Auchtoon!

It’s National Doodle Day! Doodle Day is a fundraising event to benefit NF, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing support to individuals and families affected by neurofibromatosis (NF). Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that affects one in every 2,500 births. NF is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Huntington’s Disease combined. Funds raised from the Doodle Day auction will go to support education, advocacy, coalitions, and research for treatments and a cure. For more specifics and links, check out: http://www.doodledayusa.org

I did two drawings this year — a regular cartoon and an editorial one. Auctioning begins on eBay starting today and goes through May 23. Check out the gallery and make a bid!

Not published

This was going to be the editorial cartoon in this Saturday’s Press. Unfortunately, my editor decided against it. Well, unfortunately for me (I was really pleased with the drawing — got Justin Amash’s lips just right), but fortunately for my editor. You see, my point in this is that Justin Amash, the Republican candidate for the Grand Rapids’ area congressional district, needs some definition. He’s a young guy who, after being a state rep, is running for congress for the first time, and he is likely to win this traditionally Republican district. Amash has big potential, but he also hews a line often to the right of previous representatives (re: Gerald Ford, Paul Henry, Vern Ehlers).

I’m not passing immediate judgment, but his website does read very much like Sarah Palin’s but without (to his credit) the cutsie “mama bear” stuff and cloying need to be part of pop culture. So I dressed him in a Palin-esque suit, wig, and glasses to draw attention to their political similarities and let readers decide how they feel about it. No labels, no arrows, and with some subtly. But subtly doesn’t work all that well in the weeks before an election. And the likely result? Letters and phone calls demanding to know “why your cartoonist is saying Justin Amash is a transvestite!” My editor would be the one getting those, not me. The dress. All certain folks would see is the dress. So I came up with something different. Buy a Saturday Press and let me know what you think.

I see a lot of animation that I like and some that I love. But every rare once in a while I see something so devastatingly brilliant that I want to help it go viral:

Danny & Annie from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

Hey gang, it’s almost National Doodle Day time again! Doodle Day is a fundraising event to benefit NF, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing support to individuals and families affected by neurofibromatosis (NF). Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that affects one in every 2,500 births. NF is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Huntington’s Disease combined. Funds raised from the Doodle Day auction will go to support education, advocacy, coalitions, and research for treatments and a cure. For more specifics and links, check out: http://www.doodledayusa.org

I went somewhat political this year. Blatant partisanship seems to open wallets, so I decided to give it a go. If this doesn’t work, I’m going to go with FEAR next year! I swear to God I will! Don’t make me do it!!!

Ahem… Auctioning begins on eBay starting Thursday, May 13th. Lots of cool stuff in the gallery: http://www.doodledayusa.org/gallery/v/2010/

Good cartooning news! Starting tomorrow, I will be doing a weekly editorial for the Grand Rapids Press. The folks down at the Press are trying to give the editorial page of their Saturday edition a decidedly local/state issues angle, so they wanted a local/state editorial cartoon. (Hey! That’s me! I can do that!)

I dunno how this will all play out in the online world, so here’s what you need to do: tomorrow, go buy a newspaper. (And this will work out best if you buy a Grand Rapids Press newspaper.) Read it. Enjoy it. Subscribe to it. In fact, while you are out and about, pick up a Grand Rapids Family magazine — they’re free. Then come Monday, that’s right, back to the newstand for your Grand Rapids Business Journal.  Then start a new publication with the name “Grand Rapids” in it and decide it needs cartoons!!! (Okay, getting a little carried away now….)

My friend Rosemary again asked me to participate in this year’s National Doodle Day, a fundraising event to benefit NF, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing support to individuals and families affected by neurofibromatosis (NF). Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that affects one in every 2,500 births. NF is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Huntington’s Disease combined. Funds raised from the Doodle Day auction will go to support education, advocacy, coalitions, and research for treatments and a cure. For more specifics and links, check out: http://www.doodledayusa.org

Various folks contribute a quick sketch or doodle, and these are auctioned off on eBay starting May 7th and closing May 17th. Check out the gallery: http://www.doodledayusa.org/gallery/v/2009/

I was working yesterday morning when my cell phone rang around 10:00. I didn’t recognize the area code and debated whether to answer but did using my best “are you a telemarketer?” voice. Turns out it was a reporter from CNN who was writing a story on a cartooning issue. Luckily I had been following the story on a cartoonist blog site, so I was able to give a semi-informed opinion and point her toward further information. Here are some links.

• The actual story: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/19/chimp.cartoon.react/index.html
• The original thread on DailyCartoonist.com (my comment #65): http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/02/18/delonas-cartoon-proves-racially-questionable/
• A follow up thread on DailyCartoonist.com (my comment # 4): http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2009/02/19/delanos-chimp-cartoon-goes-viral/

Interesting (and scary) how interconnected the world is so that (1) my name would come up as a reasonable person to talk with about a national issue, (2) that the flames of the blogosphere can burn so many so quickly, and (3) that this is already very old news.

I had an idea for the Biz Journal that I was pretty sure wouldn’t get printed. No biggie. I had a better idea for a local issue (the local GM stamping plant closing). But I wanted to sketch this one anyway — boogers only stay fresh for so long you know….

As an editorial cartoonist I try, I really, really try to stay away from hackneyed stereotypes. You know, like nefarious politicians in the pocket of well-funded special interest groups sneaking suspect legislation through the system under cover of a larger crisis, say, a Wall Street meltdown. But then this happens:

Last week the US Senate managed to approve something called the Orphan Work Act. Didn’t hear about it? Well, frankly, that’s by design. I’ve read quite a bit about it, and I’ve included some links below if you’d like details but the best summary I’ve seen is this: It’s one of those laws that in attempting to address a minor problem creates a major one. Say I draw a comic and it gets published. Some time later, a magazine or book publisher finds it through Google, but my name has been removed and it isn’t immediately obvious that I’m the author. To them, it’s “orphaned.” As is now under copyright law, the onus is on them to find out who the author is and I have decent legal protection if they go ahead and republish without permission. With the Orphan Work Act, the onus would be on me to find the unauthorized work, and in the unlikely event that I did find it, my legal recourse would be limited and prohibitively expensive.

So off to the House it goes. Hopefully it won’t make it through. If you have time, contacting your representative would help.

• Go here for a pretty good discussion on both sides of the issue:
  http://dailycartoonist.com/index.php/2008/09/27/senate-passes-orphan-works-act/
• Go here for editorial cartoonists presenting their case against it:
  http://editorialcartoonists.com/news/article.cfm/830

Hey! Click the whale to check out a Flash animation my dear ol’ Halo Burger buddy, Mert, and I did for our friend Doug’s new venture, WhaleDrop.