Books Cartoonist Cartoonist's Cartoonists Discussion Magazine cartoons Opinion Reuben

Tales From The Reuben – cranky digression

Skip to comments

D. D. Degg April 26, 2019 1 minute 0 comments

So – there I am reading about book deals on the Publishers Weekly site,
specifically to read about forthcoming Will McPhail projects:

Rosenthal’s second big deal of the week was a preempt for two books from writer and cartoonist Will McPhail, whose work for the New Yorker has earned him the National Cartoonist Society’s Reuben Award for cartoonist of the year for the past two years. In, the Story of Nick is a graphic novel about an introverted illustrator and his quest to make real connections with others; it will be out in fall 2020. The second book in the deal, Collected Cartoons, will gather more than 50 of McPhail’s New Yorker cartoons and an equal number of previously unpublished works. Heather Karpas at ICM brokered the deal for North American rights.

We are all used to reporters and news items referring to the National Cartoonists Society divisional awards as a Reuben. I, for one, have come to accept it – though it still irks me when comics related sites do it.

But Publishers Weekly goes beyond saying Will won a Reuben, claiming he was “Cartoonist of the Year.” A phrase associated with The Reuben.

Will won the Gag Cartoon divisional awards in 2017 and 2018, and he is more than worthy to take a seat with all the previous Gag Cartoon winners. I like Will McPhail, he is an excellent cartoonist in both art and gags. I am of the opinion that eventually (he is still young) he will be compared favorably to Rowland B. Wilson and George Price!

But I was disappointed in Publishers Weekly printing the cartoonist of the year remark. I would not object to Will actually winning The Reuben, they just jumped the gun a bit.

But I am trying not to let that mistake distract from the great news relayed in that paragraph:

The second book in the deal, Collected Cartoons, will gather more than 50 of McPhail’s New Yorker cartoons and an equal number of previously unpublished works.

I eagerly await that collection of over 100 Will McPhail cartoons!