Check out Argumentation and the Public Sphere, an analysis of my recent Pederson / Perlman cartoon.

It’s by a Nebraska Wesleyan student presumably named Ian Boren, and I stumbled upon it this afternoon while glancing at my incoming links. I can only describe the feeling of reading such a deep analysis from a total stranger as “super awesome.” Even if he would’ve hated the cartoon, it’s really flattering to have someone put so much thought into wondering how and why I do what I do.

from my friends at Happy Young People:

I recently used an Amazon.com gift certificate to pick up some old books on cartooning that I’d had my eye on. Most revolve around magazine-style gag cartoons, but I was still fascinated by the idea of these books. I’m not really sure why, but something about the idea of writing a how-to book on something that seems so chaotic – that being the process of coming up with a good idea – seemed just so…quaint? So…1950s? I’m not sure. But it seemed charming, and I picked up a few.

That excerpt above certainly fits my concept of a mentality from a time long gone…back when American Indians were just cute sources of punchlines. It’s from Jack Markow’s Cartoonist’s and Gag Writer’s Handbook (Writer’s Digest, 1967). If it’s not politically correct, at least his AP style is.