue

A panel from a “Laurel and Hardy” story for Film Fun published in 1938

Myths and Legends - Royal Mail : 2025

Royal Mail celebrates mythical creatures and legendary figures from different regions of the UK, including Blodeuwedd (Wales); the Loch Ness Monster (Scotland); Beowulf and Grendel (England); Black Shuck (East Anglia); Selkie (Orkney & Shetland); Cornish Piskies (Cornwall); Fionn mac Cumhaill (Northern Ireland); and Grindylow (Yorkshire/Lancashire). Artist Adam Simpson’s beautiful and evocative illustrations bring to life these fabled figures of folklore in vibrant, enchanting detail. 

Grindylows are supernatural creatures that appear in the folklore of England, most notably the Lancaster area. They are described as diminutive humanoids with scaly skin, a greenish complexion, sharp claws and teeth, and long, wiry arms with lengthy fingers at the end. They are said to dwell in ponds and marshes waiting for unsuspecting children, which they grab with their shockingly strong grip, and then drag under the surface of the waters. Grindylows have been used as shadowy figures to frighten children away from pools, marshes, or ponds where they could drown.

Beowulf is an Old English poem, an epic in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines, contained in the Nowell Codex. The protagonist Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, whose great hall, Heorot, is plagued by the monster Grendel. Beowulf kills Grendel with his bare hands, then kills Grendel's mother with a giant's sword that he found in her lair.