Don't let anybody fool you. Gag cartoons are indeed a troublesome and tricky sport. Consider my first year of submitting cartoons every Tuesday to the New Yorker. Every Tuesday I'd tramp in to the Conde Nast building in Times Square, armed with another batch of promising sales. Bob Mankoff would look them over and sort the good ones from the dead weight and hand the initial rejects back and hold on to the others for two more rounds of consideration. A lunch at the Pergola would follow the presentation and I'd enjoy the company of artists I count myself lucky to rub elbows with. Funny, funny, lovable, brilliant people.
After an enjoyable afternoon I'd head home and wonder if I'd get that call on Friday. During the course of this procedure I noticed my art changing. Mankoff was nice enough not to tell me to take a hike and I was silently encouraged to experiment and find my niche. Anyhoo, I don't mean for this to sound like I've stopped doing it, I just do it less often, due to other whip cracking paying ventures. I miss my cronies and I eagerly await my return to lunch.
Lately I've begun compiling the cartoons lying around that have been through the system more than a few times. Rather than have them vanish in the nether regions of my studio, I'm putting together a collection of the best works to date.
