I’d hate for this to get lost in the comments of a four month old post, but cartoonist Gary McCoy commented last night on a rejected cartoon I did about his work, and I thought it was worth sharing with all of you.
First, from the Top Rejects of September 2011:
9. This sketch is a response to this trash from one of the worst cartoonists in the country.
And here’s Gary’s response (with my comments):
Hey Nealy,
He spells almost as well as he cartoons.
I didn’t know I was one of the worst cartoonists in the country.
No one likes to be the one who delivers bad news.
Sorry, I’ll return my Reuben division awards to the National Cartoonists Society ASAP.
At first I thought “Ooh yes, good idea,” but then I realized he might be attempting sarcasm. That’s the problem with Gary McCoy — it’s hard to tell when he’s making a joke.
Your stuff is clearly superior. Tell me, in what local grocery stores can I find fliers containing more of your dandy work?
I guess he makes a good point; unlike my work, you can apparently find Gary McCoy cartoons in grocery stores (I’m going to take his word for it. I don’t think I’ve ever been leaving the house like “Well, I’m off to the grocery store — just need to pick up some editorial cartoons!”). Other things you can find in grocery stores: toilet paper; kitty litter; suppositories. Other things commonly referenced in the same sentence as fecal matter. Other things funnier and more societally valuable than Gary McCoy cartoons.
Long time fan,
gary mccoy
I think he’s trying the jokes again.
Here’s the deal. It’s unfortunate that Gary’s feelings were hurt to the point where he had to come here and try to prove a point by rubbing his resume in my face. But the guy made money off creating a cartoon that mocked the severity of a hurricane that killed more than 50 people, left many more homeless, and caused nearly $8 billion in damage.
I don’t care about your hurt feelings, Gary.
Hey Gary,
It sure must be easy for you to get defensive about mean, old Neal doing such a “hurtful” cartoon with you as the subject. It’s too bad that the subjects of your cartoon about how “overblown” the hurricane was can’t stand up and defend themselves because they’re dead. I bet their friends and family think it was overblown too. Swallow your pride. I don’t think Neal was criticizing your ability to illustrate so much as he was criticizing your insensitivity about death. When someone dies for any other reason than natural causes it’s a tragedy. If you’ve lost anyone (and are a human) you’d understand. If you haven’t lost anyone, you’ll someday understand.
“Long time fan”,
Max
You should do a cartoon fundraiser for the American Red Cross.
Ooooh, awards! Well, la di da. You know who else just won a big award? Chris Brown. And last time I checked, his music sucked and he was a woman-beater. Awards do not always mean that one is talented or a good person. In fact, a bridge planned for Toronto that was never built won an award recently. You don’t even have to exist to get awards sometimes!
To both Max and Alexis. Neither of you know how much I do for charity, or who I’ve lost or who I know that’s been affected by tragedy or loss. So you can’t fairly assess my inability to empathize with those affected by Hurricane Irene or any other disaster. Secondly, I really couldn’t care less what Neal thinks of my cartoon. I happened across his attempt at satirizing me purely by accident. I never knew he or his work existed, as I am sure most people don’t either. Max, to your point of what he was criticizing — he stated his opinion that I’m a terrible cartoonist, or something to that effect. So it’s obvious he’s taking a more general swipe than you think. The bottom line is, it doesn’t matter to me what a non-professional thinks of my work. I don’t need anyone’s approval. If I did, I’d get it from the many editors that publish my editorial cartoons, or the papers that run my syndicated feature worldwide. Neal is obviously suffering from extreme jealousy over his inability to break into the profession. That’s understandable. There are many wannabes out there, who can render okay, but lack the originality, humor, or analysis to make a living at it. In fact, I feel sorry for Neal. He may be a nice guy in person, and if I saw him on his street corner, I’m sure I’d give him spare change.
Regarding the Irene cartoon. I never said there wasn’t personal loss. And my cartoon does nothing to diminish the lives lost. But it can’t be denied by any objective viewer of the national news coverage leading up to the storm, that its impact was greatly exaggerated. Again, that’s not to say there wasn’t tragedy, it’s just that the storm never hit with the impact which was forecast of it. That’s a fact.
Okay, I’ve had my say. Nealy can get giddy and dissect and respond to this message. I’m glad I gave meaning to Neal’s uneventful life by commenting on his lonely blog. He’ll have to seek affirmation elsewhere from here on. I won’t be back to view it. It was a slow day and I had 10 minutes to kill while waiting for my son to take nap. So if you want to debate further, email me, because I won’t catch a reply here.