Some Of This Relates To Webcomics, Kind Of
Ted Rall reports that he was laid off as the comics acquisitions editor at United Media; the inevitable shit–fight between webbers and strippers in The Daily Cartoonist fora has actually been pretty evitable so far, but the day is still young.
Whoops! Took too long to edit this. Wiley Miller’s made it all about webcomics and while Randy Milholland’s possibly defused the situation, there’s every possibility it could erupt again. Monkey-boys and -girls, prepare your poop for flinging.
It’s probably way too soon to declare any lessons from this situation, but let’s try anyway:
- The one syndicate editor (that I’m aware of) that was aggressive about finding new strips that don’t look like every other legacy strip on the comics page is out
- The chances of making it as a new syndicated cartoonist just officially fell even further
- Losing your job sucks; yes, Rall is a professional gadfly and I am not the only person who cannot not reconcile his in-person demeanor (amiable, considerate) and considerable journalistic courage with his public persona (which can be charitably described as slash and burn, and don’t get me started on his near-religious adherence to the idea that Only print pays), but it’s a shame that he now faces the financial difficulty that comes with job loss
Speaking of jobs, more job postings should contain the words lunkhead, nunchucks, and MWA HA HA HA. This interested in working for free developing valuable skills as an intern for a possible madman, David Malki ! is looking for some help.
I’ve found it pretty entertaining that even with Scott banned from the Daily Cartoonist, the syndicated cartoonists have just taken to bringing up webcomics themselves (when it’s not even relevant) or fighting amongst themselves (see the recent post about Steve Breen winning the Pulitzer). Sorta reminds me of all the infighting and drama that used to be in webcomics a few years ago. Was it Oscar Wilde that had a quote about how people fight the most when there’s the least to fight for (or something like that)?
By Tony Piro on 04.22.09 5:43 pm
Speaking of unemployment, you can vote for me for Unemployee of the MOnth…
http://airamerica.com/breakroomlive/blog/2009/apr/20/vote-unemployee-month-here
By Box Brown on 04.23.09 8:48 am
Yeah, I think this proves once and for all who truly instigated things over there.
I certainly never shied away from replying, but make no mistake it was Wiley and Rick who really start shit over there.
By Scott Kurtz on 04.24.09 2:09 am
[…] the nascent web/print poo-fling in The Daily Cartoonist Ted Rall de-jobbed thread. When all present have a sense of humor about […]
By Fleen: Enjoy Our Semi-Abusive Opinion Mongering » Damn Slow Day, And It’s So Nice Outside … How ‘Bout A Quick Followup And We Call It A Week? on 04.24.09 12:48 pm
@Piro
I’ve always heard that statement attributed to Henry Kissinger, who said that in academia the arguments become so heated precisely because the stakes are so low. I’m not sure if that’s the case here- print cartoonists afraid of losing their livelihood are likely to see these stakes as pretty damn high- but then again, they are attempting to resolve this on an internet message board, which undercuts the gravity of the situation somewhat.
By Doug Wykstra on 04.28.09 3:07 pm
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