I was in LA last week for the National Cartoonists Society annual Reuben awards. It's our one time of year to connect, as we all live and work scattered across the country. Much drinking and frivolity occur.
While I always love seeing the creators of Zits, Baby Blues, Mother Goose and Grimm, Lio, Luann, Pearls Before Swine, Dilbert, Cathy and so many other veterans of the business... this year's conference had a panel discussing the general state of comic strips. Since most of us rely on newspapers for the bulk of our income, and newspapers are struggling, there was a bit of a pall over the event.
To sum it up, behold the size of comic strips since the beginning of my cartoon career:
What else is there to say? And where's the room?
Except this... I have loved the comics since I could sprawl on the floor and read them. Getting syndicated was one of the defining and best moments of my life. It pains me to see the comics sections of some papers nearly unreadable.
Well, that said, I still have deadlines.
..and I keep thinking every day..."WHY am I doing this again"? LOL
Posted by: patty leidy | June 03, 2009 at 11:39 AM
Jan, I love this cartoon illustrating shrinking of toons/newspapers. Loved meeting U at the Reubens. Love Stone Soup!
Posted by: Karyl Miller | June 03, 2009 at 12:11 PM
In Philadelphia you need a magnifying glass to read any comic with words and they claim that they are bigger.
Posted by: Vince LoGreco | June 03, 2009 at 12:16 PM
My local newspaper not only shrunk it's own size from tabloid to TV Guide size but they cut out half the comics they used to carry. I was so happy to see that they decided to keep Stone Soup, Zits, and Baby Blues, and For Better or For Worse, the only strips that are actually funny and worth buying a newspaper for.
Posted by: Cherry | June 03, 2009 at 04:07 PM
Can anybody help me locate an archival copy of Stone Soup comic where the little boy is repeating the phrase "twuk, momma, twuk ..." while the mother is contemplating the difference between little boys and little girls -- or something like that -- it was SO funny -- but i lost my copy and wondered if it was in any of Jan's books
Posted by: Leslee Martin | June 06, 2009 at 08:57 AM
Hi Leslee... that cartoon was originally published on 5.26.2003. It appears in my 6th book, "Desperate Households" on page 78. The publisher, Andrews McMeel, let this book go out of print, but I believe you may still be able to find copies on Amazon or at a used book vendor.
FYI, there's a cool site available to search my archive (and other Universal Press Syndicate cartoonists) :
www.amuniversal.com
Select Stone Soup, type in the key words (I used "max and truck and val and joan) and find the strip you are looking for. You can order prints or get reprint rights from this site if you choose.
Thanks for reading Stone Soup!
Posted by: Jan Eliot | June 08, 2009 at 11:02 AM
I work for a trade magazine and we are getting killed too. I daresay you are in better shape then us because you can at least sell books.
Posted by: doug | June 09, 2009 at 03:21 PM
thanks Jan -- I found the TRUCK comic -- and the book on Amazon! Have a great day!
Posted by: Leslee Martin | June 10, 2009 at 07:09 AM
The publisher, Andrews McMeel, let this book go out of print, but I believe you may still be able to find copies on Amazon or at a used book vendor.
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