Mike Lester moving to Post Writers Group

Editorial cartoonist Mike Lester is moving to Washington Post Writers Group at the end of September. Previously Mike has been syndicated through Cagle Cartoons. Regarding the switch Mike writes in an email:

Daryl and I have been friends since he was drawing Muppets and I wasn’t pissing people off. I owe him a great deal and wish him nothing but success. But working with Amy and the WPWG was an opportunity up with which I could not pass. (I hate ending sentences in a preposition.)

I asked Amy Lago, Post Writers Group comic editor, if bringing Mike on to their roster of talent was a way of balancing their offerings. Currently they syndicate Nick Anderson, Clay Bennett, Lisa Benson, Signe Wilkinson with Lisa being the most conservative. Amy assures me that getting Mike was more about getting great talent than a need to offer a balance of views.

Mike’s appeal is his art–not just his style, but his presentation and “storytelling.” One of the things we pride ourselves on at the WG is that the work of our cartoonists doesn’t look like anybody else’s or like each other’s. “Balance” is of some concern, but if if were the only one, we wouldn’t have picked up Clay Bennett. Talent is always the biggest concern, and Mike’s got it.