This is Historic Times - Editorial Cartoons with Deep Hurting

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > This is Historic Times - Editorial Cartoons with Deep Hurting

Deep Hurting: Jan 19, 2006

Hi there, I'm Deep Hurting, an editorial cartoonist from Washington state. For the last several years, I've entertained the forums with threads where I post my cartoons, and discuss their development with readers, often sharing sketches and sometimes taking suggestions from the audience. There are three previous threads, though two of them require archives to view at this time. They can be found here: 1, 2, 3;

I have most of the technical trappings of a professional cartoonist and illustrator, though my art doesn't generate much of an income, and gets barely any "press" exposure at this time. I won several national student awards for the cartoons I drew in college, and my professional recognitions include a Society of Professional Journalists' Region 10 award (behind David Horsey and Jack Ohman) and a Sigma Delta Chi award from the national SPJ establishment (Jack Ohman and the guy who does Mr. Fish won in the other two divisions).

I have submitted material several times to five syndicates: United, Universal, Creators, King, and The WaPost Writers' Group. I got form rejections from Universal and Creators. King's rejection was personal, quite nice, and complimentary. I met the guy in charge of the comics division from United back in 2006, and after looking at my portfolio, he asked me to send him some samples of my work. However, this opportunity was undercut by Ted Rall, who was in charge of Acquisitions there at the time, and who instead chose to award syndication deals to Matt Bors and Stephanie MacMillan, the latter being well-recognized around SA for her terrible comic strip, "Minimum Security," which was memorably parodied by Shmorky.

As for staff gigs at newspapers, there pretty much aren't any. Only metro papers can apparently afford to hire cartoonists, and even those that can either already have someone, or have recently eliminated the position, or aren't interested in hiring somebody new unless that person has first worked at a smaller paper. Smaller papers aren't hiring anybody.

Anyway, that's my "professional" background. Here's what I think makes a good cartoon:

In my opinion, the best editorial cartoons convey clear messages with a powerful image or metaphor, and often a minimum of dialogue. Usually, they show a lot of thought has gone into the choice of metaphor, with details in the picture that contribute to the main message and reveal additional layers of meaning underneath.

Here are a few examples of my work:

The majority of the material I do is national in scope, owing to the fact that I'm not working for a local news source anywhere. Some of my material appeared in the Seattle P-I, on rare occasions, before their print division folded. Other than that, I have been picked up by national papers twice�once by the Washington Post, and once by the New York Times. Neither has paid me for the work they used to this day, and the Times also misattributed my cartoon to somebody else (while attributing his work to me), and spelled my name wrong. I also don't know which cartoon of mine the Post published, because they never gave me a copy of the paper I was in.

I usually draw stuff whether I have anybody to publish or not. While I do get small print commissions every once in awhile, the vast majority of my audience has come from here, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Digg, and other such websites. The only way these generate any income for me right now is through reader donations.

So anyway, these threads are more for feedback while I'm developing ideas than anything else. Most professional cartoonists would seek that sort of thing from their editors and officemates, but since I don't have a job, that option is not available to me.

The process I usually follow is to post sketches on a number of approaches to one topic or more, then I'll narrow it down and put up more refined sketches or preliminary illustrations, then I'll post the final, inked and/or colored drawing when it's all done.

Speaking of which, here are some sketches now:

This first idea addresses birther nonsense, which somehow is STILL a topic of discussion. Not quite sure if this gag works... would it be better if the hand of God were handing the tea party guy a copy of the birth certificate while saying something like, "Look, here's Obama's birth certificate, it says he was born in the US, ARE YOU HAPPY!?" and the guy's saying, "That's gotta be fake" ?

This idea's more exciting but also a great deal more involved. The incoming Republican majority in the House has stressed how they want to try balancing the budget by cutting social programs, rather than raising taxes on corporations or reducing the military, so I thought it might be kind of funny to portray the military as a protection racket, with John Boehner and Eric Cantor as a couple of Dick Tracy-esque mobsters. The nickname I came up with for Boehner is "Leatherface," but I'm afraid I'm having trouble coming up with one for Cantor (maybe something to do with knives?). I wouldn't be using these nicknames anywhere in the cartoon, but I thought they might influence Boehner and Cantor's appearances and body language.

More sketches on that idea:

I've spent some time in the last day studying some of the characters and drawing style of Chester Gould, the creator of Dick Tracy.

I am also interested in hearing other people's ideas, either for topics I should address, or for ways of addressing them, though this is no guarantee I'll use anyone's suggestions. Sometimes people's ideas lead me to coming up with ideas of my own which bear little or no resemblance to the initial suggestion. Creative paths start in unexpected places and sometimes lead you in unexpected directions. That's one of the things I find exciting about art!

I should also note that a few goons have helped me set up a nice little blog for my cartoons, which has a nearly complete archive going back to 2006. Those who've helped out include (but aren't necessarily limited to):

Ned, who hosts the website and helped set it up.

pokeyman, who assisted with posting some of my back catalogue back when the site was new.

Petey, who wrote a nice frontpage article about my cartoons in March of last year and thus generated probably my most significant traffic spikes to date.

As in previous threads, I encourage people to share the work of other editorial cartoonists they think are good, both so the thread won't be entirely about me, and to fill the time in-between my own cartoons.

Finally, a reminder that there is a thread for mocking bad cartoonists over in LF, if anybody didn't already know.

Deep Hurting fucked around with this message at Jan 5, 2011 around 03:18

# ? Jan 5, 2011 03:03

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# ? May 22, 2013 03:52

Deep Hurting: Jan 19, 2006

Oh, one more thing:

This being awards season, I have to figure out which cartoons were my 10-20 best in 2010 in the next week or two. Anybody who wants to make suggestions for that, they'd be much appreciated.

# ? Jan 5, 2011 03:05

Karter705: Sep 20, 2004; I HAD TO SPEND $10 TO TELL THIS DUDE HIS IDEAS ABOUT DOG BREEDING ARE RETARDED BECAUSE ~*HUG ISLAND*~

These are my top 10 favorites of 2010:

1. Inaction Comics
2. You Can�t Spell �Racist� Without T!
3. How the Rich Stole Christmas!
4. The Hate of Our Union is Strong
5. Tortoise Wins by a Hair!
6. Pay No Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain
7. Baroque Obama
8. The Lesser of Two Evils
9. Loose Cannon
10. Bus Route of Tears

I love your work and you are awesome. Thank you for sharing these with us.

# ? Jan 5, 2011 04:26

Fix: Jul 26, 2005; NEWT THE MOON

Speaking of getting paid, don't forget to tell us if/when you get around to doing any bound and printed versions of your stuff, DH. It's always been an area of interest for some of us.

# ? Jan 5, 2011 04:31

Old James: Nov 20, 2003; Wait a sec. I don't know an Old James!

My votes for top 10

1. Boo!!
2. Baroque Obama
3. Spill, Baby, Spill
4. Make the Pie Higher!
5. My First Presidency
6. How the Rich Stole Christmas
7. Loose Cannon
8. Tortoise Wins by a Hair
9. Bus Route of Tears
10. Patiently Waiting

# ? Jan 5, 2011 05:08

The Goog: Aug 6, 2007

Not ranked by preference, just ten that caught my eye as I went back through the year:

How the Rich Stole Christmas!
My 1st Presidency
GOPinocchio
You Can't Spell 'Racist' Without T!
WWRD?
American Chopper
The Bizarro Barry
Palin Around with Terrorists
The Mystery of the Tea Party Ghost
Inaction Comics

# ? Jan 5, 2011 06:08

The Landstander: Apr 20, 2004; I stand on land.

(no order)
American Chopper
Baroque Obama
The Bizarro Barry
The First Rule of Nuke Club (I love all the subtle jokes on this one)
Fox (News) Retakes (Hen) House!
Inaction Comics
Loose Cannon
The Mystery of the Tea Party Ghost
Pay No Attention to that Man Behind the Curtain
A World Without Teleprompters (admittedly largely because the drawing of Bush makes me laugh)

Keep up the good work.

# ? Jan 5, 2011 06:38

TooManyUzukis: Jun 23, 2007; Who's your Imperial Uncle?

Fix posted:

Speaking of getting paid, don't forget to tell us if/when you get around to doing any bound and printed versions of your stuff, DH. It's always been an area of interest for some of us.

I would definitely be interested in purchasing something like this.

# ? Jan 5, 2011 13:26

Skeesix: Jun 23, 2007; I can barely get any research done

1)Tortoise wins by a hair
2)Spill Baby Spill
3)The Lesser of Two Evils
4)The Mystery of the Tea Party Ghost
5)Boo!
6)GOPinoccio
7)The Barackopter
8)A World Without Teleprompters
9)The First Rule of Nuke Club
10)You are forgotten

I'd totally forgotten about "A world without teleprompters" and totally laughed out loud at it.

# ? Jan 5, 2011 13:46

Centurium: Aug 17, 2009

Deep Hurting posted:

I also don't know which cartoon of mine the Post published, because they never gave me a copy of the paper I was in.

I am almost certain that I read your bush in an Escher painting cartoon in the Post a few years ago. Although when I can get the post I read both the times and the post so it's possible that if that was your times cartoon, then my memory is just being lovely.

# ? Jan 5, 2011 14:38

Ash Lael: Jan 2, 2008; by Fistgrrl

I forget the name (was it inaction comics?), but the Democratic Supermajority LEAPS into ACTION!!! comic was the purest incredible.

# ? Jan 6, 2011 02:38

Bubble Babble: Apr 12, 2004; talk talk talk
blah blah blah
HAND ALLIGATOR

Fix posted:

Speaking of getting paid, don't forget to tell us if/when you get around to doing any bound and printed versions of your stuff, DH. It's always been an area of interest for some of us.

I'd buy several of these in a heartbeat. So many of my friends are political junkies and they would make fantastic gifts.

I think American Chopper is one of the most accessible, but I can't decide which is my favorite.

# ? Jan 6, 2011 04:08

Nevvy Z: Jan 3, 2004; This is a pretty dumb contest.

I would setup a proper automated poll rather than fill this early parts of the thread with it.

Also I love the protection one, it gets the idea across even though I didn't recognize the guy.

# ? Jan 6, 2011 07:42

Epic Fear Job: Jun 2, 2007; my other car is a porsche on the moon

Eric Cantor is definitely a piece of work but I'd strongly suggest you reconsider drawing him with a Star of David badge. I don't think I need to explain the reasons why it might not go over well.

# ? Jan 6, 2011 08:08

RagnarokAngel: Oct 5, 2006; Do not engage or respond to me, as I am an insufferable prick. I love posting about posting or posters, rather than actual content. But it's cool because I'm smarter than you and have the correct opinion on every matter.

Deep Hurting this has bothered me for a while cause I wonder every time I see this comic. Who is Elrond supposed to be in that Lord of the Rings parody?

Edit: and about your birther one, I think it's fine. Your idea for a change is too wordy for your usual style. The punchline is rather succinct and works fine: Most birthers are Christian fundamentalists who do the birther crap because they think he's a Muslim. So saying God's statement isn't good enough gets it across quite well.

RagnarokAngel fucked around with this message at Jan 6, 2011 around 08:30

# ? Jan 6, 2011 08:27

Solkanar512: Dec 28, 2006

RagnarokAngel posted:

Deep Hurting this has bothered me for a while cause I wonder every time I see this comic. Who is Elrond supposed to be in that Lord of the Rings parody?

Russ Feingold.

# ? Jan 6, 2011 09:07

Deep Hurting: Jan 19, 2006

Got about halfway through that protection racket cartoon yesterday, then read the SecDef's announcement of how he wants to cut $78 billion from the growth of the defense budget over the next five years.

A paltry reduction, I know, and while it didn't really affect the message of the cartoon, I felt it wouldn't be appropriate, in that recent context, so I drew something more specifically about the announcement instead:

I'm very pleased with the illustration, but I think it could benefit from some color.

I'm gonna title it "Warburger the Infinitely Prolonged."

Deep Hurting fucked around with this message at Jan 8, 2011 around 10:21

# ? Jan 8, 2011 09:50

Fix: Jul 26, 2005; NEWT THE MOON

Deep Hurting posted:

"Warburger the Infinitely Prolonged."

:slowclap:

# ? Jan 8, 2011 18:30

Johnnie5: Oct 18, 2004; A Very Happy Robot

I love the

medal on his chest. I can't make the other two though, what are they?

# ? Jan 8, 2011 19:28

Buried alive: Jun 8, 2009

Didn't the military itself say it needed its own budget cut back at some point? Or am I making that up?

# ? Jan 8, 2011 19:35

Fast Luck: Feb 2, 2003

Deep Hurting posted:

There's some potential in this one but it'd be better if instead of fighting them he's negotiating with them and giving them what they want.

# ? Jan 8, 2011 19:37

Kaal: May 22, 2002; In addition, a massively uptight cunt.

Fast Luck posted:

There's some potential in this one but it'd be better if instead of fighting them he's negotiating with them and giving them what they want.

It's an old one from the beginning of Obama's term.

# ? Jan 8, 2011 19:45

Karl Sharks: Feb 20, 2008

Buried alive posted:

Didn't the military itself say it needed its own budget cut back at some point? Or am I making that up?

Like he said, they said they'd cut 78 billion dollars worth of growth over the next five years out, but that's nothing considering their current budget is 700+ billion and they're simply saying they won't grow as much as they'd like to, as if that matters considering continued growth is still implied as opposed to actually cutting the budget. But terrorists, etc.

# ? Jan 8, 2011 20:01

Deep Hurting: Jan 19, 2006

Johnnie5 posted:

I love the medal on his chest. I can't make the other two though, what are they?

In order, they are a hotdog (implying that he won a hotdog-eating contest of some kind), a sumo-wrestling medal which I found via Google, and Pac-Man.

I kind of wish I'd made the lefthandmost one Pac-Man, and the other two a powerpill and some cherries, respectively.

Deep Hurting fucked around with this message at Jan 8, 2011 around 21:25

# ? Jan 8, 2011 21:11

ShadowCatboy: Jan 22, 2006; E purr si muove.

In light of the Gabrielle Giffords assassination (attempt?) this one would've been prophetic:

# ? Jan 8, 2011 21:51

Angry Avocado: Jun 6, 2010

ShadowCatboy posted:

In light of the Gabrielle Giffords assassination (attempt?) this one would've been prophetic:

I was thinking of this as well shortly after I found out, but the guy who did the shooting doesn't appear to be affiliated with the Tea party, or any other conservative movement for that matter. More than anything he was a crazy person, as his Youtube channel shows, so I'm not even sure if any argument that tries to pin the blame on one party or another is valid.
The closest he comes to (on the political spectrum) is anarchism, which is by definition not an organized political group. If it was, well, then it wouldn't really be anarchy anymore.

# ? Jan 8, 2011 23:56

Pope Guilty: Nov 6, 2006; The human animal is a beautiful and terrible creature, capable of limitless compassion and unfathomable cruelty.

ShadowCatboy posted:

In light of the Gabrielle Giffords assassination (attempt?) this one would've been prophetic:

Finish this one up and publish it ASAP.

# ? Jan 9, 2011 02:07

Footboy: Feb 3, 2003

Angry Avocado posted:

I was thinking of this as well shortly after I found out, but the guy who did the shooting doesn't appear to be affiliated with the Tea party, or any other conservative movement for that matter. More than anything he was a crazy person, as his Youtube channel shows, so I'm not even sure if any argument that tries to pin the blame on one party or another is valid.

The Tea Party's belief system is so internally inconsistent that it's hard to tell what contradicts it anymore.

# ? Jan 9, 2011 05:14

RagnarokAngel: Oct 5, 2006; Do not engage or respond to me, as I am an insufferable prick. I love posting about posting or posters, rather than actual content. But it's cool because I'm smarter than you and have the correct opinion on every matter.

Footboy posted:

The Tea Party's belief system is so internally inconsistent that it's hard to tell what contradicts it anymore.

It's not about whether or not he held their beliefs it's about whether the killing was done "for" them or not, and we don't yet have proof he did or didn't do it in their name.

# ? Jan 9, 2011 10:35

Skeesix: Jun 23, 2007; I can barely get any research done

Angry Avocado posted:

I was thinking of this as well shortly after I found out, but the guy who did the shooting doesn't appear to be affiliated with the Tea party, or any other conservative movement for that matter. More than anything he was a crazy person, as his Youtube channel shows, so I'm not even sure if any argument that tries to pin the blame on one party or another is valid.
The closest he comes to (on the political spectrum) is anarchism, which is by definition not an organized political group. If it was, well, then it wouldn't really be anarchy anymore.

Let's not split hairs here:

CNN posted:

The suspect railed against government "mind control" and illiteracy in online missives and had "kind of a troubled past," said Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik.

---

At Saturday's press conference, Dupnik did not state a motive for the assassination attempt against the Democratic congresswoman. But he suggested that "vitriolic rhetoric" in political debates could have deadly consequences.

"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government, the anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this county is getting to be outrageous. Unfortunately, Arizona, I think, has become sort of the capital," he said. "We have become the mecca for prejudice and bigotry."

edit: Let me include the link because the Eulogy the Sheriff delivers for the judge killed as well as his call for soul-searching are both quite moving

http://www.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/01/09...dex.html?hpt=T1

Skeesix fucked around with this message at Jan 9, 2011 around 14:45

# ? Jan 9, 2011 14:39

Rent-A-Cop: Oct 15, 2004; I hate tarsiformes

I'd hardly call it reasonable to blame anyone for the actions of a man who thought he was crusading against government mind control in the form of English grammar. For all anyone knows he could have been sent on his mission of murder by a secret message sent to him by Whoopi Goldberg through the dictionary.

# ? Jan 9, 2011 20:56

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001

Rent-A-Cop posted:

I'd hardly call it reasonable to blame anyone for the actions of a man who thought he was crusading against government mind control in the form of English grammar. For all anyone knows he could have been sent on his mission of murder by a secret message sent to him by Whoopi Goldberg through the dictionary.

and goldline.com

# ? Jan 9, 2011 22:02

Deep Hurting: Jan 19, 2006

# ? Jan 9, 2011 23:38

Wise Old Shitashi: Nov 5, 2003; Our Pokedex is One Million Strong.

Is that a stick of butter pierced with the toothpick?

edit: wonderful

Wise Old Shitashi fucked around with this message at Jan 10, 2011 around 08:36

# ? Jan 10, 2011 00:43

i barely GNU her!: Apr 28, 2009; The machine is a piece of shit!

Democratic Supermajority was by far one of the best comics of 2010.

# ? Jan 10, 2011 02:51

Deep Hurting: Jan 19, 2006

In light of the recent shooting incident, I thought I should maybe repost this cartoon:

Wise Old Shitashi posted:

Is that a stick of butter pierced with the toothpick?

Yup.

# ? Jan 10, 2011 06:24

Smudgie Buggler: Feb 27, 2005; If men were actuated by self-interest the whole human race would cooperate.

Deep Hurting posted:

When I first read this, I thought "regular Coke" was referring to cup size, not non-diet. "Normal Coke", "real Coke", or even "non-diet Coke" would get the point across quicker, I think.

Love your work

edit: Ahahaha the Pac-Man medal

# ? Jan 10, 2011 06:34

RagnarokAngel: Oct 5, 2006; Do not engage or respond to me, as I am an insufferable prick. I love posting about posting or posters, rather than actual content. But it's cool because I'm smarter than you and have the correct opinion on every matter.

It works fine, it says Diet Coke on the cup rather clearly.

# ? Jan 10, 2011 10:00

Mehuyael: Mar 17, 2009

Doesn't it also work if you think it's a size thing, if the military guy is complaining that the huge coke is too small for him?

# ? Jan 10, 2011 12:28

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# ? May 22, 2013 03:52

Grem: Mar 29, 2004; You see, at the time I was misquoted. I never said 'The Super-man exists and he is American', what I said was '*God* exists and he is a 3rd Street Saint'

Is there a way you can easily distinguish what each food item represents, with the Diet Coke being troops pay?

# ? Jan 10, 2011 18:14

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