Time again for another of the kooky, klutzy, and knavish kaleidoscopes of knuckle-headedness that are these newsletters! This week we sketch a final visit to the shire, and put a bow on the 80th annual NCS Reuben Award Weekend... on with the ‘Wretch!
Sketch o’the Week: Hobbits!
Click here if you are interested in this original sketch
I finally just bit the orc arrow and did a sketch of all four of the hobbit protagonists from “The Lord of the Rings”, specifically Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan and Elijah Wood. This one obviously took longer than my usual single subject, so for those of you who are Premium Subscribers I only did the digital sketch portion in the video... and that’s still about 50 minutes!
And for those of you who are not one of the smart, funny, beautiful, heroic, and really good smelling premium subscribers... what are you waiting for? A furshlugginer invitation?
Pssst... I’ve got Hodgepodges!
Barnes and Noble just released the next volume of their MAD “Hodgepodge of Humor” series of bookazines featuring my cover art. You can get one at your local Barnes & Noble store or order it on their website. These bookazines are all collections of reprint material, so there is no new content (except the cover).
It’s tough coming up with gags for these covers because the term “hodgepodge” doesn’t give you a lot to work with. A hodgepodge is “a chaotic mixture of unrelated objects, ideas, or styles”, it’s also a kind of Canadian vegetable soup or stew. That’s pretty ambiguous. MAD Empress Suzy Hutchinson and I keep trying to come up with something that works without being the same gag over and over. Here’s a galley of the other covers:
In volume one we went with the “soup” definition, and since it’s supposed to be a hodgepodge of “humor” the elements are all joke props. I totally forgot that the main magazine did a similar cover for #29 (Vol. 2). Oh well...
Volume 2 was an homage to a Frank Kelly Freas annual special cover, except our attic is stuffed with MAD icons and objects.
Volume three’s “thrift store” theme featured as many “fad” or dated items on the shelves as I could come up with.
For volume four we did a flea market scene, with Alfred of course selling real fleas.
The gag for this new image is kind of similar to the first cover in that the stuff Alfred is hawking in his trench coat are supposed to be joke items, but the real gag is that some of them are actual items Donald Trump is selling to the gullible. They are, of course, also jokes... just not the funny kind.
The Best Reuben in Columbus
The Lovely Anna and I just got back from the National Cartoonists Society’s annual Reuben Award Conference, which was held this year in Columbus, OH. We had a wonderful time (as usual) seeing old friends, meeting new ones, talking shop, and enjoying the speakers and events.
Having the Reubens in Columbus meant getting to team up with the incredible Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum, which is part of THE Ohio State University campus (you have to say “THE” Ohio State, or a football player will come out of nowhere and tackle you). Many of the programs took place there, and the Cartooning Crossroads Columbus (CXC) also hosted events and speakers on the Saturday following the Reubens that were sort of wrapped up into the NCS event. The lineup both with the NCS and CXC was stellar... Jim Davis, Colleen Doran and Cathy Guisewite, just to name a few.
The conference culminates in the Reuben Awards Banquet, a black-tie affair where awards are bestowed for special recognition as well as in different divisions of cartooning and comics. I was privileged to present the NCS “Silver T-Square” award for outstanding service to the Society and/or the profession of cartooning to my long-time pal Ed Steckley.
As for the Reuben, this is where the NCS and OSU have something else in common. When someone claims they have won A Reuben Award for “Best Comic Strip” or “Best Graphic Novel”, what they really mean is a “Silver Reuben” aka a “NCS Divisional Award”. THE Reuben is for “Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year”, which has been awarded to 74 different top cartoonists (and one poseur) since 1946. This year’s recipient was Mark Tatulli, the creator of the comic strips “Heart of the City” and “Lio” and the YA graphic novel series “Desmond Pucket”. Mark is a dear friend who had been nominated somewhere around a gazillion consecutive times. This was long overdue, well deserved, and I was so happy to see him finally win. Here’s a brief photo dump!:
The National Cartoonists Society holds a special place in my heart. I joined in 1998 after being sponsored by the great Mort Drucker. I attended my first Rueben Award Weekend in 1999 in San Antonio, Texas. I was just a freelance illustrator with some comic book work and a lot of miscellaneous freelance publication work to my credit. I was welcomed in like I was one of the family right alongside giants like Charles Schulz, Jeff MacNelly, Jack Davis, Mort and a long list of cartooning royalty. I am not exaggerating to say that getting my chance to work for MAD came directly from my meeting Charlie Kochman, Nick Meglin and Sam Viviano through the NCS. So many of the people I have gotten to know thanks to the NCS have become great friends, and the Reuben Award Event is something I look forward to every year.
I’m also happy to say the NCS, which celebrates it’s 80th anniversary this year, is growing and becoming more active than ever. I was on the NCS Board for many years before serving as president for two terms (four years), and there was a period of time where the NCS was struggling to stay relevant. The definition of a “professional” cartoonist was changing, and some of the old guard were resistant to evolving with the times. The new breed of cartoonist was no longer validated by syndicate or publishing contracts, but rather created their own markets and built their own audiences by not just doing outstanding work but handling their own production/publishing, marketing, promotion, and distribution. Very few of those new breed seemed to find any value (or reason) for being a part of the NCS.
That has changed. The crowds at recent Reuben Award Conferences are full of younger cartoonists who are thriving in the modern cartooning business model, but now see a value in being part of an organization like the NCS. Most of them I spoke to about that this past week said it was the sense of community and family that they found appealing in being an NCS member. That is what I always found to be the best part of the Society. The networking and introduction to people in the industry was no doubt of enormous benefit, but it is the true sense of family and inclusion with people who share the craziness of the profession we are all a part of that makes it meaningful.
For those who may be thinking that being a member isn’t worth it if they can’t afford the time or treasure to attend a Reubens, the NCS community has also come into the 21st century. They host regular online events like their “Draw and Chill” sessions and “Spotlight on...” various cartoonists. These are sometimes open and free to anyone and sometimes ticketed, but I believe they are always free to NCS members.
If you do cartooning in some form as part of your income (even if you have a day job that pays the bills), I’d encourage you to apply for membership. I think you will find it at worst worth the membership dues for becoming part of the community, and at best it might change your life.
That’s it for this week’s “Ink Stained Wretch”! As always, if you liked what you saw please share it with others. Remember I’m always looking for feedback, questions for the mailbag, and suggestions for future Sketch o’the Week subjects. Just reply to this email with any of the above! And always remember... it’s crackers to slip a rozzer the dropsy in snide!
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