Cartoonists on Parade
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With John “Front Page” Rose, New Yorker cartoonists Lynn Hsu and Brendan Loper, Ed Fischer, Jeff Koterba, Zander Cannon in Minneapolis, and Ron Coleman on pricing cartoons.
John Rose is Up to Snuff
Snuffy Smith and Barney Google cartoonist John Rose gets a page one, above the fold article in his local Ogden newspaper! John is profiled by Lori D’Angelo for the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record:
Harrisonburg resident John Rose knew from a young age that he wanted to become a cartoonist, and, as an adult, he became one, drawing both editorial cartoons for newspapers, including the Daily News-Record, as well as comic strips, eventually taking over the popular Barney Google and Snuffy Smith cartoon, which he has been drawing for 25 years.
A new book featuring some of John Rose’s more recent Barney Google and Snuffy Smith cartoons, called “Up to Snuff!” was just released, and an exhibit showcasing his Snuffy Smith cartoons will open at Asbury United Methodist Church in Harrisonburg on Friday.
JiJi Lee interviews Lynn Hsu and Brendan Loper
JiJi Lee has “written for The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Onion, and more!” Her Bonjour JiJi Substack has recently featured a couple short interviews with New Yorker cartoonists Lynn Hsu and Brendan Loper.
Interview With New Yorker Cartoonist Lynn Hsu
While working full time as an architect, I took night classes in comedy sketch writing and satire, mostly because they sounded fun. Those classes unlocked a dormant part of my brain that wanted to learn more.
I took helpful cartooning classes and workshops with Amy Kurzweil, Emily Flake, Jeremy Nguyen, and others, and met a group of wonderful, supportive cartoonists who encouraged me to submit to The New Yorker. I submitted monthly batches of cartoons for over a year before selling my first one.
You can follow Lynn Hsu on Instagram here, check out her New Yorker cartoons here, and buy prints here.
Interview With New Yorker Cartoonist Brendan Loper
It wasn’t until I was living in New York with no studio space that I started making small, humorous captioned pieces. And it wasn’t for a few more years that I realized these pieces were actually cartoons. And it wasn’t for two more years after that that I made one that would sell. I am more than anything incredibly slow at realizing things.
The Schumer toon in particular though, I was driving back from dropping my daughter off at school when it came to me. Originally I had a more cluttered caption but simplified it (at the urging of Emma). She’s very helpful. [Emma Allen is The New Yorker’s cartoon editor.]
You can subscribe to Brendan’s Substack here and follow him on Instagram here and buy his prints here.
Jeff Remembers Ed
Editorial cartoonist Ed Fischer, who recently passed away, worker on staff at The Omaha World-Herald during the 1970s. Among the youngsters he mentored while there was future editorial cartoonist Jeff Koterba.
During his World-Herald tenure, Fischer weighed in on some of the most historic events of the last half-century. Those included the troubles affecting Presidents Richard Nixon and Jimmy Carter’s administrations, the Iranian hostage crisis, and the lagging economy.
Whenever Fischer did lampoon somebody in a cartoon, he did so in a way to make sure the burn wasn’t too hot or would linger. Koterba likened Fischer’s style of criticism to dropping a flower pot on someone’s head.
“They’re going to have a little bruise. But they’re going to dust themselves off and get up,” Koterba said. “The world is still going to be here tomorrow.”
It was Fischer’s cartooning style that Koterba sought to emulate. And Fischer was always happy to share what he knew.
For The Omaha World-Herald Dan Crisler talks to Jeff Koterba about the late editoonist (or here).
Included in the reminisce is a gallery of two dozen Fischer/World-Herald cartoons.
Zander Cannon on Living in Minneapolis
Zander Cannon is a Minneapolis cartoonist who has had his federal government come to his city.
Cartoonist Zander Cannon is a Minneapolis resident, a father, and now, a protester. This is his story.
Ben Grady for The Beat talks to Zander Cannon about his reaction to the ICE tactics in Minneapolis.
Zander: So my son is a Korean adoptee. One of the groups that ICE is targeting is Hmong immigrants. And to say nothing of anybody who’s not white or white passing. And so I think as things get a little bit darker and grimmer, I think it’s tough on him. He quit his job at Target because they weren’t protecting or having the back of any of their employees. A couple people who do exactly what he does, were tackled to the ground, and they broke one of their arms and left them somewhere else a mile away. It was astonishing, and there was no pushback from Target.
Two Cartoons = A Hot Dog and a Soda at Costco
Ron Coleman, who ran The New Gag Recap, occasionally sends out tidbits about the industry, recently his dispatch was about an experience he had selling a couple of his cartoons through CartoonStock.
This month I sold two cartoon licenses through cartoonstock.com. They didn’t pay much because they were sold for personal use. However, by time cartoonstock gave these buyer a very generous discount over their normal pricing, and by time they took a 50 percent commission for themselves, I received less than $1 for each cartoon license.
I wrote cartoonstock today asking for a new deal. I wouldn’t want them to ever sell any of my cartoons for less than $5. And if they sell them for less than $10, I think my share of the sale should be 90 percent instead of 50 percent.
CartoonStock did respond to Ron’s letter saying that the sale was part of a different system (subscription pricing vs. one-off licensing) where the lower cost creates a larger volume of sales.
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