Submitting B&W Magazine Gag Cartoons to a Magazine That Publishes Only Color Cartoons

I got a good question from a reader about submitting cartoons to magazines.

"I'm wondering, when you send cartoons to a market that publishes colour cartoons, do you submit full-colour cartoons or do you send black/whites and colour them if one is chosen? It's just that sending colour copies is a bit expensive and, frankly, I don't really know how to colour. However, if I ever make a sale, I'd figure something out."

It reminded me that when I started, I made the decision to only send finished cartoons. Nothing rough. All inked and toned, black and white finishes.

But not color.

Even adding some gray tone takes time. I developed an "assembly line" method, lining up all of my inked cartoons in a row on the kitchen counter (space was hard to come by in Brooklyn, NY), and applying a gray tone to each:

Above from Raconteur #1; my true story "The Petty Indignities That Ruin My Life."  You can read the whole thing at the link.

But ... if you KNOW that the publication ONLY publishes color cartoons, the question is: should you labor over your batch of ten or twenty cartoons, adding color to each and every one?

And since you know that you will only sell a fraction of the batch, you also are aware, as you push the watercolor brush or push the pixels to add the color, that a lot of this time will be wasted. 

One cartoonist that I know and admire INSISTS on coloring all of his cartoons. He told me that they just don't look finished to him unless they are in full color. I am in awe of his work and his energy to do this. 

Do I color all of the cartoons that I submit? No.

Should I color all of the cartoons that I submit? No. And the editors do not expect it.

If I did, I wouldn't have time to brush my teeth, mow the lawn and do this here blog, y'know?

If and when you get a sale, the editor will email you, asking for the kind of file they want. Usually, it's:

"300dpi, CMYK color. By Friday."

Now what is that you said about not really knowing how to color? Yipes!

Well ... that's another blog entry.

TEENSVILLE U.S.A. Edited by Lawrence Lariar Part 3

Another sampling of gag cartoons from the book TEENSVILLE U.S.A. It was edited and is copyright 1959 by Lawrence Lariar, and published by Dodd, Mead.

Part one
Part two

TEENSVILLE U.S.A. Edited by Lawrence Lariar Part 2

Here are some gag cartoons, fresh from 1959, culled from the book TEENSVILLE U.S.A. Published by Dodd, Mead, the book was edited and copyright that year by Lawrence Lariar.

Part one is here.

Want more? Part one is here.

TABOO Edited by Charles Preston

TABOO, an 88 page hardcover collection of gag cartoons, edited by Charles M. Preston, Trident Press 1966, New York, New York. Above is the dust jacket. Click to supersize so you can read the six gags ...

"Let's go out and count phallic symbols"

There are a number of censored cartoon books that are now in print, but this was the granddaddy to them. Most of the cartoons are not so edgy today, natch! A lot have to with racism, homosexuality, and, well, potty humor.

"And as you'll probably notice, I wet my bed."

From the cover:

"For the first time, an outrageous collection of iconoclastic hilarity -- these cartoons, hitherto considered unpublishable, mark a significant point in the struggle against censorship and prudery (and they're funny too)."

"Why, it's Ann Stalkley! I haven't seen you since we were in school together. How in the world do you keep yourself looking so young?"

The above cartoon made me laugh out loud. It's those pooch lips on Ann Stalkley that did it. A great, busy, sketchy city scene. I think I know who the cartoonist is, but I am not sure.


Above: an early Sam Gross cartoon.

"And after a long hot dusty nightride, I find Brito washes my robe whiter than white."

Above: Herbert Goldberg's cartoon isn't funny to me. It looks like to be a rough.

"Holy Moses!"

Above: Henry Martin's cartoon is silly, but it made me smile. I love what he does here with very basic lines and a touch of graphite on pebbled paper.

(Whenever I think of Moses, I think of the Mel Brooks bit from THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD PART 1.)

"It's a God."

Above: more holy humor. Seems harmless to me! Three little words is all it took to make a good gag -- made even better by the dead-on look of holy beatitude by Joseph.



Above: Interlandi's silent gag and excellent figure work seal a wonderful cartoon together. The look of realization on both of their faces in the penultimate panel is masterful.

"Draw me and try for a free two-year scholarship."

Above: The first of several from S. Gross. Gosh, imagine the upswing in enrollment at the Center for Cartoon Studies if this girl went door to door!
You can definitely see the Addams' impact in Sam's early work.

"Can I return this get-well card? She died."

Bo Brown's cartoon is great. Such a seemingly pedestrian couple of women in a benign looking picture. The gag line makes it all so hostile and funny.

"Is this where we take the 'A' train to Harlem?"

Above: a number of cartoons concerned the KKK.

"Damn the consequences! If they want her that bad, they can have her!"

Above: I'm a fan of Al Ross' loopy, sketchy style. It almost looks to "rough" to be a final finish!

Did anyone notice what happened to Al Ross' signature in the column of signatures from the book's cover?

"Bernice, just what is it you people want?"

Above: Erikson gives us elitist white humor! Yikes!

"So that's how Mary Poppins can fly! She's on the pot."

Above: Sure looks like those are Wednesday's pigtails! And the boy's built like Puggsly.

Above: Another Sam Gross cartoon. Nothing is sacred to this man. this is why he's so funny! Witness his 2008 cartoon book We Have Ways of Making You Laugh: 120 Funny Swastika Cartoons from Simon & Schuster.

"My doll is frigid."

Above: Well, it's probably better than a Bratz doll.
More KKK humor. Yeesh.

"You see dear, on opening day the Emperor throws out the first Christian."

Even the Christians are made fun of!

"Yes, it's nice, but won't it be kinda heavy to carry on a seal hunt?"

I love Reamer Keller's cartoons. His style is unmistakable.

"Hello there. I'm your friendly neighborhood tart."

Interlandi's great drawing skill is always delightful to linger over. I love her '60s bouffant.




Above: the hardcover has a column of cartoonists' signatures on the front cover. A great design touch! And something I didn't notice until today, when I took the dust jacket off the book!



-- This has been a blog rerun. It was orignally published January 23 and 28, 2008.