Cartoonists: Still Jobless?

(Detail from STONE SOUP, copyright 1999 by Jan Eliot.)

Today's an anniversary. On March 31, 2009 I wrote about Dave Astor's column in the Huffington Post,  "Jobless But Not Jokeless." It was about the challenges facing editorial cartoonists.

"What about jobs for laid-off editorial cartoonists? Given that there might be more former staff cartoonists (still living) than current staff cartoonists (presumably still living), there are enough ex-staffers to draw a huge cartoon time machine for trekking back to B.C. (Before Cutbacks)."

Comic strip cartoonist Jan Eliot, from the (now since removed) comments section of Dave's HuffPo piece, talked about the upcoming National Cartoonists Society Reubens weekend:

"Will the members of the National Cartoonists Society actually discuss the industry that's falling down around them, or just drink the weekend away? And really, which would be more productive?"

Good points. She is a featured speaker at the 2016 Reubens. It would be a good topic to check in on, seven years later.

Does the now-proven success of fan-funded platforms like Kickstarter, Patreon, Indiegogo and Gofundme replace the syndicate model? Do professional organizations, like the NCS, the Society of Illustrators and the Graphic Artists Guild, matter?

Link to the original post from 2009: "Dave Astor: Jobless But Not Jokeless"