Your Career in the Comics

By Newspaper Features Council and Lee Nordling

Young artists around the world dream of being the next Bill Watterson, Charles M. Schulz, or Mort Walker. Now, in Your Career in Comics, they'll learn how cartoon syndication really words--from the artists and professionals themselves.

Nordling, a cartoonist, children's book, and comic-book writer, has interviewed dozens of artists and syndicate executives for Your Career in the Comics, and provides readers with both a broad-based view of the art form and the nitty-gritty on fashioning a funny, salable comic strip or panel.

Detailed information on the business of being a professional cartoonist, tips on what beginners should avoid, and how a newspaper chooses a comic strip are all explored in this fact-filled book.

Firsthand insights from Charles M. Schulz, Bill Watterson, Mort Walker, Lynn Johnston, Bil Keane, Cathy Guisewite, Mell Lazarus, Jeff MacNelly, and others make Your Career in the Comics a must-have for all admirerers of the medium. It's an invaluable tool for anyone who is interested in working in comic strips--or who simply wants to know more about how cartooning works.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0836207483
• ISBN13: 9780836207484
• Release Date: October 1995
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.94 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Simply Outstanding!!!

If you're serious about cartooning, stop reading this and buy this book right now!!! A must have for every serious cartoonist's library!!! Entertaining, informative... WOW!

Info, truth and a reality check

I'm a syndicated cartoonist who has worked on a panel and a strip. If you want a realistic view on the world of cartooning, this is the book. Sure it provides useful insights into the creative and business processes. But best of all, it provides a serious reality check. It serves its readers best by honestly conveying the difficulty of cartooning; the relentless task of meeting dealines and quality standards; and the often surprising lack of huge monetary rewards. About the only thing missing (though you can't fault the author since the book published in 1995) is the growing use of the computer to create, send and disseminate cartoons. If you are serious about cartooning, read this book. If you're still serious after that, go be a cartoonist.

The Ultimate Book on Newspaper Strips

This is by far the best book on this subject I've read. If you want to be a newspaper comic strip writer/artist, I can't stress enough -- you have to buy this book. It will put you years ahead of those trying who don't have it.

An serious look at the business of making people laugh

"Business?" you say? "Aren't the funnies just funny pictures with funny words? Hell, my KID can draw a better strip than that clown who draws 'DILBERT'!" Maybe so, but your kid needs to know in advance what he's in for, especially if he really CAN draw a funnier strip than anything on the funny pages. "Your Career in the Comics" lays open for all the world to see the very process that brings comic strips from the cartoonist's kitchen table (some can't afford studios) to your kitchen table. As one discovers, it's NOT a career for the faint of heart or the uninspired. Beyond giving the aspiring cartoonist the basic guidelines for such things as preparing a portfolio and who to send it to, the book includes comments from cartoonists, syndicate editors, newspaper editors and artistic agents. It also demands that the reader take an honest look at his or her own abilities and decide if he or she will be as committed to their work as a syndicate would be to a strip they really like. It's interesting to note that after 50 years in the business, Charles Schulz is finally taking a vacation and for the first time ever, "Peanuts" will appear as reruns. Are YOU that dedicated, too? :)

A Must-Buy for serious cartoonists!

This informative book is a definite must-have for all aspiring comic strip cartoonists wanting to break into the funny pages. Tips on what and what-not to do are invaluable. Nordling discusses points of view from the artist, the syndicate, the paper and the reader which gives a concise view of the business. Important facts on what a syndicate looks for, and how to achieve it are covered in detail. If you read one book on cartooning, this HAS to be it.