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April 28, 2004

The Cartoonists Convention

Fans of our site often ask for more inside information about the cartoonists. We're a dull bunch; we sit all day long and draw --but we are party animals.

Last week the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) had their annual convention in Lexington Kentucky. We visited the Keeneland race track, downed Kentucky bourbon, enjoyed fine Kentucky tobacco and met our star speaker, Larry Flynt, the famed publisher of Hustler magazine.

Each convention has a different theme. This year the theme was gambling, smoking, alcohol and pornography. Cartoonists know how to party.

Flynt won a hard fought Supreme Court case back in 1988 against evangelist Jerry Falwell. The decision in the case protected the rights of cartoonists to attack public figures. The AAEC, under then-president Signe Wilkinson, filed an Amicus brief (a "friend of the court argument") in support of Flynt's case. Fallwell had won a verdict in a lower court that gave him an award of about $200,000 to compensate for the emotional pain the preacher suffered from a rude parody in Hustler Magazine. I hate to think of what our profession would look like if cartoonists' victims could sue us for emotional suffering.

Our own Brian Fairrington took these snapshots and has given us the disturbing commentary below. Please e-mail your complaints about the commentary directly to Brian at BFair97@aol.com.

Cagle cartoonists Mike Lester (Rome News-Tribune), Daryl Cagle (Slate.com) and Brian Fairrington (Arizona Republic) pose for a picture inside the 50% tax bracket only guest suite at the posh Keeneland Race track in Lexington Kentucky. Keeneland is where the movie "Seabiscuit" was filmed. On the menu that day was a delicious horse named "Roast Beef".

Ivy Leaguer Kevin Kallaugher (Baltimore Sun) and yuppie Bob Gorrell (AOL News) discuss which loafers are the best to wear without socks. That's Nick Anderson (Louisville Courier-Journal) in between their charming heads.

Party animal, Etta Hulme (Ft Worth Star Telegraph) exits the Kentucky Theatre after the screening of the soon to be released PBS documentary profiling her remarkable career. Etta is the first female editorial cartoonist in the U.S. and is a true pioneer. That's Randy Bish (Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) behind her on the right, and John Branch (San Antonio Express-News) behind her on the left.

Grizzled cartoonist Clay Bennett on the left (Christian Science Monitor) smiles on as another grizzled cartoonist Ed Stein (Rocky Mountain News) ponders the oxymoron "Christian science".

J. D. Crowe (Mobile Register) does his best to remain modest while posing next to his star on the Kentucky Walk of Fame located directly outside the theatre where pornographer Larry Flynt is speaking inside.

Walt Handelsman (Newsday) shown in the center, displays a nicotine induced smile after finishing a cigarette just outside the doors of the Ann Tower gallery featuring an exhibit of anti-smoking cartoons. That's Eric Shansby, the Yale University cartoonist, giving us a "V" for Victory.

From the left, Mike Thompson (Detroit Free Press), Nick Anderson (Louisville Courier-Journal), Bruce Plante (Chattanooga Times), Rob People Magazine bachelor extraordinaire Rogers (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) and Chip Bok (Akron Beacon Journal) all wait with baited breath to hear handy, parenting tips from Larry Flynt.

Doonesbury creator, Garry Trudeau, whispers to AAEC President Mike Ritter (Arizona Tribune), while Etta Hulme belly dances somewhere off camera.

A gaggle of Locher Award winners, past and present, listens intently as Garry Trudeau addresses the crowd. The Locher Award is named after the late son of Dick Locher (Chicago Tribune) and his wife Mary. The award is presented annually to the best college cartoonist in America. Past winners from the left include Brian Fairrington '96, Nate Beeler '01, Pat O'Connor '98 and this year's winner, Josh Ferrin of the University of Utah.

Garry Trudeau, left, enjoys a glass of Boones Farm while Chris Britt (State Journal-Register) orders another harry-buffalo-sweat-jello-shooter.

From the left: Dr. Alan Blum (director of the University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society and organizer of the "Cartoonists take up smoking" art exhibit at the Ann Tower Gallery in Lexington) awaits the hotel shuttle along with cartoonists Ed Stein (Rocky Mountain News), Mike Keefe (Denver Post), along with Brian Fairrington and Steve Benson, both of the Arizona Republic. After the photo was taken, Steve Benson arrested all of them for jay walking. (Benson moonlights as a policeman --ed.)

The current man and legend behind the Dick Tracy comic strip, Dick Locher, and his lovely wife Mary, suddenly realize this is not an off-Broadway showing of the smash hit The Producers, but is instead a lecture given by porn producer Larry Flynt.

Steve Breen (San Diego Union-Tribune) takes time out from betting on the horses to review a newcomers portfolio. Steve Benson, far left, and John Branch, far right, help out.

Our elder statesman, Dick Locher, of the Chicago Tribune bestows the 2004 Locher Award on this year's overly scrubbed winner, Utah native, Josh Ferrin.

Cartooning legend, Arnold Roth, draws a cartoon that will soon show up on E-Bay to pay the college tuition for a lucky young onlooker.

Rex Babin (Sacramento Bee) reviews the work of Atlantic Monthly cartoonist, Sage Stossel, during the annual AAEC portfolio review. Rex is the one with the short hair. That's John Cole of the Durham Herald-Sun behind Rex.

Child Prodigy/Yale freshman, Eric Shansby, looks on as two time Pultizer prize winner Dave Horsey figures out that he will soon be in danger of losing his job.

I just got back from the convention! I'll post more on the convention soon.

I received this letter commenting on a Brian Fairrington cartoon. I thought the letter was pretty funny. Also, I find it funny that so many people seem to think that I draw every cartoon.

A pedantic comment on the Cagle cartoon

At the risk of sounding pedantic, a comment on your Cagle cartoon in Sunday's (04/25/04 D2) Honolulu Star-Bulletin:  In short, it doesn't work. Showing Kerry as sleepy and in need of a shave is a visual statement and readers can respond positively or negatively; however, competency in illustration isn't enough.  Someone once said a good idea can save a lousy drawing, but a good drawing can,t save a lousy idea.  If there is dialog, then the dialog has to follow certain conventions of English for it to make sense.

To have Kerry say he's going to roll back the tax cuts for the rich and then in the second block, having him chasing a guy named Rich doesn't follow because of the constraints of English.  The rich and people named Rich are neither semantically nor syntactically the same and can't be treated the same, even in humor.  Humor can, does, and should feel free to play with language, but unless a grammatical error is the point of the joke, it should be avoided.

If in the first block he'd said he's going to roll back the tax cuts for rich to match what he does in block two, actually going after a guy named Rich, then the word rich would have to be capitalized to indicate it's someone's name and the article the has to be deleted (which, of course, would telegraph the punch line and spoil the joke).  Anyway, the problem remains: Without capitalization of rich and simply deleting the article, as in *roll back the tax cuts for rich, the phrase becomes unacceptable English.  I know what he was trying to say; it just didn't work.  Your editors should've caught it and pointed out to Mr. Cagle that, no matter what their feelings are for Kerry and however sophomoric their taste in humor, errors of this nature have no business on the editorial pages of a metropolitan newspaper and sent him back to the drawing board.  Actually, not the drawing board; Mr. Cagle can draw.  Maybe a good review of English syntax would be more appropriate.

Don Buchholz

The featured speaker for the convention is pornographer, Larry Flynt. In the eyes of most cartoonists, Flynt is a champion of press freedom. I'm sure he's a charming speaker. Anyone who would like to read more about the convention should visit the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists website here.

The cartoons on our site will keep updating while I'm out, even though most of the cartoonists have disappeared for a few days. This is one of those occasions when I'm away from the site and I'm hoping that no big news breaks while I'm gone. I'll be back next Monday. See you all later!

I just received this press release form the Cartoonists Rights Network ...

Cartoonist from Zimbabwe receives global award for "Courage in Editorial Cartooning"

It is announced by the Cartoonists Rights Network International of Burke, Virginia that they have given their annual award for "Courage in Editorial Cartooning" to a Zimbabwean cartoonist, Mr. Tony Namate.

During 2003 and well into 2004, Mr. Namate has been under constant threat of physical harm and arrest by the repressive regime of Robert Mugabe in Harare, Zimbabwe. After publicaly refusing to comply with what he felt was an illegal new law requiring all journalists to register with Government, Namate was subjected to televised threats by various Ministry officials, calling him disloyal and working to undermine the government. These accusations have become code words that signal imminent arrest. Journalists in Zimbabwe have been beaten, arrested and otherwise abused during recent political upheavals.

Namate had gone on public record that to register with government was tantamount to the Nazi's in Germany during World War II requiring Jews to wear Star of David arm bands. The offices of his paper, The Daily News had been bombed and many of its investigative and editorial reporters had been arrested recently.

Mr. Tony Namate has received this award, given each year to the editorial or social cartoonist who demonstrates exceptional courage in the face of overwhelming power that seeks to keep them silent. Namate has consistently refused to be intimidated and continues to draw powerful and cutting edge cartoons about the Mugabe regime, and life for the common man under its harsh policies.

CRN is the world's only human rights and freedom of expression organization dedicated exclusively to the protection and monitoring of editorial and social cartoonists who find themselves in trouble because of the power and influence of their cartoons.

I'm not EXACTLY sure these are the ones I entered in SDX. I gotta start keeping track of this stuff, eh? I'm sure of at least three. If I find out different I'll get the right ones to you pronto.

Here are the winning cartoons ... until I hear different ...

April 15, 2004

Congratulations to Steve Sack of the Minneapolis Star Tribune for winning this year's Society of Professional Journailists SDX Award for editorial cartoons! it is well deserved!

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April 14, 2003

Click here to read an interesting interview with Rex Babin, the editorial cartoonist for the Sacramento Bee. Rex is a regular on our site and we think he's great. See Rex's cartoons here.

Remember our Brazilian cartoonist, Simanca Osmani, who was a source of controversy last month? Simanca just won the Iberoamerican Graphic Humor Contest and took home a hefty $7,000 prize for the cartoon below. This cartoon won out over 560 competitors from Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile. Click here to send your congratulations to Simanca, or to keep complaining about his Jesus cartoon from last month.

April 7, 2004

I had to share this. Cartoonist, Mike Lester, forwarded this genuine letter from a real newspaper editor, regarding his drawing of Condi Rice. I haven't asked permission from the editor to run the letter, so I have deleted her name. Click here to see more Condi Rice testimony cartoons.

Hello Mr. Lester,

The XXX Times is a subscriber to the Cagle Cartoons service and today I received your cartoon depicting Dr. Rice testifying before the 9-11 Commission. I must say that the cartoon is incorrect in several ways. First of all, there is no American flag pin on Dr. Rice's lapel. If you look at a picture from the actual testimony, you will see the flag pin is prominently displayed on the Dr.'s lapel. I watched much of the testimony via Internet, and not once did I see Dr. Rice's hair flop over her eye, as you have drawn. I also never witnessed the horrible scowl you have given her in the cartoon. Lastly, the gigantic nose and lips you have drawn seem to go overboard. I realize that caricatures exaggerate features, but they should also be based on reality.

Your depiction of Dr. Rice leads me to wonder if you watched the same testimony that I watched.

Sincerely,
(Name deleted)