Comments on: Jim Borgman issues stinging rebuke of “best of” book http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/ The source for industry news for the professional cartoonist Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:54:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 By: Bearman http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-79648 Bearman Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:01:05 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-79648 I remember Jim Borgman discussing the topic of the "everyman" on his blog. Unfortunately his old Enquirer blog is no longer available so the best I could find is this entry from this site. http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/01/17/jim-borgman-talks-about-how-he-tackles-minorities-as-generic-characters/ I remember Jim Borgman discussing the topic of the “everyman” on his blog. Unfortunately his old Enquirer blog is no longer available so the best I could find is this entry from this site.

http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/01/17/jim-borgman-talks-about-how-he-tackles-minorities-as-generic-characters/

]]> By: Jeff Darcy http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67576 Jeff Darcy Mon, 17 Dec 2007 18:36:43 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67576 Wiley makes a good point about changing the name of the book. But I can understand why it's called BEST. The publisher, afterall, has asked cartoonists to submit their best five cartoons. From the publishers point of view cartoonists are sending them the Best cartoons produced that year. Jim Borgman is a big name cartoonist and they've used his work on the cover in the past to sell the book. Since he feels more editing is warranted perhaps he should've written the publisher and used his influence to push for a change. Perhaps he's allready done so. Jeff Darcy Wiley makes a good point about changing the name of the book. But I can understand why it’s called BEST. The publisher, afterall, has asked
cartoonists to submit their best five cartoons. From the publishers point of view cartoonists are sending them the Best cartoons produced that year. Jim Borgman is a big name cartoonist and they’ve used his work on the cover in the past to sell the book. Since he feels more editing is warranted perhaps he should’ve written the publisher and used his influence to push for a change. Perhaps he’s allready done so.
Jeff Darcy

]]> By: KRANKY (JOE RANK) http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67465 KRANKY (JOE RANK) Sat, 15 Dec 2007 01:41:25 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67465 Hi Daryl. Yes, that was one of the anomaly's of BECY, where the title was for the current year, when the cartoons were obviously from the previous year. Funny and confusing. It seemed deliberate. I may have been the culprit, in that I suggested at one point to have the submissions early enough for holiday publication. Chuck Brooks is quite the avuncular Southern gentleman. Mrs. Brooks is just as pleasant as peach cobbler, too. I had some extensive previous comments, concerning the peculiar history of political cartooning. Then the computer went crazy. Maybe my stentorian comments dissappeared into the memory hole. Oh well, not the first time! KRANKY Hi Daryl. Yes, that was one of the anomaly’s of BECY, where the title was for the current year, when the cartoons were obviously from the previous year. Funny and confusing. It seemed deliberate.

I may have been the culprit, in that I suggested at one point to have the submissions early enough for holiday publication. Chuck Brooks is quite the avuncular Southern gentleman. Mrs. Brooks is just as pleasant as peach cobbler, too.

I had some extensive previous comments, concerning the peculiar history of political cartooning. Then the computer went crazy. Maybe my stentorian comments dissappeared into the memory hole.
Oh well, not the first time!

KRANKY

]]> By: Daryl Cagle http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67464 Daryl Cagle Sat, 15 Dec 2007 00:13:01 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67464 BECY (and our book) is not a book that is made for cartoonists, it is a gift book that is typically purchased by women for the political wonks they love. Most people who purchase BECY and our book probably don’t look at the cartoons. The biggest practical problem that BECY had was that they came out too late for Christmas sales. Their sales (and ours) decline through the year. (BECY had traditionally come out in the spring with a sales peak at Fathers Day.) They dealt with that problem this year, getting onto store shelves three or four months earlier than they have done before – that was no small feat with an October submissions deadline and the minimum of five weeks it takes everyone to get their books through the printer to the store shelves at the beginning of December. I notice that this year they have also changed the lettering on their cover to demand more attention. I expect their efforts will result in better sales this year. BECY (and our book) is not a book that is made for cartoonists, it is a gift book that is typically purchased by women for the political wonks they love. Most people who purchase BECY and our book probably don’t look at the cartoons.

The biggest practical problem that BECY had was that they came out too late for Christmas sales. Their sales (and ours) decline through the year. (BECY had traditionally come out in the spring with a sales peak at Fathers Day.) They dealt with that problem this year, getting onto store shelves three or four months earlier than they have done before – that was no small feat with an October submissions deadline and the minimum of five weeks it takes everyone to get their books through the printer to the store shelves at the beginning of December. I notice that this year they have also changed the lettering on their cover to demand more attention. I expect their efforts will result in better sales this year.

]]> By: Harold Clayton http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67456 Harold Clayton Fri, 14 Dec 2007 22:42:52 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67456 The cartoons in that particular collection have always run the gamut from very good to very bad. It's certainly not the 'Best Editorial Cartoons' as the book's title might lead you to believe, but the collection is also not an indication of a profession in decline. There are a lot of great editorial cartoonists working today. In fact, I would say there are better editorial cartoons being produced today than ever before. The 'golden age of cartooning' was golden because of the period's abundance of jobs and opportunities for those in the craft during the time, not because of the abundance of talent. Is it a worse indictment of the craft when its lesser names lack skill, or when its biggest names lack integrity? I would argue the latter is more damaging. I've seen examples of some of the best in the field succumbing to the plagiarism of cartoon ideas, and the blatant theft of another cartoonist's drawings. So, be careful when you're throwing stones... especially from a glass house (or glass-topped light table in this case). The cartoons in that particular collection have always run the gamut from very good to very bad. It’s certainly not the ‘Best Editorial Cartoons’ as the book’s title might lead you to believe, but the collection is also not an indication of a profession in decline. There are a lot of great editorial cartoonists working today. In fact, I would say there are better editorial cartoons being produced today than ever before. The ‘golden age of cartooning’ was golden because of the period’s abundance of jobs and opportunities for those in the craft during the time, not because of the abundance of talent.

Is it a worse indictment of the craft when its lesser names lack skill, or when its biggest names lack integrity? I would argue the latter is more damaging. I’ve seen examples of some of the best in the field succumbing to the plagiarism of cartoon ideas, and the blatant theft of another cartoonist’s drawings.

So, be careful when you’re throwing stones… especially from a glass house (or glass-topped light table in this case).

]]> By: Dawn Douglass http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67454 Dawn Douglass Fri, 14 Dec 2007 21:10:33 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67454 There aren't only websites, Wiley, there are countless books and college classes that teach what makes a good painting and good music. They're called art and music appreciation classes and they succeed in getting more people interested in good paintings and good music instead of simply finding any piece acceptable or, else, not caring at all. Scott McCloud has been very successful in writing what are essentially comic book appreciation books. Editorial cartoonists could do the same. There aren’t only websites, Wiley, there are countless books and college classes that teach what makes a good painting and good music.

They’re called art and music appreciation classes and they succeed in getting more people interested in good paintings and good music instead of simply finding any piece acceptable or, else, not caring at all.

Scott McCloud has been very successful in writing what are essentially comic book appreciation books. Editorial cartoonists could do the same.

]]> By: Eric Burke http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67452 Eric Burke Fri, 14 Dec 2007 20:41:20 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67452 <i>Ooo! I’ve got an idea! We set up a fool-proof system to decide the best. We can have cartoonists rank the year’s best comics, and the editors, and people who write about comics, too. Then we take all those rankings and feed them into some really sophisticated computer formula and add some other confusing variables. We’ll call it the “Best Cartoon System” or BCS. And …wait a minute….</i> It would be a shame to let such a funny post go unsung. I don't know how many football fans post here, let alone college football, but the sarcastic analogy was a goodun... And I also have to give props to John Cole's cartoons. Nice stuff on his site...the <i>FACT</i> toon is great! Ooo! I’ve got an idea! We set up a fool-proof system to decide the best. We can have cartoonists rank the year’s best comics, and the editors, and people who write about comics, too. Then we take all those rankings and feed them into some really sophisticated computer formula and add some other confusing variables. We’ll call it the “Best Cartoon System” or BCS. And …wait a minute….
It would be a shame to let such a funny post go unsung. I don’t know how many football fans post here, let alone college football, but the sarcastic analogy was a goodun…

And I also have to give props to John Cole’s cartoons. Nice stuff on his site…the FACT toon is great!

]]> By: Andrew Wahl http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67451 Andrew Wahl Fri, 14 Dec 2007 20:24:11 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67451 My two cents on the annual BECY debate: I like the BECY series. I always have. Yes, there’s always some marginal stuff in there, with some of the big names missing. But I like getting a chance to see work from cartoonists I’m not familiar with, and who aren’t on the short list that regularly make the national publications. Growing up, I checked the newest BECY out of the local library as soon as it was published; the BECY series (along with Syd Hoff’s “Editorial and Political Cartooning”) played a huge role in my deciding to become an editorial cartoonist. To this day, I have 30 some volumes of BECY on the shelf in my library. And, of course, the first time one of my cartoons was included was a huge thrill; to that little kid who checked BECY out of the library, it meant that I’d arrived. I haven’t seen this year’s edition yet. But I’m assuming I’ll like it as much as past editions, and I’ll be proud if my cartoons are again in the mix. My two cents on the annual BECY debate: I like the BECY series. I always have. Yes, there’s always some marginal stuff in there, with some of the big names missing. But I like getting a chance to see work from cartoonists I’m not familiar with, and who aren’t on the short list that regularly make the national publications.

Growing up, I checked the newest BECY out of the local library as soon as it was published; the BECY series (along with Syd Hoff’s “Editorial and Political Cartooning”) played a huge role in my deciding to become an editorial cartoonist. To this day, I have 30 some volumes of BECY on the shelf in my library. And, of course, the first time one of my cartoons was included was a huge thrill; to that little kid who checked BECY out of the library, it meant that I’d arrived.

I haven’t seen this year’s edition yet. But I’m assuming I’ll like it as much as past editions, and I’ll be proud if my cartoons are again in the mix.

]]> By: Wiley Miller http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67450 Wiley Miller Fri, 14 Dec 2007 20:22:00 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67450 Should there be a web site that explains what makes a good painting? How about a web site that explains what constitutes good music? Come on, Dawn... Should there be a web site that explains what makes a good painting?
How about a web site that explains what constitutes good music?

Come on, Dawn…

]]> By: Dawn Douglass http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67449 Dawn Douglass Fri, 14 Dec 2007 20:05:11 +0000 http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2007/12/12/jim-borgman-issues-stinging-rebuke-of-best-of-book/#comment-67449 Okay, I shut up here, but I did write about this on my blog. It's critically important to the salvation of editorial cartooning, IMO. Okay, I shut up here, but I did write about this on my blog. It’s critically important to the salvation of editorial cartooning, IMO.

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