For the first time since the strip began back in 2002, I’m now emerging from my hermit shell and booking a fair number of speaking engagements.

I talk about the strip, tell the strange tale of how I went from being a lawyer to a syndicated cartoonist, show a number of readers’ favorite strips, and of course, talk about some of the strips that weren’t big hits (including some of the angry mail they generated). It’s inspirational, it’s funny and it’s better than just sitting with a bunch of people in a quiet room.

New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly recently spoke at the TEDWomen conference. Sherman’s Lagoon creator Jim Toomey has also spoke to a TED audience.

New Yorker cartoonist Liza Donnelly gave a talk at a TED conference dedicated to women in Washington D.C. yesterday. Her talk was about using cartooning to tackle “global issues with humor, intelligence and sarcasm.” Her involvement with TEDWomen includes curating an exhibit of international cartoons entitled, “The Folly, Fun and Flexibility of Women.”

I’ll post video of her talk when it’s made available.

She also mentioned a distinction she’s had to make regarding her identity.

While presenting her comic strips, however, Bechdel discussed her struggle to unite her own gay identity and her work.

“As inspiring as community was for my creativity, it was also constraining,” she said. “I find that I am one of those people who says, ‘I am a lesbian and a cartoonist, but not a lesbian cartoonist.’”

I believe this is also the point several African American cartoonists were trying to make a couple of years ago trying to fight their work being labeled “African American” regardless of the genre or audience their comic targets simply because the creator was African American.

From their press release:

Universal Uclick, the world’s largest independent syndication company, announces the launch of UniversalUclick.com, a website designed to showcase the company’s diverse selection of comics, editorial cartoons, text features, games and puzzles available in print, online and on mobile phones worldwide.

The new site features the entire catalog of Universal Uclick features, including everything from iconic comic strip feline Garfield to beloved advice columnist Dear Abby to global puzzle sensation Sudoku. The site’s new, clean design allows editors and publishers to experience each product and shows them how these products can increase their audience and drive repeat visits to any publication, website or mobile application.  

“The new UniversalUclick.com gives visitors a one-stop shop where they can see our entire product catalog of diverse, high-quality features and games at the click of a mouse,” said Lee Salem, president and editor of Universal Uclick. “We’re now able to showcase our titles in a way that informs and entertains, with hundreds of world-renowned features and some of the most recognizable brands in existence.”

The new website also features the many creative solutions and licensing opportunities offered by Universal Uclick, including the leading pagination service, PageCaptain, hosted online services, custom online games and the exclusive Mobile Publisher product. Advertisers can find out about the many opportunities that exist in the Universal Uclick suite of top-rate websites like GoComics.com, ThePuzzleSociety.com and Garfield.com.

Publishers can search for products and solutions by clicking on the various tabs or searching the site by feature name, keyword or category.  Universal Uclick representatives can be reached easily from the Contact page for consultation on content packages and recommendations for publications and websites.

It was mostly pep talk, partly an entreaty “not to be afraid of the future when we can still affect it.” On that part, it was hard to find fault.

But at least one other attendee, namely Sergio Aragones, a cartoonist whose name is regularly preceded by the word “legendary,” took issue with Waid’s idea that ideas should be free. After the speech, according to witnesses, Aragones went over to Waid and the two had a heated exchange. While we heard several reports of various folks storming out and slamming doors, we also heard that after all was said and done, Aragones and Waid literally hugged and made up.

We had a chance to talk to Sergio later on – it was an off the cuff conversation in the middle of a rather chaotic night (the Hyatt bar was shut down early and everyone was in a tizzy). Paraphrasing here a bit, but Sergio was advocating more for the idea that the spread of free content has devalued content, making it harder for people to make a living at it. He said a couple of things that I tried to jot down, one that (I’m paraphrasing) “quality has to be considered again” and the one I tweeted “If you give everything away for free, you have ruined everything.”

Read on for the rest of the story.

Here is Jim speaking about what he has learned from Sherman the shark.

Gene Luen Yang: Keynote – Breaking into Graphic Novels & Comic Books Conference from hclib on Vimeo.