CSotD: Another one bites the dust
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Here is what I guess may prove to be Lee Judge's final political cartoon.
He's been cut loose by the Kansas City Star after 37 years, which at least earned him the right to do a farewell column, which you can read at Bado's Blog.
In addition to reproducing Judge's column, Bado offers a selection of Judge's work over the years, which is a very good reason to give him the click instead of reading it at the KC Star's site, but there's also a technical reason I'm offering his link instead sending you to theirs: Fuck them.
Though let's not demonize them too much: They're simply doing what other newspapers are doing, saving money by cutting off arms, legs, noses and ears.
There's a much larger story here than one guy getting canned.
It used to be that your typical editorial cartoonist had a staff position on a paper, where he did both national and local cartoons and, often, other graphics such as column headers or illustrations for feature stories. His salary paid the rent and clothed the kids and put food on the table.
He'd also have a syndicate deal, if he was any good at all, which would involve selling his cartoons on national topics to other papers around the country, and the money from that was for vacations and the occasional standing rib roast and emergencies like his kid deciding to play hockey.
That situation is no longer normal, as most editorial cartoonists have, like Judge, lost their staff positions, so that the money that once bought a couple of rib roasts a year is now expected to cover the mortgage, etc.
And it's not enough to even pay for those rib roasts anymore, because about a decade and a half ago, a clever fellow began his own syndicate,his competitive edge being to sell cartoons for a mere fraction of what the major syndicates charged, and, since 90 percent of editors are grammarians with no ability to judge graphic commentary, the fact that his initial crew of cartoonists were, well, somewhat below par didn't matter.
I was, at the time, doing a weekly educational feature using editorial cartoons, and I had an editorial page editor excitedly show me a sheaf of printed-out cartoons and tell me how inexpensive they were.
I politely thanked him without trying to explain that I was purposely seeking good cartoons and so didn't mind paying more for them.
But I was one small fish buying two cartoons a week. Editorial page editors were consuming more product and welcomed this savings.
And I have to concede that, in the years since, this alternative syndicator has attracted more cartoonists, some of whom are very talented indeed.
He also runs periodic pleas for contributions to stay afloat, because he doesn't charge newspapers what an editorial cartoon is actually worth.
Which is his deal and I'm okay with it, except to note that he shifted the industry such that the standing rib roast is now a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and it's hard to pay your mortgage off in peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
I'm not telling you this to criticize that particular guy, but rather so that people who are not in the business will understand what it means when an editorial cartoonist loses his staff job.
For someone like me, who is single and empty-nested and living in an inexpensive part of the country, it's easy to stand on principle and keep on keepin' on and all that good stuff, but for someone in a major metro with a family, it's a little more complex and may involve selling life insurance or motor vehicles.
When people in the business talk about a crisis in editorial cartooning, that's what they're talking about.
Between Wall Street beancounting owners who don't give a damn about content, and cloth-eared editors who don't understand the medium, editorial cartoonists have become an endangered species.
I don't know what Judge is planning, beyond what he said in his column, which is that he'll keep covering the Kansas City Royals on his own.
It may be that he is at a point in life where that constitutes a pleasant partial-retirement. I hope so.
But here's something else: Judge is not simply a cartoonist. He is also a mensch.
I've joked about the cops reporter who thought he was one of the boys but was considered a clown.
Judge, by stark contrast, became a legend throughout the industry — newswriting, sportswriting, everywhere — when he won over the players on the Royals by literally putting his ass on the line to back up something he had written.
As he tells it:
After I stood in front of a 92 mph pitch and let it hit me in the vicinity of my left kidney, Royals catcher Jason Kendall decided I was cool enough to hang out with, and we eventually wrote a book together.
Not long after that hit-by-pitch video came out, Eric Hosmer made it to the big leagues and the first thing he ever said to me was: “Are you the dude?” When I confirmed I was the dude who got hit by a pitch, Hosmer said: “If you’re going to do any more crazy (bleep), I want in.”
So, folks, that's what the KC Star decided they didn't need.
Other cartoonists around the country face a similar plight, especially those whose work offends anyone anywhere for any reason.
What Scott Stantis explained 11 years ago in Prickly City is moreso than ever:
Here are a few of Lee Judge's pieces that have appeared at CSotD over the years:
(April 2014)
(May 2014 — Michael Sam was the first openly gay football player drafted in the NFL)
(Sept 2014 — He must have been having a hot year)
(Feb 2017)
(July 2017)
And here is the video that earned him respect in the KC dugout and throughout the newspaper industry. Also a lot of laffs:
We'll let Rat have the final word, in this 2009 Pearls:
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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