Comments on: Al Jaffee wins Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist

By: Chris Evans

Chris Evans — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:18:18 +0000

Dear Rick — Thanks for the clarification. If I misconstrued any part of your post, I apologize. And again, well done for Al Jaffee and the Reuben.

By: Rick Stromoski

Rick Stromoski — Tue, 27 May 2008 19:09:32 +0000

â‰¥â‰¥â‰¥ I only speak from my personal experience with the NCS. I have no reason to make things up. I also do not dwell on bulletin boards â€œ..calling other peopleâ€™s work cr@pâ€¦â€.

I never stated that you made things up, . I stated that it was unfortunate that an NCS member made a statement that
membership acceptance was predicated on whether or not we’d like to socialize with you.

Nor did I insinuate that you dwell on bulletin boards attacking cartoonists work …I was giving an example of why a cartoonist would be rejected for membership based on reputation, I certainly did not mean to give the impression you did such things.

By: Chris Evans

Chris Evans — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:39:18 +0000

Dear Rick — I only speak from my personal experience with the NCS. I have no reason to make things up. I also do not dwell on bulletin boards “..calling other people’s work cr@p…”. When I applied to the NCS, and was rejected, I respectfully asked why I didn’t meet the criteria, and no explanation was forthcoming, nor who I could contact. With no input from the NCS, I then asked around, to try and figure out why I was rejected. I heard what I heard. I am member in good standing with the SCCS for over 6 years. My work has appeared over the last 25 years in numerous publication online and offline, I also edit cartoons for several magazines, and I also mentor up and coming cartoonists. I am sharing this information because you asked me to explain myself. If my case is the absolute exception to the rule in who is accepted and encouraged to be in the NCS, then it is truly unfortunate for me. But kudos to Mr. Jaffee — he is an icon, I have admired his work my whole life, and he does deserve the Reuben, as do many other distinguished members of the NCS that have not gotten this award.

By: Rick Stromoski

Rick Stromoski — Tue, 27 May 2008 18:20:32 +0000

>>> Iâ€™ve heard informally from members of the NCS that much of the weight on whether you are accepted or not, provided you meet the criteria professionally, is if the membership committee feels like they would want to socialize with you.

It’s unfortunate that you’ve heard this from NCS members because nothing is further from the truth and is a preposterous notion when you give it a little thought. NCS membership is based on whether you are a professional or not. How would a membership chairman know anything about any given applicant’s personality, unless they were constantly going on bulletin boards calling other people’s work cr@p or creating websites that trash other cartoonists work like the Family Circus sites out there? I was membership chairman for 6 years and Dave Coverly has been reviewing applications for NCS for the last 6 …nothing secret about that. When an application came in, the submission must include samples of published work, a brief bio and 2 recommendations from existing NCS members. I’d never heard of 75% of the applicants but that was never a factor because the work speaks for itself. If they were working cartoonists for at least the past 3 years and haven’t murdered anybody, they got in simple as that. Since two NCS members in good standing are already vouching for you Where does the socialization aspect you speak of come in? And how would one even begin to make such an assessment? Please explain how that could ever be a factor since in pretty much every application, you’re “meeting” the person for the very first time.

By: Chris Evans

Chris Evans — Tue, 27 May 2008 17:41:22 +0000

Hello Wiley, I do have some knowledge, or personal experience with the NCS. Prospective new members are accepted or rejected by a secret vote by a membership committee of persons that are not named, I hear that approval must be by all the members of the committee, and if you are not accepted, you don’t know how close or far away you are from being accepted. I’ve heard informally from members of the NCS that much of the weight on whether you are accepted or not, provided you meet the criteria professionally, is if the membership committee feels like they would want to socialize with you. That is pretty exclusive, and private, if you ask me. And they can be that way, it is their club. I just wonder how many up and coming talented cartoonists feed into the NCS, based off this exclusivity.

By: Wiley Miller

Wiley Miller — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:41:35 +0000

It never ceases to amaze me how people will make such sweeping and absolute statements, as though their assumptions are fact, on things they obviously have no knowledge or experience.

Learn first, opine later.

By: Rick Stromoski

Rick Stromoski — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:09:30 +0000

>>> But does the Reuben really stand for something now, with the NCS being essentially a private invitation only supper club, with a majority of the membership being retired/ semi-retired syndicated cartoonists?

Go to http://www.reuben.org to get a better idea of what the NCS membership is comprised of.

By: Chris Evans

Chris Evans — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:16:10 +0000

I admire Mr. Jaffee’s work too — he’s a giant in the world of cartooning. But does the Reuben really stand for something now, with the NCS being essentially a private invitation only supper club, with a majority of the membership being retired/ semi-retired syndicated cartoonists?

By: Alex Hallatt

Alex Hallatt — Mon, 26 May 2008 22:07:09 +0000

And Wiley got it right: nice homage.

By: Dave Brown

Dave Brown — Mon, 26 May 2008 01:00:12 +0000

Note that “Jaffee” is the correct spelling of Al Jaffee’s name.