Japan Tsunami Brings Apologies and Yahtzees from Veteran Cartoonists

When breaking news events occur, newspapers have to scramble their often-limited resources and reallocate them in order to present the most comprehensive coverage for their readers. This can be a difficult balancing act for many newsrooms, especially in an era of smartphones and instant news.

The role of a cartoonist, already one of a newspaper's most visible pieces of content, becomes magnified during a natural disaster. A cartoonist (especially if they're local) can often say more about an event with some deftly placed lines of ink than a columnist or reporter can convey in 1,000 words.

Going Too Far
A tragedy or natural disaster often requires cartoonists to change out of the suit they are most comfortable wearing - usually occupying the role of provocateur and chief ridiculer. It can be difficult to suddenly have to produce a cartoon on deadline that conveys a sense of emotion and sympathy about an event without being trite or insensitive. Take, for example, two cartoons about the tragic events in Japan.

The first, drawn by Malaysian cartoonist Mohd Zohri Sukimi (who goes by the pen name "Zoy"), for the Sunday comment section of the Berita Harian newspaper, showed popular Japanese icon Ultraman running away from an oncoming tsunami.

After the cartoon ran, many, including Khairy Jamaluddin, leader of the youth wing of the ruling United Malays National Organization, complained the cartoon was insensitive toward the people of Japan and asked the paper to apologize.

"We do not intend to be insensitive or to poke fun at last Friday's incident," the paper wrote in a front-page apology the following Monday, adding that it was "very sympathetic" to the plight of the Japanese people.

A couple of days later a second newspaper, an English-language paper from Thailand named The Nation, issued an apology for a cartoon drawn by its staff cartoonist, Stephane Peray (who goes by the pen name "Stephff").

The cartoon Peray drew about the tragedy in Japan featured the Grim Reaper as a sumo wrestler surfing on the wave of a tsunami on a surfboard shaped like Japan.

"The Grim Reaper is not meant to be understood as a humorous character and is often used in editorial cartoons in the West to signify a tragedy involving loss of life," Peray wrote in an additional editorial for the paper. "But I quite agree that on this occasion this cartoon was inappropriate, and something softer should have been used."

Cartoon Yahtzees
At their best, cartoonists can quietly consider all angles of a tragedy and produce a powerful image that's understated and compassionate, and captures the essence of a story.

Nate Beeler's cartoon for the Washington Examiner (syndicated by Cagle Cartoons) featured two men squabbling about relatively trivial American problems such as Charlie Sheen and Newt Gingrich as a giant wave barreled toward them. Mexican cartoonist Dario Castillejos drew a touching cartoon featuring hundreds of people replacing broken shards from the rising sun of the Japanese flag.

However, in an attempt to be consoling and not offend while covering a tragedy or natural disaster, many cartoonists commit an act of group think where they come up with the same ideas independently and draw them. Daryl Cagle, the cartoonist for msnbc.com and owner of Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate, refers to this as a "cartoon yahtzee" when five or more cartoonists unknowingly draw the same idea.

In the case of the Japanese tsunami, cartoonists committed no less than three separate cartoon yahtzees while covering the event, drawing similar cartoons featuring the Japanese flag, Hokusai's famous "Great Wave Off Kanagawa" print, and Godzilla.

"The only thing less imaginative than 99 percent of the so-called editorial cartoonists today is 100 percent of the editors they pander to," wrote Wiley Miller, a former editorial cartoonist who draws the popular comic strip "Non Sequitor" (syndicated by Universal UClick). "The only surprise I had was that no one has drawn a huge sumo wrestler with ‘tsunami' written across his butt, ready to pounce on a little guy holding a Japanese flag."

Many, including United Features syndicated cartoonist Matt Bors, avoid drawing disaster cartoons all together.

"I don't do cartoons that only say ‘a disaster has occurred' and offer no humor, insight, or opinion," Bors wrote on his blog, in response to what he said about the poor quality of American cartoons about the crisis: "Two Pulitzer winners drew crying Geisha girls. Is this the best we can do?"

However, editors, such as Courier-Post editorial page editor Mike Daniels, are quick to defend these cartoons as popular with readers who are looking for some emotional context to an event or tragedy.

"Sometimes there is repetitiveness in the cartoons coming from a syndicate, but often a tragedy deals with some kind of universal imagery," Daniels said. "It's not only what a cartoonist thinks of first, but also giving readers what they want to see."

Rob Tornoe is a cartoonist and columnist for Editor & Publisher magazine and edits the satirical humor magazine Delaware Punchline. He can be reached at rob@delawarepunchline.com.