As Comics-Page Action Nears, a Participant Discusses Cartooning Diversity

By: Dave Astor Of the African-American cartoonists taking part in this coming Sunday's comics-page action, Stephen Bentley has been in syndication the longest.

Bentley started the "Herb and Jamaal" strip in 1989, when there were only a handful of comics by non-white cartoonists. Now, perhaps 15 or so of the 200-plus comics distributed by major syndicates are by African-American creators, Hispanic-American creators, or other cartoonists of color.

"There's a lot more diversity of comics available for comics pages," said Bentley, when contacted today by E&P. "But that doesn't mean there's a lot more diversity of comics ON comics pages."

Bentley explained that, despite the post-1989 rise in comics by cartoonists of color, many newspapers still run only one or two strips by non-white artists. So a growing number of cartoonists are fighting for a non-growing number of newspaper slots. "There's still limited space but more competition," observed Bentley, whose comic is distributed by Creators Syndicate.

Some papers devote only one or two slots to comics by cartoonists of color because they lump these features into categories such as "black strips" -- even though each of these comics has its own voice, content, and non-racial category (family strip, kid strip, friends strip, political strip, etc.).

The way some papers purchase and perceive comics by non-white creators is the reason for this Sunday's action, which will involve at least eight African-American cartoonists doing a variation of a comic by "Watch Your Head" creator Cory Thomas of the Washington Post Writers Group (WPWG). The idea is to humorously lampoon the erroneous notion that their comics are interchangeable.

Few papers run comics by more than one of the eight cartoonists participating in the action. So, ironically, said Bentley, most readers of a single paper won't have the opportunity to see two variations on the Cory Thomas theme in print. But readers can see more than one comic online, and the action has been publicized in various media outlets and on creators' personal Web sites.

Will the action have an impact? Bentley said he hopes at least a few newspaper editors end up allowing cartoonists of color to compete for all their comics slots, not just one or two.

A major reason why it's hard to find space for more diverse comics is the presence of so many "legacy" strips, said Bentley. These are the decades-old comics whose creators are dead but continue in reruns (as is the case with "Peanuts") or continue via other cartoonists (as is the case with "Blondie," "Hagar the Horrible," "Dennis the Menace," "B.C.," "The Wizard of Id," "Andy Capp," "Nancy," "Shoe," "Annie," and many more).

"Some of these comics have been around forever and ever and ever," said Bentley, "which means less space for new cartoons and new ideas."

Meanwhile, some cartoonists doing non-legacy strips have client lists small enough that they need to take full-time jobs, part-time jobs, and/or freelance assignments in order to keep creating the comics they love. For instance, the California-based Bentley does freelance ad work to help make ends meet.

This Sunday's action was organized by Cory Thomas and Darrin Bell ("Candorville"/WPWG). Other participants besides those two cartoonists and Bentley include Jerry Craft ("Mama's Boyz"/King Features Weekly Service), Charlos Gary ("Cafe Con Leche" and "Working It Out"/Creators), editorial cartoonist Tim Jackson, Keith Knight ("The K Chronicles"/self-syndication), and Steve Watkins ("Housebroken"/Tribune Media Services).

Several other black and white cartoonists were interested but could not participate because their Feb. 10 comic deadlines had already passed when they learned about the action. (Sunday strips have to be done far in advance.)

Bell said the Feb. 10 date was chosen because it's near the Feb. 14 birthday of renowned black cartoonist Ollie Harrington (1912-1995).

The lumping of comics into categories is not just experienced by cartoonists of color. "Stone Soup" creator Jan Eliot of Universal Press Syndicate told E&P that "in the '80s, this question was put to me: 'We have Lynn, we have Cathy, why do we need you?'" -- referring to "For Better or For Worse" creator Lynn Johnston and "Cathy" creator Cathy Guisewite.

"It's the same thing, isn't it?," said Eliot. "A few slots allotted to women. I completely sympathize with their [African-American cartoonists'] situation, and think their concerns are quite valid."

She added: "It seems that editors 'plug in' a strip by a black cartoonist to satisfy diversity demands. One strip, and the demand is met and the funny page looks diverse. Too bad it's not more about the strips themselves, as they are indeed vastly different."

E&P's original Jan. 8 story about the Feb. 10 action can be seen here. A Jan. 9 column with some history of African-American cartoonists can be seen here.