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August 5, 2007
Alright! Alright!
OK! You can stop writng! I did it. I gave
in. I sent out a CORRECTED, flopped, Barry Bonds cartoon today,
with him batting left-handed.
Now, we can all relax again, and get back
to our normal lives.
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August 3, 2007
More Right Handed Craziness
 I'm still getting reaction on the wrong-handed
Barry Bonds cartoon. I put together a slideshow for MSNBC.com of Barry
Bonds cartoons, and the editor there took my Bonds cartoon
out because he didn't like that Bonds was batting right handed.
At the same time, the cartoon made the cover of the Humor Times, and I still have readers writing
in, pointing out my error. Oh dear.
My excuse now is that I'm dyslexic.
August 1, 2007
Obermeyer on those matching cartoons
Cartoonist Neal Obermeyer wrote an essay on a recent
mini-Yahtzee, with me and my buddy, Jeff Koterba of the Omaha World Herald drawing
"matching" cartoons.
I've gotten quite a bit of mail about my
Barry Bonds cartoon - from readers eager to correct the "mistake"
that he is drawn swinging the bat right handed, rather than left
handed. Some readers were angry about it, although it is hard
for me to see why that would make someone angry, here's an example.
I didn't think much about the left or right
handed thing at the time, but that was because the composition
called for the asterisk to be on the right, coming at the "end"
of the cartoon, reading from left to right. The gag always comes
at the end of the cartoon. I couldn't draw Bonds' name on the
back of the jersey if he was swinging left handed and still have
the asterisk on the right - but Jeff addressed that by having
Bonds swing left handed, showing his name on the jersey, and
miss, so the asterisk is on the right.
I think the cartoon is more on point if
he hits the asterisk though, rather than missing. Is it better
that he hit and wrongly be right handed, or miss and correctly
be left handed? Now I wonder.
Regarding Jeff's point that he tries not
to look at other cartoonists' work - that seems to me to be just
the opposite of what a cartoonist should do. We should carefully
watch all of our colleagues' work to avoid matching and to force
ourselves to develop unique voices.
 The
Bonds that Bind
By Neal Obermeyer
This past April, after the Virginia Tech shootings, some friends
and I were discussing the way the media handled the situation.
One of those discussions turned to the editorial cartoonists'
response, which I have written about here before. Just from Daryl
Cagle's cartoon syndicate website, one could find several cartoons
changing the "VT" logo into a pistol; several more
depicting Uncle Sam mourning; two very similar cartoons with
a parent hugging a child who thought his parent would be happy
he got in to college; and a few with the Virginia Tech mascot
mourning in Uncle Sam's place. (See the Virginia Tech cartoons.)
Friends outside of cartooning were shocked when I assembled a
handful of cartoons and exposed the similarities side by side.
One told me that it was obvious to him that these cartoonists
were copying each other, but I argued that couldn't have been
the case when so many of these came out on the same day.
So I opened my copy of the Omaha World-Herald
this morning to see Jeff Koterba's cartoon on Barry Bonds. It
involved Bonds swinging and missing at a pitched asterisk instead
of a baseball. I immediately recalled Daryl Cagle's cartoon of
two weeks ago, which depicted Bonds connecting with an asterisk
instead of a baseball.
Now in my never-ending quest to be as critical as possible and
burn every cartooning bridge before it's assembled, I was tempted
to go on one of my customary rants about cartoonist groupthink
killing off the industry, blah blah blah, but I thought I'd try
something different and turn to the humans behind the cartoons
to get their side of the story.
 Cagle, the cartoonist for MSNBC.com, wasn't too
upset. "It happens," he told me. He often writes about
these situations, which he calls a "Yahtzee," on his
blog at cagle.com. Cagle's intent with the cartoon was to ask
"that we take notice of the 'asterisk' more than the achievement."
He thought the cartoon conveyed that concept well, and to him,
it appeared Koterba was attempting to deliver the same message.
Koterba's intended message was a little different - an observation
that "Bonds would always have that asterisk to contend with."
He told me he hadn't seen Cagle's cartoon. "I try to stay
away from looking at other cartoons for the very reason that
I don't want to be influenced by what other cartoonists
are doing," he said. "Coming up with an original idea
is a point of pride with me. What's the point of being a cartoonist
if you don't have original ideas?"
"When I see that someone else has drawn a cartoon similar
to mine, either before or after the fact, I'm mostly disappointed
in myself, that I hadn't come up with something beyond the obvious
idea that everyone else came up with," Koterba added. "But
what happens is that I push myself harder the next time, to try
and out-think the other cartoonists."
"On the other hand, it's frustrating to not sometimes do
those types of cartoons," he added. "Sometimes it is
the obvious idea that resonates with the reader."
As evidence of that, a few days ago I wrote about some of the
similarities in the recent Michael Vick cartoons. A quick glance
at my site statistics shows that 26 of the past 45 visitors that
came here from search engines were looking for Michael Vick cartoons,
with several looking specifically for Gary Varvel's cartoon from
the Indianapolis Star-News. Cartoonists may judge themselves
and each other, but that doesn't change the fact that an audience
wants to see these cartoons, even if the same essential idea
has been drawn by several people.
Koterba doesn't believe there is any thievery going on in editorial
cartooning. "Most cartoonists are competitive and get into
this career because they have lot of ideas to share," he
said.
But with fewer and fewer staff cartoonist positions, more newspapers
are relying on syndicated cartoonists, and those syndicated cartoonists
are competing for placement. Other publications, like weekly
news magazines, have created their own expectations for what
types of cartoons and what style of humor is likely to score
reprints.
"There are only so many ideas floating around," Koterba
said. "Perhaps if cartoonists looked beyond the headlines
more often, this sort of thing would happen less often."
And even though cartoons are often similar, they're rarely identical,
and those subtle differences can lead conversations a different
direction. When I saw Koterba's cartoon, I immediately thought
of Cagle's. But friends I've talked to note the difference between
Cagle's hit and Koterba's miss (I'm speaking of the literal depictions
in the cartoon, here); the hit suggests the dishonesty of the
accomplishment; the miss shows the shame that comes with achieving
the milestone without the honor.
Cagle also pointed me to an article in the Penn State Daily Collegian
which cited his inaccurate depiction of Bonds - swinging right-handed
instead of left - as more evidence of a media tendency to judge
Bonds without knowing much about him. To close out this entry,
I'll leave you with a question posed by Koterba:
"How is it that Letterman, Conan, and Leno never come up
with the same jokes? I mean you would think somewhere along the
line, they would have run across this problem. I have a theory
that they have a quiet agreement that they share their monologues
with each other before show time. What do you think?"
Want to comment on the matching Barry Bonds?
E-mail me
and Neal Obermeyer.
July 31, 2007
British Yahtzee Grand Slam Sweep
A note from Irish Times cartoonist
Martyn Turner;
Dear Daryl,
If you look at the cartoons on the websites
of London's four national quality broadsheets; the Guardian,
the Times, the Independent and the Daily Telegraph, you will
see that their cartoonists have all done exactly the same cartoon
- George Bush as death in an Ingmar Bergman film ... never seen
that before ...
You have a word for it which escapes
me
Best
Martyn
That would be a British Yahtzee Grand Slam
Sweep.
July 30, 2007
Spanish Cartoonist Faces Fines
The Spanish prosecutor has decided to pursue
the case against El Jueves cartoonist Guillermo and writer
Manel Font de Vila, but the prosecutor won't be seeking jail
time. The cartoonists face only fines, which will be determined
if and when the case goes to court. This
report states that the cartoonist and writer are accused
of "slandering the Royal Family" ... of-course, they
mean "libel," which is written, not "slander,"
which is spoken ... but I never was very good at Spanish.
Back from Comic Con
The Comic Con was crazy this year, and
amazing to see that the whole thing was sold out. I enjoyed my
seminars and it was great fun meeting so many fans of our site!
I was also delighted that our National Cartoonists Society Foundation
auction brought in close to $7,000 for cartoonist college scholarships.
Thanks to everyone who participated, and special thanks to Chad Frye, who organized
and ran the event, and who outbid me on that Jack
Davis piece (that hurt).
July 25, 2007
Spanish Cartoonist Court Appearance
Spanish cartoonist Guillermo and gag writer
Manel Font de Vila appeared in Spanish court today and were
questioned fo two hours by the judge. The cartoonist and writer
denied that they meant to offend the royal family, insisting
that they "had simply meant to poke fun at the idea of family
aid going to a rich couple that did not need it, not to offend
the prince and princess." It is now up to the prosecutor
to decide whether to prosecute the case, now that part one of
the "inquisition" is over. Spain's attorney General, is quoted as defending
the judge's decision to impound the magazine, saying that the
cartoon "clearly incurred in a crime." The cartoonist
Guillermo and the writer of the cartoon face a prison term of
up to two years. See the offending
cartoon here.
Cagle at Comic Con
Come see me at the San Diego Comic Con!
I'll be giving an hourlong slideshow presentation tomorrow, Thursday;
the seminar is called "Spotlight on Daryl Cagle"
and I'll talk about my work, my more controversial cartoons,
the Best Political Cartoons of the Year, books, this web
site, my syndicate
- all things Cagle. There will be lots of visuals and lots of
time for questions. The seminar is tomorrow (Thursday), July
26th, from 3:00-4:00pm in Room 2.
On Friday July 27th from 1:00 to 2:00pm
I'll be signing books and doing drawings at the Cartoon Art Museum's booth. I'll also often
be found each day at the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) booth,
doing drawings and signing books.
On Saturday, July 28th, from 11:30am-12:30pm
in Room 4 I'll be moderating a panel on Political Cartoonists.
The panel includes: Steve Breen, the Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist
for the San Diego Union-Tribune; Mr. Fish, the altie cartoonist for the LA
Weekly and Village Voice; Patrick O'Connor, the editorial cartoonist
for the Los Angeles Daily News; Monte
Wolverton, the brilliant editorial cartoonist and Mad Magazine
artist, Brian Fairrington, a great cartoonist and
my co-editor on the Best Political Cartoons of the Year
books; Steve Kelley, the cartoonist for the New
Orleans Times-Picayune and Lalo Alcaraz, also an editorial cartoonist
for the LA Weekly and creator of the political comic strip,
La Cucaracha, which runs in the LA Times.
Right after the editorial cartoonists panel,
in the same room, I'll be on a NCS panel; this one is Saturday, July 28th,
from 12:30-1:30pm, also in Room 4. The panel discussion includes
me, Lalo Alcaraz, Steve Breen and Steve Kelley from the previous
panel. New to this panel will be Andrew Feinstein ("Girls
& Sports"/Creators Syndicate) and Michael Jantze ("The
Norm"/TheNorm.com). The emphasis of this panel will be on
comic strips, the NCS and general newspaper cartooning.
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Throughout the convention at the National Cartoonists Society
booth we'll be conducting a silent auction of original cartoon
artwork donated by famous cartoonists to benefit the National
Cartoonists Society Foundation's scholarship programs for college
cartoonists. Read
more about the scholarships here. This is a great opportunity
to pick up a bargain masterpiece. Some of the artwork to be auctioned
is shown below: The cartoon at the right is by Tom Richmond of
Mad Magazine.
The Family Circus cartoon below is by Jeff
and Bil Keane.
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Baby Blues by Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman
Mutts by Patrick McDonnell
Beetle Baily by Mort Walker
Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau
Chad Frye of the Walt Disney Company and C.F. Payne, the famous
illustrator.
Eric Goldberg, the animator of the Genie in Aladdin.
Mad
Magazine's Jack Davis
These originals and many others are all for sale and all
proceeds go to the National Cartoonists Society Foundation to
fund our scholarships! Come, pick up your own cartoon masterpiece!
July 24, 2007
More on El Jueves Tomorrow
El Jueves
cartoonist Guillermo and a writer for the magazine, Manel Font
de Vila, who apparently wrote the gag for the banned magazine
cover, have been summoned to appear in Spanish National Court
tomorrow (Wednesday). They will be questioned by a substitute
prosecutor in the case, as the regular prosecutor is on vacation.
 July
23, 2007
The El Jueves Web Site is Back Up
The El Jueves web site is back online today,
but without the offending cartoon cover that was blocked by a
court order (below). The
site shows what looks like the next issue of the magazine, with
Crown Prince Felipe as a bee, and his wife as a flower. The headline
reads: "CORRECTION! This is the cover we actually wanted
to publish." Oh, those sexy royals!
July 22, 2007
I decided to write a column on the Spanish
cartoon brouhaha and I've deleted the previous entries on the
subject. Thanks again to Jose Beltran-Escavy who put me on to
the under-reported story and gave me some great background and
translations.
No One Expects
The Cartoon Inquisition
The Spanish humor magazine, El Jueves,
published a cartoon on July 18th that was too much for a Spanish
court to stomach. Two days after the magazine came out, a judge
ordered police to remove all copies of El Jueves from
newsstands and kiosks, the magazine's web site was taken down
and the court is seeking more information on the cartoonist,
who faces a possible two year jail term.
Soon after the judge's ruling, the cartoon
started appearing all over the web and was published in other
Spanish newspapers as a news story. The internet buzz was so
big that the magazines were often sold out when police arrived
at newsstands the next day, to confiscate them. Now the cartoon
is a phenomenon, having been seen by many millions of people
around he world, rather than just the 80,000 readers of El
Jueves. Judges should be careful about what they ask for.
The offending cartoon on the cover of the
magazine shows Spanish Crown Prince Felipe having "doggie
style" sex with his wife, Letizia, under the headline, "Obviously
Elections are Coming, ZP!" ("ZP" is short for
Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero); "2,500 Euros per Child"
appears in large red type is above the head of the crown prince,
who says to his wife, "Do you realize? If you get pregnant
this will be the closest thing to work I will have ever done
in my life!" The headline lampoons a recent initiative by
the Spanish government, which would give financial help to couples
who have children, in the amount of 2,500 euros or about $3450.00
per child.
 Spanish judge Juan Del Olmo wrote that the cartoon
was "a clearly denigrating act which is objectively defamatory."
It "is a caricature that affects the honor and the intimate
nucleus of dignity of the persons represented by it," Del
Olmo said. "It could damage the prestige of the Crown."
On their web site, for a few hours before the site was taken
down, the editors of El Jueves made this statement, "We
are cartoonists, and we are aware that our work, our duty, and
what our readers expect from us is for us to explore the limits
of our freedom of expression. We understand that, from time to
time, we can even exceed them. That's life. If we exceed them,
that's what courts are for. But... taking the magazine away?
The police going from shop to shop all over the country taking
away our magazine? Are we really writing this on July 20th, 2007?"
Part of the judge's ruling was a demand to find out the identity
of the cartoonist, who goes by the single name, "Guillermo."
It is common for cartoonists around the world to use one name,
a charming conceit that American cartoonists rarely take advantage
of - our celebrities have discovered it though, and it works
well for Cher, Madonna, Lassie and Flipper. Guillermo's full
name is Guillermo Torres Meana; he also draws for the Spanish
newspaper El Mundo.
In another part of his ruling, the judge demanded that the magazine
surrender the "printing plates" that contain the offending
cartoon. The judge clearly wasn't aware that printing plates
are not used in modern printing. Guillermo is reported to have
said: "They're going to take the printing plates? Why those
haven't existed for years! The best thing would be for them to
cut off my right hand."
The Royal family issued a statement saying that they didn't ask
for the ban. All but one major Spanish newspaper condemned the
ban. Al Jazeera showed the cover of the magazine with
the racy royals obscured by a black haze. Guillermo's newspaper,
El Mundo, in an editorial commented that the cartoon was
"within what is permissible in a society where freedom of
expression is a fundamental value."
The Crown Prince and his divorcee, TV newswoman wife have increasingly
become the butt of jokes in Spain. El Jueves published
a 350 page book of cartoons making fun of the royal family titled,
"Tocando los Borbones," which is a play on the royals'
surname meaning "to be obnoxious," or that the royal
family is obnoxious and the authors will be obnoxious toward
them. It may be that the judge doesn't get out much.
The cartoon kerfuffle in Spain seems more outrageous because
it is happening in a modern, EU country where freedom of the
press is broadly accepted, but such bans were more common 20
years ago and happened frequently under Spain's General Franco.
In fact, cartoons are one of the best barometers of the freedom
of a society; in totalitarian countries cartoonists never think
of lampooning their nation's leaders. Cuban cartoonists never
draw Castro. Chinese cartoonists don't draw their leaders. Don't
even think of drawing the Prophet Muhammad.
When countries teeter on the edge of political freedom the people
who test the limits are cartoonists. In recent years: Algerian
cartoonist Ali Dilem has been fined and sentenced to jail for
drawing his nation's leaders; South African cartoonist Jonathan
"Zapiro" Shapiro is being sued for millions of dollars
by an insulted politician; cartoonist Essam Hanafy was jailed
in Egypt for insulting the deputy Prime Minister; cartoonist
Paul "Popoli" Nyemb of Cameroon was chased down by
goon squads from the government he ridiculed; cartoonist Musa
Kart was sued by the Prime Minister of Turkey who was insulted
by being drawn as a cat. There are many more.
Nations, and judges, are best judged by their tolerance of cartoons.
July 19, 2007
Here is an excellent column by Arizona
Daily Star cartoonist, David Fitzsimmons. E-mail
David. See
an archive of David's cartoons here.
Star's editorial cartoonist makes his case for his craft and
for his dwindling peers
By David Fitzsimmons
Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.15.2007
The American Association of Editorial Cartoonists
is so old it qualifies for the AARP. A number of newspapers,
however, are retiring their cartoonists.
Celebrating its 50th year, the cartoonists
association works to keep its members from going the way of the
gargoyle carver and the dodo wrangler. The ferruginous pygmy
owl of the newsroom, the American cartoonist is a cranky and
endangered critter.
A century ago America's papers fielded
nearly 2,000 cartoonists. Today there are fewer than 80 staff
cartoonists interpreting events, zinging their targets, challenging
the perspectives of their readers and making their editors uneasy.
Few journalists can skewer with the entertaining
unfairness of these First Amendment cage-rattlers. Searing visual
satire is as American as an apple pie in the face.
Cartoonists, right and left, are being
erased from newsroom budgets. Kenneling and feeding a rabid local
cartoonist seems like a poor bargain when benign drawings scrawled
in distant newsrooms about distant topics are available for peanuts.
Therein lies the value of the local cartoon.
Occupying a space the size of a Pop-Tart on our nation's opinion
pages, the hometown cartoon is a unique local voice addressing
issues.
The New York Times has no staff editorial
cartoonist because it views cartoons as a grotesque, low art
form that oversimplifies and distorts the truth to convey an
opinion.
Bingo! A sharp, unforgettable cartoon does
all that in an instant.
A cartoon doesn't bother to carefully prosecute
the accused with arguments. That is the realm of the editorial
writer. A good cartoon condemns and executes on the spot.
Evoking a quick and intense reaction with
an extreme and often absurd image, the cartoonist traffics in
a unique persuasive art.
In my lifetime, cartooning has evolved
from the gray, indignant era of Herblock's (Herbert Block) Mister
Atom Bomb and John Q. Public to the burlesque style of my generation,
pioneered by Pat Oliphant and Jeff MacNelly. Mike Luckovich and
Mike Peters are the current masters of this form.
In this age of war and terror, cartoons
have grown darker and pungent.
The cartoonist whispers in the ears of
polyester Gods that they are mortal and don't look now, buddy,
but your fly is down. The big fish that reign in our little ponds
need the satirist's harpoon to remind them that they swim among
us, not above us.
The Star values publishing a local cartoonist.
As our publisher and editor, John M. Humenik, says, the Star's
mission is to be our community's best friend and most constructive
critic.
The editorial cartoonist is the friend
down at the local coffee shop who isn't afraid to be open and
honest because he cares about his neck of the woods. He's the
wiseguy who ribs the local yokels and happily takes the heat.
When Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist
Doug Marlette died on Tuesday, in a auto accident in Mississippi,
I thought of the courageous and funny cartoons he drew for the
Charlotte Observer about a local issue that had not yet become
a national story.
His cartoons about Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker's
mismanaged PTL Club hit the local Goliath between the eyes every
time. The marketing and advertising departments and nervous editors
undoubtedly cringed. His cartoons served not merely a city and
a newspaper, but a greater cause. His cartoons were the epitome
of good local opinion journalism.
A local editorial cartoon is one of the
things that makes the Star unique to the community we serve,
and it encourages our readers to consider events and issues from
a different - hopefully, an entertaining and humorous - point
of view.
Your Comments:
Dear Mr. Fitzsimmons,
I enjoyed your column (referenced above) immensely. I particularly
liked the below quotes as they highlight the NYT's - and all
the national MSM - delusions of grandeur about themselves while
pointing out their failures and what they have become.
"The New York Times has no staff editorial cartoonist because
it views cartoons as a grotesque, low art form that oversimplifies
and distorts the truth to convey an opinion."
"The cartoonist whispers in the ears of polyester Gods that
they are mortal and don't look now, buddy, but your fly is down.
The big fish that reign in our little ponds need the satirist's
harpoon to remind them that they swim among us, not above us."
"The Star values publishing a local
cartoonist. As our publisher and editor, John M. Humenik, says,
the Star's mission is to be our community's best friend and most
constructive critic."
The irony of the NYT, the paper who beat the twin drums of lies
and propaganda to support going to war, criticizing anyone for
oversimplifying and distorting the truth is mind boggling. But
then, they has plenty of help from all the major national news
outlets. Their flies are all down too but they still refuse to
look and zip.
Thanks for continuing to rattle the cage.
Sincerely,
Jean Waller
Sherman Oaks, CA
Re: Fitzsimmons Best Ever Cartoon.
He showed Bush and Putin with Bush saying "I looked into
his eyes and saw his soul,"
and Putin thinking, "I looked into his ear and saw the other
side." Ask him for it.
Bill Cozine, Tucson, AZ
Well
said...bravo!
Arthur Gladstone, Lauderhill FL
Good column ...regarding
the demise of cartoonists, so indicative of our dark and increasingly
ignorant times
I love the political cartoons, perhaps because I just can't help
my own "mind flash" of
a daily news cartoon possibility (which seldom sees the light
of day of course)
but l love seeing what the REAL cartoonists actually do create
and get published.
I've been filling a notebook
with my favorite political cartoons to put in my guest bedroom.
:D:D
Needless to say, it's full of BUSH stuff.
I don't allow Republicans to visit, so no worry about offending.
No, just kidding. Sort of.
Judy Gosnell, Grants Pass, OR
July 14, 2007
Daryl,
Regarding the man who took issue with your
writing of Allah, does he take issue with Western Muslims who
constantly use the term "Allah" while speaking.in English?
He is correct that the word simply means "god" but
the claim by religious moderates that everyone worships the same
god is a weak attempt to insulate religion from critical thought
and pretend religious texts aren't completely contradictory.
Only the most cruel god would create multiple religions with
different morals and laws to pit factions of humanity against
each other. When you use the word "Allah" it refers
specifically to the cruel misogynist hate-filled god from the
Koran and the term "God" usually refers to the cruel
misogynist vengeful dictator of the Bible, so I think it is fair
to make a distinction so readers know which myth you are referencing.
Matt Bors
Hi Matt,
Of-course, I agree.
I wasn't translating what the crazy, fundamentalist,
terrorist Muslim was saying in my cartoon, I was quoting my fictional
character exactly; he was speaking in English; he used the term
"Allah" just, as you point out, the English speaking
Muslim experts on TV do.
And, as we all know, when speaking to a
French waiter in English, you have to speak loudly for them to
understand.
Best,
Daryl
July 13, 2007
More from Last Week's AAEC Convention
... Offending Musllims
Mike Thompson was on the same panel with Flemming Rose, talking
about how Cartoonists from the Muslim world and American cartoonists
draw each other. Mike asked some prominent Muslim leaders from
the Detroit area to look over my web site and select the cartoons
that they thought were most offensive to Muslims; among their
choices was the cartoon that I drew, below. The cartoon was drawn
right after 9/11, when there was news that the U.S. Government
had frozen the bank accounts of many radical Muslims and organizations
who were suspected of having some connection to terrorism. My
drawing makes fun of some random terrorist who, I imagined, got
stuck with his bill at a restaurant when his bank account was
frozen but it wasn't the drawing that was considered offensive
- it was my use of the word, "Allah."
The Muslim leaders complained that American
cartoonists "translate" what the Muslim characters
in their cartoons are saying, except for the word "Allah."
To be consistent, they argue, I should have used the word "God"
instead of "Allah," and by using the word "Allah"
I was somehow saying that Muslims have a different god ("Allah")
than the Christian god ("God"), when "we have
the same God." That bugs them because, as they see it, Christians
(they assume American cartoonists are Christians) using the word
"Allah" are referring to a different, Muslim "God"
who is somehow seen as inferior to the Christian God.
If I got that wrong, I'm sure someone will
correct me.
Here's an interesting piece, courtesy of
Editor
& Publisher:
In TV Spot, Illinois Newspaper Brags
About Cartoonist It Laid Off
By E&P Staff
Published: July 13, 2007 11:00 AM ET
NEW YORK An Illinois newspaper ran a TV ad touting an award won
by an editorial cartoonist it laid off last October, according
to a Friday piece in the Chicago Reader.
The paper is the Crystal Lake Northwest
Herald, and the cartoonist is Scott Nychay -- who worked for
the daily eight years before being let go.
Michael Miner of the Reader wrote that
the ad was a 15-second spot running early in the morning on WBBM-TV,
the Northwest Herald's "news partner." The spot said:
"More than 60 awards in 2005, including: best-overall newspaper,
AP top-ten sports section, and Fischetti editorial-cartoonist
honor. ..." Nychay's "Intelligent Design" cartoon,
which tied for second in the Fischetti contest, appeared briefly
in the Northwest Herald ad.
Northwest Herald Editor Chris Krug told
Miner the ad was created in 2005, and an updated version began
airing last July. "This was clearly an oversight on our
part and not an attempt to gain ground through the work of a
former employee," Krug said, adding that the TV spot has
been pulled ...
Andy Schotz, chair of the Society of Profressional
Journalists' ethics committee, told Miner in a statement: "The
paper only flashed Nychay's work briefly on the screen and didn't
show or mention him specifically, so maybe there was some thought
about being sensitive. But proudly trumpeting the excellent work
of someone whose job you recently eliminated takes nerve. ..."
Schotz added: "It's a shame that the
editorial cartoonist is often the first to go when a newspaper
makes cuts. How amazing it is that in an era of quick-hit short
stories and graphics to accommodate short attention spans, newspapers
chop out editorial cartoons -- unique, visual stories, with instant,
powerful messages." ...
Nychay was laid off despite winning several
other cartooning awards besides the Fischetti one, publishing
two books of work, and raising about $50,000 for Hurricane Katrina
and tsunami victims via cartoon reprints purchased by readers.
July 11, 2007
This cartoon was drawn by Andy Marlette,
who is Doug's talented nephew. We share in Andy's grief.
July 10, 2007
DOUG MARLETTE KILLED IN CAR WRECK
I'm sad to report that the Pulitzer Prize
winning cartoonist for the Tulsa World, Doug Marlette, died today in a single car
accident in Mississippi. Read an article on the Charlotte Observer site.
Doug was formerly the cartoonist for the Observer, the Tallahassee
Democrat, New York Newsday and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Doug was 57. That's Doug's last cartoon, below. Click here to see a TV news clip from the Tulsa
station KOTV.
  Doug Marlette,
Tulsa World, OK
E-mail
Doug. Visit Doug's site.
Visit an archive of the artist's most recent cartoons in the
drop menu at the right. Click on the cartoon to e-mail it to
a friend. To request a reprint of this comic go to www.tmsreprints.com. |
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Here is an article about Marlette courtesy
of Editor
and Publisher and Dave
Astor.
Cartoonist Doug Marlette Dies in Car Accident
By Dave Astor
Published: July 10, 2007 2:23 PM ET NEW
YORK
Doug Marlette, who won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning
in 1988, died this morning in a single-car accident near Holly
Springs in northwest Mississippi. He was 57.
Marlette was with The Tulsa (Okla.) World
at the time of his death. Prior to joining that paper in 2006,
he worked for The Tallahassee (Fla.) Democrat, Newsday of Melville,
N.Y., The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Charlotte (N.C.)
Observer.
His editorial cartoons were syndicated
by Tribune Media Services, which also distributed Marlette's
"Kudzu" comic strip. And the North Carolina native
was a novelist who wrote "The Bridge" and "Magic
Time."
In a Web story about Marlette's death,
The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss., reported that the cartoonist
was a passenger in the vehicle. And a Tulsa World article quoted
John Garrison, the coroner in Mississippi's Marshall County,
as saying: "Evidently it hydroplaned, left the highway,
and struck the tree. There was heavy rain in the area at the
time."
According to the World, Marlette had been
in Charlotte for the funeral of his father, Elmer Monroe Marlette,
who was buried Friday. He was on his way to see friends in Oxford,
Miss., at the time of the accident.
Robert E. Lorton III, publisher and president
of the Oklahoma paper, said: '"This is a great tragedy,
not only for the Tulsa World family, but for all who knew Doug."
Nick Anderson -- the Houston Chronicle/Washington
Post Writers Group creator and president-elect of the Association
of American Editorial Cartoonists -- told E&P in an e-mail:
"This is really shocking. He was only 57. It's a loss to
the world of cartooning. He was a respected member of our profession.
There will be a conspicuous absence on the pages of American
newspapers. I'd like to extend my sympathies to his family."
Marlette is survived by his wife, Melinda,
and his adult son, Jackson.
Tulsa World Web Editor Jason Collington
said a slideshow of Marlette's cartoons has been posted on the paper's Web site .
One of our readers, Lady Mim, made this interesting post on our bulletin board,
explaining the Sorensen Muhammad cartoon below. A couple of other
readers chimed in with the same idea.
Hallo Dear Mr. Cagle,
First of all a word of appreciation
for your interesting blog and website. A word is not much, but
still.
Now if I may solve this puzzle for you: the Muhammad cartoon
you note on your blog that you can't understand. I had to laugh
too, a bit sourly. These are NOT men with a helmet. These are
women. The "helmet" is the head. The lines are the
veil. The Jewish star is the eye. The crescent moon is the open
mouth.
The cartoon depicts angry women who shout at the Prophet ...
saying that he is responsible for them being kept under a yoke
...
July 9, 2007
MORE ON THOSE DANISH MUHAMMAD CARTOONS
 The
recent AAEC convention featured a lot of discussion about the
Danish Muhammad cartoon crisis. Flemming Rose, the editor who
commissioned the cartoons for the Danish newspaper, the Jyllands-Posten,
was a speaker and I had an opportunity to have a long conversation
with him.
One of the Muhammad cartoons was puzzling
to me. There were countless editorials and explanations of the
cartoons last year, but no one could explain the cartoon at the
right, which was variously described as "some kind of doodle
on a napkin" or "a poem with an inexplicable drawing."
Since the artist had to go into hiding and had a bounty put on
his head for this "drawing of Muhammad" that shook
the world, I wanted to know more. Were these little Pac-Man characters
eating Islam and Judaism? Perhaps Judaism and Islam share a football
helmet. Are those motion lines from the little symbols flying
up through the air? Where is Muhammad? What the hell?
The cartoon includes a little poem which
roughly translates as: "Prophet, you crazy bloke! Keeping
women under yoke!"
Rose told me that this "Muhammad cartoon"
was drawn by a retired cartoonist, Erik Abild Sorensen, who is
in his eighties. The cartoonist phoned Rose to ask if he was
too late to send something in, and Rose told him "go ahead."
The drawing was the last of the twelve to arrive and came in
as a sketch on an envelope.
I asked "Was there anything in the
envelope?'
Rose said, "No."
I asked, "Do you understand this drawing?
Can you explain it?"
Rose said, "Well, there's a little
poem there that addresses the general topic."
I asked, "OK, but the cartoon, what
is it?"
Rose said, "I don't know."
I asked, "Could it be that the elderly
artist actually drew Muhammad, and forgot to put his cartoon
in the envelope, and just did a little, thoughtless doodle on
the envelope, maybe, while he was talking on the phone?"
Rose said, "Yes, that is possible,"
and laughed.
For this, the cartoonist went under police
protection as the world erupted in chaos.
I gotta laugh too.
July 8, 2007
My AAEC Convention Report
The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists
(AAEC) had their 50th anniversary convention in Washington, D.C.
last week. There was a great turnout - the best I've ever seen.
These are like family reunions, seeing old buddies that we only
see once a year.
The AAEC convention is an interesting contrast
to the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) convention, which is
more of a vacation. The AAEC is a serious affair, with serious
seminars interrupting the party. A growing dark cloud hangs over
the AAEC each year as our profession suffers from the ailing,
shrinking newspaper industry. The gossip this year was about
the latest two job losses: Mike Shelton at the Orange County
(CA) Register and Tom Meyer at the San Francisco Chronicle (I've
heard that Meyer may be assigned to other duties and a reduced
role drawing editorial cartoons).
Ironically, the AAEC membership is growing
at the same time that our professional editorial cartoonist ranks
shrink. Unlike the strictly professional NCS, the AAEC also accepts
student members and offers portfolio reviews to aspiring cartoonists.
Many new freelance and part time editorial cartoonists have joined
the AAEC recently; with continuing job losses the AAEC may soon
be an organization consisting only of freelancers.
There were two AAEC "Townhall Meetings"
this year, where a room full of cartoonists were asked for ideas
on how we can stop our professional hemorrhaging. I was disappointed
with the discussion and I didn't hear any new ideas. Most interesting
was a discussion of the AAEC's "Black Ink Monday" effort,
where cartoonists were asked to draw cartoons that addressed
the loss of cartoonist staff jobs; I promoted Black Ink Monday
on our site. Readers were asked to write to the Tribune Company
to protest the layoffs of the Los Angeles Times' Michael Ramirez
and the Baltimore Sun's Kevin Kallaugher. We counted well over
1,000 e-mails that went out to the Tribune Company.
The general consensus was that Black Ink
Monday was not a success, that readers are not sympathetic to
cartoonists complaining about their own woes, and that the e-mail
campaign only made the Tribune Company angry. Asking all of the
cartoonists to draw on the same subject at the same time brings
out "Yahtzees" (cartoonists drawing the same gag at
the same time) and Yahtzees are a good argument that the world
doesn't need so many cartoonists. Many of the AAEC's semi-pro
members submitted cartoons that weren't up to professional quality,
which also diminished Black Ink Monday. It was pointed out that
the editorial page editors derided the 'toon protest on their
chat boards - again, not the reaction that the AAEC hoped for.
A few cartoonists who were unhappy with
Black Ink Monday urged the AAEC to discourage more protests and
articles about the cartoonist job losses. Publishers like to
follow trends, and the fear is that the many articles documenting
the decline of the editorial cartooning profession don't encourage
newspapers to hire cartoonists, instead they inform publishers
that the new trend is to lay your cartoonist off and encourage
newspapers to join in the 'toon blood letting.
The old ideas that were discussed again
at the Town Hall meeting included hiring a PR firm to promote
cartoonists, putting together a cartoonist speakers bureau, and
giving the cartoonists "talking points" for discussions
with the public and their editors. An old idea that seemed to
generate the most enthusiasm in the room was conducting a reader
poll that would prove to editors that cartoons are popular.
Malcolm Mayes, an entrepreneurial cartoonist
who runs the Canadian syndicate "Artizans," urged cartoonists
to abandon their old syndicates and band together in a new syndicate
organization that could raise prices by being a monopoly and
eliminating competition. All in all, the Town Hall meetings were
interesting but there was no substance there and I don't expect
to see anything new come out of it.
I took my some of my Cagle Cartoons cartoonists out to dinner
- alas, the lovely ladies are not cartoonists, but the manly
cartoonists are, from left: me (Daryl Cagle), Monte Wolverton, Sandy Huffaker, Pat Bagley, Bob Englehart and Jeff
Parker.
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CANDIDATE KUCINICH
The Keynote speaker at the AAEC convention
was Congressman, Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), the liberal, vegan,
Democratic presidential candidate. I was surprised and impressed
with Kucinich because his whole speech was written for the cartoonists
- that might seem to be a natural thing to do, when speaking
to editorial cartoonists, but almost all of the politicians who
speak to us only say a couple of sentences about cartoons, then
launch into their regular stump speechs. Kucinich clearly was
a political cartoon fan; he knew his cartoons and cartoonists,
and showed respect for and interest in our profession that we
seldom see from politicians.
Kucinich acknowleges his longshot status
as a presidential candidate, and pleaded with the cartoonists
to draw him, as he showed a series of cartoons that had been
drawn about him. Kucinich also made a big point of acknowleding
his wife, who is about thirty years younger and about a foot
taller than he is (Cleveland Plain-Dealer cartoonist,
Jeff Darcy had noted this in a couple of
biting cartoons). Kucinich turned out to be good fun and I'm
sure the evening spent with the cartoonists in Washington will
yield him much more goodwill in the press than another evening
spent in Iowa. Kucinich then came back up to the hospitality
suite with us as we drank ourselves into our nightly 'toon-stupors
- another thing politicians rarely do after their speeches.
I'll have more to post on the convention
soon.
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Bruce Beattie, Chuck Asay and Daryl
Cagle.
Back row: Drew Sheneman, Patrick O'Connor, Brian Fairrington. Front row: Jeff Parker, John Branch, Justin Bilicki.
Here Jeff Parker tries again to kiss Bob Englehart's bald head - as we all do. |
July
3, 2007
The AAEC Convention
Tomorrow I'm headed out to the Association
of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention in Washington
D.C. This is the organization's 50th anniversary and they expect
a big turnout. I'll update the blog with news and pictures from
the convention.
New Cartoonists!
Even when I neglect the blog the site keeps
growing! We have four great new cartoonists on the site this
month and I'd like to introduce them.
Mike Luckovich
rejoins our site after a four year hiatus, and I'm delighted
to have him back. Mike blew his colleagues away last year when
he swept both the Reuben Award and the Pulitzer Prize (his second).
Mike draws for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. That's
his cartoon below. Click here to see more recent cartoons by Mike.
Jeff Darcy is the talented cartoonist
for the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. We should have had him
on our site long ago - better late than never! Visit more cartoons by Jeff. E-mail
Jeff to welcome him aboard - or complain about his cartoons.
I'm delighted to welcome the creative team
of Allen Forkum and John Cox. I'm still laughing at their
Hillary cartoon below.
Cox & Forkum are extremely conservative and will join our
small band of far-right-wing-knuckle-dragging-conservative
cartoonists. I mention this only because our conservative readers
continue to write in to tell me how "all of our cartoons
are liberal." By the way, knowing how our conservative readers
like to see only cartoons that they agree with, we've added a
conservative cartoon RSS feed here.
I also get lots of mail from writers who are looking for artists
to draw their cartoon ideas. It seems that everyone is a writer,
but some writers have the good sense to know that they can't
draw. I tell all of these writers that cartoonists don't work
with writers; Cox & Forkum prove me wrong on that, but I'll
still tell the writers the same thing when they pester me. Visit more cartoons by Cox & Forkum.
E-mail Cox & Forkum.
Tim Eagan is a great new alternative weekly cartoonist! Welcome
abourd Tim! Visit more cartoons by Tim. E-mail
Tim.
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August
9, 2007
