By: E&P Staff Gary Markstein, former editorial cartoonist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, is among the employees to have accepted the paper's buyout offer, according to Rob Tornoe of cagle.com.
Markstein confirmed the news to Tornoe, saying "I'm excited about the future and, well, I guess Daddy?s Home!" a reference to the Creators Syndicate comic strip that Markstein co-creates with Tony Rubio.
The Journal Sentinel announced last week that 37 buyout offers were accepted by members of the staff. An additional 55 employees were laid off, including approximately 35 newsroom employees, according to The Business Journal of Milwaukee.
Markstein's departure leaves the Journal Sentinel without a full-time cartoonist. Markstein's longtime co-cartoonist Stuart Carlson accepted a buyout in 2008. The two had worked together since 1995, when the Milwaukee Journal (Markstein's paper) and Milwaukee Sentinel (Carlson's) merged to form the Journal Sentinel.
In 2004, Markstein was reassigned by the paper to be a features designer, though his cartoons were still syndicated nationally. After Carlson departed, according to Milwaukee Magazine, Markstein was asked by editors if he would like to add one local cartoon a week for his workload. Markstein declined.
The news comes on the same day that 2004 Pulitzer Prize winner Matt Davies had lost his position as a staff cartoonist at the Gannett-owned Journal News of Westchester County, N.Y.
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