More awesome email

More awesome email

Apparently there is a vast, left-wing conspiracy to make me feel happy about being a cartoonist. Greg writes in response to the below post:

Hey, kiddo!

I enjoyed Thomas A.'s letter so much, it inspired me to compose my own.

I've written you before, to tell you you're one of the best satirists out there. Maybe "satirist" is the wrong term ... reality these days is already satire.

I find that what you do is to put things in sort of an emotional perspective -- does that make sense? Rather than try to inform us or even persuade us how to think about the continuous daily rape that's being done to us, your work seems to let us know how you *feel* about it. My heart always does a little flutter when I realize, "yeah, that's exactly how I feel, too." I gotta say, that's a powerful thing to be able to do.

Thanks again so much for your dedication, and keep it up!

Your pal,
Greg P.
Manitowoc, WI
(34-year-old piano teacher, husband, father of two ... er, I mean, radical leftist wacko)

Thanks, Greg! Seriously folks, it's letters like this that keep the cartoons coming... And Greg is right on target to say that my approach to cartooning is emotional. I know that word gets tossed around by less-well-meaning people as an insult to women who have something legitimate to say or who are angry ("don't get so emotional"), but I think it's a positive thing to have an emotional connection to your work. Because I only draw one cartoon a week, I mostly draw about things I really care about or have deep, strong feelings about--I don't see the point in just commenting about a story that I don't have a real, solid opinion about just because it's Big News or makes an easy gag.