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See Me at Comic Con

I’ll be moderating a panel of Editorial Cartoonists again this year at the San Diego Comic Con!  We may have one or two more cartoonists than what has been announced.

I’ll also be spending a chunk of time hanging out at the National Cartoonists Society booth.  Stop by and say hello.

Sunday, July 26th, 11:30-12:30, Room 5AB, Newspaper Editorial Cartoonists“” Daryl Cagle, the cartoonist for MSNBC.com, moderates a panel of top editorial cartoonists including Steve Breen of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the most recent Pulitzer Prize winner; Michael Ramirez of Investor’s Business Daily, the previous year’s Pulitzer winner; Jeff Koterba, nationally syndicated cartoonist for the Omaha World-Herald; Glenn McCoy, who draws the comic strip The Duplex in addition to his nationally syndicated political cartoons; and Rich Moyer (animated editorial cartoons). Editorial cartoonists are seeing their newspaper clients diminish as their audience on the web grows, raising lots of questions for the profession that these cartoonists will address.

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Video: Interview with Mikhaela Reid and Jen Sorensen

Here is another interview from this year’s Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) Convention. This time, I sit down with Mikhaela Reid and Jen Sorenson, two successful female alternative cartoonists featured on our site, and discuss the state of the industry and the uphill battle female cartoonists face.

In fact, the conversation was so good, we had to break it up into two parts:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zJm7XZYLAY&hl=en&fs=1&]

Here are some of Mikhaela’s recent cartoons:

 
And here are some of Sorenson’s:

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Video: Interview with Tim Eagan of Deep Cover

At the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention in Seattle, I had the pleasure to speak with Tim Eagan, the wonderful cartoonist behind the weekly comic Deep Cover (which you can read here):

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1uvchY6VYI&hl=en&fs=1&]

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Cam Cardow's Nation Newspaper Award Winning Cartoons

My good friend, Ottawa Citizen cartoonist Cam Cardow. Cam recently won Canada’s highest award in journalism, the National Newspaper Award (NNA), which is their equivalent to our Pulitzer Prize.

Here are his winning cartoons (view more of Cam’s fantastic cartoons here), along with a video Cam made about receiving the award:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxvbbCiHlSI&hl=en&fs=1&]

Check back for more videos from this year’s American Association of Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention!

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Video: Interview with New Orleans Cartoonist Steve Kelley

Walking around the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) annual convention here in Seattle, and I came across my buddy Steve Kelley, the staff cartoonist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune and one of the funniest cartoonists working today.

Here’s our conversation:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd_S6WCDazo&hl=en&fs=1&]

And here are some of his recent cartoons (View more of Steve’s cartoons here):

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Video: Interview with Syndicated Cartoonist Matt Bors

I’m still here in Seattle at the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) annual convention, and in this video, I speak with syndicated cartoonist Matt Bors.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5g8OrMvxCY&hl=en&fs=1&]

Matt is in a tough position in the market, as he is a left-wing multiple-panel cartoonists in an environment where editors like to buy single-panel conservative cartoons.

Matt and I talk about the marketplace for his cartoons, why he chooses to continue down the path he’s chosen and what the future of the cartooning profession holds.

Here are some of Matt’s cartoons that we featured in the video (view more of Matt’s cartoons here):

matt-bors-daryl-cagle-obama-flu

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Video: Cartoonists on using Twitter, Facebook

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDP3QwW62S0&hl=en&fs=1&]

Here’s part two of my lunch interview with Jeff Parker of Florida Today, Mike Peters of Mother Goose & Grimm and the Dayton Daily News, Monte Wolverton, brilliant weekly editorial cartoonist and Mad Magazine alumni and the Ottawa Citizen’s Cam Cardow. We’re all here in Seattle at the annual Association of American Editorial Cartoonists convention talking shop about the future of editorial cartooning.

In this video, we speak about social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter aiding us as cartoonists. You’ll even see a glimpse of me peek in and speak about the night Michael Jackson died, and how I was able to shoot ideas by my Twitter followers (follow me on Twitter here), ending up with a cartoon that resulted from their suggestions.

Here’s the cartoon I ended up with (and note the thank you I added for all my twitter followers):

Check back for more videos from the convention.

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Blog

Video: Cartoonists Talk Shop at AAEC Convention

Hello everyone. I’m in Seattle right now attending the annual Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) convention. We have a lot to do, including lots of seminars aimed at helping cartoonists navigate the industry’s rough waters. But for me, the best part of these conventions is sitting around a bar and catching up with old cartoonist friends.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96fxaCtJ4ok&hl=en&fs=1&]

In this video I posted, I’m having lunch with Jeff Parker of Florida Today, Mike Peters of Mother Goose & Grimm and the Dayton Daily News, Monte Wolverton, brilliant weekly editorial cartoonist and Mad Magazine alumni and the Ottawa Citizen’s Cam Cardow, who just won the National Newspaper Award (NAA), his second of Canada’s equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize.

People always seem interested to know where cartoonists get their ideas, so here you go. I’ll try to upload more videos as the convention rolls along.

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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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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.