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I just added three more cartoons to the George Carlin at the Pearly Gates Yahtzee below. Editorial Cartoonists Convention in
San Antonio Here's a good looking batch of editorial cartoonists, from left to right, Dick Locher, Mike Lester, Adam Zyglis, Bruce Plante, Jeff Parker, Steve Kelley and me. I'm in San Antonio for the annual convention of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. The convention had the smallest turnout in memory, as cash-strapped newspapers are no longer paying for cartoonists to attend conventions, and the cartoonists worried about their financial prospects in uncertain times. The AAEC is having money troubles too. I'm sorry to see the way things are going - but the convention was fun, and it is always great to see old friends and commiserate. I'll post more about the convention in coming days. One of the seminars included a juror and a board member from the Pulitzer Prize committee, talking about their process for picking the Pulitzers for editorial cartoonists. It was interesting, and troubling, to see these guys struggle with the transition of readers from newspapers to the web, clinging to their old notions. Only newspaper cartoonists are eligible for Pulitzer Prizes, but the Pulitzer board wants to acknowledge the internet, so they will consider cartoonists who work on the web for their newspaper sites and also have cartoons printed on paper that led to the unpopular choices last year, of animated web cartoons from newspaper cartoonists for the winner and two runners up. Of-course, the top news sites are not newspaper web sites, with the top three, Yahoo News, MSNBC.com and Google News leading the way, and with newspaper sites far behind. The top animated political cartoonists often have no association with newspaper sites, like acclaimed cartoonist Mark Fiore. With newspapers dropping their cartoonists, most editorial cartoonists will soon we working primarily on the web. These Pulitzer guys didn't seem to have a good grasp of modern cartooning. Newspaper people cling to the idea that
they are "transitioning" to the web, as they pour resources
into their web sites, but newspapers are marginal players on
the web, and I don't see anything on the internet that stands
a chance of replacing the revenue newspapers are losing in advertising.
Much of the discussion at the convention was about the hopeless
situation newspapers find themselves in, and the poor decisions
that are going into the "transition to the web." It
is easy to see the old thinking that goes into these lousy decisions,
listening to the guys from the Pulitzer board discuss their own
"transition to the web."
... You and lots of other cartoonists drew a memorial cartoon of George Carlin at the Pearly Gates. Carlin was a very vocal atheist and the question sometimes comes up about what the cartoonist has in mind by drawing a memorial cartoon featuring dead celebrity in a religious scene from a religion the celebrity didn't choose. There was a lot of commentary about this when George Harrison died, and was depicted so often at the Christian Pearly Gates. Does the cartoonist's religious view trump the celebrity's religion in an obituary cartoon? For a Christian cartoonist, who believes that his own religion is the only correct religion, is an obituary cartoon an opportunity to show that the celebrity's religious views were wrong - as the dead celebrity would surely know by now, as he is really at the Pearly Gates right now? Thanks, Daryl, Firstly, I am not sure I have ever said through conversation or my cartoons that as "a Christian cartoonist, (I) believe that (my) own religion is the only correct religion..." and, frankly, I resent the implication. However, I will try and respond to your question regarding this specific cartoon. I did, indeed, mean George Carlin at the Pearly Gates as an irreverent commentary within the cartoon. I readily admit I have drawn my fair share of pearly gates and crying mascots in the past. But recently I have tried to take my inspiration from the obit cartoons of Pat Oliphant. When he does do them he places them in some kind of context of the persons life and impact. With George Carlin, (of whom I consider myself a fan), his contribution to comedy and social discourse was to tear down the walls of conformity and ridicule the overly serious. His anti-religion screeds grew longer and more serious near the end. Hence, a cartoon I hoped would be viewed as irreverent. At least to those familiar with the subject. I trust this answered your question. God bless you, - Scott
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