Cartoonapalooza: Association of American Editorial Cartoonists

Mike Peters Rocking the Overhead Projector at 2009 CartoonapaloozaBy Mark Kaufman

I attended Cartoonapalooza last night, a public forum presentation during the Association of Editorial Cartoonists annual convention which is taking place in Seattle this week. It was a fun presentation by some real heavyweights in the editorial cartooning arena, including some folks whose work I have enjoyed and respected for manay a moon. I mean come on, two Pulitzer Prize winners, Pulitzer finalists, best selling authors, syndicated far and wide, it was a great lineup to say the least. Panelists David Horsey, Signe Wilkinson, Jack Ohman, Ted Rall, Rob Rogers, Matt Bors, Steve Kelly, Mark Fiore, and Mike Peters had eight minutes each to show work, talk about controversies, careers, and took questions from the audience. Original art from AAEC mebers was for sale as well.

I was most impressed with Jack Ohman’s long form work, which was a welcome shift away from the standard format of issue/caricature/joke. Jack described it as more of a graphic novel format, instead of a one or two panel  cartoon, these seem more serious, with a looser illustration style, interviews, and a journalistic writing style.

I also learned that most editorial cartoonists are unable to operate a laptop.