WHAT IT IS by Lynda Barry

The Sunday NY Times had an article on alternative cartoonist Lynda Barry.

Ms. Barry recently gave a class about what she does. Here's a description by the Times' writer Carol Kino:

"On a table behind her she had laid out scores of scribbled 3-by-5 note cards, each of which held a nugget of information that she would relay over the next several hours (like 'Don’t read it over' and 'An image is a pull toy that pulls you'). On the blackboard was a chalk drawing of Marlys, the spunky pigtailed kid protagonist of 'Ernie Pook’s Comeek,' the strip about growing up that made Ms. Barry a star of new-wave comics soon after it began running in alternative weeklies in 1978."

Ms. Barry's new book(full of all new material) WHAT IT IS, describes her process and point of view. PDF preview here.

This is an interesting article because of what it doesn't day: she doesn't stop cartooning when corporate acquisitions of the alt-weeklies in the mid-90s caused her "Ernie Pook's Comeek" to dwindle from 75 papers to only six. She continues to persevere, thirty years later. What it is is persistence!

I have most of her books and I was surprised that most have gone out of print. Here's hoping that, as announced, Drawn & Quarterly will print up all of her work, in sequence, beginning next year.

Ms. Barry's tour schedule includes MoCCA Fest and the San Diego Comicon.

RUB MY TUMMY AND IT'S A DEAL a New Cartoon Book by Mark "Andertoons" Anderson

It's spring time! The snow is off the lawn, the lark is in the meadow, and a brand spanking new book of cartoons is aborne in the new spring day! Fa la!

This newborn paperback, weighing in at a healthy 5.9 ounces, is titled RUB MY TUMMY AND IT'S A DEAL by Mark Anderson.

The 108 page book jammed with his Andertoons trademark humor. There is also a forward by yours truly.

Mark and I are very much like cartoony brothers. We met after we saw each others' work in print and online. After a couple of phone conversations, we found out that we're both:

• from small towns in Iowa,

• self-taught cartoonists,
  
  
• cubicle life escapees,
  
  
• big nerds for comics and sci fi,
  
  
• dashingly handsome lads,
  
  
• and we each have very, very patient wives.

Okay, seriously -- He's one of the most successful cartoonists of the 21st century. His cartoons are everywhere: magazines, Web sites, phones, and, as I write this, Andertoons are probably being beamed across the Neutral Zone into the emerging Romulan market. I'm not kidding!

This is a chance to see his first collection of business cartoons. A worthy addition to your shelf and a worthy way to start off Spring 2008 with a laugh.

TOPSYS & TURVYS by Peter Newell

TOPSYS & TURVYS by Peter Newell (1862-1924) was originally published over a hundred years ago. It's the same with all of Peter Newell's work: all published over 100 years ago and all of his six "novelty books" ( such as THE SLANT BOOK, THE HOLE BOOK) are still in print. He also wrote and drew a newspaper comic strip titled THE NAPS OF POLLY SLEEPYHEAD (1906-07). There were, at the beginning of the 20th century, a slew of fantasy strips -- of which only LITTLE NEMO is remembered today.

Above is the cover of the Dover edition ("designed for years of use!") and it includes selections from TOPSYS AND TURVYS (1893) and TOPSYS AND TURVYS - NUMBER 2 (1894). No copyright information at all in here.

"The Elephant leans o'er the fence and wonders why it is"

The idea is that you look at Newell's drawing and read the line -- and then, turn the book over:

"The Ostrich has a longer neck and smaller mouth than his."

And you see a different picture, with a rhyming conclusion. Note: other blogs would just snidely tell you to turn you monitor upside down, but here at Mike Lynch Cartoons, we're all about customer service. Below is the same picture, upside down. No need to strain, gentle blog reader! Thank you and have a nice day.

"This troop of soldiers, all in a file, are looking near and far"

"To find the famous Forty Thieves, each hid within a jar."

Most of the time, I look at that first picture and can't figure out what the upside down version will be and how it relates. Some wonderful work.

"Peter Newell liked to say that he and the Civil War both broke out in this country at the same time. He was born near Rice's Corners, McDonough County, Illinois, on March 5, 1862, the fourth child of George Frederick Newell, an Ohioan, and Louisa Dodge of Chautauqua County, New York. His childhood years were spent in Bushnell, a small town in west-central Illinois."

- from the Peter Newell Family Papers at Yale University; bio by Sandra J. Markham

"A hermit with a long red beard dwelt in a lonely place"

"The squirrel gazed with wonder upon his gloomy face."

"By the spring of 1883 he had moved east to New York, where he enrolled in classes at the Art Students' League while hoping to find steady employment as an illustrator for periodicals. His work had been published in the New York Graphic and Harper's Bazaar by the fall of 1883; the appearance of his simple line drawn comics was the beginning of a career in humor that would make Peter Newell one of the more prolific and best-known illustrators of his day."

"Fernando bears his cradle in, a cradle strong and deep"

Newell had good timing.

"By 1893 the development of halftone reproduction had made possible the style of illustration for which Newell is best remembered, the continuous tone drawing. His single-frame comics underscored with short, whimsical rhymes began appearing in Harper's Monthly and other magazines at this time. He was catapulted to fame by one in particular, "Wild Flowers," which appeared in the August 1893 issue of Harper's Monthly; several of these comics were compiled in one volume as Peter Newell's Pictures and Rhymes, published by Harper in 1900. Soon nearly every issue of most of the Harper magazines, as well as some Cosmopolitan, Metropolitan, McClure's and Collier's, carried a Newell comic or a Newell-illustrated story by authors such as John Kendrick Bangs, Stephen Crane, Philip Curtiss, Burges Johnson, Frank Stockton and Mark Twain."

Ahh! Those were the days!

"Then, placing it upon a rug, he rocks himself to sleep."

In 1894, the successful illustrator Newell and his family moved to Leonia, NJ.

"Over the next twenty years Leonia grew to become an illustrators' colony much like the one centered around the Pyle-Wyeth group near Wilmington, Delaware. The lively community of artists formed clubs, theatrical and lecture societies, and held exhibitions, costume parties and pageants. The Leonia School of Illustration was opened there by artists Harvey Dunn and Charles Chapman. The Newell family participated in all aspects of the intellectual, musical, religious and social life of the community. Peter Newell was a founding member of the Men's Neighborhood Club of Leonia and served on the village's first Board of Health. He played the cello, though apparently not well, and was a popular toastmaster and lecturer known for his "chalk talks" and other impromptu presentations. Both of the Newell daughters married illustrators, and Howard and Josephine Newell McCormick became leading members of the second generation of artists to live and work in Leonia."

The house wasn't just any house. It was featured in an article in Scientific American and a picture postcards as well!

"Why do these scurrying, frightened hares come coursing through the vale?"

"Because they know three hunting dogs are close upon their trail."

He traveled quite a bit. Like a lot of artists of the time, there were "sketching trips" to Europe. He was deeply grieved upon his only son's death in The Great War. In 1923, the Newells moved to Little Neck in Queens, NY.

"By the end of that year Peter Newell had become physically crippled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and was unable to work; he died in his home on January 15, 1924, at the age of 61."

More: Philip Hofer remembers in a 1934 essay on Newell's career from Nonesenselit.org.

Related: Cartoonist Gustave Verbeek also tread the same ground with his latter comic strip THE UPSIDE DOWNS in which he drew a six panel Sunday page which your would read all the way through and then turn it 180 degrees to read the conclusion. Barnacle Press has many of the strips here.

STAR TREK Movie Countdown Clock

Now less than a year until opening!

Get this widget!

Screen Cartoonists Local 1461, December 10, 1944 UPDATED

Above is the cover of the NYC-based Screen Cartoonists Local 1461 newsletter for December 10, 1944.

Sam Cobean, "VIP" Partch, Tom Johnson, George Baker, Gus Ariola [sic], and Dan Danglo are just some of the names of the members of the service listed in Santa's long flowing beard of talent above.

My thanks to Dan Danglo himself who forwarded this to me out of the blue. I don't have much to go on, but it looks like a reproduction of the original from a later newsletter. Read the blurbs on the right hand side. If Dan has some more information, I'd be glad to update this.

---

UPDATE: From Dan Danglo:

"Re the Santa I sent....When I worked at Terrytoons in 1942, my first friends there were Milton Stein and Jim Logan...I went into the service in 1943...I got out in 1946..I had kept up my correspondence with Jim and sometime in the course of the correspondence he sent me a copy of the Santa..On a visit to Jim and Elly (sadly they're both gone now)..we went out to dinner with animator, Dave Tendlar and his wife..Dave did the Santa drawing...If you are interested, I believe I have a file, or I loaned it to Howard Beckerman, of most of the pre Terrytoon strike, union bulletins. I'm a real pack rat. Best, Dan"

--

Heck, I'd sure like to see more from that time! Dan adds these 2 photos as well:



Dan adds:

"These pix were taken at Animation House...The two civilians on the left were from an agency."

Thanks so much, Dan, for these interesting items!

Gag Cartoon Cliche Poll

There's a new poll. Peek over to the right and, should you care to, vote.

The topic: Choose your favorite cartoon cliche.

Video: Kal Talks About His Work

Editorial cartoonist Kevin "Kal" Kallaugher of the London magazine The Economist talks about his cartoons in a series of films honoring his three decades with the magazine. Here are the first couple that have been posted on YouTube:

Thatcher:



Clinton:

Cartoon Consultants Calendar for May

Attention gag cartoonists: It's May, so prep your cartoons for September! Suggested topics from the Cartoon Consultants Calendar for May: back to school, Daylight Savings Time ends, ordering coal and oil, etc.

Thank you, oh thank you, Mr. Craig Yoe!

Actually, I do have to order some oil, but I'm putting it off as long as possible in the hope is that the oil cartels will lower their prices before the election.

And remember: get your batches out in the US Mail before Monday BEFORE the postage hike. Yup, postage is going up. Lovely.

Graphic: Former gag cartoonist then syndicated cartoonist Mr. Ketcham hard at work at the board from a photo headlining the "How to Be a Cartoonist" feature from the DENNIS THE MENACE comic book #42 in 1959. This was originally posted on The Greatest Ape blog by Doug Gray.

New Jim Sizemore Blog

Above: Jim's bio from the National Cartoonists Society site.

Cartoonist Jim Sizemore adds his voice to the blogosphere at his Doodlemiester blog.

"My plan for the blog is to expand the definition of doodling to include—in addition to visual crafts such as photography, cartooning, illustration and graphic design—play writing, prose (fiction and non), and anything else (woodworking? ironing?), that invades my brain pan. A little of this, a little of that—the whole blog becoming one big doodle."

Welcome, Jim! Now ... get blogging!!!


Edit: Jim has changed the location of his blog to this site. The link has been corrected above.

Ken Ernst, Walt Kelly and John T. McCutcheon Photos

Above: Central High School (Madison, WI) girls watch in awe as the one and only Walt Kelly draws. The individual in the off-model Pogo outfit is unidentified. Don't you wish you had one of those great sketches? Wouldn't you wrestle a sweet Wisconsin school girl to the ground until she cried "Uncle! Uncle!" for one? Yeah, well, me too.

Found online almost by accident: Some photographs of cartoonists from the Wisconsin Historical Society:

From 1947: Cartoonist Ken Ernst sketches Ruth Schmitt whom he selected to represent a new character in his MARY WORTH comic strip. Ms. Schmitt was one of the eight "Badger Beauties" at the University of Wisconsin.

According to fellow BB Marilyn Moevs Helminiak:

“When I was Badger Beauty in 1947, I thought that was going to be my ‘fifteen minutes of fame,' and after fifty-six years, it has proven to be just that."

Aww.

Indiana-born cartoonist John T. McCutcheon with his Wright Model B airplane, probably photographed at Cicero Field, probably around 1911. His front page Chicago Tribune editorial cartoons covered three wars: Spanish-American, World Wars I and II.



Pogo impersonator (always unidentified), Mr. Walt Kelly, and, in the middle of the Pogo sandwich: Jo Ingelfield, slated to be the First Lady in Pogo's administration upon his winning the presidency. The fellow on the far right is Carl Reich. These photos all date from 1952.

"The one and only Walt Kelly draws one of his famous cartoon characters for an audience of veterans at the Veterans Hospital." All of the photographs (except for the one of McCutcheon) are credited to Arthur M. Vinje.

Even when the poor sot takes off the hot, sweaty Pogo mask, we are not told who he was. Mr. Kelly has drawn the evolution of Pogo for him. I would wrestle that Pogo impersonator to the ground for that drawing ....

POGO ran in the Star, but then it folded. Here he is in his own words talking about taking the strip around, trying to find a new home for POGO:

"One lady editor insisted that she did not want to buy a duck. Kelly pointed out that it was a possum [s]he had by the tail. The lady said you can't even tell one animal from another, let alone draw one. Another editor offered Kelly a job taking care of his comic book division. A third editor laughed, which only encouraged Kelly. Then he said nobody would understand the strip. 'Try it out on ordinary people,' he roared. 'You'll see.'"

More photos at the historical society site.

And, ordinarily I'd hit the SAVE button and post this thing ....

But ... a few of the photos are not categorized correctly. These photos are not tagged under the "cartoonist" category and deserve to be looked at -- particularly since I'm a sucker for anything having to do with Walt Kelly:


Walt Kelly on stage (and out of view) at West High School (Madison, WI). This was all to do with his I GO POGO book tour.



"Students in the Rathskeller on the University of Wisconsin campus listening to a presentation by cartoonist Walt Kelly on his book tour."



Above: one of my favorite photos by Mr. Vinje, despite the fact that the cartoonist does not appear in it: Veterans Hospital patients peeking out of their rooms, waiting to meet Mr. Kelly.

The Snoopy "Bleah" Collection

Snoopy made me laugh a lot when I was a kid.

It intrigued me that we could read his thoughts in the strip, but on TV he never spoke or showed us his thought balloon. But Snoopy did occasionally make sounds; wild weird sounds that I weren't sure were even made by a human. Most of the time, he went "Bleah!" which was, upon initial viewing of A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS as a wee tad, one of the wittiest moments in TV history. It's still good today, 44 years on.

Years later I found out the voice belonged to the fellow who produced all those Peanuts TV specials and movies: Bill Melendez.

Here are a series of clips featuring Snoopy going "Bleah!" This is to Snoopy as "D'oh!" is to Homer Simpson. Selected scenes from:

• A Charlie Brown Christmas
• A Boy Named Charlie Brown
• Snoopy Come Home
• The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show: Lucy Baseball
• The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show: The Manager
• The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show: Snoopy and Woodstock
• The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show: Truffles

Thanks to DreamDancer82 for editing these together. What fun!

Related: Bill Melendez podcast at the Just My Show Web site.

Ted Key 1912-2008

Above: the first collection of HAZEL cartoons sold 500,000 copies.

Ted Key, best known for creating the cartoon panel HAZEL, passed away on Saturday at his Tredyffrin Township, PA home. Mr. Key was diagnosed with cancer of the bladder in 2006. He had suffered a stroke this past September. He was 95.



There are many obituaries online:

Associated Press

Philadelphia Inquirer

New York Times

All I wanted to add were a couple of images to demonstrate that he really was a master of media. Heck, the fellow kept up Hazel while serving in World War II as a Master Sergeant.

From the AP story:

"Key literally dreamed up the concept of his wildly popular maid cartoon.

"'Like a lot of creative people, he kept a notepad near his bedside,' Peter Key said of his father. 'He had a dream about a maid who took a message, but she screwed it up completely. When he looked at the idea the next day, he thought it was good and sold it to the Post.'"

And this is from the Times:

“'He picked the name Hazel out of the air,' Peter Key said. 'But there was an editor at The Post who had a sister named Hazel, and she thought her brother came up with the name and she didn’t speak to him for two years.'”

Editor & Publisher credits him with creating idea of the cartoon-a-day calendar in 1951. Jack & Jill Magazine published his long running "Diz and Liz" series of cartoons.

Mr. Key also created the time-traveling boy & dog "Peabody and Sherman" for Jay Ward's Bullwinkle TV show. Ward was a friend of Key's brother.


MILLION DOLLAR DUCK, GUS and THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE were three of his screenplays that were made into movies.

According to several of the obits, the family is finding all sorts of notes and sketches for ideas and gags all over the place. From the Inquirer:

"'He executed a ton of ideas, but he still didn't have time to execute them all,' Peter Key said."

Image of the HAZEL book cover from the University of Syracuse where " ... the Ted Key Papers extend to twenty-three linear feet and include more than twelve hundred original cartoons, correspondence, book and screenplay manuscripts and production records, published cartoons, and other printed material."

WSJ Cartoon Move

Above: a teeny tiny box heralded the announcement of the move.

I should have known something was up when George Jartos called me on April 22nd to tell me that he couldn't find my cartoon on the Wall Street Journal editorial page ....

The Wall Street Journal's “Pepper ... and Salt” daily cartoon panel has moved from its current editorial page position to the next to last page in the paper. This is not the first time that the cartoon has moved. Here's a quote from the NY Times article by Cate Doty:

“'Pepper ... and Salt' moves to Leisure & Arts, said a box on April 22, wedged in the corner where the cartoon used to be. And there it was — smaller than before, featuring a woman welcoming her husband home with the news that she had figured out how to make her cat’s purr serve as her cellphone ring tone."

Hey, Cate! Woo hoo! That's my cartoon!



Ms. Doty asks about an impending Murdochian cartoon agenda, quoting Rex Rabin (“Murdoch’s papers are known for their great editorial cartooning.") and Ted Rall (“The Wall Street Journal editorial page is a showcase for conservative opinion. ... You could see possibly Murdoch having some fun with it in some ways.”).

The Times uses a “Pepper ... and Salt” cartoon by Roy Delgado as illustration.

The cartoon was, for a time, cut to three days a week. It's been back at it usual five times a week strength the past couple of years. Since WSJ business coverage has been cut 50%, with a rise in political stories in the paper during that time, it's hard not to agree with Rex & Ted.

H/t to Comics Reporter (which used an Eli Stein cartoon as illustration).

What It Was: Free Comic Book Day in Rochester, NH

Free Comic Book Day was a rainy, grey Saturday in Southern New Hampshire. As we drove in to Rochester, NH, we saw groups of teens walking the downtown streets. Everyone had a comic in his/her wet hands.

We parked the car by the Jenny Wren Gallery and walked in.

I've never been to the Jenny Wren Gallery, but thanks to FCBD, I did. There were a lot of terrific things to buy there by local artisans, and at inexpensive prices. We went there for the free Archie comic book. There were different comic books at different downtown stores. And my wife bought some cool earrings (that were not free, natch, but reasonably priced).

So, the only way to amass all the free comic books was to take a walking tour of Rochester and enter many of the participating businesses since there were different free comic books at different downtown stores. Jetpack Comics had a list of what stores you could go to at their Web site. By entering the stores and grabbing your free comic, you could qualify for even more free comic book-related goodies from Jetpack.

Jetpack itself is a small shop and was honestly so crowded I could not get in. There was a large tent set up in the back parking lot with tables of cartoonists to meet and stuff to buy. I met Anthony, one of the team that puts together a local comics zine Severed Head Presents. These guys are all working hard, making their own comics. And I met 35-year veteran comics writer Ron Fortier, who lives nearby!

All day long, kids, teens, families with strollers, etc. were out walking down the main drag, going in and out of the downtown Rochester shops. Free Comic Book Day may have started out as a nice promo for comic book shops, but here in Rochester, it turned out to be a good day for downtown businesses.

Above quick cartoon inspired by this quote for which I am indebted to Dirk Deppey at Journalista!:

“2) SPIN POSITIVE. It’s possible that you will be asked ‘Why is this event being held? Are comics selling THAT badly?’ While no one questions Baskin-Robbins’ fiscal health on Free Scoop Night, many folks cynically assume the worst when your store gives something away for free. The best answer is a positive answer: ‘We want to remind people of how great comics can be. You know, as a culture our reading rate is dropping drastically. Ask anyone who works in book, magazine, or newspaper publishing: People are reading less. So we’re trying to get people reading again, with great stories told by talented writers and artists.’ Such an answer negates the assumed negativity in the question and puts forth a positive image. It also adds context, pointing out that most traditional print media are adjusting to the digital pop culture dynamic.”

- From a “talking points” document found at
the Free Comic Book Day website

Full on Shatner

Here's a 30 second commercial from the G4 Channel extolling the sexiness of James T. Kirk.



Related: Captain Kirk's Guide to Women.

The Girls of BSG

Above is a photo from GQ of all the leading ladies from Battlestar Galactica dressed up in cool science fictiony, 1960s-looking, Barbarellaish outfits. Much more at this link.

RAIDERS Homage Film

Monstro Wolfhard (no, I don't know if that's the fellow's real name) reports on a fan-made shot-for-shot remake of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. It was made by a group of Mississippi teens from 1982 to 1989! Monstro himself was at a recent screening of the movie:

"You to watch as boys become men and Marion Ravenwood's hair goes through about six different lengths.

"Also, there was a lot of audience discomfort during the sexy scenes.

"This is the first 10 minutes, (ending with the boulder scene). The boulder was made out of fiberglass and rolled down two telephone poles in the kid's garage."

Related: 2004 Vanity Fair article "Raiders of the Lost Backyard."

Somewhat in the same vein (and with another big hat tip to Monstro) is Little Batman from Valenti Vision Films:

Our Daily Ducks

Above is the view from my studio window of our newly snow-free yard. It's been about 2 weeks since the white stuff left New England. The grass returned quickly, and it's terrific to see our woods get green again. The titmice and chickadees (who stayed all winter) were joined by other birds at the feeder: red and yellow finches, cow birds, jays.

And then -- surprise, surprise -- this pair of mallards flew in to snarfle in the grass. I was going to write "to nibble on the grass," but I can't tell what they're doing really.

Every evening they'd fly in, circle the house twice, and land in the back yard.

The male you can see easily.


The female is more blendy.

Last week, I heard the flutter of wings, and saw the female land. Instead of beginning her snarfling routine, she waddled around the back yard, alone, looking here and there and quacked, quacked, quacked. After 15 minutes, she flew away.

She returned at dusk, again all by herself. Again: quacking, quacking, until it was nearly dark. Then she flew away.

No sign of her mate. It was very sad and there was much speculation of tragic Elmer Fuddcentric endings for the boy duck.

The next afternoon, the male mallard flew in. He was alone. He quacked and quacked. I leaned out of my window and talked to him. Yes, I actually talked to a duck. I reassured him and told him that he should stay there. His girlfriend was looking for him all yesterday. He looked at me, quacked, and then flew away. Stupid bird. The only way to get found when someone is looking for you is to stay put.

Then there were a couple of sad days without a visit from any ducks. We worried.

Then, one recent morning, there was that big flutter of wings and the two mallards flew in together. They were both quacking and snarfling. Recently, this past week, she's been waddling in front of him, and he waddles, watchfully, behind her. I don't see them fly in any more. They walk in from the woods or from the neighbor's yard. I think she's with eggs.

Free Comic Book Day

It's today!!!

Above: Frank Miller's take on Little Lulu from the always hilarious Mr. Richard Thompson's site. Go see.

New Look

Yes indeedy, Alan Gardner's Daily Cartoonist has a new look.

Simultaneous Submissions

Welcome to the Mike Lynch College of Gag Cartoon Knowledge. Spit your gum out. Sit up. Get inky.

Today's question about magazine cartoons:

Should you submit the same cartoons to the same markets all at once?

It's tempting ...!

I always send my submissions, wait for 30 days and if I receive a rejection, send on those cartoons to another market. If I don't get a response from the editor after a month, I will still mail the cartoons to other markets.

That's right. I don't wait on an editor to answer.

If someone wanted to buy my stuff, they would get back to me within a month. It sounds sensible. But even the best laid plans don't work.

For instance, here is something that happened to me one time, just a few years ago:

A major market called me (GOOD HOUSEKEEPING), wanting to buy a cartoon. Hooray! That's GREAT NEWS! I had not cracked that market yet. Sweet!

Only one problem: I had just sold the exact same cartoon a few days before to a rival mag, FIRST FOR WOMEN.

Now, this is no good. Magazines do not want to buy the same cartoon. When you sell a cartoon, they usually want what's called first-time rights; exclusive rights to publish your original never-before-seen cartoon.

I knew, even as I was talking this editor (who is not longer there), that this was all wrong. She COULDN'T have just gotten my submission batch. I quickly looked at my Excel spreadsheet of what cartoons get mailed when to what markets. I can search by a word in the gag line or description or by the individual cartoon number that I give each cartoon.

I had mailed it to FIRST five weeks ago.

That same cartoon was mailed to GOOD HOUSEKEEPING some three or four months ago.

When I told the editor that she was looking at a batch I mailed several months ago, she corrected me, arguing that I was wrong because she just got it on her desk that day.

Oh, great. Now an editor's angry at me and thinks I'm a liar.

I told her that GH could buy secondary rights if they wanted.

Well, of course they don't want cartoony leftovers. No sale!

Not only no sale, I now had a peeved, suspicious editor who just hung up.

Well, that's not my fault.

If you are sending magazine cartoons out, then waiting a month is sufficient. And the editor was wrong to blame me for her taking so long to look through her piles of submissions. Does that sound judgmental? Yes, it is.

Point being that if you send out the same batch simultaneously to several markets at once, this could happen pretty much all the time. While my method isn't without its flaws, it's been the one that works for me.

Resolved: Cartooning is not for the Caspar Milquetoasts of this world!

Hat tip to cartoonist Gary Barker for suggesting the topic.

Above: drawing of aforementioned Caspar Milquetoast, the Timid Soul, by H.T. Webster.

Saturday is Free Comic Book Day

Above: Richard Thompson's take on Free Comic Book Day!

Free Comic Book Day is this Saturday May 3rd. It is more than what you think it is. If you think you just waltz in to a comic book store and you can walk out (legally) with some special free comics, you're only partially correct.

Above: Ralph DiBernardo, of Jetpack Comics ran into some problems last year. Apparently, he "misplaced" an invoice for one of his droids. Courtesy photo from the Rochester Times.

Even here in little old New Hampshire, Jetpack Comics of Rochester, NH, the whole town is getting into the act. There will be Star Wars characters walking around and actual people who draw comics will be here, scrawling autographs on comic books. At the local Rochester Opera House, you can get your photo taken with Jabba the Hutt for $5.00. Jabba the Frikkin' Hutt, man!

"DiBernardo expects more than 750 people to attend this year's event. And 14 local establishments, including Jetpack, will join in the fun too as Rochester celebrates the comic book, in all of its guises.

"... Free comic books will be available at the other associated businesses too, including Elegant Touch Hair Salon, Tri-City Bicycles, Carney Medical Supply, Cocheco Equipment, Jenny Wren Gallery, Rochester Opera House, Subway on North Main Street, Distinctive Forest Creations, Fat Tony's Italian Grille, Chicken Roost, Hanson Street Grille, Alaire's Second Hand Shop and Rochester Public Library."

- from "Jabba, Boba and Leia? Where are we, Tatooine?" by Conor Makem, May 1, 2008 Rochester Times

Humongous list of the free comics here.



But wait, there's more!

Tom Heintjes, the man behind the Hogan's Alley magazine, writes to offer even more FREE STUFF:

I wonder if you think your readers would be interested in knowing about our free
Hogan's Alley offer in conjunction with Free Comic Book Day.

Anyone (in the U.S.) who e-mails us a request on this Saturday, May 3, will receive a copy. No strings attached! Just send a mailing address to hoganmag@gmail.com and make sure we receive it on May 3 (not before May 3, and not after!).

We love Tom, but Tom is going to go broke. Send him a nice card when he gets carted off to debtor's prison!

Related: Craig Yoe interviewed Tom in November.

Next year I hope to get photographed with Pizza the Hutt!!!


And let me know when Free Magazine/Blogging Cartoonist Day is coming, please. Thank you.

Comic Strip Advertising

Comic strips in advertising is the focus of the Italian blog Balloons. Translation here.

Get a load of Capp, Richter and Steig smoking their Chesterfields in the "Like Your Pleasure BIG?" advert.

BIG h/t to Journalista!