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October 31, 2003 HAPPY HALLOWEEN! Last night I added a bunch of new cartoons to our Halloween Political Cartoon Treats collection. Even if you have visited the collection before, it is now time for another look at the cartoons that have arrived, just in time for Halloween. And don't forget to visit Steve Sack's Haunted House. We also have a new collection of cartoons about the wildfires in California, with some interesting almost-Yahtzees on the California flag and books of matches.
Today we have cool BLOG activities, prepared for us by Kirk Anderson! E-mail Kirk at kirk@kirktoons.com and visit his site here. 
I love to post "killed cartoons"!
The ones I like the best are the great, hard hitting cartoons
that are killed by timid editors. If a cartoon is killed because
it is lousy or obscene, that's no fun at all.
Yesterday Scott Bateman took some swipes at David Horsey. Today David replies. Click here to see David's cartoon archive.
"Cartooning, like any artform, is much more interesting when you can gain some insight about the artist from their work. All I can glean about say, Pulitzer-winning cartoonist David Horsey from his work is that he has a creepy affinity for breasts." All I can say is that Scott Bateman doesn't know much about my work. My readers seem to have no problem gleaning fairly clear opinions from my cartoons. Perhaps Scott should talk to some of my readers who have branded me variously as a liberal-left-wing-socialist-anti-business-environmental-extremist-anti-Ameri can traitor. Now, I don't necessarily agree with their characterization, but such a response from my detractors does suggest it's not all that hard to detect a certain political philosophy in my work. I do admit to making a stab at subtlety. I personally believe if the only weapon a cartoonist uses to sway public opinion is a sledgehammer, then he or she will pretty much end up preaching to the converted. That may work in small circulation urban weeklies, but a more nuanced approach seems more useful in mass circulation dailies like the 250 that run my cartoons. I do not believe an editorial cartoonist's job is merely to scream out a strong opinion. On many days that is, indeed, the job. But, on other days the occasion may call for more temperate analysis and on another it may be simply to capture the essence of an issue in a visual form. Once in awhile, just to change things up, it's also okay to do something just to be funny.
Five of the cartoons featured actresses in Hollywood settings. The remaining ten involved one biker chick, one Playboy Bunny, one topless dancer, one woman in a bar being picked up by a lab rat, one internet porn star, two women at a beach, a Dolly Parton clone, Monica Lewinsky and a bug (I don't know if I should include the bug, but she did have a prominent thorax). To me, this suggests less a creepy affinity for breasts than a rather comprehensive choice of subject matter that gets beyond the Beltway obsession of the typical editorial cartoon. Still, I have to admit that Scott NEVER draws women with breasts. In fact, he doesn't even draw them with hands, unless you count those oven-mitt-shaped things at the ends of their arms. Just for the fun of it, I also did a count of how many of those tired old elephants and donkeys were featured in my book. The total: 4 donkeys and 3 elephants. I think I should get credit, however, for creating a new symbol for the Reform Party: a chicken with its head cut off.
Editorial cartooning-why does it suck so much these days? First, can editorial cartoonists maybe come up with a better, more contemporary system of symbolism? I mean, most of us are still drawing talking donkeys and elephants in suits. Now, when Thomas Nast came up with these symbols for the Democrats and Republicans back in the nineteenth century, they were entirely appropriate and accurate. But now? Woefully out of date. Geez, you might as well draw a Snidely Whiplash guy twirling his mustache, shouting, "Accursed Mountebanks!" I mean, what the f---? How are these symbols supposed to resonate for a 21st century reader? Come on, guys-how much imagination does it take to come up with your own system of symbolism for your work? Just sit down and say, "OK-from now on, I draw the Democrats as prairie dogs and the Republicans as naked mole rats." Or maybe bison and badgers, or Sonic the Hedgehog and that Pets.com sock puppet. See? Was that hard? Now you try it! And the Uncle Sam hat? It dates back at least as far as James Montgomery Flagg's original Uncle Sam poster, from the First World War. Can our nation's political cartoonists not come up with a more contemporary symbol, like maybe a T-shirt that reads, "George W. Bush lied his ass off about Iraq and all I got was this lousy budget deficit?" And can we please do away with labels in editorial cartoons? Why draw a caricature of Bush and then write the word "Bush" on his lapel? Do you think your readers are too dim to figure out he's supposed to be the President or what? A now-infamous bit of labeling came in a cartoon a few years ago by Steve Kelly, now at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans. I forget what issue the cartoon was actually about, but it featured the stork delivering a baby to a happy couple. Kelly helpfully wrote the word "stork" on the stork's body, in case, you know, readers thought it was that other long-beaked bird that delivers babies to peoples' houses. Talking animals, silly hats and labels aren't just pet peeves of mine-by relying on such old tricks, editorial cartoonists in the 21st Century are in danger of becoming completely irrelevant. Most of your mainstream political cartoonists play it safe these days, simply making a safe little joke about the news that you might see in Jay Leno's monologue. If I wanted that, I'd just watch Jay Leno. Political cartooning in this century exists in an environment with more and better options for political humor-for instance, The Onion and The Daily Show. And when's the last time anyone laughed at an editorial cartoon as hard as they laughed at say, "Area Man (fill in headline)?" It's called "editorial cartooning" for a reason-there should be some editorial content in there with the humor. I should be able to tell where a cartoonist stands on the issue he or she's cartooning about. But look at the cartoonists that Newsweek uses all the time. Where does Luckovich fall on the whole left-right spectrum? I have no clue. Does Mike Peters have a political conviction any deeper than, "Ha ha! Bush is kinda dumb?" Not that I can see. Cartooning, like any artform, is much more interesting when you can gain some insight about the artist from their work. All I can glean about say, Pulitzer-winning cartoonist David Horsey from his work is that he has a creepy affinity for breasts. Oh, there are a few people out there who are trying to push editorial cartooning forward into a new century. The cartoons of Tom Tomorrow and Ted Rall feature honest-to-God jokes and actual opinions, and Ruben Bolling ("Tom The Dancing Bug") is doing some amazing work. But for the most part, these cartoonists are relegated to the alt-weeklies rather than the daily papers, which prefer the safer, old-style cartoons, with all those dusty old symbols and labels. What would editorial cartooning pioneer Thomas Nast do about this state we're in? Get mad as hell and invent a new political symbol - like, say, a roadkill raccoon.
Mike Reagan, the eldest son of President Ronald Reagan, is heard on more than 200 talk radio stations nationally as part of the Premiere Radio Network. Comments to mereagan@hotmail.com.
People always seem surprised to learn that the biggest audience for our site is in schools. I was also surprised to learn how widely our site is used in classrooms around the world to teach English. I can understand political cartoons in Social Studies class, maybe even art classes --but English? Brian Fairrington is one of eighteen cartoonists whose work I represent
and license through my little Cagle
Cartoons syndicate. Those are Brian's cartoons at the right
as they appear in the current issue of a French magazine called
"Today in English," which is a classroom news magazine
for kids in France who are learning English. The magazine is
festooned with American political cartoons. Our e-mail is also
filled with missives from teachers and kids, from around the
world, who are fascinated with American editorial cartoons, or
who are forced to puzzle over them as homework assignments.
Every morning I check the Editor & Publisher web site for my daily dose of newspaper news. I have posted an excellent article below, by E&P's editor, David Astor. Dave chronicles a day he spent with cartoonist, Walt Handelsman of Newsday. Many thanks to Dave and E&P for allowing me to post this article. View an archive of Walt Handelsman's cartoons here. E-mail Dave Astor at dastor@editorandpublisher.com. A Day in the Life of an Editorial
Cartoonist By Dave Astor "Please do not feed the editorial cartoonist," reads a sign on the door of Walt Handelsman's office at Newsday in Melville, N.Y. That warning, jokingly placed by a colleague, speaks to the perception that his profession is populated by people wilder than the average bear. There's some truth to that, but only so much. Editorial cartoonists are those rare animals who use scathing satire or goofy gags to rattle the inked borders of their opinion-page habitats, but they're also serious journalists -- as a day in the work life of Handelsman shows. It's Sept. 24, and Handelsman starts the day reading his home newspaper before leaving the house. He's not required to coordinate his cartoon ideas with Newsday's stories or editorials, but there's plenty of serendipitous synergy on this day after President Bush's United Nations speech. The front-page headline, the lead editorial, and Handelsman's cartoon all note that Bush did not bring a humble attitude to the United Nations, even as the situation in Iraq deteriorates. Handelsman -- a 1997 Pulitzer Prize winner syndicated to 250 newspapers via Tribune Media Services -- boards his gold-colored Jeep Grand Cherokee for the drive to work through Long Island's lush suburban landscape. Today he's talking to E&P, but he usually spends this 4 1/2-mile commute listening to National Public Radio. The artist is impressed with the amount of in-depth information NPR offers. "But it's almost too much," he laments. "They make both sides sound so plausible" -- an approach hardly conducive to a pointed cartoon. Handelsman adds that some NPR material is too esoteric for the average American. "I always want my cartoons to be about something people are discussing at the dinner table," he says. One "something" Handelsman is considering as a cartoon subject today is the California recall election, which had just been reinstated for Oct. 7. But it's only 9:15 a.m. Another cartoon idea could always pop up during the next few hours of attending an editorial board meeting, glancing at various other New York and national dailies, watching cable news on his office TV, and checking the Web for any breaking stories. "The speed of the news cycle has changed so much since I became a cartoonist more than 20 years ago," he says. "There was no Internet, and there was no cable. You were able to chill out and work on one topic." But Handelsman, 46, likes the fact that he no longer has to rummage through newspaper morgues to study pictures of the people and things he needs to draw. And that's only one of the benefits of the digital age. A long island of awards Handelsman opens the door to his office in the "Viewpoints" section of the massive Newsday building. It's much quieter here than in the newsroom-adjacent office Handelsman had at The Times-Picayune of New Orleans from 1989 to 2001. Immediately visible are Handelsman's many honors -- including National Headliner Award plaques and a bust of Robert F. Kennedy he received for winning a 1996 RFK Journalism Award. There's also a life-sized cardboard cutout of President Bush, a three-dimensional Bill Clinton face, framed cartoons from peers at other newspapers, a gigantic "No. 2000" pencil Handelsman marched with in a New Orleans parade, and various other knickknacks such as action figures of Baltimore Orioles players -- signifying Handelsman's roots in the Baltimore suburb of Owings Mills, Md. And there's a pile of papers filled with sketches, doodles, and catch phrases. "It's my security-blanket area," says Handelsman, a place filled with "microbacteria that might lead to a germ of an idea" on rare days when inspiration runs dry. Then it's time for the 10 a.m. editorial board meeting, which is attended by five people in the flesh and three others via speaker phone. Among the topics the paper decides on for next-day editorials: How the Social Security system and America's economy might be helped by the trend of more people postponing retirement. The California recall situation doesn't make the cut, but that's OK with Handelsman. "I'll be the one doing that topic," he says immediately after the meeting. "It gives me the opportunity to add that dynamic to the page." Another twist Handelsman adds to the editorial page is providing cartoons that are occasionally more conservative than the Newsday stance. Handelsman leans liberal, but believes "there's plenty to bash on both sides." And Handelsman creates his own intra-cartoon dynamic by periodically doing a silly rather than hard-hitting drawing. "Readers like that mix," he says.
It's after 11 a.m., and Handelsman is about to do some serious sketching. But first he checks his e-mail. One message is from an aspiring cartoonist seeking advice. Handelsman had already replied to this artist -- suggesting he call him at Newsday to chat -- but the e-mail had bounced back. Now Handelsman feels bad that the person might think he's being ignored. Then Handelsman checks out CNN.com, and sees a story about MSN wanting to close down its chat rooms because of the sexual predators lurking in them. A possible future cartoon topic, he ponders, but for today he decides to stick with the California recall. The Newsday staffer has three recall-related ideas. He isn't totally thrilled with any of them -- Handelsman says about 25% of the 300 or so cartoons he does a year are on his A-list -- but there's definitely a hierarchy amongst today's trio. The one he likes least shows a man holding a newspaper with the headline, "California Election Back On." The man eyes a ponytailed protestor carrying a sign saying, "Recall the Recall of the Recalled Recall!" Handelsman is somewhat happier with a cartoon picturing a different-looking protestor holding the same placard. A woman seeing the sign tells her husband, "That does it! We're moving back to Florida!" -- ground zero of the 2000 presidential election debacle. Handelsman does wonder if the word "back" should be removed. "I can spend hours fooling around with two words," he says. "Wording is key, and I try to make it as concise as possible." Handelsman opts to delete "back." He is happiest with a cartoon showing a woman saying, "Did they just recall the recall or recall the recalled recall?" Her TV-watching husband replies, "I don't recall." But Handelsman feels the art needs some work before he shows it and the other two ideas to Deputy Editorial Page Editor Carol Richards. "Carol is very visual," says the cartoonist. Handelsman draws the wife standing next to an armchair rather than sitting with her husband on a sofa, puts in details such as a TV remote, sketches a kitchen doorway in the background to give the cartoon more visual depth, and adds a dazed-looking canine. "Now that I have a dog at home, I'm adding more dogs to cartoons," says Handelsman with a smile, referring to his nine-month-old chocolate lab. He pencils in the changes on a flat light table on his desk. "I used a drawing board for years, but everything I put on it would slide off," he explains. In the midst of all this, Handelsman receives a phone call asking if he'd be willing to make a speech to a Long Island group of accountants. Handelsman -- whose typical presentation includes remarks, a cartoon slide show, sketching, and more -- will make appearances gratis for certain audiences, but feels the $300 fee offered in this case isn't enough from a professional organization. Dogs and ponytails Handelsman is just about ready to go into Richards' office, but first asks "Viewpoints" News Editor Alleen Barber to take a look at the three cartoons. "I trust her judgment," Handelsman says. "She will not laugh at a cartoon that sucks. She also knows pop culture, and is an excellent proofreader." He first shows Barber the Florida cartoon. "You have to think about it too much," she says. Then Handelsman displays the cartoon he likes least. "That one's not funny," Barber opines. Finally, he shows Barber his favorite drawing. "That one's much funnier," she says. Barber then suggests a comma, changing the wife's question slightly to: "Did they just recall the recall, or recall the recalled recall?" And she suggests having the husband say "I can't recall" rather than "I don't recall." Handelsman makes the short walk to Richards' office -- and the approval process is short, too. "That's funny, that's good," says the deputy editorial page editor as she scans the "I can't recall" cartoon. Richards also compliments Handelsman on the dog in that drawing, and on the ponytailed man in one of the runner-up cartoons. Discussing 'W' and WMDs Back in his office, Handelsman talks about President Bush and Iraq: "He did get rid of a bad guy, but not a box of WMDs? Nothing? Nothing?" And he talks about the Middle East. "The hardest issues to cartoon about are the issues that don't go away," Handelsman says. "There's nothing fresh you can say about the Mideast, though you can try." Handelsman doesn't just comment on national and international matters. He draws at least one local cartoon a week on a topic relating to Long Island, New York City, or New York state. Then Handelsman heads for a local lunch in Newsday's cafeteria. He eats a turkey wrap and potato chips at a table with a half-dozen colleagues, many from the paper's art department. Behind his desk again, Handelsman is preparing to draw the finished version of his California cartoon when a CNN segment reports on the "Do Not Call" registry being put on hold -- to the delight of telemarketers and the dismay of people trying to eat dinner uninterrupted. "That could be a good topic for tomorrow," he says. Handelsman -- also known to watch the Fox and MSNBC news channels -- photocopies his penciled drawing, places it on the light table, and puts a $3 piece of Graphix DuoShade paper on top of the photocopy. Then he begins lettering and inking with various Rapidograph pens and a marker, occasionally using old-fashioned Liquid Paper to correct mistakes. At 2:45, Handelsman gets a call from friend and fellow Pulitzer-winning editorial cartoonist Mike Luckovich of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Creators Syndicate. Luckovich is doing a cartoon about Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark, and describes the idea verbally to see if Handelsman likes it. He does. A day's electronic ending Now, the $3 sheet of paper is showing its worth. Handelsman brushes photo chemicals on parts of it to bring out gray shading in his cartoon. Then he blots the drawing, places it in his scanner, and looks at it on the computer to the right of his desk. Using Photoshop, Handelsman deletes tiny stray blotches of ink, pulls the man in the cartoon a little away from the TV, makes the cable box on top of the set bigger, gives the back of the box more complicated wiring, moves his signature up a bit, and makes other subtle changes: "Tweakage," he calls it. Technologically, it's a much different world than when Herblock was Handelsman's age. Imagine the late Washington Post cartoonist using a computer to tweak the stubble on Richard Nixon's five o'clock shadow? Then Handelsman electronically transmits the cartoon to Richards, to Newsday's Web site, and to his syndicate. "I used to have to stuff envelopes and mail my cartoons out," he remembers not-so-fondly. Handelsman also faxes a copy of the recall drawing to USA Today for possible use in that paper's editorial-cartoon roundup. He's frequently reprinted there, as well as in The New York Times and Newsweek magazine. Handelsman gets up and stretches. "This job isn't so good on the back," he says. It can also be stressful on days when good ideas are hard to come by as deadlines loom. But in a office where the sign instructs that editorial cartoonists aren't supposed to be fed, Handelsman loves giving readers food for thought. Source: Editor & Publisher
Online
Steve put together a Halloween
Haunted House for us, which has proven to be the single
most popular feature on our site. We dust it off and bring it
out every year as Halloween approaches. If you have seen it before,
come back for another look. If you haven't seen Sack's Haunted
House, you are in for a treat. A sweet treat. With hidden horrors. October 10, 2003 The folks at Slate's Correction Box just got his note from Gavin Ellis, the Editor of the New Zealand Herald.
Malcolm Evans disagrees with
his former employer's portrayal of events. You
can see Malcolm's disputed cartoons here. We've posted
the New Zealand Herald editor's response in our BLOG before,
click here to see.
And click here to read Malcolm's
portrayal of events, and here
for a follow up.
ANOTHER CARTOONIST IS LAID OFF BETTER ARCHIVES
|
In
his screed on editorial cartooning, Scott Bateman wrote:
As
far as a "creepy affinity for breasts," I just looked
through the 192 pages of my new book, "From Hanging Chad
to Baghdad." In all of those pages of my cartoons, there
are 15 in which female cleavage of one kind or another is depicted
(there is also one in which a guy wearing a fake nose and mustache
is wearing a bra with tassles, but I assume that doesn't count
in Scott's creepy category). I don't know if 15 pages out of
192 is a high ratio or not but, nevertheless, I did the following
content analysis:
October
23, 2003
October
20, 2003
Recoiling
at the recall
October
9, 2003