Darren Rovell writing on ESPN.com:
The slow demise of old media, and lack of funds by newspapers and magazines, has pushed many cartoonists to the curb. Not Tornoe.
“It’s not that cartoons are less relevant than before,” Tornoe said. “They’re actually more popular. You just have to figure out how to distribute your content.”
This NFL season, Tornoe caught my eye. After I tweeted one of his cartoons, one of his fans who knew of his work from the Philadelphia Inquirer told me what he does: Tornoe live tweets his cartoons.
On Monday night, Tornoe drew four cartoons during the game and tweeted them out on his handle, @RobTornoe.
A couple of thoughts after reading Darren’s piece:
- Rob Tornoe is a model post-newspaper-era hustler. He’s one of the most enterprising cartoonists I’m aware of. He publishes a humor magazine, writes for Editor & Publisher, does editorial cartoons for local media and sports cartoons for ESPN.
- Have we come full circle in sports cartooning. Bill Gallo’s sports cartoon career started by covering live sports events, now Rob is doing much the same but more instantly through Twitter.
Interesting article. However, if he’s so good them why doesn’t Cagle syndicate him?
It was certainly way before the “Tweeting” era, but I grew up and worked in Philly at WCAU-TV and drew cartoons for the Flyers’ programs, a regular Phillies’ publication and for newspapers in New Jersey as well as for The Associated Press wire service dept. To do this type of sports cartooning is a tough way to make a living. I did it on a free lance basis for over 40 years. I also went to art school in NY with Bill Gallo.