newyorkette

(Un-sold cartoon, by Carolita Johnson)

Here’s a cartoon that was bought, then un-bought! Yes, it happened again. It should be noted that most of the time we cartoonists are unaware of such un-sales. Farley (the new assistant to the cartoon editor) does not call up and say, “Hey, you got an okay,” and then call back a little while later and say, “Scratch that.”

The sales go to the notoriously bully-like fact-checkers (ha ha), where they make sure they haven’t got another cartoon in their database that’s too much like the one they’re vetting. A cartoon must be original, or at least not resemble a cartoon published in recent history by a famous cartoonist. It might pass if the cartoon resembles a really old cartoon by a cartoonist who isn’t a household name.

Anyway, here is the cartoon (by Lee Lorenz, no less! It was hopeless!) mine resembled way too much. I only knew about its un-sale because I discovered the doppelganger myself, only after submitting the above. Sigh!

Speaking of “okays,” here is Mick Stevens’s compilation of “first okay” stories. Mine is among them, accompanied by a caricature that I have only myself to blame for, since I drew it myself in the morning before drinking enough tea. Do I look like that in the morning? Possibly.

Posted Friday, August 24th, 2007 at 7:53 am under rejected cartoons, TNY. Feel free to trackback from your own site. All images on newyorkette.com are the intellectual property of Carolita Johnson, and you must ask (and receive) express permission to use them or reproduce them in any way whatsoever.