Daryl Cagle, the man behind the syndicate that bears his name, spoke out on his blog about the awful batch of “predictable” cartoons responding to the tragedy. He specifically mentions the abundance of cartoons including “…Uncle Sam or the Virginia Tech mascot, with bowed heads…” and “…lots of riffs on the school logo…”

He half-heartedly apologizes for the crew, suggesting that the time-crunch brought on by their daily deadlines is to blame. I’d distance myself from some of those cartoons too, but seriously – he’s the one who hires these guys, and he sells them to daily newspapers who are full of other people who have daily deadlines. And it’s not like many of these cartoonists don’t crank out the same batch of predictable and interchangeable cartoons on every topic.

The Comics Reporter has posted a recent blog addressing comics touching on political issues, including some recent Doonesbury strips as well as commentary on the lameness and sameness of many of the Virginia Tech editorial cartoons.

Here’s a quick look at what some of the nation’s cartoonists had to say about the Virginia Tech shootings.

Michael Ramirez:

Bill Richards:

Steve Benson:

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One might be surprised that a lowly freelance editorial cartoonist could come up with a plan to save an entire industry, but I have done it.

I was inspired by all the recent discussion surrounding the death of B.C. and Wizard of Id creator Johnny Hart. Hart had wished that, after his death, his children and grandchildren continue the strips he had created. This has caused controversy in the cartooning world, as comic page space is highly valued real estate, and for every legacy strip like Peanuts or B.C. that continues on after the creator’s death there will be one fewer new strip exposed to audiences.

It’s a reasonable case to make, as some folks claim that syndicates and newspapers are sacrificing the future of their business for the short-term gain of pleasing long-time fans. Meanwhile, hard-working new cartoonists are denied access to readers so that the syndicates can make a safe buck.

So thinking about that – about an industry voluntarily making a decision to promote long-term growth at the expense of short-term bottom lines, I got to thinking about my own field of editorial cartooning. In my eight years at doing this, I’ve found that whether you’re listening to a cartoonist on a panel or reading a journal article by one of them, there are only two truths they’ll speak about the state of the industry:

1. Editorial cartooning is a dying field, as newspapers continue to lay off their staff cartoonists in favor of cheap syndicated cartoons. The numbers of professional cartoons are dwindling as more and more laid-off cartoonists have to turn to syndication to make their living.

2. Don’t even bother trying to get syndicated, because even if you do, the money is so lousy that it’s hardly worth the frustration.
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Check this out.

Steve Breen, San Diego Union Tribune

Jeff Koterba, Omaha World-Herald
the Easter Bunny hopping and kids asking “You think he’s on steroids?”
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I had no idea there was an actual name for it and that it was considered a cartoonist’s convention, but apparently there is – it’s the Silent Penultimate Panel.

Arnold Wagner wrote about it recently on his blog, and that was where my eyes were first opened to it.

I’ve used those now and again (I try not to over-use them, but they’re fun). Frequent cartoon-lunch cohort Matthew Hansen refers to them as “Third Panel Guys Staring at Each Other cartoons,” which has a nice ring to it, but I’m kind of excited to now refer to them as SPPs.

Here’s one of my favorites.

EDIT: And another.