Why draw alternative political cartoons?
Dear readers, forgive your cartoonist for having an existential crisis, but I've been asking myself this question a lot lately, and you may have noticed this blog and the email list have been relatively quiet as a result. I've been drawing the cartoons as usual, but have been slow to post or email them due to aforesaid existential cartooning funk.
Some arguments FOR drawing weekly political cartoons:
- To make a difference. I don't have any illusions that political cartoons will change the world or end the war or have a huge mind-blowing impact, but I really love the awesome fan mail, especially in regards to my cartoons on LGBT issues and transgender issues. Clearly my cartoons are making a lot of people happy. I'm just not sure how happy they're making me!
- To vent my personal anger and outrage and to have an outlet for my views/voice. This was the main reason I started drawing The Boiling Point, as the name implies. It's still a pretty good damn reason, as I'm a pretty damn angry cartoonist. I'm a passionate person and I need an outlet.
- Because drawing is cool/fun. Well, sometimes it is. Still, I could draw a lot of more fun things than George W. Bush. Like really adorable kittens.
- Because being a cartoonist and hanging out with other cartoonists is awesome. This is a really, really good reason. I love hanging out with my fellow Cartoonists With Attitude, and I've made some of my best friends in the world via cartooning.
- To make money. Just kidding! If I drew a sci-fi webcomic featuring snarky hipster video game romance in space*, maybe I could sell some T-shirts and figurines and live off that. But there's little to no money in alt-weekly cartoons unless you've got a slew of papers. Many papers pay as little as $5/week. NOT JOKING. (See this depressing comments thread on the Daily Cartoonist for more on this topic--the basic conclusion is that there's no money in online editorial cartooning).
- It builds an audience... that could later support me should I pursue other projects I care about, like a graphic novel or children's book or what-have-you.
Some arguments AGAINST drawing weekly political cartoons:
- It's a lot of work for very little pay/reward. This is my main beef. I'm a big believer in the "less work, less stuff, more of what matters" philosophy espoused by Juliet Schor and Your Money or Your Life. I believe Americans work too much and have too little quality leisure time. I believe Americans spend too much, save too little and own too much stuff. And I believe in fair wages.
SO WHY DO I SPEND SO MANY HOURS SITTING ALONE BEHIND A DRAWING BOARD OR AT THE COMPUTER FOR WHAT AMOUNTS TO LESS THAN MINIMUM WAGE WHEN I COULD BE OUT RIDING MY BIKE OR SPENDING TIME WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY OR DOING ACTIVIST WORK? (I work an awesome full-time job in addition to cartooning, in case you're wondering). Where's the light at the end of the tunnel? Sorry for E-shouting, but I ask myself that question a lot. I feel like such a hypocrite sometimes--my life philosophy is in direct opposition to my life reality.
- It's damned depressing. War, genocide, injustice, bigotry, hatred, bombings, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, power struggles, Dick Cheney, repeat, repeat, repeat. Following the news so closely and being engaged with it so deeply while feeling I'm having so little practical impact is incredibly demoralizing.
- It has no future and nothing to look forward to. Newspapers are in trouble and slashing budgets left and right, and editorial cartoons and editorial cartoonists get no respect. Graphic novels and animation seem to be where it's at right now.
OK, end whiny rant. And no, I'm not quitting, just venting. But I sure could use some supportive comments! I promise to have a bunch of cartoons and other cool stuff up for you all soon.
*This is not a slur on sci-fi webcomics. Science fiction is my favorite genre (I love you Octavia Butler and Battlestar Galactica). I'm only bummed because it seems like pretty much everything is more "monetizable" than political cartoons. Also, I hate the word "monetizable."
5 Comments:
Hi Mikhaela,
It's great to see you posting again. I wish I had an answer for your dilemma. At least, your post did motivate me to finally go and order your book, and Masheka's, which I'd been meaning to get around to.
Ted Rall has a "subscribe" PayPal link, where you can send a few bucks in exchange for email toons/alerts; I'd gladly sign up for something like that. I know none of that solves the big problem, which he has also written about extensively -- how to survive in a medium that pretty much demands that you give away the product of yout creative labor, on the thin hope that enough folks will either buy tie-in stuff or support your work in other, modestly renumerative ways. (Really, my four-year-old would be just as excited to find a 50-foot Mikhaela toy in her Happy Meal as all that Disney/Pixar junk, but I guess there would have to be a revolution or two between here and there ... :)
Anyway, please know that you give voice to a great number of us who (a) feel equally frustrated and infuriated in the face of the Empire, and (b) can't draw worth a damn, much less come up with all the pointedly hilarious and poignantly incisive stuff that you do, and (c) need a litle gallows humor, and reminders that we are not alone, to help keep us going. When enough people are alienated together, they're not alienated any more.
No one is likely to get rich doing this, but if a reasonable percentage of those of us who care pitch in a little to help sustain the artists who help sustain us, well, it could work.
All you M&M fans out there -- how 'bout it?
For whatever my two cents is worth at the going rate of exchange: I enjoy your work, and have been a regular reader for over two years.
I look forward to seeing your cartoons in my RSS reader, and hope you continue posting them!
Mikhaela, I love your comics! As a young woman and a feminist, your work is very inspiring to me and I share it with my boyfriend.
For extra money, maybe you could hit up college newspapers? I used to be an editor of a weekly paper and we would pay up to $15/week for a really good comic. Some comics we heard about because the author directly emailed us a sampling. Just a thought!
I think you're pretty lucky to have a job where you can say what you want to and do something you really like. I, like a lot of other people my age, have a lot of student loan debt and I won't be able to pay it all back until I'm 40, which means that I have to stick to my corporate, soul-sucking job. I would give anything to be able to do what I like all day, even if it paid just enough to get by on. I like coming home at the end of the day and refreshing your page (and the other feminist blogs) and seeing what's going on in the world.
I share your frustration with being a liberal these days though. It is pretty darn depressing to hear the same things over and over again. But the election will be here soon! Don't lose hope yet!
Blogs are a great place to vent, I think, to a generally supportive and empathetic audience.
I absolutely love your comics, and I like this blog a lot, too--it adds to the experience to know some of what is going on behind the comics, in your brain.
In addition to the paypal link, you might think about an Amazon wish list link. As much as I dislike Amazon a good deal of the time, it's a good way for people to contribute to you without using paypal (though I know cash money is often better). I imagine some of the tools of your trade could be found there, and maybe your fans would pony up a bit to help you out there. I would.
Please don't ever give up,
This world needs fewer lawyers and professional athletes, and more alternative political cartoonists!
Fight the good fight, keep hope alive, be a candle in the darkness.
http://tedstoons.blogspot.com
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