Mike Lynch Cartoon in PHILOSOPHY NOW Magazine

After attending the inaugural day of the Big Apple Comicon a couple weeks ago, I walked from the hotel, across the Seventh Avenue to Penn Station. I went into one of those big newsstands in the basement, right by the A and C trains. I picked up a copy of PHILOSOPHY NOW magazine. I remembered sending them a couple of batches of cartoons over the past year. Maybe longer. I had only heard about the magazine. Never seen a copy. It's based in the UK, with limited US distribution.

And I opened the mag up and saw what I didn't not expect to see: a cartoon of mine.

I bought the magazine, and on the subway ride home, tried to remember if I had sold the cartoon, and then forgotten about the sale. Well, I am getting older and maybe I'm forgetting things like sales, money, names of cats, etc. I'm gonna have to go out and tattoo my body with words reminding me of what's going on ala Guy Pearce in MEMENTO.

I sent a polite email to the editor, asking if we had an agreement to buy. It took a couple of emails, but we sorted it out. We were negotiating a buy. He had sent me an email a couple of months ago that I did not receive, letting me know that we had an agreement. As far as he could tell, I had never responded.

Mike's point (and I do have one) is this: I had 3 choices when I saw my cartoon in that magazine:

• ignore, shrug shoulders, and let it slide;
• accuse the editor of theft and raise hell;
• politely query the client about their version of events.

I say, make sure both of you got your stories straight. No leaping to conclusions! Since this was politely resolved, I might have a shot at selling some more here. And steady income for freealncers is always a very, very good goal!.

The gag is an OK one. I've seen this in other houses, where the kids' older art is shuttled to another location. I wasn't sure when I drew it if it resonated at all. This issue is all about art, and that's why the gag appealed to the editor.

Postscript: When I say PHILOSOPHY NOW, I want to SHOUT IT. This is because the title reminds me of Frank Costanza shouting, "SERENITY NOW!" on the old Seinfeld show. Here's a 45 second clip that explains all ....


Yeah, that's a fun Seinfeld scene. But still, the best bit is the car reservation one. If you saw it only once in your life, you know the scene ....