Dim the house lights and raise the curtains; gentlemen and ladies will kindly take their seats in preparation for an unforgettable theatrical event! Tonight we’ve assembled for you the most fabulous aggregation of stars this side of the Milky Way! We’ve got jugglers, acrobats, dancers, musicians, singers, and a wealth of that public favorite: ventriloquists! Tonight we bring to you the cream of vaudeville talent–ladies and gentlemen, welcome to THE BIG TIME!

In the new board game designed by Barnacle Press’ own Holmes!–The Big Time!–players take on the roles of theater owners in Chicago during the Golden Age of vaudeville, from about 1905 to about 1915. The object is to make your theater the most spectacular in the city by booking the greatest and most diverse roster of acts that you can find (and afford!).

In each of four turns, players bid on the right to select acts first and place those acts in their theaters. After your theaters are booked, you tally up scores to see who was the most successful. Good shows will drive up the reputation of your theater and influence the popularity of the types of acts that you book, but a flop can always set you back!

Inspired by advertisements for vaudeville shows found in vintage newspapers while culling comics for Barnacle Press, the big time possesses a fresh theme with dozens of authentic vaudeville acts, terrific illustrations by the inimitable Adam Koford, and some new ideas in bidding mechanics.

And did I mention Adam Koford? That’s right, the amazing Ape Lad provided the fifty-plus illustrations of these wonderful vaudeville acts, both well-known and obscure. His illustrations add an excellent dash of elan to the proceedings.

The Big Time! is available as a free, Creative Commons-licensed download to be printed out and constructed at by you! Check out the rules to the game or download the full game with simple assembly instructions at the links below!

The Big Time! rules (PDF, 11.4MB)

The Big Time! complete archive (ZIP file, 27MB)

Check out the entry at BoardGameGeek for images from the game and further discussion.

Oh! wonder of wonders! What is this your eyes behold? Can a new post be found on these moribund pages?

Yes. Yes it can; here it is.

What new (very old) comics does this post portend?

Erm, well…

I’ll admit that we Barnacle Bros. have been remiss in renewing the stores in this larder of graphic mirth. Some of this is almost by design, as we’d always intended Barnacle Press to be as much an archive and repository for vintage comics as a weblog to be constantly attended to like a mewling infant. I have clandestinely added to the archives over these past years, but sometimes a fellow just doesn’t have the energy to churn out sparkling prose of the quality you’re currently enjoying, so I slipped them into the mix with no fanfare.

Any guilty pangs I may endure at the thought of this period of neglect are ameliorated somewhat by the steady readership which we’ve maintained, even in the absence of new material. What, after all, is “new” material anyway, when all of the comics are one hundred years old?

Ah, but there’s more than a dollop of self-serving justification at play, here. To spoon a few more dollops, I’ll add that Thrillmer has spent the lion’s share of his “free time” constantly attending to mewling infants. I don’t normally go in for that sort of thing, but I’ll admit that his progeny are brilliant and adorable, and have appropriately-inspired names for a comic enthusiast (if you ever meet him, ask to see pictures of little Skeezix and Cookie).

For myself, I have no such easy excuse. My attentions have simply been drawn elsewhere, most notably to the rabid pursuit of board gaming. I’ve been an avid game player for many years now and have recently turned my hand at game design as well, the fruits of these labors being the reason for today’s reappearance. But before I post the announcement of this game’s debut, I wanted to prime the pump a bit, so that you won’t faint from shock at my sudden reappearance.

And who knows? Writing this makes me nostalgic for combing through the old papers; perhaps it won’t be so long before the next influx of new material around here…

But, y’know, don’t hold me to that.

Today we’re traveling back over a hundred years to meet Walter Bradford’s Fizzboomski the Anarchist! Inspired by the drama of the Russian Revolution, Bradford dreamed up his bungling anarchist, Fizzboomski (né Fitzboomski), whose assassination plots are constantly foiled by elaborately comic countermeasures; his targets, the Czar and the Prime Minister, forever one step ahead. The humor is pretty dark for the Sunday funnies, but the feature hardly takes itself seriously. Along with the madcap antics of the titular star we’re treated to those familiar jabs at Russia, you know, ending words in “-ski” or referring to the Prime Minister as the “Prime Minister-a-vitch.” Sometimes I worry you folks must think I live under a rock, but I will admit that I was surprised to see that sort of humor so early in the 20th Century (I think of that sort of silliness as more of a Cold War thing, but here it is).

The Stripper’s Guide featured this title a few months back and, needless to say, the coverage is certainly worth your time. If not for the history lesson, certainly for the color samples. According to Allan’s dates we have half the original run and all of the 1907 revival here in the archives (no luck finding that 1908 oddball). Enjoy.

From Winsor McCay and your pals at Barnacle Press.

I’m guessing that there are a fair amount of comickers who follow our li’l site, and I’d like to ask a favor of them. I’ve got a vaudeville-themed board game that I’ve designed, and I’m looking for some spot illustrations for the cards. There are 45 cards to illustrate, so I’m looking for as many folks to contribute as I can find. Do one card, do five, anything you can contribute would be appreciated and will really help!

Catches? Oh, I’ve got a handful of catches… Firstly, there’s no money in this deal. I’m looking for folks who love to draw, who love old stuff, and who love Barnacle Press. Next, I need these illustrations by this coming Monday, the 16th of November, one week from this very moment! I’m heading to the wonderful BoardGameGeek.con convention next Wednesday, and I need to assemble my game to bring along.

The upside? Well, I think that any follower of this site will find the subject matter to their liking. It should really be a lot of fun to draw these things, and I’m just looking for black and white cartoon portraits of people. No wild action, no backgrounds. The end result will be a Creative Commons licensed, free print ‘n’ play board game that will be available here at Barnacle Press. And a plus: it’s actually a really fun game!

If you’d be interested in lending your pen to my cause, drop me a line with a link to your work, and I’ll send you a link with more information: my name is Holmes, this site is BarnaclePress.com. I’ll wager you can figure out my email address…

It is with great excitement that I add Ed Carey’s The Troubles of Dictionary Jaques to the archive; we have been looking for this one for years. Back when we first started this site, Holmes and I were discussing strips we had never seen but really wanted to find and share here. For my part, I was dying to get my hands on Madge the Magician’s Daughter, which I thankfully found a while back. Holmes mentioned our new friend Dictionary Jaques, and I was intrigued right away. Ron Goulart’s The Funnies showed a couple panels, but that was as close as I’ve come to seeing the strip until I recently stumbled upon it while looking for something else. So in celebration of my pal’s birthday, I’m posting all the Jaques I’ve been able to find. You may remember Carey’s work from another favorite of ours (and, coincidentally, another strip discussed that fateful day): Dolby’s Double. Jaques is a really fun creation. The situation is simple enough: Jaques is a Frenchman who relies on his dictionary to understand his surroundings, but misinterprets the definitions he reads. Hilarity ensues and you get some crazy imagery like Jaques head-butting a stranger who resembles Everett True or Jaques bundling up a baby like a package. I hope this was worth the wait, Holmes! Happy b-day!

Because YOU demanded it! Okay, perhaps that’s stretching the truth a bit, but I’m sure someone out there has been wanting to see more of these, right? I’ve been meaning to get some more Zimmie posted in the archive ever since J.R. Gonzales wrote his wonderful “An owl named Zimmie” for the Bayou City History blog a couple years ago. But let’s not focus on how long it takes me to accomplish things around here and let’s delight to the wit and wisdom of those lovable owls: Zimmie and his girlfriend Lizzie. Check out our newest selections where you’ll find Zimmie gabbing about the weather. His feelings on art. And politics. He shares some sensible thoughts on newspapers. And he wouldn’t be Zimmie if he didn’t wax philosophic from time to time. When Lizzie isn’t busy setting him up, she’s trying to shoehorn her religious agenda into the tiny panel. Whatever the topic, be sure these two lovebirds will do their best to provide something to consider as you go about your day.

You’ve met Tweedledum, Tweedledee and the Other Triplet, but are you familiar with Freddie, Eddie and Teddie? They’re the merry mischief makers of Hy Leonard’s The Triplet Boys! This strip definitely has a look of its own; were it not for the fact that this was produced in 1905, I’d almost be willing to guess the triplets were based on muppets. Just look at those heads! While Tweedledum and Co. get their kicks hiding from strangers the fact that they are a trio of look-a-likes, Freddie, Eddie and Teddie take the opposite approach by simply tormenting their loved ones en masse. The gags are a bit forced, sure, but the odd visuals are not to be missed.

Anyone in the mood for a classic comic strip? We’re going way back to 1903 today folks; allow me to introduce William F. Marriner’s fun-loving trio: Tweedledum, Twedleedee and the Other Triplet. I know, I cringe too when I see a strip that labels the panels one, two, three, four…but just take a moment to look past that. Marriner actually gets some good mileage out of his premise. Sure, the gags aren’t exactly breaking new ground, but they do deliver a smile here and there which is a lot more than I can say for other humor strips of the same time period. And even if these don’t have you chuckling out loud, it’s still worth the price of admission to check out Marriner’s artwork. I’m not sure how long this title lasted; I get a sense there aren’t a whole lot of these. We have ten of them up today, go take a look.