Paul Combs, the former former Tampa Tribune editorial cartoonists, has ended his contract with Tribune Media Services. Paul has accepted a full-time position as a magazine illustrator. His last cartoon will be Friday May 2nd.
Regarding Paul’s decision, Mary Elson, Managing Editor at TMS said, “Paul has some good opportunities, and we wish him the very best. He is an outstanding cartoonist.”
noooo.
this is one of the few instances where you can call someone “outstanding” and possibly be understating it a little. especially the artwork. judging purely by the drawings, one could make a good case that paul combs is the best cartoonist in the editorial field. surely he has to be in everyone’s top 5, again, in terms of the art.
he creates incredible, active, spot on caricatures and characters. every situation and setting is unique and seems to be perfectly chosen and wonderfully composed.
this “war hawk” is a fantastic character from a recent cartoon:
http://www.comicspage.com/comicspage/main.jsp?catid=2004&custid=69&file=20080324edcmc-a-p.jpg&code=edcmc&dir=/paulcombs
as for the opinion side of his work, his concepts are creative, hard hitting, and usually a fresh perspective on a particular subject. they are always clear and relatable. nothing seems forced. and nothing seems to fall too flat. and, like the art, his ideas always seem full of life.
it’s too bad for fans of editorial cartooning that he is moving on.
From the Farewell editorial to Paul Combs when he left the Tampa Tribune, written in June of 2006:
“And we hope to have another cartoonist on board by the end of the summer.”
I guess they meant the summer of 2008.
Good luck Paul with your new venture!
OMG! He is excellent. How did he not win a Pulizer?!?! His work is verrrry good. I wonder which magazine he went to?
I wonder if this is a case of the workload and pay of being an Editorial Cartoonist not “stacking up” compaired to working for a good magazine?