It's a very cold, very damp, very stormy day in the Pacific Northwest, pretty typical for New Year's Eve, but dreary nonetheless. As I close down the studio for the last time in 2009 I can't help but wonder about 2010 and the future of cartooning.
Recently, the Washington Times (DC) decided to eliminate comics altogether. I don't think it's a big paper, and it's not one of mine... but it worries me. Without funny pages what is a newspaper?
Newspapers are evolving... so comics must evolve. I like how my work looks online, and I see the future there... but it may not provide a way to make a living for cartoonists as syndication has in the past.
Which is the root of my dilemma whenever someone interested in cartooning asks me for advice.
Cartooning, comics, graphic novels, funny papers, animation... it's all evolving and evolution is inevitable. But as far as advice is concerned? Well, I just don't know.
I only know that you can't go wrong doing what you love, writing about what interests you, and drawing funny pictures that bring it to life.
So if you love it, do it, and see where it takes you. I suppose that applies to most anything, doesn't it?
Happy 2010. Yowsa.
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