Cartoons from the Depths

Now, with commentary!

Hi all,

I thought it would be fun to drag a few rejected cartoons of mine out into the light and share some thoughts as to why they might not have made it. First, there are so many reasons why a cartoon doesn’t get sold:

• It’s not funny

• It’s only kinda funny

• It’s funny but they had even funnier submissions that week

• It’s funny but doesn’t match the voice/style of a particular magazine/brand/company

• It’s a great cartoon, but it’s already been done

• Not the editor’s speed

And who knows why else. These are all legitimate reasons, and that’s part of the game. Cartoonists are always thinking of what’s funny, what’s new, what’s next. I’ll show a couple cartoons to all of you and save some more for paid subscribers. (THANK YOU!) Please consider joining. Your support helps make this newsletter happen. I love it here.

OK, let’s do this.

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I think this cartoon didn’t make it because it’s only forty percent funny.

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This cartoon suffers from a case of not necessarily making much sense.

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Here, I reference a joke about where a 500 pound gorilla sits (anywhere it wants to) and maybe not everyone knows that joke, or there are too many steps for the reader to get to the joke. You want to create that “aha” moment without making it too burdensome. I love the illustration though.