THE INMATES

Kathleen Green

Tips for becoming a better cartoonist (2)

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Then it’s time to draw. Some cartoonists use computer software to draw their illustra­tions; others sketch by hand. Hilary drafts creations in pencil, then goes over them in ink and erases the pencil marks. But before final­izing each strip in ink, she gets a fresh per­spective from a friend on whether her idea— as well as her expression of it—is effective.

Eventually, Hilary scans the comic strip into a computer. Color for Sunday strips is added electronically; in addition, technology helps cartoonists hide the flaws that are part of the creative process. “The originals are not pristine,” says Hilary. “When I ink them, I might make a mistake and use correction fluid to cover it up. But I clean them up on the computer, and that’s what the reader sees.”

Hilary sends comic strips to her syndicate in daily-plus-Sunday batches. The syndicate serves as a clearinghouse, distributing to its subscribing newspapers the comics that occupy space on their pages. There are about five major syndicates, “and all of them are competing for real estate on the page,” says Hilary.

A syndicated cartoonist’s earnings are tied to that competition; a cartoonist whose work is in a handful of newspapers isn’t likely to make as much as another whose strip appears in hundreds, for example. But it’s not all about page space. Rates charged to subscribing publications are based on the size of the publication’s circulation, the fre­quency with which the strip runs, and the strip’s popularity in a given market. The syndicate and the cartoonist typically split the proceeds. 

Tips for becoming a better cartoonist (1)

By Kathleen Green 

culled from

 Occupational Outlook Quarterly, Fall 2008 

"You’re a what? Cartoonist"

What rhymes with orange? Thirteen years ago, Hilary Price liked that puzzler enough to name her comic strip after it. Today, “Rhymes With Orange” is syndicated in 150 newspapers nationwide.

Of course, cartoonists do more than choose a clever title for their work. Cartoons (which include comic strips) must convey an idea visually, often humorously, and range from single frame gags to multi panel serials to graphic novels. Hilary, like most syndicated cartoonists, writes and draws 365 different comic strips per year: black-and-white strips that run Mondays through Saturdays, and color ones on Sundays.

An idea is central to each strip. Because cartoons can be a form of social commen­tary, cartoonists need to keep up with current events. They also have to look ahead, though, to submit a week’s worth of strips at least 1 month before the cartoons appear in print. And since today’s news might be stale tomor­row, creating for the future makes timeliness tricky. “I have to be thinking not in terms of events,” says Hilary, “but in terms of trends.” 

FN RIDDLE

Expet the Official Release of Justice League Vs Teen Titans in 2016 soon

  By Jamie Lovett

DC Animation has officially released the trailer for Justice League vs. Teen Titans, the next animated film set in the DC Universe. Justice League vs. Teen Titans comes to Blu-ray and DVD in 2016.

Check it out below:

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