Universal Press Launches Where I'm Coming From

In newspaper cartoons, Universal Press Syndicate has launched Where I'm Coming From, a weekly strip by Brooklyn-based Barbara Brandon, the first Black female cartoonist in national syndication since Jackie Ormes's Torchy Brown in Heartbeats (1950-55). Brandon's strip consists of Jules Feiffer-like talking-head dialogues and monologues delivered by a rotating cast of nine African-American women of different ages and personalities. It has been running in the Detroit Free Press since 1989. "It reflects the experiences we're having as Black folks in America, particularly from a female point of view," Brandon told USA Today. Bran- don's father, Brumsic Brandon Jr., drew the 1969-84 strip Luther.