CURRENT - MAY/AUG'08 - JAN/APRIL'08 - SEP/OCT/NOV/DEC'07 - JULY/AUG'07 - MAY/JUNE'07 - MAR/APR'07 - JAN/FEB'07 - NOV/DEC'06 - SEPT/OCT'06 - JULY/AUG'06 - JUNE'06 - APR/MAY'06 - MAR'06 - FEB'06 - JAN'06- DEC'05 - NOV'05 - OCT''05 - SEPT''05 - JULY-AUG'05 - JUNE''05 - MAY'05 - FEB'05 - APR'05 - MAR'05 - FEB'05 - DEC'04/JAN'05 - NOV'04 - SEP/OCT'04 - AUGUST'04 - JULY'04 - JUNE'04 - MAY'04 - APR'04 - MAR''04 -FEB'04 - JAN''04 - DEC'03 - NOV''03 - OCT'03- SEPT'03- AUG'03 - JULY'03

June 23, 2007 Here are more selections from our mailbag about the immigration cartoons below. It's time we put our foot down. Armstrongderry MY HUSBAND WAS BORN & RAISED IN MEXICO AND RECENTLY APPLIED TO BECOME A US CITIZEN. HE THINKS YOUR CARTOON IS VERY FUNNY AND INDICATIVE OF THE OVERALL MOOD TOWARDS IMMIGRANTS THESE DAYS. LAURA PONCE I liked it, I came from another country, but I did the hard and long way..legally, and it pisses me off, when I hear the star spangled banner sung in spanish to me illegal still means that you have done something not lawful jorgen arnsdorff walnut creek, california Our nation does not trample on Mexican's rights. The Mexicans are trampling all over our federal laws by coming here w/o going through the immigration process. If you give them the choice of doing it right or illegally entering the country, they would pick the illegal route every time. The legal citizens of this country are fed up with their attitude. That is precisely why the citizens caused the Immigration bill to fail in congress. We will keep doing that until someone gets it right: 1) Give them the choice of going back to Mexico and getting into the legal process. In return we would put them on a fast track to legalizing their entry into the USA. If they refuse to go back, they would remain as illegals and eventually be rounded up or arrested. This would not be a quick process, but we would eventually get around to them a little at a time. This is preferable to letting them have amnesty and a priority over people who come here the correct and legal way. 2) Deny any illegal immigrant access to our social services in this country including our schools. 3) Fine those employers heavily that hire illegal immigrants, so much so that it would not pay them to break the laws that are already on the books. 4) At the same time of the first two steps, BUILD THE FENCE AND HIRE ENOUGH BORDER AGENTS TO KEEP THEM OUT. Tim Scott Any bill that grants amnesty to illegal aliens is a coverup for the lack of immigration control by the Federal government, and a cave-in to the predatory employers that erode a good standard of living by paying sub-standard wages. We admire the patriotism of our service-men and -women in Iraq; too bad we don't have that same degree of patriotism in our places of employment. Russell Craig nothing wrong, this is the attitude. we want immigrants but not Mexican immigrants. The produce farmers would be out of business and the price of veg. and fruit would be sky high. Let them move here legally. Joe Sanders What's up with people? Editorial cartoons are just that. They express an opinion. Not necessarily even the cartoonist's opinion. If you don't like a particular cartoon delete it and wait for tomorrow's edition. I think these people who are so easily offended by an opinion other than their own should stick with Dennis the Menace or Blondie. Judie L., California Daryl, Sorry to burst the bubble of all the "Negative Nancy's" but I LOVE the Statue of Liberty stomping on the illegal immigrant!! Personally, I am still reaming over the discussing about having our National Anthem issued in multiple languages. Hello!?! I took French and Spanish in school none of those countries are pondering issuing an English version of those lengthy melodies! So, Daryl, let her stomp away and put her foot on some of those pesky NN's as well! Jana B., Beech Grove, IN Angry? Why didn't you show the knapsack of Coke on his back? Dennis Fuller, Lady's Island SC I THINK IT IS GREAT, JUST WISH SHE HAD BIGGER FEET !!! THE POOR BLEEDING HARTS THAT DO NOT LIKE IT ! Carl Taylor Well, I took some time and read other comments and I have to say I disagree with most. I think the Statue of Liberty cartoon is wonderful and shows exactly what this country is coming to. Founded by immigrants, we all have roots stemming from some other country (unless we are of Native American decent). And correct me if I am wrong, but the pilgrims didn't have Work Visas or Greencards when they came over and slaughtered indigenous people and stole their land. I think that the idea of closing borders and building fences is just another way for the right-wingers to spread further hatred and fear, keeping the citizens of America dependent on their leadership. Keep up the good work! Amy Cooley, Socorro, NM You have captured this moment in history. John Wegner I LOVE IT. Travis McCoy, Little Rock, AR GOOD FOR YOU. Dale Gaunt Hahaha! Okay, so honestly, I think that people are being, well, ridiculous. It's a cartoon, they're meant to be humorous. (hence the common nickname: the funnies). People think that any stab at how poorly America is handling the immigration situation is a personal shot at Americans. Well, they need to get over it. I don't care what your views are, the fact of the matter is the U.S is handling the immigration situation poorly. Personally, I love these immigration cartoons and I applaud you for your bold, hilarious, and amazingly true portrayals of America's immigration "problem". (The problem being the government just can't seem to figure out what to do about immigrants and the people continuing to be arrogant as ever) Keep up the good work!! - Becca Massachusetts June 22, 2007 More Mail: From: DJ Johnson Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 1:18 PM Subject: Re: the people flattering cartoonists to get E-bay sales fodder. Re: the people flattering cartoonists to get E-bay sales fodder. That stinks. It's rude to the cartoonists, and it makes it very difficult for people with sincere motives to approach you folks for such items for their own personal collections. I don't collect cartoons like that -- my Cagle drawing from the Bush book, one of 1200 or so, if I recall correctly, is my only one -- but I do collect autographs of people I admire, mostly in music, sports and public service. I've found it impossible over the last five years to get an autograph from a baseball player because they figure it'll just end up on E-bay. I've even seen fathers at the ballpark ordering their sons to get an autograph and bring it back to them. The attitude of coldness makes it pretty obvious it's for financial gain. These are not sentimental people. If I've been moved by someone's work, I like to tell them, even if I know they've heard it a million times before. I like to thank them for the joy they bring. Now, thanks to frauds like these, even a simple thank you is viewed with suspicion. Sad, indeed. DJ Johnson Lynnwood, WA PS - You've done a great job educating us about what the editors and newspaper owners are doing to the cartoonists, and to the art of cartooning itself. I tell many people what's going on, and I'm sure most people who are interested enough to subscribe to your newsletter do so, as well. It won't be the totally informed public you'll need to defeat the editors, but it won't be happening in total darkness, either. Word travels. From: Chris Worthington Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 2:42 PM Subject: Cartoon of Statue of Liberty stepping on Mexican I have a question: Do you have a similar cartoon with the Mexican Eagle stepping on Guatamalans? It's just because the Mexican south border is patrolled by the Mexican military who can shoot on sight if they see people crossing into Mexico. I just wondered if you thought that was, say, barbaric.  I guess the US border patrol that just catches and incarcerates border jumpers is just as bad? Just a thought. Actually, I did something close enough, below. We have a great NEW illegal immigration section up today. Come look! June 21, 2007 OH, THE MAIL! It's my birthday today! But do I get nice e-mail? No. Readers are angry at my Statue of Liberty/Immigration cartoon. Here are a couple that contradict each other. From: Edwards, Stephen - BLS CTR Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 3:10 AM I have enjoyed your editorial cartoons for a while now but no more. The one of Lady Liberty stepping on the illegal is crap. If the US Liberties were global there would be no caste system in India etc etc etc. The US Liberties and Bill of Rights are for Citizens, everyone else in the world goes by their countrie's rules, and in Mexico, it is the rule of the drug king pins. You have made your point, and now so have I. steve From: Chapman, James Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2007 3:41 A Subject: Tolerance? I find it sad that someone who is supposed to make legitimate social commentary is such a bigot. Those who hold to the Christian faith, are as a whole, are good, kind people seeking to live their lives in a wholesome manner. Yet you see fit in your comic this morning to portray us as a bunch of greedy freaks. Don't you think you are stereotyping us unfairly? Or are we the only group you think can be treated this way? Would African-Americans, Latinos or any other group find a similar portrayal offensive? I think so. Well, we do too. June 20, 2007 More on Comic Con I just added Steve Kelley, the cartoonist for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, to the editorial cartoonists panel at the San Diego Comic Con. Silent Auction ... Disney cartoonist, Chad Frye, is organizing a silent auction at the Comic Con as a fundraiser for the National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF), which is the charitable arm of the National Cartoonists Society (NCS). The NCSF gives scholarships and does all kinds of great projects promoting the art of cartooning. Chad has been soliciting donations of original artwork from famous cartoonists for the silent auction, and he shared this gem that was donated by Jack Davis, my Mad Magazine cartoon hero. That's Jack's auction cartoon below - isn't it a beauty? The NCSF silent auction fundraiser will be held at the NCS Comic Con booth, with different pieces going up for bid each day. Kudos to Chad for organizing this event! "You are my favorite cartoonist! Oh, please, will you send me a drawing?" From my e-mailbox: Hi Daryl, Here's the email of a guy who seems to collect autographs and cartoons from cartoonists by flattering them with extreme exaggeration . I sent this guy a few originals ... thinking I would at least please one person but I found my cartoons on Ebay for sale today ! I can't believe it ! Anyway my originals are worthless for me or on ebay but I thought you would like to know as this guy apparently has used your website as a hunting grounds. Cheers, Stephff   Dear Stephff, Yes, these guys are crooks, and there are lots of them. They include guys with "dying children" or "dying fathers" who are big fans and a drawing from you would really make them happy in their last days. Sometimes they mail a piece of paper and a stamped, return envelope, asking for "just a little sketch, anything you want to do." They are always very flattering. Sorry about that. If you don't mind, I'll post this on the blog. Best, Daryl Stephff's e-mail in the blog prompted this response from Scott Stantis: Daryl, I just read your post on your blog. It seems there is a flood of these people lately. Don't know if the word went out that they better get our autographs before our editors and publishers totally destroy the newspaper business but here they are again. Like seven year cicadas, covering us with faint praise and a self-addressed stamped envelope for our convenience. I just clip the stamps off and throw the rest away. -Scott June 11, 2007 Daryl at the San Diego Comic Con It is rare that I climb out of my hole to be seen by the public - but it will happen this summer at the San Diego Comic Con. I'll be giving an hour-long seminar called "Spotlight on Daryl Cagle" where I'll talk about my work, my more controversial cartoons, the books, the web site, my syndicate - all things Cagle. There will be lots of visuals and lots of time for questions. The seminar will be on Thursday, July 26th, from 3:00-4:00pm in Room 2. I'll be moderating a panel about editorial cartoons on Saturday, July 28th, from 11:30am-12:30pm in Room 4. Any cartoonists on our site who read this and who plan to be at the Comic Con, please e-mail me because I'm putting the panel together now. So far, the panel includes: Steve Breen, the Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist for the San Diego Union-Tribune; Mr. Fish, the altie cartoonist for the LA Weekly and Village Voice; Patrick O'Connor, the editorial cartoonist for the Los Angeles Daily News; Monte Wolverton, the brilliant editorial cartoonist and Mad Magazine artist, Brian Fairrington, a great cartoonist and my co-editor on the Best Political Cartoons of the Year books; and Lalo Alcaraz, also an editorial cartoonist for the LA Weekly and creator of the political comic strip, La Cucaracha, which runs in the LA Times. Breen, O'Connor and Fairrington are past winners of the Locher Award as "Best College Editorial Cartoonist of the Year." Right after the editorial cartoonists panel, in the same room, I'll be on a National Cartoonists Society panel featuring some yet to be disclosed comic strip luminaries. This one is Saturday, July 28th, from 12:30-1:30pm, also in Room 4. The San Diego Comic Con is massive and wild - it is a cultural experience that can't be missed. RSS and Permalinks Coming Here's a cartoonist who likes our new RSS feeds! Yes, we're working on upgrading the blog to have RSS, permalinks and comments. Sorry it is taking so long. I hear your complaints. June 9, 2007 Oh! That Lincoln! Every so often I like to throw an oldie into the blog. I thought this was an interesting one. The cartoon below is by Thomas Nast, the first American editorial cartoonist who was a real star. Nast is credited with developing the donkey and elephant as symbols for the Democrats and Republicans. He's also given credit for the currently popular look of Santa Claus and for bringing down a corrupt political regime in New York City (Tammany Hall and Boss Tweed). The cartoon is purported to be the first published editorial cartoon by Nast, responding to President Lincoln's inaugural address. Most old editorial cartoons can look pretty dry, but I thought this one held up well by modern standards. We still like to draw male politicians dressed like women and acting like warmongers - some things never change. I found the cartoon in an upcoming book I was asked to review, called: Lines of Contention: Political Cartoons of the Civil War by J. G. Lewin and P. J. Huff. The book will be a nice resource for high school history teachers who want to teach about the Civil War with editorial cartoons.

June 5, 2007

WOLVERTONS

Here's a great article about Monte Wolverton's famous cartoonist father, Basil.

June 2, 2007 WE HAVE RSS FEEDS NOW! We've gotten lots of requests for RSS and now we have RSS feeds for every cartoonist on the site - so you can subscribe to your favorite cartoonists and see all the recent cartoons without having to turn through lots of pages. Read all about it here. TWO NEW CARTOONISTS I'm delighted to add two new cartoonists to the site. The first is Edik Boghosian, an Armenian-Iranian living and working in Iran - that's his dove at the right. Iran has a great tradition of cartooning - and of persecuting cartoonists. The government blocks our web site in Iran. I hope Edik has better luck on our site than some other Iranian cartoonists have had. Visit more cartoons by Edik. E-mail Edik. The second new cartoonist is a buddy of mine, Werner Wejp-Olsen, a Danish gag cartoonist who lives here in Southern California and has become thoroughly Americanized, but who continues to draw gags for Denmark. Werner has recently turned to drawing editorial cartoons and I'm happy to give him a slot on the site. That's Werner's SUV cartoon below. Visit more editorial cartoons by Werner. E-mail Werner.

Remember the "Humor Times" caption contest from last month? Here are the winners for my cartoon at the right. Visit Humor Times to enter their latest contest.

Pig: "Our goal is to find out how hard we can squeeze the little guy without killing him."
Worker: "Owww!"
Dan Dunivant, Citrus Heights, CA

Pig: "Ah... So round... So fully packed... Did somebody say 'A$$ET$?"
Worker: "Ashes... Ashes..."
Devin Davis, Sacramento, CA

Pig: "NASDAQ, NAFTA, IPO, WTO."
Worker: "WTF?"
Dan Urazandi, Davis, CA

Pig: "With hard work I achieved the American Dream."
Worker: "Glad I could help."
Kathy Savage

Pig: "We've always said our best asset is our people ..."
Worker: "Comfortable yet?"
Robb Westaby, Grand Rapids, MI

Pig: "The American economy rides on the backs of Americans."
Worker: "Oh, my aching back."
Luray Cooper, Clayton, NC

Pig: "Cigar made by my outsourced factory: $5."
Worker: "401K, health benefits and retirement account: Priceless."
Sherri Dadey, Clairton, PA

Pig: "Tax breaks help me take care of my workforce."
Worker: "Your breaks are breaking my back!"
Duane Rhodes

Pig: "No pain, No gain!"
Worker: "UNCLE!"
Kevin Bruss, Oklahoma City, OK

Pig: "Business is just smokin' with meager wage and benefit growth contributing to... "
Worker: "...a widening bottom line!"
Peter Williams, Woodinville, WA

I have to apologize for not updating the blog this past week. I've gotten some e-mails from readers wondering why my own cartoon hasn't updated for a week. I've been away at the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) convention in Orlando.

We also call the convention the "Reuben Awards" because the weekend centers around the NCS Cartoonist of the Year Award - or "Reuben Award", given to a cartoonist by a vote of his cartoonist peers. The "Reuben" is named after cartoonist Rube Goldberg, the founder of the NCS who was famous for drawing crazy cartoon contraptions. This year the big prize went to Bill Amend, the creator of Foxtrot, who was a sentimental favorite because he went into semi-retirement recently, dropping his daily strips and continuing to draw only on Sundays. Bill has been drawing Foxtrot for 19 years and is in over 1,000 newspapers (Foxtrot also runs on the MSNBC.com site). The NCS editorial cartooning prize went to Michael Ramirez. Our own Mike Lester won for best children's book.

The NCS Reuben weekend is a wild party that runs late into the night, every night. My buddy, Mad Magazine cartoonist Tom Richmond has a nice blog with photos of his experiences at the convention here. Also, Mike Lynch, a new NCS board member from New York has a nice blurb on his blog with photos here.

The NCS has members from every discipline of cartooning, including many editorial cartoonists. The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) competes a bit with the NCS convention and focuses only on editorial cartoonists. The AAEC convention will be held over the July 4th weekend in Washington D.C. and I'll have more to write about that convention, as it fits the political cartooning focus of our site more closely.

I'll catch up on my paperwork and phone messages and start drawing cartoons again soon!

Your comments on the rant by the preacher in Macon Georgia about our Falwell Obit Cartoons

From our mailbag:

To the Paster who wrote of Falwell's "accomplishments". Mr.Falwell did not put Lynchburg on the map. A bourbon company did that. Mr. Falwell was just more obnoxious and louder. As to his church"boasting over 24,000"; big Deal. Even Hitler did better. Mr. Falwell condemned Teletubbies, gays and all sorts of other things that irritated him. His boss that he allegedly served, did not. His boss loved and forgave those that were contrary to his teachings. Mr. Falwell did not. Most honest men die broke. Mr. Falwell did not. You seriously need to raise your standards. Mr. Falwell did not. KURT PECKHAM

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Rev Falwell.
Yes, people either loved or hated him as with any public figure. He did mobilize, polarize and maybe just provoked a very stagnant part of America to the chagrin of others.
Jerry Falwell believed you should stand up, be counted, think, act, lead; his message was though really simple: do not become a bench warmer as there are all too many benches in this world and far to many lazy people sitting on them.

Yes, Rev Falwell was successful, provocative, loved and hated. The fact is he did influence the thoughts and actions of many and his legacy will continue.

Give him credit for being a voice to those who otherwise would have been speechless.
Greg Browning

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These cartoons are the most revolting ones I have ever seen in my life. These cartoonists are doing the same thing they ridicule Jerry Falwell for doing. They are even more judgmental than Falwell for they don't even give him the opportunity for forgiveness. God needs no one to help him judge people. He is quite capable of doing His job without our puny interference. Whether you liked or agreed with Jerry Falwell is your business but God's Word instructs us to love and encourage one another and leave the judging up to Him.

Dorothy C. White
Richmond, VA

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Yes to the Cartoons!
"ANNOY A CHRISTIAN/THINK FOR YOURSELF"
LAYNE Richmond Calif.

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I met Rev. Falwell only once and was impressed by his devotion to his calling. I visited Liberty University and found it to be just what he said it was. He was honest.
New cartoonists seem only to be negatively oriented no matter the subject. They must live a miserable life and certainly could benefit from some of Rev Falwells teachings if only they were to listen to them.
Paul Davis

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Regarding the cartoons about the Rev. Falwell's passing. Having had Jesuit tutors for all of my teen years I don't think I fall within the bell curve of a Fundamentalist Christian. As a matter of fact I know that many Fundamentalist would question whether I am a Christian or not. For the record, I am.
Having been raised in a 'Yankee' family with roots going back to the Mayflower, I have been taught from an early age not to be rude and to behave in "Public". It appears to me that the cartoonist highlighted not only have an axe to grind but were not taught manners. Rude is rude, no one needs to be told the difference.
I enjoy the Cagle cartoons immensly but I feel obligated to opine on this matter.
Thank you, Anthony Brown

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I loved the Falwell cartoons!!! I especially enjoyed the Winky Dinkey and the Falwell in Hell ones. It seems to me that the "Christian" right is less about Christianity and more about hate, discrimination, and policing the beliefs of others. If they were reading and actually living the Book that they claim to endorse, their "doctrines" would be kinder, gentler, and more loving. I think Jesus would have been a Democrat!!! ;-)

Keep up the good work!!!
NS, West Virginia

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To the Georgia pastor who dared to point out the hypocrisy of those who are continuing to vilify Falwell even after his death, I say, "Right on!"
Steve Strickland, Fort Lauderdale, FL

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Yes, I will respond to the "peeved pastor"....by stating that I agree with him.

I see no reason for these cartoons about Falwell.

Let me say that, although Falwell wasn't one of my favorite people, now I realize that I should have listened to him more.
Betty Wiggins

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The same observation was made by General Robert E. Lee, who commented of those who were most critical of his strategies wrote about his failures in an editorial rather than tell him in advance or directly. When anyone declares how many enemies appreciate one's death, who, from the grave, can argue? ...And this is a news flash?
Stan Kern

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The Evangelical community believes JF is now in Heaven, If any of us heathens end up in that same place, we would consider it to be pure Hell. It's just a matter of perception.
Mark Tele

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Jerry Fallwell was a fat fascist pig. The sin of gluttony is enough to send him to hell.
I am proud to have busted waterballoons on his fat head. I am proud to have heckled his "speeches".
He was a lightning rod of controversey. I'm glad he is dead. The Constitution allows me to say these things- and it allows those talented cartoonist to express feelings and beliefs No matter what they may be. Just as it allows publicication of your excremental newspaper sermon.
As far as I'm concerned Jerry Fugwell was another HITLER
All you need is love. All you got is hate and fear.
I am so sorry for all of you.
that's why I am Buddhist.
Free McBob, Rogers, AR.

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I appreciate the fact that your guys go after everyone, republicans, democrats, independents, none of the above, preachers, etc., in other words anyone who is now currently at the front line of the news. One thing needs to be kept in mind in response to the angry letters protesting cartoons about Falwell's death, especially those in which he surprisingly arrives in Hell. Jerry Falwell does not - I mean DID not - speak the language of, of FOR all christians. I am a christian myself and find his intolerant, knee jerk reaction against the Teletubbies, gays, liberals, democrats (I am a democrat...a proud one) etc. offensive and downright un-Christlike. We learn in the scriptures that Jesus actually hung out with prostitutes, tax collectors, and other "scum" of his day - because, as he said, they needed him. I don't really think Jerry Falwell missed the glories of heaven, and if he is there it is because of the grace of God, NOT his political grandstanding.

Thanks for speaking out. I only wish all of your readers would "chill out" and look at this as mostly having fun - at someone else's expense. After all, if we can't laugh at our politicians and other prominent figures, we would have to fear them more than we do now. (I only wish I could draw...!!!)
Dave Liles, Mansfield, OH

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How dare you presume to claim "all Christians" approved of the hatred and bigotry spewed by Jerry Fallwell? You certainly don't speak for me or millions of other Christians who don't ascribe to the religion of self-righteousness and condemnation embodied by Fallwell and his ilk. EDAVEY

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Jerry Falwell like many of us has produced a body of work during a long life. This body of work is referred to as character or life achievement. The letter writer refers to some of Mr. Falwell's achievements: developing a large church, making charitable donations with tithes and beginning Liberty University. So far so good. However, over many years I have listened to Jerry Falwell say things that are filled with bigotry, hatred and extreme prejudice toward racial groups, religious groups, TV characters, etc. These statements simply left in the public eye and distributed to the mass media leave an impression of Mr Falwell as a bigot, self-promoter and vengeful arbiter of community morals. What a Christian example! To suggest he was naïve in choosing the mass media as a forum is in itself naïve. Mr. Falwell knew what he was doing. He knew that he was cynically distorting the gospel message of compassion, love, inclusion and tolerance. I can only assume he felt somehow the end justified the means, which is a typical mask worn by despots, tyrants, and arrogant public figures when called to accounts.

The Bible says that if you sow the wind you reap the whirlwind. The cartoonists portrayed Falwell as they saw him, reaping the whirlwind. Accurate? Only God and Falwell know. Fair? Certainly. Falwell courted publicity and controversy; this is just his funerary Hurrah. Falwell sowed controversy and theatrics, using the Gospel to cynically promote a political agenda and cult of personality. Mr. Falwell is being judged on his body of work, his character as perceived through his public self. As a citizen and observer of religious culture in this country, I have no quarrel with the cartoonists.
G. Douglas Cox, TN

WE BOTHER THE FALWELL PEOPLE

We all know how gays, Teletubbies, Muslims and Planned Parenthood really annoyed Jerry Falwell and his followers - it looks like cartoonists bother them too. In addition to the preacher who pulled his ads from Mike DeAdder's paper because he didn't like the image of Falwell in Hell, here's a column by another pastor from Macon Georgia, who is annoyed by our Falwell cartoons. He writes in his local newspaper:

In fact, every one of the 10 nationally syndicated cartoons posted Wednesday on Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index (www.cagle.msnbc.com) were offensive to a family and community going through the first few hours of grief. Frankly, they were offensive to the entire Christian community. In the cartoon versions of heaven, why would everyone be admitted except an evangelical pastor? The millions of evangelical Christians in America must find it hard to imagine another group of people who would be subjected to such ridicule so quickly and so harshly.

There should be another look at the man who put Lynchburg on the map.

His church now boasts 24,000 members, and the millions of dollars they've given through the years have been sent all over the world in a variety of charitable efforts. His legacy will eventually be remembered through Liberty University, a Division I school with nearly 10,000 on-campus students. Some of the best students in Middle Georgia have attended, or are attending, this school. Falwell had once hoped his college could be the "Notre Dame of the evangelical community," and it appears that his dream might just come true.

And Jerry Falwell did one more thing for evangelical Christians. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Falwell mobilized conservative Americans like no one else had ever been able to do. He reminded Christians that they could vote and run for office. Millions registered to vote, thousands ran for political office and the face of American politics changed dramatically.

To some, he was a hero. To others, he became a villain. One cartoonist, for instance, drew Falwell at the entrance of heaven with a faceless voice booming, "I Forgive You."

What a strange message! For any person of any belief system, it is no sin to speak out for morality, to run for office, to vote, to use one's influence for good or to leave a legacy of hope to as many people as possible. Falwell did not "sin" in exercising his rights as an American or his responsibility as a Christian preacher. He simply endured the scalding criticism of those who disagreed with him, even after he died.

Judging from our e-mail, our readers don't like Falwell any better now that he is dead - and it is somehow gratifying that our gay, Teletubbie, Muslim, pro-choice cartoonist readers continue to annoy Falwell's followers. Want to respond to the peeved pastor? E-mail the Macon Telegraph.

WHAT IS OLD IS NEW AGAIN

Today I took a cartoon that I drew back in 2005, when everyone was screaming about gas prices over two dollars a gallon, and I changed the "2" to a "3." Voila! An entirely new cartoon, updated for our times. Sometimes the big oil companies make it too easy.

The AAEC Auction is Still On, Even Though Their Site is Down

Ouch! The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) web site at editorialcartoonists.com is down with technical problems - but their online auction of original cartoon art is still on and entering its last day. You can see the AAEC auction on Ebay here. This looks like a good opportunity to snag a bargain, and I see a few good ones on that list.

MORE FALWELL FALLOUT FOR DeADDER

Lots of our readers agreed with Michael DeAdder on his Jerry Falwell obituary cartoon. In fact, some of our East Coast readers were so excited to tell us what they thought that they found our corporate phone number at caglecartoons.com and called our West Coast telephone starting before 6:00am, to urge us to draw their cartoon ideas. Come on, people, cartonists draw their own ideas and please, just respond to these things by e-mail. Here are some letters from our big, bursting e-mail bag:

I believe your cartoon hit the mark. Long may he burn.
Bill L. of Californication (that's intended as a joke)

Thank You
Oscar Ortiz

Did you know that even those, with whom he loudly disagreed, still respected and admired him for the person he was. He would not degrade the person, but the act and call it what it was. Sin. And I dare say, that he has done more for the 'unborn child' than you will ever do with your cartoons.or will you even try?

Enough said.
Lynne Masters

I am glad that you cannot place anyone in hell, and neither can I.

Here is a truth for you; the day is fast approaching when you will die and face God. This I know for sure: God will will not want to see your cartoons about Jerry Falwell, He will have the cartoons of your own life.

Bishop Don R. Wilson

It seems that the good reverend used the cartoon merely as a stepping stone to spend 4 paragraphs outlining his position on homosexuality and same sex marriage. Would his comments have made it to the editorial page otherwise?

Yvonne Thompson
Monroe, Washington

May 18, 2007

FALWELL FALLOUT

Canadian Cartoonist, Michael DeAdder has gotten quite an angry reaction to his Jerry Falwell obituary cartoon showing Falwell in Hell. Michael writes:

I had a three way discussion between cartoonists about what to do with Jerry Falwell. After much debate, mostly with myself, I decided I was going to put him arriving in hell instead of heaven. The irony was just too tempting.

Falwell for all his preaching about love and forgiveness, he himself practiced hate and intolerance. He has hurt many people in his life, he has done more damage than good and he has done this under the guise of doing what's "moral."

I really don't think Falwell will find himself in hell. The God Falwell preached about was far more forgiving than that. Some cartoonists have already made the point that Falwell's God was far more forgiving than Falwell himself.

But, to me, it is not off the mark to depict Jerry Falwell arriving in hell, at least in a cartoon. Especially the way it was drawn. It's not exactly Dante's Infernal. It's a cartoon hell with a cartoon character as the main element. To me it's so over the top that I didn't think people would take it that serious. It's just a joke.

But my opinion is not shared by everyone. Especially some readers at the Daily News.

I was informed by my editor when I arrived at work on the day that it appeared that Pastor Perry F. Rockwood was pulling all his ads from the Daily News. Not only this, but he wrote a diatribe against me for the next day's letters. There's another letter going to Friday's paper and I had correspondence with a few other people who took exception with the depiction. So I decided to put it up on my blog for discussion. Surprisingly, more people liked it than took offense. At least so far. It's still up for debate.

The letter from the angry preacher is below, along with Michael's cartoon.

To the Editor:

As a 90 year-old Christian and preacher, I am very disappointed in your Editorial Cartoon regarding Jerry Falwell.

Jerry Falwell was a Bible Christian, a Bible preacher and a respected leader for those who believe in the Bible. What is wrong with that? I know his stand on homosexuality was not popular but it was a Bible stand. God's Word teaches that homosexuality is a sin. The same-sex marriage law is an abomination. The whole scene reeks with the stench of Sodom. Whoever it is, wherever and whenever it is, it has no place in Christian circles or in any decent human society.

Same-sex marriage is a perversion of sex. There is no stretch of anybody, circumstances that gets homosexuality properly defined as normal . It is the opposite of normal. It is the antithesis of right and the companion of evils. It is an attack on the family. You check biblically ­ there's no place given to homosexuality as a foundation for families. It has not been the standard for families in any nation in history.

It is a mockery of marriage. The Bible says: "And He answered and said onto them, Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female. And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall be one flesh" (Matthew 19:4,5).

Jerry Falwell would not insist that everyone believe the Bible. He did preach that the Lord created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve, not Edie and Eve. He preached that marriage was designed for a man and a woman. That has been the pattern for human society for the past 6000 years. To even ponder the possibility of same-gender couple in a husband-wife relationship is a mockery of marriage.

The legacy of Jerry Falwell is that he was a preacher of the Bible. No one is forced to believe what the Bible teaches. But in our society we still have the freedom to preach exactly what the Bible says.

It was not long ago you made an Editorial statement that you had plans to increase the circulation of your paper. There are still many thousands of Bible believers in the HRM area who believe the Bible. This Editorial Cartoon against Jerry Falwell will not be well received by any of them.

Pastor Perry F. Rockwood
Halifax, N.S. 

Want to comment on Falwell, Michael's cartoon or the preacher's letter? E-mail us! And check out Michael's daily blog here.

May 17, 2007

More on Animated Cartoons

Political cartoonists continue to argue about the Pulitzer Prize as the winner and nominees this year all went to animated web cartoons. Mike Keefe posted this comment:

I am a great fan of editorial cartoon animation and have tried my hand at it several times. (eg. a year's work of weekly 30-second animations for a local NBC affiliate and two years worth of work for AOL.) And I may do it again. But comments regarding the Pulitzer Prize from Scott Stantis strike me as exactly on target. This is not to denigrate Walt's fine work. I love his new stuff and endorsed his print cartoons as a Pulitzer juror in 1997. But there is some shape-shifting going on in our profession that requires redefinition. Not all cartoonists are afforded the time and resources to create animations. How can the print-only cartoonists compete with animators? It's Marmaduke versus Dancing Penguins. My suggestion is that a separate category be established, in all cartoon competitions, for animated work versus print work. And then, among others, we will see some huzzahs going the way of Bill Mitchell, Mark Fiori and Don Asmussen. Long overdue.

Cartoonists worry too much about awards, so something that should be a petty little thing looms large in the profession. This happened before, when comic strip cartoonist Berkeley Breathed won the Pulitzer Prize and the traditional editorial cartoonist community was outraged - at least Breathed's work was printed in a newspaper.

The current kerfuffle over Pulitzer Prizes for animated web cartoons seems to be a reflection of newspaper editors' paranoia about the web surplanting traditional print journalism - in fact, television replaced newspapers as our main outlet for news many years ago. Perhaps we should see those Pulitzers that are given to newspaper journalists given to TV news reporters, so instead of choosing prizes based on their guesses of where journalism will be in the future, they could acknowledge where journalism has already gone in the past fifty years.

The National Cartoonists Society introduced an award for "New Media" that was recently abandoned, because so few cartoonists were doing web animations and there were few entries. Until there is something that looks like a market for animated cartoons on the web - somewhere on the horizon - cartoonists should step back and not let a handful of people on a Pulitzer Prize committee push them into making stupid career decisions.

Cartoonist Clay Bennett of the Christian Science Monitor sent me this note:

Hi Daryl.

I just wanted to encourage the fans of your site to check out the online cartoon auction being held by the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. The cartoons being offered are by some of the biggest names in the business, the proceeds from the event go to a great cause, and there's only a few days left to bid on one of the great cartoons being auctioned.

The program benefiting from the funds raised from this event is 'Cartoons for the Classroom'. Currently being used by thousands of educators worldwide, this program provides a biweekly lesson plan that employs editorial cartoons as a tool for instruction in history, civics, current events, and critical thinking. It's proved to be an entertaining and valuable resource for students of all ages, and is offered to their teachers for absolutely free.

Well, free for the teachers that is. It's not free for the AAEC. And that's why we're having this auction.

The AAEC hopes to keep this program available for some time to come. With that goal in mind, we're raising operating funds by auctioning off cartoons from 30 of America's most recognized and acclaimed editorial cartoonists (16 Pulitzer Prize winners included). The list of contributors reads like a who's who in editorial cartooning ...

Most of the items being auctioned are original drawings, others are signed prints, but every single cartoon in the collection is the creation of one of finest political cartoonists working today. If the price of a cartoon is more than you'd like to contribute, there's also a donation page to support 'Cartoons for the Classroom' available at www.editorialcartoonists.com. Anything you can give would be much appreciated.

The clock is ticking on the event though, and the gavel will bring the auction to a close soon (7:00 PM Eastern, Sunday, May 20, to be exact). So don't miss the chance to bid on your favorite cartoon at: www.editorialcartoonists.com/auction.cfm. Not only will you be supporting a terrific program, but you'll also be collecting a unique example of editorial cartooning at its very best.

Thank you all,
Clay
----------
Clay Bennett
Editorial Cartoonist
The Christian Science Monitor

Cartoon by Bill Day

Cartoon by Matt Bors

Cartoon by R. P. Overmyer

Scott Stantis, the conservative cartoonist for the Birmingham News, who also draws the comic strip Prickly City, wrote the column below about animation and the Pulitzer Prize. This is the first year that the award for newspaper editorial cartoons was given for cartoons that could not run in a newspaper, which has sparked a lot of conversation among cartoonists. The winner, Walt Handelsman is a great cartoonist who often allows us to post his award winning animated cartoons on our site, see Walts animated work here and Walt's print work here. Another great animated editorial cartoonist, Mark Fiore, was not eligible for a Pulitzer for his work, because he didn't work for a daily, paid circulation newspaper. Since the top news sites on the web are not newspaper sites, and newspapers are steadily losing readers to the internet, it is time for the Pulitzers to rethink their ill-considered rules in a number of areas.

Have an opinion about Scott's article and his views on animated cartoons and awards? Email Scott.

A Zany Development
by Scott Stantis

Zany.

Is that a quality journalists should aspire to?

Walt Handelsman won his second Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning this year with this citation:

Awarded to Walt Handelsman of Newsday, Long Island, N.Y., for his stark, sophisticated cartoons and his impressive use of zany animation.

Handelsman's editorial cartoons speak for themselves. He does great work, and is an old friend. Walt saw a new medium in animation and went to great pains to teach himself the fine points of producing it. And the results are predictably hilarious. But is it an editorial cartoon?

Let's put it this way; giving the Pulitzer Prize for an animated cartoon is like awarding it for best novel to "Doctor Zhivago" starring Omar Sharif. It's just not the same thing.

In an industry that seemingly has more awards per person than any other profession the Pulitzer Prize is arguably the best known and most sought after. Try going into a bar and announce you just won the Fischetti and see how many folks buy you a drink.

We were led to believe that this is an award for the newspaper industry. Unless it's broken down and printed on every page so you can view it as a flipbook it's hard to imagine how an animated cartoon qualifies.
Winners in every category other than cartooning are lavished with words like 'sharply edged', 'creative', 'comprehensive', 'tenacious', 'skillful' and 'zestful'. Brett Blackledge of my own home newspaper, The Birmingham News, won in the investigative journalism category for his remarkable series of articles unraveling the twisted web that had become the Alabama 2-year college system that was described as 'distinguished'. No other category was branded as 'zany', (although that is one word to describe the antics of the Alabama 2-year college system).

Bill Mauldin's weeping statue of Lincoln mourning the death of President Kennedy, Herblock's incessant attacks on Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon, Tony Auth's scathing cartoons against the Vietnam War, Paul Conrad earning a place on Nixon's enemies list, Jeff MacNelly's subversively wry takes on Jimmy Carter. None of them described as 'zany'.

What makes an editorial cartoon great, what makes it the thing readers turn to first on the editorial page is the unique ability of a well conceived and well executed cartoon to cut through the spin. To slash through the deliberate fog that politicians create and get to the hard and often uncomfortable nub of an issue. They may take a comic turn but in their black hearts they are not 'zany'. They're savage.

For more than a decade at The Birmingham News unnamed targets have demanded "draw me skinnier", "make my chin smaller", "notice my new hair style!" and, to the editor, "Can't you control your own cartoonist?!". These politicians know the power of a cartoon and believe me none of them thought the work zany.

Zany is not what an editorial cartoonist aspires to, yet many in the publishing business increasingly expect it. When The New York Times renames it's weekly round up of editorial cartoons "Laugh lines". When Time Magazine stops running them all together and when more and more editorial cartoon positions are being cut, the writing is on the wall. In truth, it's hard to blame them. The newspaper industry is in full retreat as readership plummets and the Internet supplants the print medium. In the struggle to reinvent themselves for the brave new world, newspapers are restyling many of the best parts of themselves, or leaving them behind entirely. What offers the best model? Facebook? Youtube? Is sharp commentary passe? Should it be replaced with silly?

And what's next? The Family Guy gets a Pulitzer? The Simpson's? American Dad? The Jib-Jab guys? They are animated, have political content and are posted online. According to the new rules, they are all eligible. So don't be surprised some day if you see Scoobie Doo accepting the highest honor in journalism.
Now that would be zany.

Scott Stantis is the editorial cartoonist for The Birmingham News. He also draws one cartoon a week for USA Today. His editorial cartoons are syndicated to over 400 newspapers. His comic strip, Prickly City, is distributed by Universal Press Syndicate to a growing list of nearly 100 newspapers. By writing this column he understands he is obliterating whatever minuscule chance he ever had at winning a Pulitzer Prize. Email Scott.

The AAEC Online Auction

The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC) is trying an online auction for the first time, to raise money for their "Cartoons for the Classroom" program. The auction starts tomorrow and runs through May 20th on Ebay. The art can be seen on the AAEC site here, with links to the corresponding pages on Ebay that go up tomorrow. There are some original drawings but many of the cartoons are signed, limited edition prints from cartoonists who draw or color their cartoons on the computer and don't have traditional original artwork to sell. I hope the auction will be a success and I'll be interested to see what cartoon prints sell for ­ I have no idea what to expect. The cartoon below by Michael Ramirez is one of the signed prints offered for sale.

Many editorial cartoonists are happy to sell their original artwork to fans who contact them at the e-mail addresses in the attributions on our site. Prices for original ink drawings usually range from $200 to upwards of $1,000, depending on the popularity of the cartoonist and the subject matter of the cartoon. Cartoons that feature people and events that will be historically significant and remembered years later are worth more. Cartoons on special subjects that are popular with some collectors also draw higher prices. Fans can usually pick up a cartoon on a strange subject, or a topic that might be a bit yucky on the living room wall, by a cartoonist who isn't very famous, for a pretty low price.

I think original artwork from editorial cartoonists is an excellent investment. We've seen growing prices for cartoon art in other areas of cartooning, like animation and comic book art. As editorial cartoons are being more widely accepted in elite circles, and are seeing more gallery and museum showings, I expect that the prices for editorial cartoon artwork will be the next to rise. I rate editorial cartoon artwork as a solid "BUY." (Disclosure: Cagle has a house full of editorial cartoon art.)

MAY 4, 2007

ANIMATED CARTOONS FROM MATT DAVIES

I've had some interesting e-mail exchanges with a number of cartoonists since my recent rant about how cartoonists are being pressed into animating their cartoons. I don't see much business purpose for doing animated political cartoons, but I appreciate them and I enjoy posting them on our site. We've posted a number of animations from Walt Handelsman, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize for his animated web cartoons. My argument about "what are these for?" is not the argument that carries the most water with other cartoonists, who are having a roaring debate over whether animated web cartoons should be considered political cartoons for the awards. (Political cartoonists think a lot about awards.)

Another great Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist who is moving into the animated arena is Matt Davies, who sent us two nifty animated cartoons along with these comments for the blog.

Here are two animated pieces I did late last year - before the "are or aren't they editorial cartoons?" debate over the official status of online editorial animation reared its inevitable head. I did the artwork and writing, and my talented (and patient) colleague here at the paper, Chris Brown did the animation and original score.

Why the long silence on my animation front after only grinding out two? First off, it's hard work. Much harder than doing an editorial cartoon. And, after almost making my third effort a song parody, I decided instead to take some time off and think a little more about what I want to do with the medium. (Not knocking song parodies mind you, I just don't feel I can compete with the kinetic energy of the amazing work of this year's Pulitzer Prize winner, Walt Handelsman.) I will be doing more animated cartoons however, starting this month.

Without a doubt, animation offers a creative and interesting way to convey opinion and humor. Of course, the jury's still holed up, tensely arguing about where this is all going (and who's going to pay for it.) But in the meantime the cartoon world has been given online access to a freshly paved new avenue, and us cartoonists are still running around excitedly marking the fire hydrants. Predictably, the debate will center around the fine line between genuine editorial content, and goofy current-events humor, which is basically an extension of the ancient print cartoon debate...

It's an un-winnable discussion, however, so it's unlikely we will all arrive at a consensus on what works anytime soon and stop there.  Editorial animators will be free to run the gamut ­ And there's fresh painted hydrants as far as the eye can see...

Visit Matt's animated editorial cartoons. E-mail Matt.

Cinco de Mayo: Cartoonists Day?

On Saturday we'll all sip our Margaritas, munch on our burritos and think about cartoonists. Saturday, May 5 is "Cartoonists Day."

Some readers will remember when most of the newspaper comic strips touted Cartoonists Day. As a cartoonist, I love the idea of having my own day where my fans shower me with gifts and adoration - in fact, that was pretty much the idea behind Cartoonists Day. The date was chosen because the first recurring character in American newspaper comics, the Yellow Kid, first appeared in print on May 5, 1895. Cartoonists are suffering from a painful transition now as newspapers decline and their traditional markets for gag cartoons and advertising work suffer a prolonged slump. We can cheer Mom up on Mothers Day, make the secretary happy on Administrative Professionals Day and feed the government on Tax Day -- even trees and flags have their own days -- why not make long-suffering cartoonists happy with their own day?

The first Saturday in May is also "Free Comic Book Day," where comic book stores join in a promotion to give away comic books and which happens to fall on May 5 this year. This is also Cartoon Appreciation Week. The stars are aligned for cartoonists this Saturday.

Unfortunately, Cartoonists Day has had a bumpy ride and cartoonists have allowed it to fade away. It all started back in 1997 when Jerry Scott and Rick Kirkman, the creators of the comic strip "Baby Blues," organized "The Great Comic Strip Switcheroonie," where cartoonists traded places to draw each other's comic strips on April Fools' Day. It was great fun and a creative success.

When I was president of the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) in 2000, Charles "Sparky" Schulz, the creator of "Peanuts," passed away and I oversaw a special day in the comics where almost all of the cartoonists drew a comic strip tribute to Sparky. After 9/11 the NCS organized a successful Thanksgiving Day tribute on the comics pages to raise money for victims of the World Trade Center disaster.

Cartoonists usually work in isolation and the opportunities to work together were great fun at first - then the glow started to fade. Some cartoonists were enthusiastic about the idea of Cartoonists Day, and pushed the idea of every comic strip artist participating to display the Cartoonists Day logo in their strips, and write something about it in their strip to "raise awareness" of underappreciated cartoonists. The strip cartoonists were urged to do this every year on May 5. Then charities got the idea; they called the NCS saying, "Hey! You cartoonist guys all got together to raise money for the 9/11 victims, how about raising money for this terrible disease, or that one - you can't believe that Cartoonists Day is more important than my horrible disease, do you? Where are your priorities?!" Of-course, they were right, but there were just too many terrible diseases and social ills waiting in line for space on the comics pages.

Then many of the star cartoonists became weary. They would say, "Why are we doing this Cartoonists Day thing in our strips again?" and "Isn't it kind of egotistical and self-serving for us to use our strips to call attention to ourselves like this?" Of course, they were right.

Then there was the problem of Cinco de Mayo. Cartoonists who wanted to generate publicity for themselves had to share their day with another topic. Cartoonists in the Midwest couldn't understand why the cartoonists in California were busy with their Margaritas on Cartoonists Day.

The NCS stopped promoting Cartoonists Day and it slowly faded away. Some cartoonists hated to see it go. There is still a Web site at cartoonistsday.com. Some cartoonists still lobby for the return of Cartoonists Day, but the day has disappeared. Mexico won the cartoon war because the cartoonists took their pens and went home.

And I never got my presents.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE March/April 2007, CAGLE WEB LOG

Artwork © each artist. The Professional Cartoonists Index is ©Daryl Cagle. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.