In a burst of ebullient laughter, editorial cartoonist Nathan Archer confesses he always wanted to be Benny the Cab from “Roger Rabbit.” Today, he likens himself more to Disney’s Goofy.
Archer got his start making editorial cartoons for the Tallahassee Democrat in 2016. His day begins with scanning headlines and looking for intersections between news stories and popular culture. Rather than the back-and-forth jokes of a comic strip with several panels, Archer keeps his single panel drawings as simple as possible.
Influenced by “polished” cartoons like “Garfield,” “Beetle Bailey,” and “Dagwood,” Archer prefers crisp, clean lines to more jagged rough sketches. He also looks to Jeff Parker’s “Dustin.” It was Parker who reached out to Archer about the National Cartoonist Society, and he continues to be a mentor.
Nathan Archer gets the local cartoonist treatment from the Tallahassee Democrat
on the occasion of being included in The Art of Florida exhibit.
*apologies and due respect to Jud Hurd