'Index' Is Site Full of Insightful Art

By: Dave Astor There are many places to see cartoons on the Web, but if you want to see a place on the Web with many cartoons, Daryl Cagle's Professional Cartoonists Index is a prime destination.

"I typically post about 100 new cartoons per weekday," said Cagle ? with contributors including Cagle himself and about 200 other editorial cartoonists from the U.S. and abroad.

The site (http://cagle.slate.msn.com) is seen by millions. "Microsoft doesn't allow me to give out specific traffic numbers," Cagle said, "but I can say it's the most popular cartoon site on the Web." Many of those eyeballs come from high schools where social studies teachers are required to use editorial cartoons in their lessons.

Has the Iraq situation and presidential election raised traffic even more? "In general, celebrity news is more popular among my readers than real-world news," Cagle replied, noting that the site's most clicked-on section ever contained cartoons relating to singer Janet Jackson's bared breast at this year's Super Bowl.

"Obituary-cartoon collections on the site are also very popular, with Bob Hope and Mr. Rogers getting the most positive e-mail of the dead celebrities," he added.

But the site has plenty of cartoons on the most pressing issues of the day.

Association of American Editorial Cartoonists President Mike Ritter said of the site: "It's the best presence of editorial cartooning on the Internet. The way it's organized by topic and its sheer size are awesome. It's very good for the profession, and it's terrific exposure for a cartoonist."

Ritter, of the Tribune Newspapers in Arizona and King Features Syndicate, noted that he gets a lot of e-mail from people seeing his cartoons on the site.

Editorial cartoonist Rob Rogers also hears from many readers who see his Pittsburgh Post-Gazette/United Media work on Cagle's site. He told E&P: "When it comes to creating a comprehensive Web site dedicated to updating editorial cartoons, Daryl Cagle is the founding father. As far as I know he's the first ? outside of syndicates who usually only carry their own artists ? to attempt it."

Rogers added that the site is such "a giant smorgasbord" of cartoons by talented artists that "I never look at it. If I happen to see the perfect cartoon by Steve Sack or Matt Davies, it ruins my day. I can't get the image out of my head long enough to come up with my own!"

Cagle launched the site in 1995 and hooked it up with Slate.com (for which he does three or four cartoons a week) in 2000. "I started it as a personal site, and it grew into a showcase for my cartoonist friends," said Cagle. "Then it grew into being a site about political cartoons."

Also part of the site is Cagle's blog about editorial cartooning, his "True" comic panel, and more.

Does Cagle, 47, make much money from the site? It's "more a labor of love than a real business," he said. "I earn most of my living through my syndicate." That separate venture (http:// www.caglecartoons.com) distributes the work of Cagle and other cartoonists to about 800 subscribing newspapers, in English and Spanish. "I also syndicate two columnists: conservative radio star Michael Reagan and former Clinton-administration advisor and Fox News analyst Dick Morris," Cagle said.

How many hours a week does Cagle spend on the site and his own drawing? "Too many," replied the former National Cartoonists Society president.

Cagle said "newspapers should understand that editorial cartoons are popular with their readers," and added: "Newspapers print political cartoons in isolation, rotating between different cartoonists, so it's difficult for cartoonists to develop a community of fans. My site shows that a loyal fan base can develop where editorial cartoons are presented together, in one place."