Awesome Matt Bors cartoon...

This cartoon is just awesome.

Big Fat Whale Valentines

Brian McFadden continues his annual tradition in fine form on the newly redesigned Big Fat Whale website.

Where do I sign up for the cartoonists and bloggers union?

Creators deserve to be paid for the use of their content online, whether they're TV writers or bloggers--or cartoonists. Ted has a great column (When Media Content is Free, It's Worth Every Cent) on this subject, the first in a three-part series. Here's one key bit:

The Huffington Post, capitalized to the tune of $10 million, employs 43 full-time employees, all of whom presumably receive actual cash money, and health benefits, and maybe even a 401(k), for their efforts. But, USA Today reports, "it has no plans to begin paying bloggers. Ever." Ken Lerer, company co-founder, former Time Warner executive, and probably himself in it for the money, says: "That's not our financial model. We offer them visibility, promotion and distribution with a great company."

It's hypocritical for moneyed and supposedly progressive outlets like HuffPo asking writers to opine on subjects such as labor issues for no money whatsoever. (Smaller blogs run by unpaid editors are another matter). What would Arianna Huffington say if she heard about a factory in which workers were paid in internet exposure? Some other choice points:

Hardly a day passes without finding a pitch from some wannabe freeloader in my e-mail. "Our magazine doesn't have a budget for content, but we'd love to use your cartoon about…" "We can't offer a salary per se, but you would get amazing exposure to thousands of discrete users if…" Content is still king. Online leeches just don't want to pay the kingmakers.

I can relate to this 100%. Outlets seem shocked that I don't want to work for free--after all, don't I want exposure FOR MY CARTOON ABOUT OPPRESSED WORKERS?
Finally, Ted tries an experiment:

I called the bank that holds my mortgage. "I don't have a budget to pay you per se," I cooed. "But think of the awesome prestige your corporation receives just by being associated with a cartoonist and columnist whose work is literally read by millions of--" Click. Citibank (Bangalore), Ltd., signing out. Back to work!

The only reason this website doesn't lose money is my Google Ads. I did have hopes when I first put out Attack of the 50-Foot Mikhaela! that all that magical exposure I've been getting would help me sell enough books to make up for the work I put into designing it, but so far, I haven't quite broken even. Hint, hint...

Cartoonist Howie Schneider, 1930-2007

A recent Sunshine Club strip--click image to see strip on comics.com

I heard the sad news this morning that Cape-Cod-based cartoonist, artist, sculptor and children's book author Howie Schneider has passed away at the age of 77 due to complications from heart surgery.

I only got to know Howie in the past year (I don't usually talk about it in this blog, but I work at a syndicate), and I am deeply sorry I didn't know him longer. Howie would often send me witty hand-written notes with each batch of cartoons. I taught him how to use a scanner and PhotoShop so he could submit his comic strips to the syndicate by e-mail. He came to visit New York not long ago, and told me over sushi lunch that he preferred to send the strips by mail because it gave him an excuse to go into town and chat with his friends at the post office.

Howie always called me "sweetie," which coming from someone else could have sounded condescending but coming from Howie was high praise and an expression of his generally sweet nature.

Sweet he may have been in person, but his cartoons had bite. The Sunshine Club, Howie's syndicated strip about "Generation Rx," and issues of aging, often used dark humor and touched on politics, health insurance (and the lack thereof), prescription drug costs, death, life expectancy and much more.

Here's the PDF press release about Howie's passing, which has lots of biographical details.

Here's what his hometown paper, Provincetown's Banner, wrote about Howie yesterday.

Wikipedia has some more information on Howie as well. I could not find any online examples of Unshucked, other than this book collection.

Cheryl Lynn on "Black Hair, Comics and You"

Cheryl Lynn of Digital Femme (and The Ormes Society) has a detailed and handy cartoonist's guide to black women's hairstyles, from relaxed hair to braids and twists and afros and dreadlocks. Here's her intro:

If you have been sent here, the likelihood is that someone asked you to draw a black woman at one point and you completely screwed it up. I kid! I kid! Seriously though, I'm here to help. Together, you and I will go through some of the most popular hairstyles for black women. Never again will you have leagues of black women giving you the side-eye and bitching you out in blogs. Ready? Let's go!

Hopefully some of the mainstream comic book artists who have been annoying her lately will read her tutorial and wise up.

Spotlight on Astrid Lydia Johannsen: Perfectionist Cartoonist Claims I Inspired Her to Start Graphic Novel

Panels from an episode of "Absolutely True Tales of Lesbian" Drama in which Aziza tries to defend Astrid from a transphobic woman... click to see full comic on Lydia's site.

Do I ever have the warm fuzzies! I first discovered the cartoons of Astrid Lydia Johannsen back in 2003, when she was drawing AstroGirlX2, a comic about her coffee-drinking transsexual lipstick lesbian drag king cartoon alter-ego, Astrid. I was sad when she took a hiatus from drawing (apparently she was busy studying Unix and religion in Oregon) and much cheered when she began posting her current strip, "Absolutely True Tales of Lesbian Drama."

Lydia is an amazingly talented illustrator and cartoonist whose lush color vector drawings inspire fits of jealous rage. But she has a problem common to many artists: insane perfectionism. I was getting really sick of her posting beautiful drawings and then commenting that they looked like crap, so I electronically browbeat her into entering Lambda Legal's Life Without Fair Courts Contest--in which she was named one of five finalists!

Well, now Lydia says being a finalist has given her a boot in the ass to start her graphic novel! But she says she's still worried about perfectionism, to which I say, hogwash! Go show Lydia some love by leaving nice comments in her blog. Tell her perfectionism is silly--you just have to draw your cartoons, and not worry if they're perfect, cause you can always draw another cartoon tomorrow.

Bechdel Blug

So awesome. Though I'm not sure what the second commenter means.

East Coast Black Age of Comics, Part 2: Convention Photos

Keith Knight ("The K Chronicles"), Masheka Wood ("Not Just Knee Deep"), Mikhaela Reid ("The Boiling Point") and Ayo ("Little Garden")

Photos from "Having Our Say: Black Women Discuss Imagery": Cheryl Lynn Eaton (Digital Femme, The Ormes Society), L.A. Banks (Vampire Huntress) and Rashida Lewis ("Sand Storm")

Joseph Wheeler III ("New Art Order"); Masheka Wood with underground comics pioneer Larry Fuller (Larry had just purchased Masheka's awesome new book, Deep Doodle); the cover of the excellent book "How to Draw Afrakan Superheroes"

Stylish ECBACC apparel; Dwayne McDuffie ("Static Shock")

On May 19, Masheka and I made our second comics-fun-filled trip to the annual East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention. Above are some more of the photos (click on any one for caption info and a slideshow). I'm embarrassed to say that Keith was the only one of us to remember his Cartoonists With Attitude T-shirt. Oops!

I already name-checked and reminisced about most of the fantastic cartoonists we got to hang out with, but I'd like to take a moment to spotlight one you're probably not familiar with, our table buddy, Brooklyn-based cartoonist Ayo (see top photo), who draws the mini-comic "Little Garden." I could try to describe his beautiful linework and wonderfully drawn characters (who tend to be adorable girls with lizard tails and extra eyes and Medusa snake hair) and excellent use of mood and setting and blah de blah, but instead I'm just going to show you:

Please check out Ayo's awesome art and leave some praise.

See "East Coast Black Age of Comics, Part 1: The Glyph Awards" and "ECBACC Photo Outtake" for more extensive commentary and notes on attendees. Also see: Part 3, photos and commentary from the panel "Having Our Say: Black Women Discuss Imagery."

ECBACC photo outtake: Keith Knight helps Mikhaela sell comics in her sleep

Keith Knight helps Mikhaela sell comics in her sleep
Originally uploaded by M1khaela.

The convention was 9 hours long, and I got a bit tired. Thankfully Keith (who not coincidentally, gave a workshop at ECBACC on the business of comics) made a "please buy my comics" sign for me and I sold two books in my sleep. Thanks Keith!

Mikhaela makes a cameo in a depressing Ted Rall cartoon

(click here to view)

Ted Rall Universal Press Syndicate May 19, 2007 EditorialCartoonists.com

A few weeks ago I had lunch with Ted Rall in Manhattan. We were walking down the sidewalk in the midst of a typical wonky political cartoonist conversation about Iraq or Alberto Gonzales or some such when I suddenly saw a woman lying under a wool blanket in broad sunlight. Our conversation became the Ted Rall cartoon for 5/19. Note: I don't actually have pink hair, but I do have a bright orange jacket.

WAMtastic!

The women of CWA

Freelance writer Courtney Martin, Feministing executive editor Jessica Valenti, freelance political cartoonist Mikhaela Reid (me!) and Feministing editors Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Vanessa Valenti

Full set of photos here.

Last weekend the three women of Cartoonists With Attitude (Jen Sorensen, Stephanie McMillan and Mikhaela Reid) spent the weekend in Cambridge, MA at the Center for New Words' fabulous annual Women, Action & the Media (WAM) conference. We attended fantastic panels and hang with/meet fabulous women such as the editors of Feministing.com, Bitch magazine, Campus Progress, In These Times, The American Prospect and other assorted fine publications. And we did our panel thing with a slideshow called Resistance Through Ridicule, which even featured a surprise guest, cartoonist/illustrator Jennifer Cruté.

The overall experience was, in Jen's words, completely "Wamtastic!" As you can see from these photos.

I should note that we also had drinks with the one and only creator of Big Fat Whale, CWAer Brian McFadden, but I neglected to capture him on digital film.

I will concur with Stephanie that it only took five minutes of being in the same room before Jen, Stephanie and I found ourselves talking about fonts and PhotoShop. Oh, cartoonists!

Bay Windows Interview With Ted Rall about Ann Coulter

Bay Windows (my longest-run newspaper comics home!) has an excellent interview with my good buddy and fellow Cartoonist With Attitude Ted Rall about why he disagrees with the HRC campaign to get Ann Coulter's column dropped over her use of the word "faggot" in a recent speech. (Remember: Ted despises Coulter and even considered suing her for lies she told about him in a previous speech. But he has also been the target of successful right-wing campaigns flooding editors with fake "I'm going to cancel my subscription unless you drop that evil Ted Rall" letters).

Updated: Mikhaela, Jen, Stephanie and Feministing's Jessica Valenti at WAM 2007!

WOMEN, ACTION & THE MEDIA 2007
March 30 - April 1, 2007
Stata Center, MIT, Cambridge

Keynote Talks by Ellen GOODMAN & Thenmozhi SOUNDARARAJAN

Over 60 featured SPEAKERS & PANELISTS, including: Cynthia ENLOE, Loretta ROSSm E.J. GRAFF, Sonali KOLHATKAR, Lyn Mikel BROWN, Caryl RIVERS, Jessica VALENTI, Liza FEATHERSTONE, Gloria FELDT, Rita HENLEY JENSEN, Rebecca TRAISTER and more.

Over 30 PROGRAM SESSIONS, including: Making the Most of Digital Media, Why Journalism's Ethos Distorts News, Packaging & Selling Out Girls, Feminist Action for Media Accountability & Justice, The Freelance-Editor Relationship, Becoming a Citizen Journalist, The Web as a Site for Black Girls' Resistance, Making Documentaries for Social Change, Big Coverage, Big Cash, Women Using International Media, Sell a Book Proposal Without Selling Out, Promoting Justice Through Hip-Hop, and of course...

• Resistance Through Ridicule: Cartoons & Humor in Activism.
  Sunday, April 1 @ 10 a.m., featuring Mikhaela Reid, Stephanie McMillan ("Minimum Security"), Jen Sorensen ("Slowpoke") and moderator Jessica Valenti (of Feministing fame).

  Humor can be serious stuff. Last year cartoonist Stephanie McMillan turned anti-choice politician Bill Napoli's support for a near-total abortion ban against him by encouraging women to call him for help with the most minor of decisions; her "Call Bill" cartoon became so popular she auctioned it off to raise money for a reproductive health clinic. Subversive women cartoonists are claiming space in male-dominated alternative and daily newspapers, and using their cartoons to help make change. The popular blog Feministing mixes anger with irreverence, turns a familiar symbol inside out with its logo of a busty mud-flap girl making a rude gesture, and got props from a mainstream magazine for making feminism "fun again."

  Can humor and cartoons make activism accessible and reach audiences that might otherwise might be apathetic? How can writers, bloggers, activists and editors use humor and art as political tools? Are art and humor a form of activism? Cartoon-filled slideshow and discussion, anger & laughter guaranteed.

Welcome new CWA member Ruben Bolling!

The latest addition to the Cartoonists With Attitude crew is the elusive genius Ruben Bolling, of "Tom the Dancing Bug" fame.