White Cartoonists Discuss Black Cartoonists' Comics-Page Action

By: Dave Astor As black cartoonists prepare to take part in a comics-page action, a number of white cartoonists contacted by E&P had some positive things to say about the Feb. 10 effort.

"I support the action 100%," said "It's All About You" creator Tony Murphy in a phone interview. "I think the issue they're raising is clearly one of discrimination."

On Feb. 10, at least eight African-American cartoonists will draw similar comics to satirize the way many newspaper editors think their work is interchangeable -- even though strips by black cartoonists are as different from each other as strips by white cartoonists.

One result of the "interchangeable" mindset is that papers might run only one or two comics by cartoonists of color (who do roughly 15 of the 200-plus comics distributed by major syndicates). Some papers publish no comics by cartoonists of color.

Murphy, whose strip entered syndication Dec. 31 with the Washington Post Writers Group, told E&P he would've joined the Feb. 10 effort if the deadline for his comic of that day hadn't passed. "We all face pigeonholing," said Murphy. "So it's in our interest to support the action."

Hilary Price, who does "Rhymes With Orange" for King Features Syndicate, also favors any effort to bring more racial -- and gender -- diversity to comics pages.

"It's important to call attention to that," she wrote in an e-mail. "So far, we as a nation haven't found a way out of the cultural shorthand that the symbolic 'everyman' is both white and male."

Price said there have been many excellent white male cartoonists in syndication, but they've enjoyed a longtime advantage. "I liken the situation about opportunity in this country to a Monopoly game," she wrote. "For the first 300 years, a certain subset of people were allowed to play. Now we've opened up the game and encouraged everyone to go around the board. But this newfound participation doesn't take away from the fact that a lot of the real estate with its established green houses and red hotels is largely untouchable to the new players."

Plenty of comics-page slots are still occupied by long-running strips -- many of which are no longer done by their original creators.

Price also said the Feb. 10 action "is a creative way to get people to talk about race," and helps keep comics "relevant and vital to newspapers."

Another King cartoonist, "Slylock Fox and Comics for Kids" creator Bob Weber Jr., said "I can't imagine being passed over just because a newspaper already publishes a kids' activity strip by
a white cartoonist featuring white characters. Competing with a layer of scrutiny based on race is an unfair hardship. I understand and support the concerns of these eight African-American cartoonists."

Roy Schneider, who does "The Humble Stumble" comic co-starring a single father, commented: "If a paper is indeed seeing strips done by black cartoonists as 'interchangeable,' that is clearly racist and wrong.

"At the same time, I can't help thinking that if there were only a half-dozen or so strips about single fathers, and nearly every paper across the country thought they ought to run one strip about a single father, I'd probably be in pretty good shape from a business perspective."

But the United Media cartoonist added that "the idea of profiting from discrimination is appalling, whether it pays the bills or not."

Guy Gilchrist, who works on comics such as "Nancy" for United and "Night Lights & Fairy Flights" for Gilchrist Features, said the publicity from the Feb. 10 action might "cause some readers and editors to take the initiative to read some of the comics they aren't familiar with yet."

He also noted: "The comics pages are getting smaller and smaller. Every newspaper comic strip cartoonist I know, just like me, is simply trying their best to put out the best comic they can -- hoping to entertain and have their voice heard."

And Mark Tatulli, who creates "Lio" and "Heart of the City" for Universal Press Syndicate, said: "I think it's difficult for any new strip to get into newspapers these days, regardless of the characters' ethnicity."

Tatulli added that he finds it "a bit hard to believe" that an editor would turn down a so-called "black strip" because the paper already has one. "If that were the case, I don't think 'The Boondocks' would have made it into 150 papers in its first six months," he said. "I would hope that editors still make decisions based on a comic's own merits."

The Universal cartoonist did note that some papers are relying more on polls to determine comics-section content, which can favor the tastes of older readers (when mail-in surveys are used) or the Web-savvy (online surveys). Tatulli noted that Internet polls can be "subject to manipulation."

Several cartoonists contacted by E&P declined to comment for this story. It is not known if they oppose the Feb. 10 effort or just didn't want to talk about it.

The Feb. 10 action is discussed in this E&P article and column.