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Cartoons

Michael Jackson and the Pearly Gates

Michael Jackson and the Pearly Gates © Daryl Cagle,MSNBC.com,Michael Jackson,heaven,St. Peter,Pearly gates,Obituary,memorial

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Blog

The AAEC and the NCS – My Advice

This week I’ll be traveling to Seattle for the annual Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention. In recent years, the convention has had the flavor of a wake, as cartoonists mourn the loss of full-time newspaper positions. Ironically, the loss of jobs hasn’t resulted in fewer political cartoons or fewer political cartoonists, as the cartoonists continue to draw on a freelance basis when they lose their jobs and more people are attracted to the art-form through exposure on the Internet. Our cartoons are more popular than ever, but the profession, and the AAEC are troubled.

Many newspapers used to cover the cost of their employee/cartoonists attending the long, four-day AAEC convention and now cartoonists have to find a way to cover the cost on their own. The group depends on newspaper sponsorship to subsidize the conventions and this year’s get-together is slated for Seattle because it was sponsored by The Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper, which then went out of business, leaving the AAEC in a pickle. It seems likely that there will be few or no newspaper sponsors for the conventions in the future. Compounding the problem, the AAEC lost money on a recent convention in Washington, DC, cleaning out their coffers. AAEC president, Ted Rall, wrote a public letter to the membership detailing the quest for solutions to the question of “The Future of the AAEC.” One paragraph from Ted’s letter piqued my interest:

“Should we merge with NCS (National Cartoonists Society)? Proponents say we could take advantage of NCS’ ability to negotiate discounted rates at convention hotels, not to mention save on the doubling of membership dues for editorial cartoonists who belong to both organizations. Others, like me, worry that AAEC and NCS have different goals and cultures and would therefore make an uneasy fit. Either way, we have to consider it.”

I’m a member of both groups and I enjoy both conventions, but I’m more active in the NCS. At the NCS’s recent board meeting in Los Angeles, I mentioned Ted’s public letter, and that the AAEC “has to consider” merging with the NCS, and I asked if anyone was aware of that ““ no one was, and some of the NCS board members, like most NCS members, had never heard of the AAEC.

I’m reminded of teenage girls, who “consider” their weddings to boys they’ve never dated, and never talked to.

Cartoon by Andy Singer.

The NCS has only slightly more members than the AAEC, but it has more, better-known cartoonist members. Syndicated newspaper cartoonists, who still tend to be the best known cartoonists, make up about 25% of the NCS’s membership, which is broadly open to different kinds of cartoonists, including comic book, animation, greeting card, advertising and editorial cartoonists. The two groups sometimes schedule their conventions as close as a week apart, insuring that some editorial cartoonists will only attend one of the events ““ a conflict that hurts the AAEC more than the broader NCS. Some editorial cartoonists prefer the NCS and always skip the AAEC, thinning the ranks at the AAEC convention.

The biggest difference between the groups is that the NCS has higher standards for membership, rejecting applications from students and semi-pro cartoonists. The AAEC seems to admit anyone who will pay their dues, including amateur and student cartoonists. The difference can clearly be seen on the AAEC’s web site, which displays the work of amateur cartoonists mixed in with professionals. There are probably a thousand “wanna-be” cartoonists for every cartoonist who actually makes a living as a professional, and it is a temptation to lower the bar to fill the membership roster with eager applicants. The AAEC has “portfolio reviews” at their conventions for aspiring cartoonists, and posts the information about their convention location and times for the public to see on their web site. In contrast, the NCS has no student events, no portfolio reviews and keeps their convention information private.

The NCS conventions cost about the same as the AAEC conventions, but are held at nicer hotels, with nicer food, longer open bars and a more festive atmosphere. The NCS does a better job of creating an atmosphere that attracts the top cartoonists in their fields to attend the NCS convention, and those top cartoonists attract the other professionals.

Some AAEC members have a caricatured view of the NCS as rich, snooty, comic strip cartoonists, with expensive conventions, who party just to party. The NCS members (those who have heard of the AAEC) think of the editorial cartoonists convention as austere and overly serious, filled with back stabbing, job-coveting, gossipy whiners. Both views are silly. The groups have the same “goals and cultures.”  Both are run by struggling volunteer-cartoonists and filled with struggling professionals looking to draw inspiration from their peers in challenging times.

The NCS simply manages their conventions and their membership better than the AAEC.

Since Ted is openly calling for suggestions, I thought I would post a few suggestions for the AAEC here:

Don’t allow amateur or student members. Show a professional face to the public. Don’t post amateurish work on your web site.  Dare to edit.

If your association management company fails you, drop them and hire a better one. (The NCS has a better management company.)

Have a shorter convention. Schedule it within a weekend and think about how big a crowd can be attracted by the hotel, city and amenities. Conventions get a bigger turnout in New York than in San Antonio.  Negotiate better deals and get multiple bids from competing hotels.

Don’t be so serious; this is not a wake. More fun = better attendance.

Have a president and board that serves for more than one year, so they have time to get something done and there isn’t constant chaos from turnover.

Make more of an effort to encourage the attendance of top professionals. Consider that the AAEC is competing with other events, like the NCS convention, for the participation of top cartoonists.

Plan around other events or coordinate with other conventions; maybe the NCS, but I’d suggest considering the Social Studies teachers convention ““ editorial cartoonists are rock stars to Social Studies teachers and the AAEC could ride along as an interesting feature of their big, national convention. The AAEC might benefit from an association with an interested university.

The AAEC should talk to the NCS; get to know them and plan a first date before considering marriage. It is a good idea to date a few interested parties before considering who to marry. My guess is that a marriage with the NCS wouldn’t work out, but a first date might be fun.

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Blog

Cartoonists Mourn Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was God’s gift to editorial cartoonists. Now that the gift has been “returned to sender” the cartoonists are mourning the loss of one of their most evergreen gags.

Jackson was a wonderful character for cartoons. From “Jesus Juice” to chimps and burning hair, he was a cartoon treasure. One of my all time favorites was a Mr. Fish cartoon during the jury selection process from Michael’s trial, showing Michael’s “nightmare jury” or “nightmare witnesses” of scowling Fruit of the Loom fruit characters in the jury box.

The political cartoonists have been emailing each other, warning that we should not do the obvious obit cartoons, like Michael at the Pearly Gates and St. Peter says, “You’re bad, beat it;” or Jesus dangling little Michael from a heavenly window; or Michael and St. Peter “moon-walking” backwards through the Pearly Gates into heaven. And I can’t help but think of how Jackson’s children must have recoiled in horror when he played “got your nose”…

I was thinking of drawing Michael and Jesus on a cloud sharing a white wine “Jesus Juice” as Jesus holds a little box, saying, “God has a little gift for you — it’s your nose.” I floated a few of these ideas to my 45,000 Twitter followers, to a mixed reaction ““ one third of the responses were angry that I would show such disrespect to Jackson, and two thirds wanted the obituary gags to keep on coming.

I drew my favorite Michael Jackson cartoon when he was arrested. I had a police line-up, and the little boy/victim is pointing at Jackson saying, “That one;” the others in the line-up are a candy cane, a barber pole and the North Pole. Of course, the “secret” characteristic the kid identified was that Jackson’s penis was (allegedly) striped like a barber pole. I thought everyone knew this when I drew the cartoon, but unfortunately it turned out this was a little known bit of color about the King of Pop.

Soon after I drew my Jackson line-up cartoon, I got an e-mail from a couple of middle school kids that went something like this:

“Dear Mr. Cagle, Every week in our Social Studies class, our teacher, Ms. Fuddle, has what we call, “Cartoon Monday.” The class votes on an editorial cartoon that we will discuss that day. We voted to discuss your Michael Jackson cartoon in class next Monday, but we don’t understand it. Would you please explain it to us? Sincerely, Kid One and Kid Two”

I wrote back:

“Dear Kid One and Kid Two, Thank you for choosing my cartoon to discuss. The cartoon refers to Michael Jackson’s penis, which is striped like a barber pole “¦”

And the kids wrote back:

“Dear Mr. Cagle. Thank you for the explanation of your Michael Jackson cartoon. We think this will be our most interesting Cartoon Monday ever.”

When I think of all that cartoonists have lost with Michael Jackson’s passing, it makes me weep.

Categories
Columns

Political Cartoonists Mourn Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson was God’s gift to editorial cartoonists. Now that the gift has been “returned to sender” the cartoonists are mourning the loss of one of their most evergreen gags.

Jackson was a wonderful character for cartoons. From “Jesus Juice” to chimps and burning hair, he was a cartoon treasure. One of my all time favorites was a Mr. Fish cartoon during the jury selection process from Michael’s trial, showing Michael’s “nightmare jury” of scowling Fruit of the Loom fruit characters in the jury box.

The political cartoonists have been emailing each other, warning that we should not do the obvious obit cartoons, like Michael at the Pearly Gates and St. Peter says, “You’re bad, beat it;” or Jesus dangling little Michael from a heavenly window; or Michael and St. Peter “moon-walking” backwards through the Pearly Gates into heaven. And I can’t help but think of how Jackson’s children must have recoiled in horror when he played “got your nose”…

I was thinking of drawing Michael and Jesus on a cloud sharing a white wine “Jesus Juice” as Jesus holds a little box, saying, “God has a little gift for you — it’s your nose.” I floated a few of these ideas to my 45,000 Twitter followers, to a mixed reaction – one third of the responses were angry that I would show such disrespect to Jackson, and two thirds wanted the obituary gags to keep on coming.

I drew my favorite Michael Jackson cartoon when he was arrested. I had a police line-up, and the little boy/victim is pointing at Jackson saying, “That one;” the others in the line-up are a candy cane, a barber pole and the North Pole. Of course, the “secret” characteristic the kid identified was that Jackson’s penis was (allegedly) striped like a barber pole. I thought everyone knew this when I drew the cartoon, but unfortunately it turned out this was a little known bit of color about the King of Pop.

Soon after I drew my Jackson line-up cartoon, I got an e-mail from a couple of middle school kids that went something like this:

“Dear Mr. Cagle, Every week in our Social Studies class, our teacher, Ms. Fuddle, has what we call, “Cartoon Monday.” The class votes on an editorial cartoon that we will discuss that day. We voted to discuss your Michael Jackson cartoon in class next Monday, but we don’t understand it. Would you please explain it to us? Sincerely, Kid One and Kid Two”

I wrote back:

“Dear Kid One and Kid Two, Thank you for choosing my cartoon to discuss. The cartoon refers to Michael Jackson’s penis, which is striped like a barber pole …”

And the kids wrote back:

“Dear Mr. Cagle. Thank you for the explanation of your Michael Jackson cartoon. We think this will be our most interesting Cartoon Monday ever.”

When I think of all that cartoonists have lost with Michael Jackson’s passing, it makes me weep.

Daryl Cagle is a political cartoonist and blogger for MSNBC.com; he is a past president of the National Cartoonists Society and his cartoons are syndicated to more than 850 newspapers, including the paper you are reading. Daryl’s books “The BIG Book of Campaign 2008 Political Cartoons” and “The Best Political Cartoons of the Year, 2009 Edition” are available in bookstores now.

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Cartoons

Whacking Hope in Iran

Whacking Hope in Iran COLOR © Daryl Cagle,MSNBC.com,Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, cartoon, editorial cartoon, election, iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mohammad Khatami, Whack-a-mole, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

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Blog

Iran Cartoons from Mana

Here are three recent cartoons from Mana Neyestani, the Iranian cartoonist who was jailed by the government for his cartoons, and who fled Iran to Malaysia.  Read more about Mana here and see the cartoon that landed him in jail.  (Thanks to Nik Kowsar.)

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Blog

Cartoons and Reports from Iran

I just had an interesting telephone conversation with my friend, Nik Kowsar. Nik was a top editorial cartoonist in Iran until his cartoons became too much of an irritant to the regime and he was thrown into the notorious Evin Prison. Nik left Iran for Canada where he now lives and he works for Radio Zamaneh, based in Holland. A selection of Nik’s recent cartoons about the election turmoil in Iran is posted below.

Cartoons by Iranian cartoonist, Nik Kowsar.
Cartoons by Iranian cartoonist, Nik Kowsar.

Nik tells me he is not optimistic about prospects in Iran in the short term. He’s been working with a group of Iranian ex-pats to confirm information that is pouring out of Iran now that the government is cracking down on protestors. Nik’s group will be putting up a new web site in the next few days, with the latest, vetted news from sources in Iran.

Nik has been keeping in close touch with many Iranian bloggers, who are drying up as sources as they are “detained” by the regime. Popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter have been blocked in Iran. My cagle.msnbc.com site has long been blocked in Iran. However, the Internet is still available in Iran and people are finding ways to get their e-mail out to the rest of the world.

Nik tells me that vetting the reports is often difficult. He gave me an example of a photograph of a baby that had been shot in the back that came to him from multiple sources, reportedly shot by Iranian government “goon squads.” In fact, the photo was from Gaza. When information is passed around on the web, it can take on a life of it’s own ““ making Nik’s job a tough one.

Nik also gave me an update on Mana Neyestani, the Iranian cartoonist that I reported on a couple of years ago, here in my blog. Mana drew a cartoon of a bug that was interpreted to be an ethnic slur, and he was thrown in prison. Mana escaped Iran but found it difficult to get political asylum; he is currently fine, and attending college on a student visa in Malaysia. Nik will soon be sending along some recent cartoons from Mana for the blog.

See an archive of Nik Kowsar’s cartoons here.

Cartoons by Iranian cartoonist, Nik Kowsar.
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Blog

An Offensive Mr. Fish Cartoon Fiesta

I had lunch last week with Mr. Fish (Dwayne Booth) and we talked about why his cartoons don’t sell very well to general circulation newspapers ““ it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see why. Mr. Fish’s saucy cartoons appear in the L.A. Weekly and Village Voice. In fact, Fish was the last cartoonist left after the Village Voice bloodbath where they dropped every other cartoonist.

I did a speaking tour of China last year and wherever I spoke the audience asked about censorship in America ““ they were convinced that censorship for us was no different than in China. I explained that cartoonists in America often complain about editors killing their cartoons, but that is different from China because in China it is the government that kills the cartoons ““ well, not exactly, the editors and cartoonists in China know where the limits are and choose not to cross those limits. The Chinese audience would ask, “isn’t it the same in America?” I’d explain that, yes, we know what the limits are, but American cartoonists are limited by good taste rather than point of view, and if we’re too offensive we know our cartoons won’t get printed. The Chinese would respond, “same here.” I was surprised that I was always explaining what seemed to my audience to be petty differences and the hypocrisy of an American “free press.”

Which brings me back to Mr. Fish, who doesn’t censor himself for taste at all. It works for the Village Voice and L.A. Weekly, but keeps Mr. Fish’s work from being seen by a general circulation audience. I appreciate Fish’s unwillingness to compromise, so I thought I would post a selection of some of my favorite, offensive Mr. Fish cartoons that I would never have drawn myself.








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Cartoons

Obama and General Motors

Obama and General Motors © Daryl Cagle,MSNBC.com,GM,General Motors,Barack Obama,automobile,toilet,bailout,car,auto industry,taxpayers

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Blog

Keith Knight's Suggestions for the NCS

Keith Knight amuses me. We recently chatted in the bar at the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) convention that Keith was crashing. As something of an NCS historian, I thought I would respond to Keith’s suggestions in cartoon form below.

Hold the convention in a smaller town.
We’ve had some odd convention locations in the past. The convention in Asheville, NC wasn’t very well attended but was one of my favorites. I think my favorite one of all time was the one in Cancun, Mexico, where I never would have otherwise gone and the attendance was the lowest I can remember. The problem with odd locales for the convention is that attendance drops. In fact, I could make an argument for always having the convention in California or near New York City every year.

Aggressively court web and indie cartoonists.
The NCS should be doing that. They haven’t really been “courting” anybody.

Have certain convention events open to the public.
That’s a suggestion that has spawned some heated debate. In the past, when the NCS has had public events, we either had a bad experience or a poor turnout. An exception was a fairly successful book signing/public event at the convention in San Antonio ten years ago.

The one us old-timers remember is the debacle in San Francisco about 18 years ago, where the cartoonists and the public were invited to a reception/signing at a book store and the public mobbed Jim Davis (Garfield) and Charles Schulz (Peanuts), rudely driving them away and ignoring the other cartoonists. It was pretty unpleasant.

I remember in the bar at the St. Francis Hotel that night, the cartoonists were joking about how they could all draw Garfield and should all just say they were Jim Davis. The hotel staff gave the cartoonists white plates and sharpie markers to draw on the plates ““ in exchange for a drawing on a plate, the cartoonist could have a free drink. The hotel ended up with a huge stack of worthless drawings of Garfield on plates, signed by faux Jim Davises. I heard the NCS, Ohio State or somebody got a call from the hotel years later, asking what to do with “all your plates.” I believe they ended up on the trash heap of history.

Keith’s suggestion about “cartoonist vs. cartoonist action + beer” misses the point.  The cartoonist vs. cartoonist action IS the beer.

Keith Knight on the National Cartoonists Society.
Keith Knight on the National Cartoonists Society.
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Blog

Editorial Cartoonists Panel at San Diego Comic Con

I’ll be moderating a panel of political cartoonists at the San Diego Comic Con again this year, on Sunday, JULY 26th, from 11:30am-12:30pm in ROOM 5AB.  Pat Oliphant will be there as a Comic Con special guest, and I’ll invite some local editorial cartoonists again, but I was wondering if there are any cartoonists, whose work is featured on our Cagle.com site, from outside of California, who will be in the area for Comic Con, that I wouldn’t have thought to invite and who would like to be on the panel – please let me know.

The Comic Con has gotten too big for San Diego, I understand the convention is already sold out.  I think it is time they moved to Las Vegas.  Cartoonists should still be able to get in, though, by registering as professionals.  I can be found at the Comic Con hanging around with my buddies at the National Cartoonists Society booth most of the time.

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See the Mysterious Cagle in Tokyo

I’m pretty reclusive and enigmatic, but you can spot me at a rare public appearance in Tokyo at the Hara Museum of Contemporary Art on Saturday, June 13th from 3:00 to 4:30pm. I’ll be giving a talk on The Evolving Role of Political Cartoons with Japanese translation.

If you’re passing through Tokyo, come on by. A reservation is required. Please make your reservation by phone at TEL: 03-3445-0669 or E-mail: [email protected] with your name, contact phone number and number of people attending. I’m told there is an interesting exhibition there: “The Exploration of the Micropop Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Art.”