Reuben Nominee Profile: Hilary B. Price

Hilary Price

“Hilary Price is an amazing cartoonist, educator, and communicator…She is truly a delight!” – Phil O’Donoghue

When Rhymes with Orange made its debut in June 1995, Hilary became the youngest woman with a syndicated daily comic strip.

An early (1996) Rhymes With Orange

My early inspirations were Shel Silverstein for the clever word play and black-and-white illustrations, and The New Yorker cartoonists Roz Chast, Sam Gross and George Booth. I’d like to think like Roz Chast, draw like George Booth, and have the chutzpah of Sam Gross.

With her growth as a humorist and a cartoonist she can now count them as equals as well as inspiration.

Somewhere along the line Hilary added a title card to her daily panel, a feature that nicely sets it off from the others on the comics pages.

When asked to describe her panel Hilary says, “it’s about relationships, dogs and cats, social commentary, and tiny minutia.”

Above is one of my favorite Rhymes With Orange. The eagerness of the dog to please, though completely wrong, is hilarious. And like many of Hilary’s cartoons, it remains funny even after multiple readings.

“This myth of creativity – that the muse visits you,” Price says. “For deadline, you have to go and visit it.” Hilary is wise beyond her years.

In the mid-1990s King Features editor Jay Kennedy helped the young fledgling cartoonist get a foothold in the industry. And Hilary has paid that forward by helping other underappreciated and underused cartoonists get exposure. Hilary makes time to counsel, educate, teach, and encourage cartoonists of all ages and skills, in the process becoming herself an inspiration.

Hilary supporting youthful ambition.

Hilary and her cartoons are truly endearing and funny.

Having won the divisional award for Newspaper Panels three times, this is Hilary’s fifth time being a nominee for The Reuben.