Punch lines

Editorial cartoonists resent being pigeon-holed as gag writers. Despite the overlapping skill set, we have a different underlying purpose. We bristle when Newsweek and the New York Times package us with late-night monologue zingers. We stew in our creative juices as editors pass over the cogent, original and even profound in favor of the canned, the obvious and the predictable.

Nevertheless, we have plenty in common with television’s one-line wonders. Besides sharp pencils and tongues, we both earn money from redistribution and syndication, and we’ve all watched nervously as our respective media have gone through sea changes.

Most political cartoonists back the striking Hollywood writers, I’d guess. But our cartoons have often disparaged television entirely or used the strike to comment on something else. Oh, and we penned plenty of (gag!) gags on the subject.

-- Joel Pett