But First, a Call for Questions.

Hello! Before I get into this weeks topic, I wanted to talk about this idea of mine. I was thinking as a new segment I could answer some questions from you. Any kind of question! Maybe you’re just starting out cartooning and want some tips, or maybe you want to know more about the industry. Perhaps you’re looking to hear more about process stuff, or insight on a particular aspect of the medium. Could be that you want to know something deeply personal about me or just want access to my social security number. Everything is on the table!

Now I know what you’re thinking: this is just a ploy to raise engagement and build a bigger audience. Well you're wrong. This is just a ploy to raise engagement, build a bigger audience AND give me a new ongoing segment so I don’t have to think so hard about a new topic every week. Anyway, this could blow up in my face, maybe no one has any questions but if you do, please respond to the newsletter either in the comments or replying to the email. Thanks!

Ok! On to this weeks topic! Color in cartoons!

Back in 2017 I went to go see Sam Gross talk about his work. At some point he started talking about the use of color in cartoons, and why most gag cartoons in The New Yorker never use it. He said (and I’m paraphrasing here, it was eight years ago) “What’s so funny about red?”

His point was, color doesn’t add anything to the cartoon. It doesn’t make it funnier. In a medium that relies on clear direct communication, color just gets in the way. It may not be the only reason The NYer opts for greyscale toons; printing costs may have something to do with it (although I have no idea if that’s true). It’s also worth noting the staggering weight of tradition. Across the many styles of the cartoons in the magazine, the lack of color has a unifying effect, a sort of branding. This branding is so strong, that when Wired briefly ran cartoons, they specifically wanted color as a way to distinguish themselves from The New Yorker.

But! As always, there are exceptions. There are always exceptions. Exceptions are always hanging around, making everything inconsistent. I will now talk about the exceptions.

Sometimes a cartoon requires color for the joke to work. For instance, the color may help with the clarity, as with this one:

In this cartoon, the red is funny, because it helps with the immediacy of the joke. Initially, I had drawn the “X” buttons in grey, but the error message didn’t read quick enough. The issue is that an error sign has its own iconography. This iconography utilizes red, a color of warning, and without it, on first glance it reads as one of the many other kinds of less serious pop-ups. It became apparent that the graphics of the warning sign take precedence over the black-and-white tradition in order for the joke to land quickly. Color was deemed necessary.

Here’s a different example of how color may be required:

Just as in the previous example the color in this one may help with the immediacy. But beyond that, the color in this joke stresses the contrast at hand: the fun playfulness of youth vs the bland greys of a working adult life. This cartoon would simply not work without the color, the joke would barely land, if at all. “Work doh” is the punchline, but the color is the set-up.

One final reason color may be used is simply because people just like it. Color is aesthetically pleasing, and on top of that, readers associate color with completeness and effort. When I drew cartoons for The Washington Post they asked for color because it’s more eye-catching on the black-and-white print. Nothing more to it than that.

Color is pleasing! On a cartoon it can add a sense of levity. That liveliness works for Wired and WaPo, but not The New Yorker. They do not need any other signifiers that a cartoon is supposed to be funny. I wrote about this last week: understatement is important to the humor of a New Yorker Cartoon, and color distracts from that sense of subtlety. In other words, put much better by the great Sam Gross, “What’s so funny about red?”

What Else?

• Hey! My very talented friend Akeem Roberts has a new book coming out and I will be in conversation with him about on July 15th. Here’s the details. You should come! His book is tons of fun, preorder it here.

• Also, I had a daily cartoon on The New Yorker website this week, from Wednesday, July 25th. Here it is:

• Finally, the daily movie game I help create has been trying what we call “Freaky Friday” in which you must match the movies categories from the poster art. Check it out!

That’s it! Thanks for reading!