Boris Drucker 1920-2009 UPDATED

Gag cartoonist Boris Drucker died of a stroke on Thursday, January 15, 2008 at the Hahnemann University Hospital, in Philadelphia, PA. He was 88.

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an obituary:

"In 2000, Mr. Drucker told an Inquirer reporter that as a freelance artist, 'I've had tremendously good years and tremendously bad years. But I've never had a bad afternoon, thanks to the pleasure and therapy cartooning gives me.'"

Hat tip to Michael Maslin.



Boris Drucker drew the above art from the November 14, 1953 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Drucker was in all the big markets and was, just last week, working on a Playboy finish.

Syracuse University had a major exhibition of his work in 2005. He was one of the six Jewish WW II soldiers featured in the recent documentary FROM PHILADELPHIA TO THE FRONT.

UPDATE: Tom Spurgeon writes an obituary, with some good links, at Comics Reporter.

Happy Birthday to Mike

Thanks to everyone who sent a note regarding my birthday today. Above is a card I received from an old friend (Howdy Parson!). He scanned in and presented me with a drawing I did as a kid way back during 1976. I am embarrassed by my old drawings. I have changed my style so much since then! (I hope!) Well , anyway, might as well take this occasion to make a private embarrassment public (before the Parson does).

I don't recall what the context is here. It looks like Mr. Peanut is in an art gallery, being insulted with a mediocre pun by a Don Martin-inspired fat guy. And I don't know why it's titled "a humourous cartoone" either.

I must be off to shovel some snow, and then settle back in to draw some cartoons all afternoon. Some things never change.

Andrew Wyeth 1917-2009

Painter Andrew Wyeth passed away in his sleep today. He died in his home in Chadd's Ford, PA. He was 91.

The NY Times has a lengthy appreciation of the man and his philosophy here.

Mr. Wyeth's mention in a PEANUTS strip, above, nicked from Comics Reporter.

Royston Robertson's "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is"

My friend and fellow slinger of the ink, Royston Robertson, has some sage words of simple advice via Vonnegut at his blog right here.

Above cartoon pinched from Royston's portfolio site.

Maine Comic Arts Festival May 17, 2009

The Ocean gateway facility will be the location for the very first Maine Comic Arts Festival to be held four months from today, May 17, 2009, in Portland, Maine. I spoke with Rick Lowell, the man behind the festival, last month. Rick runs one of the best comic book shops I've been to: Casablanca Comics in downtown Portland.

The aim, Rick says, is to have an indy-comic friendly event in Portland; a MoCCA Fest or an APE or and SPX for the Northern New England area. Portland has impressed me with its number of comics creators, so this day-long event should be a terrific success.

See you there!

Cartoonist Dan Gordon Tribute

Sherm Cohen's Cartoon SNAP looks at the life and career of animator/comic book artist Dan Gordon. Just look at the anatomy of that dog above. Even though he's a cartoony dog, the foundation in drawing shows. And look at the bold brush strokes, and the black spotting of the dog's dhadow makes him pop off the page. I'm thankful to Sherm for showcasing a fellow that I had heard of, but never full appreciated until now. Go look.

And thanks, Sherm, for shining the light on Dan Gordon.

Top 10 STAR TREK Movie Moments

Here is a top 10 list and, as with any top 10 list it's arguably personal (3 of the top 10 are from GENERATIONS?! ) and leaves out some good scenes. But I liked a lot of the choices, even though I'm less of a NEXT GEN guy and more of an old school fan. And the Top 10 list begins and ends with the best TREK movie to date, STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN or TWAK as its known in TREKspeak, as the template in later years, like when the NEXT GENERATION movies were written. Like writer/producer Ron Moore said in a Trekmovie interview:

"And at that point in time the gold standard was Wrath of Khan and everyone wanted to do Wrath of Khan by some other name. Even in Generations we were talking about Wrath of Khan. Wrath of Khan says ‘here is how you do a Star Trek movie.’ It’s action-adventure. You’ve got a big villain. You’ve got themes of aging and great little character moments, small moments of humor interspersed throughout. It embraces all the characters. You laugh with them, you cry with them. It ends on a bittersweet but hopeful note. It is just a great movie and it really stands up."

Dan Thompson Interview

Dan Thompson, whose new syndicated comic strip RIP HAYWIRE debuts this month from Universal Features, is interviewed by Tom Mason for Comix 101:

TOM: It seems like an odd time to launch a new strip, particularly an adventure one. “Rip” seems like a great choice, but not the safe one that syndicates and papers would rush to embrace. What’s been the response so far?

DAN: There really aren’t any safe bets unless Bill Watterson or Gary Larson came out of retirement and launched a new feature. But the response to “Rip Haywire” has been great. My syndicate, [United Features] and the newspapers have been fired up about the strip from day one. Newspaper readers are normal people, they like the same things we all do, so embracing a funny soldier of fortune is like embracing all the other whack jobs in the funnies. An overweight Viking, talking animals, Army soldiers who have been in boot camp for 50 years, Cathy doesn’t even have a nose, and yet we embrace . . . Comic lovers are all about the embracing.

From Rough to Finish

A busy day today. Here's a rerun of a 2008 entry. My thanks to Chris Lupetti for asking me some questions about the single panel cartoon gag writing process via Facebook.

Chris' questions prompted a revisit to the ol' blog. So please excuse me while I go all TV Land and give you a classic Mike Lynch Cartoons encore presentation of a retro classic:



Today I want to show some sketches and their trip from rough to finish. Above: detail from a sketchbook. The little note "sold HBR" means it sold to Harvard Business Review. I draw very simply and quickly and very small. I blew this up about 200%. This is directly from my head to the sketchbook.

This particular gag idea came last year when other cartoonists would tell me something (a juicy bit of cartoon gossip) -- and then sternly warn me I better not to put it in my blog.


And, above, is the cartoon as I showed it to HBR for their consideration. The line

"Aw, hell. You've been reading my MySpace blog, huh?"

 has been changed. The new line

"Uh oh .... Something tells me that my blog has been discovered"

gets rid of the profanity (always a good idea) and the branding of the blog. Which, of course, I would be glad to put in in exchange for a hefty promotional fee.



Above is the "Johnson is very security conscious" cartoon rough. You can see how quickly and messily I doodle a rough. Can you tell the guy is locking a steel gate?



Above is the version that I mailed out. Now we have a couple of guys walking by commenting that

"Harding is very security conscious."

I don't remember why I changed Johnson to Harding. It could be that there was all ready a Johnson character in another cartoon in the batch. I should have (as my Dad suggested afterward) put a big nasty bulldog by the cubicle. That would have been funnier and fun to draw as well. Ah well. The important thing is that it sold!







The "Meet the Cow" milk carton cartoon changed a bit from rough doodle to finish.


It became the "Artisanal Milk" cartoon, which I wrote about here. When I submitted this cartoon about conspicuous lactose consumption to the Chronicle of Higher Education, I had no idea there was such a thing as artisanal milk. A Chronicle of Higher Education reader told me otherwise.

Above is one of those silly little doodles again. I drew little sweatbands on the people who are running by with the numbers. Those were lost in the finish, and that was wrong. The people at the board room table are drawn so simply they look like three hairless, bodyless heads on the floor.


Above is the finish. I remember drawing this up quickly, thinking that this one would not sell, so let's just draw it up and add it to the batch. No matter how long you are in the biz, you do not know what will sell. It sold very quickly.



And above is the page from my sketchbook. It's a 6" x 9" 110 lb. acid free 100% recycled paper from the Robert Bateman cover series produced by En Tour Artist Products, Inc. As you can see, I draw 8 ideas per page, on both sides of the page. The 110 lb. paper allows for no bleeding with my permanent Micron pens.

So, there you have it. Four sales out of eight. Actually, that's not true. Looking at that page of roughs, I only drew up five of the eight ideas -- and the fifth one, the one that didn't sell, is on hold. All in all, a darn good batting average. However, I should add in all honesty, like those diet commercials display in dinky lettering on the TV screen as Valerie Bertinelli goes from plump to thin, "results not typical."

I hope you found this interesting. I cringe at how rough these doodles are!

Call for Entries: NCS Division Awards

Deadline in 2 weeks and a day.

The National Cartoonists Society invites cartoonists to submit their professional work for award consideration in any of the twelve categories listed here. You do not have to be a member of the NCS to be considered.

The deadline is January 30, 2009. The work should have been published between December 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008. You may enter more than one category.

Each submission must be accompanied by:

• an entry form
• a bio sheet

If you have any questions, please email me, Mike Lynch, the NCS Awards Coordinator: fatcats3 [at] gmail.com. Please write "NCS Awards" in the subject line. Thanks.

The winners will be announced at the 63rd Annual Reuben Awards Dinner in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2009.

The new NCS blog has all the details here.

The categories are:

• TELEVISION ANIMATION
  
  
• FEATURE ANIMATION
  
  
• NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION
  
  
• GAG CARTOONS
  
  
• GREETING CARDS
  
  
• NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS
  
  
• NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS
  
  
• MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION
  
  
• BOOK ILLUSTRATION
  
  
• EDITORIAL CARTOONS
  
  
• ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION
  
  
• COMIC BOOKS

Ricardo Montalban 1920-2009

Ricardo Montalban passed away today in his home in Los Angeles. He was 88. No cause of death was given.

The Mexican-born actor began working on the New York City stage for 4 years, and then, was offered a contract to come to work at MGM in Hollywood in 1946.

It was his starring role in the TV series FANTASY ISLAND (1978-84) that cemented his popularity. He was also known for playing "Khan," a nemesis for STAR TREK's Captain Kirk twice: during the original series and then again, 15 years later, in STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN.

Link to Trekmovie, which has many more links.

AP Obituary.

Flickr Group: Growing Up Star Wars 1977-1985

Above: It's not me, but it could be any one of zillions of us who grew up consuming STAR WARS related toys, dolls, games, etc. There's now a new Flickr group showing over 500 kids with their SW merchandise.

Hat tip to Matt Forsythe.

Patrick McGoohan 1928-2009 UPDATED

Patrick McGoohan passed away today in Los Angeles after a short illness. He was 80 years old.

AMC is remaking his best known series THE PRISONER, and has all of the original episodes online.

Thanks to Moor Larkin's Flickr photostream for the image.

UPDATE: Heidi MacDonald has this lengthy, fondly remembered piece here.

Schulz & Beethoven Exhibit

Jeannie Schulz and a PEANUTS original. A photo by Peter DaSilva for The New York Times.

From the January 13, 2009 NY Times, here's a photo essay showcasing the Schulz's Beethoven: Schroeder's Muse exhibit currently at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa, CA thru January 26th. And then it travels to San Jose State University, to go on display at the Beethoven Center there.

Related: Listening to Schroeder: ‘Peanuts’ Scholars Find Messages in Cartoon’s Scores by April Dembosky

Big hat tip to Steve Smallwood.

American Cartoonist 1951

Above: the August volume V, issue 1, 1951 issue of American Cartoonist. The scan is unclear, but the man on the cover is holding a slip of paper: "Sorry does not fit our present needs. The Editors."

Ahh. Those were the days. Even a mediocre cartoonist could get by. There were a lot of magazine markets. American Cartoonist, edited by L.T. Benson, was a trade publication for and by cartoonists.


Let's see what is happening with the markets! Jack Markow and Gurney Williams need gags!


And this back when $60 was real money.

American Cartoonist published cartoons as well. Here's a cartoon from the Marketplace pages by Ed Morgan:


After cleansing our palate with the above panel, let's delve back into the markets. Click to supersize:


No more stenographer on the boss's lap cartoons? Darn! Those are classics!

What about the boss chasing the secretary around the desk cartoons?

Collier's cartoon editor Gurney Williams even had a newsletter for his cartoonist contributors. It's excerpted in American Cartoonist:


And below is a "letter" from Hank Ketcham. 1951 was the first year of his Dennis the Menace panel:

These are a few of the highlights from this 55 year old issue. I thank Bob Weber (not the Bob "Slylock Fox" Weber or the Bob "New Yorker cartoonist" Weber, but the Bob "Moose & Molly" Weber") for copying this little gem for me.




Related: Wednesday: Cartoon Look Day

Also related: Seminal Cartoons at Eli Stein Cartoons

Final note: It was a wonderful time to be a cartoonist. Not like magazine cartooning today, huh? Below is the one and only Bob Vojtko's take on the declining publication industry from a 2003 cover of The Gag Recap trade magazine.

Coffee Growers Will Not Sue Cartoonist Mike Peters

The Colombia Coffee Growers Association has dropped its lawsuit against cartoonist Mike Peters.

Colombia's coffee growers federation will not sue U.S. cartoonist Mike Peters. It had threatened to demand US$20 million after its Juan Valdéz coffee brand had been subjected to Peters' sense of humor in a Mother Goose and Grimm cartoon.

Sources within the federation told Caracol Radio Tuesday the coffee growers accept Peters apology and will not undertake any further legal action.

More here.

Hat tip to Wiley Miller. Thanks, Wiley!

Call for Entries: NCS Division Awards

The deadline is less than 2 1/2 weeks away.

The National Cartoonists Society invites cartoonists to submit their professional work for award consideration in any of the twelve categories listed below. You do not have to be a member of the NCS to be considered.

The deadline is January 30, 2009. The work should have been published between December 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008. You may enter more than one category.

Each submission must be accompanied by:

• an entry form
• a bio sheet

If you have any questions, please email me, Mike Lynch, the NCS Awards Coordinator: fatcats3 [at] gmail.com. Please write "NCS Awards" in the subject line. Thanks.

The winners will be announced at the 63rd Annual Reuben Awards Dinner in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2009.

Here are the details:

Cartoonists are invited to submit their work (or the work of anyone else) no later than January 30, 2009, for consideration for one or more of the following Division Awards:

TELEVISION ANIMATION Submit one or more samples in VHS or DVD format of aired or exhibited work that was released in the year 2008 to: Andy Mitchell, NCS Orange County Chapter, 85 Stanford, Irvine, California 92612 (ajmit@aol.com)

FEATURE ANIMATION Submit one or more samples in VHS or DVD format of aired or exhibited work that was released in the year 2008 to: David Folkman, NCS Los Angeles Chapter, 6171 W. Century Blvd. #160, Los Angeles, CA 90045 (folkmanart@aol.com)

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION Submit 6 samples of published work to: Mark Parisi, NCS New England Chapter, 16 Slayton Rd., Melrose, MA 02176 (markparisi@aol.com)

GAG CARTOONS Submit 12 samples of published work to: Adrian Sinnott, NCS Long Island Chapter, 27 East 24th Street, Huntington Station, NY 11746-3701 (acsinnott@adriansinnott.com)

GREETING CARDS Submit 6 samples of published work to: Greg Cravens, 312 North McLean, Memphis, TN 38112-5341 (gregcartoon@comcast.net)

NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS Submit 12 samples of published work to: Tom Stemmle, NCS New Jersey Chapter, 184 Richards Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (tomstem@optonline.net)

NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS Submit 12 samples of published work to: Brian Walker, NCS Connecticut Chapter, 34 Old Forge Rd., Wilton, CT 06897-3707 (hiandlois1@aol.com)

MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION Submit 6 samples of published work to: Ron Evry, NCS DC Chapter, 2880 Cedar Crest Ct., Woodbridge, VA 22192-3119 (revry@panix.com)

BOOK ILLUSTRATION Send up to 6 samples of published work to: Michael Jantze, NCS Northern California Chapter, Po Box 1907, San Anselmo, CA 94979-1907 (michael@jantze.com)

EDITORIAL CARTOONS Submit 12-20 samples of published work to: Tom Richmond, NCS North Central Chapter, 3421 East Burnsville Pkwy, Burnsville, MN 55337 (tom@tomrichmond.com)

ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION Submit 4 samples of published and marketed work to: Bruce Beattie, NCS Florida Chapter, 636 Pelican Bay Dr, Daytona Beach, FL 32119 (bk@msn.com)

COMIC BOOKS Submit 3 samples of published work to: John Martz, NCS Canada Chapter, 100 Spadina Road #604, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2T7 Canada (johnny@robotjohnny.com)

The Right Way to Sleep

An instructional series featuring Sam (B&W), Rufus (orange) and Trout (tiger) demonstrating the correct ways to do things. Today's lesson: the right way and wrong way for a cat to sleep.

Right way:


Right way:


Wrong way!


I have no idea how she can sleep like this, but it's obviously wrong, wrong, wrong.

Eyeballs Into Dollars

Above: a sketch I drew of a guy at his table at the Small Press Expo.

I was reading a collection of columns by H. Allen Smith and this little story popped out:

"The only Broadway personality I knew before I got to Broadway was a singer named Gene Austin, an amiable, robust, hard-drinking balladier from Louisiana. In the 1920s, when phonograph records were sold at seventy-five-cents apiece, he was Mr. Big of the recording business and he made a fortune singing such tender roundelays as 'My Blue Heaven,' 'Girl of My Dreams' and 'Melancholy Baby.'

"Radio smothered the recording business, and Gene Austin with it, and for approximately ten years a phonograph record was a rare commodity. The new generation knew it only as a black disc used by movie comedians to smash over the heads of fat ladies or by college boys to eat. Then records came back.

"Juke boxes in saloons were in large measure responsible for the renaissance, and one of the first smash hits in these nickel-gobblers was 'Bei Mir Bist Der Schön' as sung by the Andrews Sisters."

- LOW MAN ON A TOTEM POLE by H. Allen Smith, Chapter XIV, Coming Up in Frisco (copyright 1941 by H. Allen Smith)

What I don't know --

• as print newspapers collapse (with the Seattle PI either set to sell or shut down, and a predicted 6 months worth of life left in the NY Times),
  
  
• as syndicates go from making money from selling comic strips to giving them away on the Web (and making their dough not from content, but from Web advertising),
  
  
• as book sales decline (over 5% this past December at major bookstores) and publishing houses like Houghton Mifflin are no longer looking at new projects (and other smaller imprints like Minx or First Second either being shut down or absorbed into the larger corporate structure)

-- what I don't know is what will happen next in the field of cartooning.

I do know that people love cartoons. Nothing will change that.

The then-new media of radio may have "smothered the recording business," but the audience was still there for crooner Gene Austin, even though radio wasn't putting money into his pocket like records did.

All we cartoonists have to do, to quote of all people Rupert Murdoch, is turn a certain percentage of those eyeballs looking at that Web page into dollar signs. I'm do not like who Murdoch is, but disregarding the messenger, the message is spot on.

And, hey, everyone loves cartoons. I know I said that, but it gives me hope, so I say it again.

More anon.

Caroline Kennedy Comics

Cartoons about Caroline Kennedy? Yes, there's a bookful of them. Here are some samples from an early 1960s Fawcett paperback titled CAROLINE, via Stupid Comics.

The art is by Frank Johnson, who was part of the Comicana team of cartoonists who worked with Mort Walker.

H/t to Comics Reporter.

Mike Lynch Cartoon in January 9, 2009 WSJ

A cartoon of mine is in today's Wall Street Journal.

I remember when Sam Gross gave a talk at the 2006 Reubens. On a big screen, for all the cartoonists seated in the room, he showed a series of his rough sketches, and talked about coming up with ideas. Like all of us, the one and only S. Gross sits in a room, alone, and doodles, trying to come up with cartoon gags. He talked about drawing a series of pictures that he liked, and then backing out of the drawing, trying to find a gag.

I had no idea that other cartoonists worked like that.

For the cartoon that WSJ bought and published today, I was doodling in my sketchbook. I didn't have a lot of ideas that day. I drew a guy in his office and I was going to draw an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other shoulder. OK, but that's been done. Ho hum.

What if I drew a devil with 2 businessmen on his shoulders? Or an angel with a businessman on one shoulder and a devil on the other? What if I drew a devil on each shoulder?

When I thought of the "lesser of 2 evils" phrase for the 2 devils drawing, I knew I had a gag.

Anyway, this is an example of successfully doodling up some odd situations and then, backing out of them, and asking yourself, What is the gag here?

A big tip of the hat to Pletch, who, in the early morning, sent me an email letting me know my cartoon was in today's WSJ. Thanks, Pletch!

Juana Medina on the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship

Last year's Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship was awarded to RISD student Juana Medina. As the winner, she was invited to attend the National Cartoonists Society Reubens weekend, which was held in New Orleans last year.

I asked Juana if she could describe her own experience at last year's Reubens. She graciously consented, even though she is very busy with her new semester. Below is her description of the experience.


(All illustrations are by Juana Medina, from her Flickr page)

Here is Juana:

-----------

Being awarded the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship turned out to be an experience that has shaped my life and the way I have approached cartooning since.

Imagine for a moment, finding yourself surrounded by cartoonists you admire, comic creators you have read since you were learning to read. Imagine them greeting you and making you feel part of the family. Imagine, they tell you they've also had similar fears to yours, they are willing to generously share their experiences, their dreams and their obstacles, and even their inspiration and work dynamics. I did not ever imagine this could be possible, until I found myself, in New Orleans, surrounded by renowned cartoonists and comic creators, all sharing their experiences and generously giving their advice.

Receiving the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship was not only a great honor, but a commitment to reflect on what I have learned from wonderful cartoonists, making sure I apply my lessons on my everyday life. This weekend in late May of 2008, showed me what an important person Jay Kennedy was within this family of cartoonists, as they remembered him, making touching remarks of his thoughtful spirit and his brilliant mind. It was a lesson on kindness, as members of the National Cartoonists Society, dedicated hours to introduce me to each other and make sure I felt comfortable at all times. It was a lesson on humbleness, as they shared with me their techniques, obstacles and difficulties. A lesson of hope, as they enthusiastically shared their success stories and responded to my portfolio with valuable insights.


It was a space that made sure I would remember — hopefully, for a lifetime — the open heart and will to share that cartoonists from the NCS hold. The willingness to listen and give advice, their noble attitudes and sincere comments, are sure to stay with me and not only make me a more skilled illustrator and cartoonist, but a better person. The enthusiasm, love and honesty that characterized this space, served as true model to follow. I hold my memories of the invitation to receive the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship at the Reuben Awards in New Orleans as part of my dearest memories. If you admire cartoonists because of their work, I will have to tell you that once you meet them, you will be absolutely fascinated by knowing that it is not only their work what makes them special, but their generous spirit, their open hearts and their will to welcome new generations into one of the best — if not the best — professions on Earth.

I am lucky and grateful. And hope that many students to come, will have the chance I have had, to learn through experience, about Jay Kennedy, a man who touched plenty of lives with true friendship and a keen mind. To learn learn from other cartoonists, about their lives and their passions. And most definitely, come back to life after a weekend of surreal events and befriending invaluable people, back to your drawing table, reinvigorated with their enthusiasm; assured that with dedication, good humor and generosity, doors open widely. And with the certainty, that those who have made it before us, are a constant example to follow.

-----------

The deadline is February 6, 2009. Applicants need not be art majors. All of the information here.

My thanks to Juana Medina, who selflessly took the time to write about her experience. Thank you, Juana!

Robot Head Toilet Paper Dispenser

From General Robots. I want one.

Big hat tip to The Cartoonist! Thanks, Ralf!

The New STAR TREK Trailer Done TOS Style

My problem with the trailer for the new TREK movie is that it doesn't LOOK like TREK. Where's Shatner? Alan Rhodes has the solution with his TOS-era preview of the new STAR TREK movie:



Mr. Rhodes also has a STAR WARS mash-up of the TREK trailer. Both of these are excellently put together.

And don't miss his STAR TREK RENEWAL or GLORIOUS vids, which are standalone experiments in computer animation.

Dave Astor Interview

Tim O'Shea, writing for Comic Book Resources, interviews Dave Astor.

O’Shea: Why are so many newspapers getting rid of their cartoonists?

Astor: They’re saving a salary. Also, some papers don’t want a strong local cartooning voice because local cartoons can anger local political and business bigwigs (some of whom the publisher might be playing golf with!). And some papers don’t want to deal with reader complaints about a cartoon — even if those calls and e-mails represent only a tiny percentage of their circulation. Unfortunately, the more than 90% of readers who might like or love a cartoon often don’t contact the paper to say that.

This is an informative discussion about the state of newspaper comics (both editorial and strips). For those who may not know, Dave was a Senior Editor at Editor & Publisher magazine from 1983 until this past October 2008, when his position was one of a dozen cut by Neilsen, the company that owns E&P.

A big tip of the hat to Comics Reporter.

Call for Entries: NCS Division Awards

Deadline in 3 weeks and a day.



More at the National Cartoonists Society site here.

Mike Peters Sued by Colombian Coffee Growers

Not a joke.
Above: the offending MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM comic strip.

"The Federation of Colombian Coffee Growers announced a multi-million dollar lawsuit against U.S. cartoonist Mike Peters over a cartoon published in U.S. newspapers linking Colombian coffee with crime syndicates."

They want $20 million in compensation. More here.

Hat tip to Journalista!

A Year in Love and Music by Jeffrey Lewis

Today's NY Times has My 2008 In a Nutshell (also titled A Year in Love and Music) by cartoonist/musician Jeffrey Lewis. It's a month-by-month autobio wrapup of his year.

Shatner's RAW NERVE: Leonard Nimoy Interview

William Shatner interviews Leonard Nimoy in tonight's RAW NERVE TV show tonight. The series is getting good ratings, even though it's on a channel in the upper stratosphere of the channels on my local cable system and, really, I never heard of the channel before Shatner was on it.

Here's RAW NERVE host William Shatner hyping the Nimoy interview episode to Trekmovie.com:



Much more at Trekmovie.

I watched the first couple of these and they really are interesting. Shatner will not talk to people about recent movies; all the talk centers around peoples' life experiences. I especially like the example Nimoy gave of his parents' shock when he told them he was going to be an actor, and his Father's advice.

National Cartoonists Society Division Awards

The National Cartoonists Society invites cartoonists to submit their professional work for award consideration in any of the twelve categories listed below. You do not have to be a member of the NCS to be considered.

The deadline is January 30, 2009. The work should have been published between December 1, 2007 and December 31, 2008. You may enter more than one category.

Each submission must be accompanied by:

• an entry form
• a bio sheet

If you have any questions, please email me, Mike Lynch, the NCS Awards Coordinator: fatcats3 [at] gmail.com. Please write "NCS Awards" in the subject line. Thanks.

The winners will be announced at the 63rd Annual Reuben Awards Dinner in Hollywood, California on May 23, 2009.

Here are the details:

Cartoonists are invited to submit their work (or the work of anyone else) no later than January 30, 2009, for consideration for one or more of the following Division Awards:

TELEVISION ANIMATION Submit one or more samples in VHS or DVD format of aired or exhibited work that was released in the year 2008 to: Andy Mitchell, NCS Orange County Chapter, 85 Stanford, Irvine, California 92612 (ajmit@aol.com)

FEATURE ANIMATION Submit one or more samples in VHS or DVD format of aired or exhibited work that was released in the year 2008 to: David Folkman, NCS Los Angeles Chapter, 6171 W. Century Blvd. #160, Los Angeles, CA 90045 (folkmanart@aol.com)

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION Submit 6 samples of published work to: Mark Parisi, NCS New England Chapter, 16 Slayton Rd., Melrose, MA 02176 (markparisi@aol.com)

GAG CARTOONS Submit 12 samples of published work to: Adrian Sinnott, NCS Long Island Chapter, 27 East 24th Street, Huntington Station, NY 11746-3701 (acsinnott@adriansinnott.com)

GREETING CARDS Submit 6 samples of published work to: Greg Cravens, 312 North McLean, Memphis, TN 38112-5341 (gregcartoon@comcast.net)

NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS Submit 12 samples of published work to: Tom Stemmle, NCS New Jersey Chapter, 184 Richards Avenue, Piscataway, NJ 08854 (tomstem@optonline.net)

NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS Submit 12 samples of published work to: Brian Walker, NCS Connecticut Chapter, 34 Old Forge Rd., Wilton, CT 06897-3707 (hiandlois1@aol.com)

MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION Submit 6 samples of published work to: Ron Evry, NCS DC Chapter, 2880 Cedar Crest Ct., Woodbridge, VA 22192-3119 (revry@panix.com)

BOOK ILLUSTRATION Send up to 6 samples of published work to: Michael Jantze, NCS Northern California Chapter, PO Box 1907, San Anselmo, CA 94979-1907 (michael@jantze.com)

EDITORIAL CARTOONS Submit 12-20 samples of published work to: Tom Richmond, NCS North Central Chapter, 3421 East Burnsville Pkwy, Burnsville, MN 55337 (tom@tomrichmond.com)

ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION Submit 4 samples of published and marketed work to: Bruce Beattie, NCS Florida Chapter, 636 Pelican Bay Dr, Daytona Beach, FL 32119 (bk@msn.com)

COMIC BOOKS Submit 3 samples of published work to: John Martz, NCS Canada Chapter, 100 Spadina Road #604, Toronto, Ontario M5R 2T7 Canada (johnny@robotjohnny.com)

Hot Coffee

Here is a page from my sketchbook. I drew it early Friday morning, freehand, in my sketchbook, with a combination of Micron Pigma 01, 02 and 05 pens. I put some black watercolor wash on it later. The reason I like a Micron pen is they are permanent and can take a wash immediately, without smearing at all.


This was drawn in a different style than the Christmas story I drew for the local paper a couple of weeks ago. It's a true story.

Related: 12 Things I Was Told in 2008 That I Don't Need to Hear in 2009

Also related: SPX Sketchbook

The New DOCTOR WHO

... is Matt Smith, who will take over from the current Doctor, David Tennant, in late 2009. Here is an extended interview with Matt Smith from BBC One's "Doctor Who Confidential: The Eleventh Doctor."

XXXL hat tip to Anthony Taylor. Thanks, Anthony!

More at the BBC site.

12 Things I Was Told in 2008 That I Don't Need to Hear in 2009

Just venting a bit. It's all true. These are all things that other people (clients, regular (non-cartoonist) folks, etc.) have said to me in the past year. This was drawn freehand with a Pigma Micron 02 and then a bit of watercolor to "pop" it.

Brian Fies: The Second-Best Advice I Ever Gave

My friend and award-winning graphic novelist Brian Fies does not have any pie in the sky advice. None of this "follow your bliss" or "follow your muse" kinda talk. Today, he passes along some real nuts & bolts practical advice from a panel talk he gave at the Alternative Press Expo.

In today's post at his Fies Files blog, Brian shares a bit of his thinking process and some of his mistakes behind his award winning graphic novel MOM'S CANCER:

"When my turn came, I decided to offer the most hard-headed, practical advice I could: understand the graphic requirements of whatever medium your art is destined for. Think ahead to any possible future uses for your art. Then work at the highest resolution and quality you can.

"You are welcome to conclude that I learned this lesson the hard way."

The whole thing is here.

Brian's specific real-life graphic novel experience makes me feel more hopeful after seeing some real dreadful cartooning advice online last week. And the reason it was dreadful was because it was too broad, too vague.

Cover art is from his new graphic novel WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW?, slated for April 2009 release from Abrams.

Thanks for this, Brian! And Happy New Year to you, my friend!

New Andertoons Launched

My inky pal Mark Anderson's revamped Andertoons site launches today! It's got more spacious aisles, and the place is better lit and there is, of course, Mark Anderson himself, welcoming you to the place today.

"We've completely rebuilt it from scratch making it quicker to navigate, easier on the eyes, and thrown in some new features to boot!

"All this month I'll be highlighting the big changes and new stuff, so stay tuned."

Congratulations, Mark, on a new site! Let the e-commerce begin!