An Open Letter to the Media Regarding Cartoons and Cartoonists

Dear Media,

I just finished reading another article on cartoons/cartoonists and I gotta tell you, I’m really tired of this stuff. Sure, it’s nice to see cartoonists get a little press, but it’s always the same old thing.

It seems if someone in the media is going to do something cartoon related it’s A) comic strips B) animation (especially gay overtones therein) or C) graphic novels. (OK, you get the occasional New Yorker thing, but even those have died down since their last media blitz to sell their latest book/cd offering.)

What no one ever talks about, however, are artists like myself – independent cartoonists that practice the craft full-time and ink out a living under the radar.

My particular genre is the venerable gag cartoon. My cartoons appear regularly in Harvard Business Review, Reader’s Digest, Good Housekeeping and other major publications. I also market my cartoons via my website to companies, presenters, ad agencies, smaller publications and the like.

(Hmm… Now that I look at it, I don’t seem that far under the radar after all.)

Come on you guys; give a piece on small independent cartoonists a chance. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised as how interesting we can be.

Sincerely,

Mark Anderson
Independent Cartoonist