CHAPTER MEMBERS met in Kingsland, Texas, to catch up and celebrate Bill Hinds and the 50th anniversary of his comic strip Tank McNamara.

Joining Bill were members Paul Anderson, chapter vice chair Jesse Atwell, chapter chair Hector Cantu, Bill Hinds, Sam Hurt, Kevin Middleton and Milburn Taylor. Additional guests were political cartoonist M. Scott Byers and cartoonist, artist and author Marian Henley (Maxine).

The location was Bill’s family place on the Colorado River just northwest of Austin.

Tank McNamara debuted on Aug. 5, 1974, with Jeff Millar as writer and Hinds as illustrator. Hinds took over writing after the death of Millar in November 2012.

The title character is a local sports television reporter who used to be a defensive lineman in the National Football League, hence his nickname. The strip focuses primarily on contemporary American athletics, which allows it to remain topical and also to dabble in related subjects such as politics and social issues.

Sam Hurt, Marian Henley, Paul Anderson, Bill Hinds, Jesse Atwell and Hector Cantu (from left).

THE NEXT NCS virtual meeting features Texas Chapter member Milburn Taylor!

Come mingle with current NCS members and others interested in the professional world of cartooning. Open to professionals interested in the NCS – please feel free to share!

JOIN US FOR: News and updates from the NCS; Member Spotlight and Studio Tour Interview plus live Q/A with MILBURN TAYLOR (humorgraphics.com/) hosted by JAMAR NICHOLAS (jamarnicholas.weebly.com/); Networking Breakouts.

NCS Open House Meet-n-Greet and Member Spotlight, Monday, Sept 23. 6-7pm Central.

Click here to register for the meeting!

The National Cartoonists Society is presenting Texas Cartoonists member Bill Hinds with the Gold T-Square award to honor his 50 years as a professional cartoonist, creating and sustaining the syndicated daily comic strip Tank McNamara. 

Recognized for its sharp humor and insightful takes on sports and celebrity culture, Tank McNamara debuted Aug. 5th, 1974 with Hinds as artist and co-creator Jeff Millar as writer. Millar passed away in 2012 and Hinds has continued the strip as both writer and artist. Centering on the life and experiences of title character Tank McNamara, a professional football player turned sportscaster, the strip blends satire with sports commentary using an evolving cast of characters and the inclusion of caricatures of real-world athletes and individuals. While it often pokes fun at the world of athletics and the culture surrounding it, storylines have also touched on real-life issues like gambling addiction, athlete salaries and drug abuse. In addition to Tank McNamara, Hinds has created spin-off and stand-alone work published in a variety of mediums. 

The National Cartoonists Society and Texas Cartoonists are honored to celebrate Bill’s dedication to cartooning and his extraordinary 50 year career with Tank McNamara.  Congratulations, Bill! 

Gonzalo Alvarez is a first-generation Chicano Illustrator, Writer, and Designer from Port Arthur, TX creating Aztec fantasy.

He received a BFA from Lamar University where he created Borders, an internationally acclaimed video game inspired by his parent’s immigration, and the prototype comic for Poyoman, an Aztec fantasy graphic novel to be published by Harper Alley in 2026.

He founded Studio Tecuanis in 2022 and released NAWALLI: The Aztec Card Game in 2023.

Learn more about Gonzalo Alvarez here.

Chapter member Hector Cantu is among the finalists announced for the 2023 NCS Divisional Awards for the 78th Annual Reubens!

Voting for the NCS Divisional Awards has been extended to Friday, May 10. Cast your ballot by clicking on this link: https://nationalcartoonists.com/vote/

Award winners will be announced at the 78th Annual Reuben Awards Dinner in San Diego, CA on August 23, 2024.

Congrats to all the nominees!

Eliamaría Madrid is a cartoonist, illustrator, and content creator based in Dallas, Texas. Having doodled and drawn for a majority of her youth, she got started her first big project at age 17, which was Elia in a Box Webcomic, a slice-of-life comic strip retelling of the silly moments in her life. She also illustrated comics for her high school newspaper, the Campus Corral and marketing campaigns for her high school’s theatre department, having been a finalist at the State and International levels of the Thespian Festivals. 

While in college pursuing a theatre degree, she drew comics for the university newspaper, The Shorthorn. Her comic strips, featuring famed-UTA professor Dr. Allan Saxe, won her the Colombia Scholastic Press Award for Comic Cartoons in Digital Media. Upon graduating with her Theatre degree, she realized her passion for comedy, design, and performing was better executed in an illustrative-storytelling manner. From then on, she decided that’s what she wanted to do and has loved it ever since.

Elia is currently working on wrapping up her first Graphic Novel while creating silly art content online and collaborating with fellow creatives to build the art and creative communities. Elia is a proud ambassador with the JDRF, being a type 1 diabetic herself, and hopes to use her art and platform to help raise awareness and fund for cure research.

Learn more about Eliamaría Madrid and see her work here.

Reynaldo Menchaca is a Texas born and raised Cartoonist. As a child growing up watching cartoons on tv on Saturday mornings, the love for art was instilled very early. Rey was fascinated by classic cartoons such as Looney Tunes, Scooby Doo, and Gundam.

Reynaldo took this inspiration and sought to breathe a new dynamic style to cartoons while keeping the whimsical fantasy that seeded the love for art in the first place. Reynaldo’s unique vision has provided opportunities such as working on campaigns for Tech N9ne, the biggest independent artist in the world, to local community work for Texas State University.

Learn more about Reynaldo and see his work here.

Follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

Adrian Zuniga is a cartoonist based in Fort Worth, Texas with a passion for drawing silly cartoons. He found his inspiration at the age of 7 by watching Looney Tunes and reading old Garfield comics he would find at the thrift stores his parents would drag him to. His “formal” instruction came when he stumbled into Bruce Blitz cartooning books in his public library. From then on, he has not been able to stay away from cartooning even if he tried! Today, Adrian is a freelance cartoonist creating cartoon illustrations, comics and custom caricatures for his clients.

Adrian gets his inspiration and motivation from everyday life, his wife, three kids and his dog. He is determined to show his family that there’s always a way to make your dreams come true. 

Check out his work on https://zunitoonz.com/.

Donnie Pitchford will be honored on Friday, February 16 at The Esquire Theater in Carthage, TX as part of the Carthage Main Street 2024 Arts Walk of Fame Induction.

Pitchford says, ” I am blessed and honored to be part of the Carthage, Texas Main Street Arts Walk of Fame being held in two weeks (February 16)! I hope to see family, friends, former students, church family, etc. there!”

Read more at The Panola Watchman and at LumandAbnerComics.com.

Congrats, Donnie!

Welcome, Francisco Riojas – our newest member!

Francisco Riojas is the creator of The Maizanos and The Paisanos. From an early age, Francisco would gravitate towards the comics section of the San Antonio Express News that his grandfather would provide on a weekly basis. Frequently spending time at the local public library and escaping into published collections of Garfield, The Far Side, Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbs, Where’s Waldo and many more, Francisco was inspired to pick up drawing and dream to one day be amongst the great creators that he has admired since childhood.

The comic strip of The Maizanos is based on a family of tamales that reflect the experiences of life as Mexican Americans along the southern border. The Paisanos is a series inspired by current events related to immigration and the politics that surround it.

Check out his work: https://texascartoonists.com/francisco-riojas/