Tuesday, February 12, 2008

funny business

Since Aaron's McGruder's success with "The Boondocks," I've often wondered why the comics pages of our newspapers typically have a quota of one strip by a black cartoonist. I enjoyed reading "Candorville" in the Trib, then saw it disappear in favor of "Watch Your Head."

Today several cartoonists are doing a "draw-in" addressing the topic. I think they've got a good point. Why should there be any quota on the funny pages? The work of many talented artists is going largely unseen due to editors who think that all cartoons by artists of color are basically the same. Comic strips should be chosen by quality, not the race of the characters or artists.

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updated 2/11

To see all the cartoons in one place, click here.

CBS News did a feature on this protest. Click here to go to the list of videos and select the 2/10/08 item "Cartoonists Get Serious" to watch it.

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