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Cartoon News and Views
April 1998
by ED McGEEAN
Reuben Awards
The National Cartoonists Society's final ballot for the
1997 Reuben Award arrived on Feb. 28.
This year's nominees for the outstanding Cartoonist of
the Year 1997 are: Scott Adams for "Dilbert", Pat Brady for "Rose
is Rose", Greg Evans for "Luann" and Patrick McDonnell for
"Mutts". This is Brady's first nomination and in my opinion, a
cartoonist who has been overlooked for too long.
This is one of the toughest fields of candidates in years,
with each nominee having his group of supporters. I wish them all well.
The winner of this coveted statue will be announced the
evening of Saturday, April 25th at the gala black tie Reuben Awards dinner
at the Ritz Carlton Huntington in Pasadena, Calif. The Reuben statue, in
case you haven't heard, is named in honor of cartoonist Rube Goldberg, one
of the original 26 founders of the NCS and is modeled after a lamp he sculptured
and displayed in his studio. It is the highest honor an individual cartoonist
can win.
With the exception of a tie vote, which happened once in
1969 when Johnny Hart and Pat Oliphant tied, only one Reuben statuette is
a awarded each year. Although there are a small number of two-time winners
(no one ever won three), a recent rule change decreed that no cartoonist
can win more then one Reuben in a lifetime.
Ten other cartoonists will receive category awards for
work in different fields of cartooning (often referred to as Reubens) and
are presented a plaque. This year, the 94-year-old Dale Messick, creator
of "Brenda Starr", will receive the Milton Caniff Award for lifetime
achievement.
Attendees also re-ceive a copy of the collectible Reuben
Journal, conceived and created by those two facetious CAPSers, David Folkman
and Mell Lazarus. The contents of which are a far better guarded secret
than President Clinton's latest peccadillo. In comparison to this duo, Monica
Lewin-sky would be considered a veritable canary.
Mallard Fillmore vs. Doonesbury
In a series of comic strips that ran the week of Feb. 2,
Bruce Tinsley, the creator of "Mallard Fillmore" that runs in
the L.A. Daily News, took exception to a series of Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury"
strips that appeared in the L.A. Times in mid-December attacking Rush Limbaugh
and other "right-wing hate radio" hosts for their stand against
President Clinton allegedly getting Democratic campaign donors buried in
Arlington National Cemetery without adequate military credentials.
As of this writing Trudeau has not bothered to answer Tinsley
in print or state his feelings on the matter.
This might be because Trudeau considers Tinsley's criticism
to be no more than a flea bite, not worth his time to answer. "Doonesbury"
is distributed to about 1,400 papers by Universal Press Syndicate, while
the King Features syndicated "Mallard" appears in about 400 papers.
While many cartoonists have good-naturedly spoofed each
others strips, no one could remember any personal attacks by cartoonists
against each other in their comics.
Even the famous feud between Al Capp and Ham Fisher never
went so far. Although I can remember an extremely humorous satirical view
of syndicates, a thinly veiled Al Capp and Harold Gray by CAPSer Will Eisner
in his "The Spirit," that still makes me laugh whenever I think
of it.
In reference to Special Federal Prosecutor Kenneth Starr,
whose specialty appears to be making mountains out of molehills, observant
CAPSer June Foray penned this witticism to the L.A. Times' op-ed page.
"How many more people in Washington can we expect
to attain Starr-dom?"
June misses seeing her fellow members, but was in bed slurping
chicken soup on March 6, trying to get over a case of laryngitis. No fun,
when she is scheduled to work on the 8th and 9th. Watch for June on the
Academy Awards pre-show telecast (she's on the board and makes this gig
every year).
Pat Oliphant Spiked
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel dropped Pat Oliphant's syndicated
editorial cartoons because he was doing a series of ads for Northwest Airlines-which
supported the "Open Skies" aviation policy.
The idiotic part of this drop is that the ads did not run
in the Journal Sentinel, but were spotted by their deputy editorial page
editor in the New York Times national edition.
CAPS member Lee Salem, vice president/editorial director
of Universal Press said, to his knowledge, the Journal Sentinel was the
only one of 475 clients to drop Oliphant's editorial cartoons because of
the ads.
Doonesbury Censored
In other Trudeau news, the 250,000 circulation Charlotte
(N.C.) Observer pulled two recent "Doonesbury" strips containing
the words "oral sex" and "semen-streaked dress," in
reference to l'affair Clinton-Lewinsky.
The Observer stated that some readers may consider this
censorship and didn't enjoy pulling the work, "but enjoy even less
the coarsening of our culture-and what I see it doing to our children."
The paper offered to mail or fax copies of the Feb. 9 and
10 strips to readers who requested them and as of Feb. 14 had filled 200
requests.
Universal Press said they knew of only a few other papers
who had dropped these strips. Lee Salem said the syndicate reviews strips
"very carefully" with Trudeau before distribution. Universal also
included a letter with the strips alerting editors to their adult-language
content.
Salem said the response to these comics was "relatively
mild" compared to controversial "Doones-bury" strips of the
past. This may be because many papers run the comic on the op-ed page or
in other sections, that children may not read.
White House Sex Scandal Site Featured in E&P
From the Muppets to X-Rated files... CAPSer Daryl Cagle's
Web page was featured in the Feb. 14 issue of Editor & Publisher by
David Astor. Titled "White House Sex Scandal" (www.cagle.com/
scandal), Daryl updates the material every day with new material.
I'm told that Daryl has one of the best cartoon sites on
the Web. You will have to check that for yourself, until some well-to-do
corporation contributes a computer and the hardware necessary to launch
me into cyberspace, when they are updating to higher technology in the future.
End of Thatch
Creators Syndicate cartoonist Jeff Shesol is putting the
stopper in his ink well and ending his "Thatch" comic strip in
early April, to take on a new job as a speechwriter for President Clinton.
"Thatch" does not appear in either of the Los Angeles newspapers.
The 28-year-old Shesol, a former Rhodes Scholar, began
"Thatch" in 1994 as a "Generation X Doones-bury," that
is in about 150 papers.
With Clinton as a lame-duck President, this doesn't appear
to be the swiftest career move I have ever heard of. However, should Al
Gore follow Clinton and keep Shesol on his staff, maybe cartoonists and
syndicate execs would get a chance to try out the Lincoln Bedroom accommodations.
Selection of New Cartoonist in St. Louis
Editor & Publisher's David Astor reported that the
St. Louis Post-Dispatch used a group of editorial cartoonists the weekend
of Feb. 21 to help them select the paper's new editorial cartoonist.
This is the first time I can recall a newspaper using a
peer group to aid in a selection of this type, but it seems to make a certain
amount of sense. The final decision will be made in the traditional way-by
the paper's editorial page editor, Christine Bertelson.
Astor didn't say how the Post-Dispatch advertised the job
(except for one Web site), only that about 60 creators applied for the job
by the Feb. 6 deadline.
The paper picked a dozen finalists, sending their work
to a jury of four Pulitzer Prize editorial cartoonists including: Jim Borgman
of the Cincinnati Enquirer and King Features Syndicate, who also does the
"Zits" comic strip with Jerry Scott; Doug Marlette of Long Island
N.Y. Newsday and Creators Syndicate, who also does the "Kudzu"
strip; Mike Peters of the Dayton Daily News and Tribune Media Services,
creator of the "Mother Goose and Grimm" strip and Signe Wilkinson
of the Philadelphia Daily News and Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate.
Three of the jurors traveled to St. Louis Feb. 21, at the
Post-Dispatch's expense. to discuss the candidates (Marlette was unable
to make the trip, but offered his input from afar).
The jury chose three or four finalists, who will be interviewed
at length by the paper before Bertelson makes her final decision in early
April.
Wilkinson, a former president of the Association of American
Editorial Cartoonists, whose Web site was one of the places used by the
paper to advertise the job, when asked what she though about the paper using
cartoonists in the hiring process, said, "I'm thrilled an editor would
take our profession so seriously." She added that Bertelson is a "terrific
and adventuresome editor who really wants to raise the wattage of her pages
and isn't afraid of editorial cartoonists."
The winner will replace Tom Engelhardt, who retired Jan.
1 after 35 years. The Post-Dispatch has a long tradition of fine editorial
cartoonists, including Pulitzer Prize winners Daniel Fitzpatrick, Tom Little
and Bill Mauldin.
MAD Exhibit Travels to California
And this just in from CAPSer Mark J. Cohen for your future
events calendar. The date of Mark's traveling MAD magazine exhibit, Humor
in a Jugular Vein opens June 13, 1998 at the Fullerton Museum Center and
will run through Aug. 23. Mark and his wife, Rosie will be there for the
opening (Mark, please note: The CAPS meeting will be June 9, in case you
can get here early.)
The exhibit features original MAD art from the comic book
days through 1995. A few of the usual gang of idiots are planning to attend
too.
Mark also writes that Ohio State University's Cartoon Research
Library will be publishing a hard cover, 160 page book about his collection
of cartoonist's self caricatures.
"The hard part was having to choose only 145 cartoonists
to be included out of a collection of over 600 self caricatures."
Steve Bentley, Rick Detorie, Chester Gould, George Herriman,
Fredrick Opper, Bob Thaves, Chic Young and others are included, as are CAPSers
Sergio Aragones, Frank Kelly Freas and Mell Lazarus. CAPSer R.C. Harvey
is writing it, Lucy Caswell is the editor and NCS newsletter editor Frank
Pauer is the designer of the book. Mark feels it should be a winner, but
notes it is a very limited edition.
I'm not sure what he means by limited in terms of the number
to be published. If this is a truly well-done volume, it seems to me that
a book of this type would be a great item to sell at CAPSer Mort Walker's
In-ternational Museum of Cartoon Art and other such places, with a portion
of each sale going to support the archive that sells it.
About ten years ago, The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco
published a similar and much smaller version of this book in paperback,
that featured about 20 cartoonists. I found it most enjoyable and still
have my copy.
R.C. Harvey
Speaking of Harvey, who retired at the end of December.
His latest trip sounds like the Phil Yeh Olympics.
In early February Harv left Champaign to confer with Mark
Cohen on his book, then to The Ohio State University Cartoon Research Library
for talks with Lucy Caswell on the end of the year Festival of Comic Arts,
after which, it was on to Boca Raton, Florida and the International Museum
of Cartoon Arts and talks with CAPSers Mort Walker and Will Eisner. This
in addition to other articles he will be writing about other cartoonists
he visited along the way.
PHEW! He calls this retirement?
This trip had to do with getting art for the Seattle (Wash.)
Frye Art Museum Project, "That's Art! A Centennial Celebration of the
American Newspaper Comic Strip," that takes place later this year.
Bob is the guest curator for this exhibit and will be writing an essay for
the catalogue (96 elegantly produced pages). What Harv won't do to earn
those frequent flyer miles.
This tired me out so much, I think I'll take a nap.
Mickey Mouse's Copyright to Expire
According to the Hollywood Reporter the copyrights on Walt
Disney's earliest cartoons have begun to expire. And barring an act of Congress,
in just five years the protection will lapse on the first Mickey Mouse cartoon,
sending it into the public domain. Meaning once this happens, anyone can
distribute these films without Disney's permission and without paying a
dime in royalties.
Disney, other major studios and the MPAA are fighting this
75 year expiration by appealing to Congress to extend the copyright term
by 20 years. Legislation on this stalled in Congress last year and concerned
parties are trying again and placing their hopes on HR 2589-the Copyright
Term Extension Act of 1997.
The MPAA said the extension would bring U.S. copyright
law more in line with the European Union.
At best this sounds like a thumb in the dike to me. I'm
not sure how this exactly pertains to comic strips, comic books and other
items in our field. For instance, does the copyright protection end 75 years
after the comic first appeared? Last appeared, or when?
It seems to me that it would be fairer to extend the protection
until the creator and his direct descendants have died, or for at least
for 200 years.
Ctoons is Online
Tribune Media Services in partnership with Ctoons Studios,
a technology-based internet publishing and comic art production company
is offering a new Web site (www.ctoons.com)
that features a line-up of comics both from TMS and other syndicates, including
Creators, L.A. Times and Universal Press. The comics are enhanced with color,
sound and animation, with access to an extensive comics library.
Looks like another great way to keep up with some of your
favorite comics that no longer appear in your local gazette, because some
uncaring editor dropped them.
CAPSer Mark Mathes, managing editor TMS has sent info sheets
that will be distributed at the March meeting.
Ctoons Studios are based at: 63 Great Road, Maynard, Ma.
01754. Phone: 978-897-8332, Fax 978-897-8484, E-mail: info@ctoons.com
if you wish additional information.
More Death in For Better or For Worse
In a March 4 installment of her "For Better or For
Worse" comic strip CAPSer Lynn Johnston has the Angel of Death pay
another visit to her fictional family, when Elly Patterson's mother dies
in her sleep.
"Death is normal," said Johnston, whose parents
died about eight years ago. "This is what happens to people Elly's
age-my age. They lose their parents. Death is a part of life and showing
it in a comic strip seems to make people feel better. It made me feel better
to write it."
Johnston handled this in a most sensitive way, without
being preachy and I certainly hope it helps those who haven't learned to
face the tragic loss of a family member.
Arial Signs With United
United Media has announced the addition of Robert Ariail
to their line-up of award-winning NEA Syndicate editorial cartoonists, effective
March 9.
Ariail brings a "moderate-to-conservative" voice
to the op-ed page. He has worked as a staff cartoonist for The State (which
I presume is a South Carolina newspaper) since 1984. His work is described
as clever, derisive and unpredictable, his commentary skewers politicians
on both sides of the political fence with sarcasm and humor.
Ariail's work has won numerous awards, including first
place in the Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Award in
1997 and 1991; second place in 1995, '94, '93 and 1992; 3rd place in the
1997 National Headliner Awards and 1st place in 1990. He was also a finalist
for the 1995 Pulitzer Prize.
A native of Columbia, S.C. and a graduate of the University
of South Carolina, he has produced two best-selling collections of his work,
Ariail View (1990) and Ariail Attack (1992).
New Strip: Top of the World
TOP OF THE WORLD! If those four words sound familiar to
you, it might be that you are a movie buff who remembers James Cagney giving
himself a fiery sendoff in the film, "White Heat."
Then again, you may live in a city where your local newspaper
is already running the very humorous new United Feature Syndicate comic
strip, "Top of the World!"
Created by Los Angeles cartoonist Mark Tonra, the daily
and Sunday "Top of the World!" began March 2 in more than 30 newspapers
worldwide. If it's not in yours by the time you read this, you can see it
on United's ComicZone Web site at (www.comiczone.com),
then rant and rave at the features editor to give it a try.
"Top of the World!" stars two of zaniest convicts
to ever populate a prison and their continuous efforts to live outside the
walls.
Mugs, the leading con man, is a tenacious little rule-breaker
with a heart of gold and a Napoleonic complex. His cellmate is Knuckles,
a big and resilient oaf, who plays a second banana type Stanley to Mug's
Oliver.
Rounding out the cast of characters is Ma, Mugs' pugnacious
and protective mother, who believes that Longshot Prison is Harvard Yard
and Mugs wears handcuffs because he's pledging a fraternity. Cozzer Swindle,
Mugs' uncle and overconfident attorney. Kappy, the oldest living Civil War
veteran, a con of stature with an attitude problem.
Interacting on the good-guys side are Lackey, the captain
of the guards, a no-nonsense turnkey. The warden, a foppish rehabilitator
and lenient liberal with a heart for Gershwin tunes, poetry and chasing
butterflies. Princess, the warden's doting daughter and above board secretary.
Diana Loevy, vice president and editorial director of United
Media says-"There is a lovable, Keystone Kops quality to "Top
of the World!" that's been missing from the comics pages for a long
time and Mark Tonra has really captured a freewheeling slapstick mood with
this comic strip and succeeds in making witty observations with Mugs and
Knuckles silly pranks."
I completely agree and hope these two daffy cons will be
with us for a long, long time.
Tonra's other comic strips include "Jack & Tyler"
for King Features from 1995-1996, which I never heard of or saw. "Fishlegs
and Neanderthal Man" for Boston's Daily Free Press from 1988 to 1990,
in addition to work for such major magazines as Health, Good Housekeeping,
Cosmopolitan, Better Homes and Gardens, Barron's and The National Law Journal.
BOOK REVIEW
ALLEY OOP; The Magazine, issue #2. 13 x 8.5 inches; 85
pages, $65 U.S. for 4 issues. Spec Productions, 32, Manitou Springs, Co.
80829.
This issue kicks off with Alley Oop and Me, #7 in a series
of short cartoonists biographies, that Collier's magazine ran in 1949 (wish
I had saved these). A history of previous Alley Oop reprints by and what
is currently being printed, in addition to the material this series will
reprint in future issues.
The lead story is V.T. Hamlin's Alley Oop in Ancient Egypt,
from July 3 to Sept. 28, 1940 (continued from the last issue) in which Alley,
Ooola and Doc Bronson find themselves stranded in Troy, when G. Oscar Boom
flees back to Dr. Wonmug's lab via the time machine.
Boom sabotages the machine while Alley and the others are
being transported and they detour to Egypt and to start a new adventure.
Next is a 6 page Sunday sequence from 1994 written by Dave
Graue and drawn by CAPSer Jack Bender. This is followed by a Graue series
from Nov. 10 to Dec. 25, 1980, in which Alley and Ooola are sent back to
1930s Hollywood in search of Munda Wunch, a movie star who only made one
movie and disappeared. This has a surprise ending you'll enjoy.
The daily strips are all reprinted two to a page, almost
10 x 3 inches, with the Sundays on a page each, far larger than today's
postage stamp strip sizes.
If you love old comics, this is a project worth your support.
Be sure to ask Andy Feighery for a list of all his comic reprint books.
They are truly a joy to read.
(Note to syndicates and cartoonists or writers: If you
find yourself cleaning old proofs and promotional copy out of your files...Please
send them to Andy, he'll be glad to get and use this material.) - | 
