Steve Kelley sues former newspaper employer

Comments ⁹

1. Howard Tayler

   Wow.

   It’s been depressing to read about all the editorial cartoonists being shown the door, but this looks downright vicious.

2. SW PARRA

   What a terrible position for friends to be in, both Steve’s are trying to earn a living for their families, both Steve’s are incredible Editorial Cartooning giants that deserve more respect than what the UT has offered. I hope Steve wins but it sure puts other Steve in an awkward sistuation.

3. Mike Peterson

   Sounds like a good stage to keep our speculation to ourselves, but I would suspect there are some expert witnesses here who could testify as to the practicality of being a credible editorial cartoonist while creating a comic strip.

4. Brian Fies

   Successful examples of simultaneous editorialist/strippers I can think of include Jeff MacNelly, Mike Peters, Jim Borgman, and Wiley Miller (not sure of the timing on Wiley’s career–I’m sure he’ll be along shortly–but think he might have been doing “Fenton” while drawing editorial cartoons for the S.F. Examiner?). A lot of work, I’m sure, but doable by at least some. Too bad Kelly, Breen and the U-T couldn’t work it out short of court, which practically guarantees that no one will end up happy.

5. Alan Gardner  (admin)

   I should have mentioned it above, I thought it to be common knowledge – but Breen already does a comic strip “Grand Avenue.”

   While many editorial cartoonists “double dip” and do a comic strip on top of their day jobs as editorial cartoonists, only one that I’m aware of (Jeff MacNelly) did multiple features (Pluggers, Shoe, weekly illustrations for Dave Berry column) on top of his editorial cartooning duties.

6. Wiley Miller

   In answer to Brian’s question (assumption)… no, I did not do both at the same time. In fact, I was always quite vocal in the editorial cartooning profession against the practice, as they are both full time jobs and completely different disciplines, with entirely different deadlines. When I picked up one, I dropped the other. There was only a few months overlap from my job at the Examiner and producing Non Sequitur, and I quit Fenton when I got the job at the Examiner.

   However, as the job market waned and insecurity of staff positions grew over the past several years, I softened my position, as editorial cartoonists needed to have a safety valve. Unfortunately, doing a comic strip is no longer a viable option, as the market has become so bad that it’s nearly impossible to successfully launch a new feature today. The few remaining cartoonists that have a staff position and don’t have a Pulitzer under their belt need to find other venues as an exit strategy today.

7. Brian Fies

   Well, Wiley, that’s what happens when one assumes: you make an ass of . . . just me, actually. Sorry about that.

   I liked what I saw and heard of “Dustin” at Comic-Con and hope it gets a fair shot.

   Interesting times in the cartooning world.

8. Wiley Miller

   Well, one would hardly expect you or anyone else to know, much less remember, the details of my career moves, Brian. It was a logical assumption on your part.

   And indeed it is interesting times in the cartoon world, as hitting rock bottom is always an opportunity to evolve. While I mourn the passing of the traditional staff editorial cartoon position in newspapers, it is long past the time to come to grips with the reality that it’s a thing of a bygone era. Ironically, it may turn out that those who have been able to hang on to their job the longest could ultimately be the biggest losers in the long run.

9. Jeff Darcy

   Even having a Pulitzer didn’t save Ramirez’s staff job.