Cartooning: The Art and the Business

I read this book over a decade ago and it was full of practical tips to help me realise my dream of making a living by drawing cartoons. It stops you from making a lot of common mistakes. I'm now syndicated, drawing Arctic Circle for King Features and even though I've been a full time cartoonist for 9 years, I have still referred back to this book often.

Mort Gerberg, longtime New Yorker cartoonist, has created the reference book to beat all reference books. Notice I said "reference book" and not "instruction book"--those wishing to learn how to draw cartoons will be disappointed here. Originally published under the title "The Arbor House Book of Cartooning", Gerberg's book aims for aspiring professionals, those who are serious about pursuing cartooning. He is brutally honest about the pitfalls of the business, yet avoids the "sour grapes" approach of other cartooning-book authors such as Ken Muse (in other words, the "this business is tough and the editors are idiots, so it's hardly worth bothering" attitude).Unlike authors of similar books, Gerberg lets the reader know that there are more markets for cartoonists than just comic books and comic strips. He not only covers the aforementioned subjects but delves into greeting card production, spot illustration, and magazine gags. Gerberg is one of the few to write at length about gag writing for comic strips and magazine panels, and makes good use of his vast experience in both fields to examine the anatomy of the gag. The section on comic-strip creation is filled with common-sense knowledge that took me some twenty years to discover on my own. Gerberg even goes so far as to discuss the making of a winning comic character without descending into vague generalities. He compares today's comic characters (such as Garfield, Dilbert, and Beetle Bailey) to radio and TV comedians of the past. The best such characters, he says, were those with clearly defined comic personas (such as Jack Benny). Older readers can probably remember Benny's reaction when told by a robber, "Your money or your life!" The line was not funny in and of itself, says Gerberg, but if you understood Benny's comic persona, it was hilarious. (You Gen-X and Gen-Y folks might want to rent a few tapes to understand references like the above.) At the rear are addresses of greeting-card companies, comic-book publishers, and comic-strip syndicates, but be warned--even the latest version is full of out-of-date information. Those wishing to find addresses are better off consulting Artist's Market.If you're an aspiring cartoonist, keep this book within arm's reach. Gerberg even had the foresight in the paperback edition to underline those passages he felt noteworthy, so the reader can examine important points at a glance. My own copy, sadly lost now, was well worn after several years' use. My suspicion is, yours will be too.

I checked this book out of the Library and once I read it I had to have it in my collection!

Gerberg pulls no punches in writing about the difficulities of breaking into cartooning. But he also writes about the pleasure and satisfaction of this deceptively simple art form. From cartoonists' tools to how to generate ideas, from comic books to greeting cards and editorial cartooning, this one book probably answered all my questions about the profession. Lots of cartoons from a smorgasbord of cartoonists are a treat to study -- and chuckle over. Thanks, Mort.