It Takes A Village

My wife gave me the basic idea for this cartoon. She gave me the caption and I came up with the art. She’s given me many great gags over the years. I mean, let’s face it. I don’t want to work any harder than necessary. People give me cartoon ideas when they don’t know they’re doing it. They might say something in conversation that sparks a cartoon idea. On the other hand, when they actually offer a gag, it isn’t usable and the description usually ends with, “...well, you’re the cartoonist. You can figure out the rest.” I got an offer the other day from a lobbyist who wanted me to do a custom editorial cartoon for one of his clients. A businessman would consider that a reasonable request. After all, I went to commercial art school, right? I told him I don’t do that, not with editorial cartoons. If I did, it would ruin everything. Very early in my career, the campaign for a senator hired me to draw his caricature. Naively, I did, and it wound up the centerpiece in a full-page newspaper ad. It looked like I was endorsing him. I like money as much as the next guy, but unlike the current crop of Republican politicians in Washington, my soul is not for sale.