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On Monday, James Sturm, cartoonist and director of the Center for Cartoon Studies, posted a cartoon at The Nib called “The Sponsor”. I’m sure if you are a cartoonist you’ve already read it, since it was the talk of the town for a few days. Basically it concerns cartoonists, jealousy, the low bar for success, anxiety over one’s abilities, tumblr hits, Kickstarter and more. All in 24 panels. I’d call that a good job.
The basic conceit is that as in various 12-step programs, (the subtitle is “The first step is admitting you have a problem”) cartoonists have sponsors they can call in moments of stress. A young cartoonist named Casey calls his sponsor, Alan, in the middle of the night to fret about another cartoonist named Tessa who has a six figure Kickstarter, a line out the door at a Rocketship signing, and a book deal with D&Q. Tessa’s success sends Casey into such a tizzy that he has to work things out and consider grad school, despite Alan’s insistence that Crumb never thought about hits. And despite his “stay strong” rhetoric to Casey, Alan soon picks up the phone to call his OWN sponsor.
Of course we all know that judging your own success by someone else’s is a short cut to despair. By the same token, we’ve all done what Casey does, looked at other people’s book deals, Facebook likes, retweets or dinner companions and found ourselves feeling shitty about someone else’e\s perceived success. It’s human nature. You do it, I do it, we all do it. And then, if we want to actually be a success in some measure, we move on.
I know this cartoon ignited much talk in cartooning circles, but the one I caught spun out of this one by Colleen Frakes:
…I have a lot of respect for James, but all I see here are two white dudes complaining about a woman in comics. https://t.co/LB6KKefM9r
You can see the responses from MK Reed, Johanna Draper Carlson, Mike Dawson, Alison Wilgus and more. To be honest, the gender question here is, for once, a red herring. I think Sturm’s satire—and it is a satire, not an autobiographical comic—was based on the image of two white guys fretting over the success of a younger female cartoonist. That was kinda the POINT. This cartoon was about the toxic effects of jealousy not about gender relations—that the more successful, nimble cartoonist is a woman backs up setting as the twilight of the “pap pap era” that is implied by the reference to Crumb.
Another subtext of “The Sponsor” is that Alan and Casey are only reacting to the external aspects of Tessa’s career, and eschewing an examination of the artistic merits of her work that might lead to inspiration as opposed to mere envy. We get better at what we do by studying better things, and applying what makes them better to our own work, in a sensible way. Easier said than done, I know.
BTW, for those who think this is a lonely cry for acceptance by a put upon white male cartoonist, more of those thoughts are publicly expressed in this Metafilter thread, including guesses as to the real Tessa and so on. Come on people…IT’S A SATIRICAL STORY. I am well aware that all art is filtered through the social status of the creator, but but interpreting all storytelling as confirmation bias is the ultimate no-win situation. Can you imagine if Dan Clowes’ “Dan Pussey” came out today?
No, “The Sponsor” is about insecurity and the trivial uncontrollable fretting that destroys your own creativity. A few years ago I linked to this piece by Rob Liefeld called “How to Beat The Haters”, and you know, if Rob Liefeld can do it any one can—although external criticism is far from the corrosive internal struggle discussed in “The Sponsor.” But some of the same rules apply. You can only control one person’s work—your own. And yes, I am aware of the irony of quoting a cartoonist whose entire career seems oblivious to the painful self-examination Casey and Alan are dealing with. The way forward lies somewhere in the middle.
Kind of tangential to this, but I’ve updated the Beat’s “How to Get Into Comics and Survive Once You’re There” page with a few links. It’s still only an outline. Share more resources or self-help or ideas for what Casey and Alan should do in the comments.
ufh come on really? This is just a great expressing the bs that any many if not all creatives get on occasion. To sit there and say anything else is just silly and indicative of folks with a wild hate in their arse
Johnny Memeonic said, on 11/6/2014 10:41:00 AM
Anyone seeing some kind of sexism in the comic is being a bit too oversensitive. What it means is pretty much just there on the page with an old guy and a young guy expressing frustrations with not being as successful as someone else.
These frustrations are understandable even to the rest of us that just follow the industry. Some people hit that right combination of talent, luck, and current mood of the zeitgeist and get a successful career out of it. Others don’t. That’s just the reality of pretty much every field of entertainment.
--MC said, on 11/6/2014 1:33:00 PM
Two other cartoons came to mind when I read this (after nodding my head and saying “Seen” a dozen time).
There’s Feiffer’s cartoon of an aging man getting passed by his younger associates in the rat race. The woman whips past him, he can’t help himself, he says, I bet she uses her body to get ahead. The idea that women get a better deal because of their gender creeps in sometimes, but I don’t see it in Sturm’s story. The young winner in question could have been an eighteen year old male, wowing them with skills honed at SAW. Gender is irrelevant to the story.
The other image is a panel from Eddie Campbell’s “How To Be An Artist” — he talks about being bitter watching others succeed before him. He suggests a way to think about it is not You guys won the game, I’m so jealous, but rather, Wait for me and I’ll be with you shortly. In my often bitter and unsuccessful time working on my own comics, this thought has helped me cope.
patrick ford said, on 11/6/2014 3:33:00 PM
A controversy out of nothing. How is it the two protagonists worrying about the success of a woman is anything other than a criticism of them?
Why do people immediately think the protagonists are people they as readers are supposed to relate to? That they are supposed to be sympathetic?
It reminds me of someone once telling me they didn’t like MR. ARKADIN because there was no one in the movie they could identify with. Everyone seems like a louse. So?
johnrobiethecat said, on 11/6/2014 4:57:00 PM
It’s much more interesting when cartoonists talk about the world around them this way. Instead of always living in this constant fantasy land of crime, alien invasions, noir, wars, space dramas and superhero events. Not that those aren’t valid subject but do they have to be 90-95% of the American comics medium ?! Cartoonists have a lot more freedom than movies or TV to explore these subject matters in a big or small way and not get shut down, The lady complaining about the two white guys probably hasn’t seen that well endowed fantasy writer who makes a habit of showing her wares every 5th tweet or so while jumping at the top of Kick Starter with Millar endorsements and cosplay shots. She may be good but it is what it is. So there’s people like that out there. It doesn’t mean all women creators are like that. Or that men are are all petty or disrespectful about their success, But don’t be so PC that people can’t comment on that in a legitimate way.
Look at what Image is putting out , mostly gruesome murder and horror comics every week. Doesn’t seem to be offend anybody in the comics community and they walk around expecting industry respect. That seems worse to me.
The Nib is very good. A much needed alternative.
Scott McCloud said, on 11/7/2014 8:24:00 AM
I’m name-checked in this particular comic, so I can’t say much, but I’m pretty certain James made the young successful cartoonist a woman just because it says “new generation,” the same way the Kickstarter reference does. As Heidi points out, this whole comic is pure satire. Even the melodramatic set-up is funny because it’s just a couple of cartoonists, not some Vietnam vet addicted to heroine or something. Is that so hard for people to get?
Oh well. In other news, Randy Newman DOES NOT ACTUALLY HATE SHORT PEOPLE.
Rosscott said, on 11/7/2014 8:54:00 AM
I read it more as just the person he was fixating upon, not that she was female. Maybe that’s my male-centric glasses on, but I took from it that the writer was giving a name to his experience, and probably really felt this about a female he knew. And he’s not mad at her, he just is having trouble handling it, which I think is pretty relatable. Not because she’s female, but because she’s doing better.
That isn’t to say gender isn’t something to be dealt with carefully, but just that in this case it felt to me like a person writing their personal experience, not picking on women.
Also, I’ll admit that this comic REALLY got to me. I’ve been going through a LOT of this lately, and it’s a dark road but unfortunately an easy one to walk down.
Jack said, on 11/7/2014 10:10:00 AM
Thanks for taking a mature level view of the strip and its spot-on satirical take on such a common human inner conflict. Extra thanks for explaining the “controversy” without exploiting a wild hare for clicks in the title or article. Sorry, Ms. Frakes, you probably should have thought about that tweet a little more when you felt your knee jerking.
Kristine said, on 11/7/2014 10:26:00 AM
I thought Sturm nailed the 12-step call-your-sponsor-in-time-of-crisis framework. (Including the risk of passing along cravings, er, urges toward wallowing in unhelpful comparisons.)
ONE PANEL AT A TIME, PEOPLE; one panel at a time.
Good overview.
Calvin Reid said, on 11/7/2014 10:49:00 AM
Thank you Heidi.
Rob Kirby said, on 11/7/2014 11:11:00 AM
I liked this article way more than I liked that Twitter-fueled debate, which I found very, very off-point from the cartoonist’s (very clear, at least to me) original intent.
Chewy Goldman said, on 11/7/2014 12:31:00 PM
Are we the first generation that doesn’t get past the surface meaning of things? These are two clownish old men getting mad at a Kickstarter. Has professional jealousy been that elusive an emotion amongst the people annoyed at this?
William George said, on 11/7/2014 9:27:00 PM
This comic is the best of 2014. Everyone sees themselves in it and are interpreting it through the lens of their super-ego. It’s great. That’s what art should do.
That having been said: There is an aspect of the culture wars going on in the comic, intended or not. Women are moving in and they are destroying the Boy’s Club. (Good fucking riddance to it.) To say that it’s not there in the comic is dishonest. The comic is obviously reflecting the subculture around the medium. If it looks like that culture is built out of a pile of neuroses and self-serving actions, that’s because it is… and the responses so far seem to bear that out.
(Speaking as someone who has also felt the glorious touch of Scott’s recommendation and then proceeded to tear himself apart with self-doubt, self-pity, and pettiness to the point that he stopped making comics, I feel for the guy. But you know how it is: Do it or get out of the way so someone else can. )
William George said, on 11/7/2014 9:46:00 PM
Mind you, the comic does fail to comment on how small and incestuous the community is. Tessa is probably sitting in Ron’s den and doodling on his CINTIQ while he’s talking to Alan…
Jim Keefe said, on 11/8/2014 7:55:00 AM
Many thanks for the links to resource. Don’t care where you are professionally they’re always worth the read – and THE BEAT tends to have the best. Here’s some more for those interested. http://www.jimkeefe.com/archives/5749
Aaron Blabey is an actor-turned children’s author and illustrator, having great success with award-winning books including Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley, The Ghost of Miss Annabel Spoon, and Pig the Pug, which is becoming one of Australia’s best selling picture books. Fortunate to have Sunday Chutney as the chosen book to be read in schools […]
Like a tsunami, fear can wash away our life… unless we rise up I believe fear can come in many forms… and sometimes it comes in the forms of “bad thoughts” or nightmares. We don’t always know we are afraid of something until it invades our thoughts. How many times have we wanted to do […]
6 Comments on SOME THOUGHTS ON FEAR, last added: 9/21/2013
Thanks Donna and Casey. Fear can paralyze. When I feel it rising within me, I have learned to say, “Fear, I will not let you steal my joy!” I just realized that I refer to theft, just like in the example Casey chose. Wow! How about that?
Donna Earnhardt said, on 9/20/2013 6:57:00 PM
Hi Linda! I feel the same way you do… fear is a thief of joy. So glad you have found a great way to combat it!
Carol Federlin Baldwin said, on 9/21/2013 6:06:00 AM
This was a wonderful blog, Donna. Thoughtful and very timely for me. Thanks so much.
Linda Vigen Phillips said, on 9/21/2013 7:21:00 AM
Thanks for this reminder about what fear can do to rob us of life. And John 10:10 is what the Lord gave me when I found out I was having twins and was momentarily inundated with all sorts of fears!
Donna Earnhardt said, on 9/21/2013 7:31:00 PM
Thank YOU for your encouragement, too, my friend.
Donna Earnhardt said, on 9/21/2013 7:32:00 PM
Exactly! I have have been reminded of this verse so many times!
PF is hosted by Sheri Doyle this week--thanks, Sheri! Poetry Friday hosting can be a big job, folks, so make sure you help Sheri put away the chairs and stack the dishes before you leave.
We like it because it's written for a ten year old--just about my level. For more on this book, read Elaine Magliaro's really excellent review of it on The Wild Rose Reader--I couldn't review it any better.
I love the title (who doesn't feel that from time to time?) and the long row of cans. It's such a great way to express the idea that there's always room for more. I'm going to be thinking about writing about a fear for a long time. I share monkey's fear for sure.
Love this post. So good to face those fears, especially when they are put in such wonderful words. I think I'm a can of black beans, you can do so much with them, even make dessert.
Fabulous poem! I love the line: "She said that the shelf was only one can deep but that it stretched out forever. so there’s always room for one more." Being the youngest of 10 kids I like the thought of there always being room for one more...=)
What a sweet post, April, so reassuring. I have the second meeting of a new writing group this coming week & I think it will be wonderful to share this with them. More are joining us this time so I suspect they will be a little nervous. I have the Livingston book & have used parts of it with students. Perhaps I should take a look for me! Thanks for all your words!
Mary Lee, Liz, Jama, Bridget, Doraine and Linda ~ Monkey was a little bit astonished that the poem hit a harmonic chord for all of you. He is so excited, he is now writing a ten-book series.
I'd like to have Doraine's recipe using black beans for desert. I'll be a can of pumpkin. I bought too many during the holidays, so every time I open the cabinet, they look at me, just like the blank page. Thanks for always encouraging the writer in us.
I'm a can of spaghetti sauce. With mushrooms and lots of garlic. :-) I love this poem. Jealousy is such an unpleasant emotion to feel, and I really like this way of looking at it.
4StarsDance Class #2: Romeo and Juliet
Beka
Papercutz Printing
978-1597073172
No. of Pages: 48 Ages:7 and up
.........................
The girls from Dance Class: Julie, Alia, Lucie, and Carla, are getting ready for their production of "Romeo and Juliet," which may be the wackiest version ever produced! Of course, Julie lands the coveted role of Juliet, which makesCarla very jealous. But who should play Romeo? Well, would you believe a hip-hop dancer named Tim? And will Tim and Julie actually fall in love, just like Romeo and Juliet?
.................
The Dance Class Series are graphic novels with humor laced through each page. Each page is like a one-line joke, or an arc, ala soap operas. It does add up to a complete book that makes absolute sense, in its own wacky, fun way. The ballet troupe returns for dance class and play practice. On each page, the reader enters one of the dancers’ moments, usually comically timed, with a punch line in the last bubble.
In one vignette (above), Alia is stretching and studying her math book. Julie and Lucie say it would be nice if it were possible to study dance while in math class. Alia thinks about it and figures out how to do just that.
Girls will loves this graphic book of ballet dancers and the antics of their days learning and rehearsing for the big production play of
Romeo and Juliet. The usual suspects are there, the three best friends Julie, Alia, and Lucie, and their main nemesis Carla.
A new student, hip hopping Tim, is casted as Romeo and the four girls compete for his affections and the role of Juliet. When Carla misses out to Julie, she goes into revenge mode, and the modern update of the Shakespeare classic becomes a comedy of errors, due to teen jealousy.
The illustrations are colorful, lively, and expressive. If you read book one of the Dance Class Series, you know that the book was larger than this one. In the world of children’s publishing, the smaller the book, the older the intended reader. Who knew? Apparently, Papercutz, and their parent company Macmillan, understand the psychology of children’s books.
The writer and illustrator team of Beka*and Crip are the French artists who conceived these graphic gems. As I write this review of Book 2, Book 3: African Folk Dance Fever is hitting bookstore shelves. I hope to get a copy and review it here soon.
Girls ages six to sixteen will love Dance Class: Romeo and Juliet. The story revolves mainly around the actions and emotions of teenage girls. I doubt many boys will find this one interesting, though there are always exceptions.
The Dance Class books are good reads for reluctant readers. The text is clear and not at a lower reading level than one would expect. The story is manageable at 48 pages, engaging and connects with the illustrations to make for one complete read.
One key to getting a reluctant reader to read is finding a story about something they are passionate about or love doing. For these reasons and more, The Dance Class Series is perfect for reluctant readers. It is also perfect for kids who like graphic novels, a good story, humor, and dance.
*Beka is short for the writing team of Bertrand Escaich and Caroline Rogue
Naomi lives in the small town of Blackbird Tree. It is not named because of the shape of its trees, however, but for the many blackbirds that live in those trees. Blackbird Tree is a bit of a tragic place, where most of the children have experienced some sort of loss. Naomi is unsurprisingly a bit of a pessimist. After losing her mother as an infant, and her father in a tragic accident, she has been in the care of Joe and Nula. But she has always felt a little off kilter about the whole thing. What if someone comes to take her away? What if bad things instead of good things start coming out of the donkey's ear from the story that Joe tells?
One fateful day, a boy falls out of a tree right in front of Naomi. She's not sure if he's real or not-real, so she is happy when her friend Lizzie comes by and lets her know that she can indeed see this boy laying unconscious on the ground. Where Naomi dwells in the quiet places, Lizzie fills the air with her words, which can be both comforting and bothersome at once. She fusses over the boy when he comes to, and worries after "Finn boy" who says that he is staying up on the hill with the dim Dimmenses.
Finn has awoken something in Naomi, and she finds that she cannot stop thinking about him. Each time she runs into him she asks Finn about his life, but he would much prefer to talk to Naomi about hers. He seems odd, however, visiting the folks in town that others normally steer clear of - folks like Crazy Cora, or Witch Wiggins. When Finn asks Naomi where he can find Elizabeth Scatterding, who just happens to be Naomi's Lizzie, she finds herself consumed with jealousy.
Meanwhile over in Ireland, Sybil and her caretaker Miss Pilpenny are plotting revenge. Living at Rook's Orchard, Sybil has enlisted the help of a solicitor to help her with the perfect plan. There is a Finn boy who used to live there, as well.
Creech has woven together a magical story about family and friendship and the ties that bind. Each character, no matter how seemingly small is tied to another, and readers will find themselves spell bound from considering the ways in which this is possible in their own lives. Naomi herself often wonders about the connections between people and places -
"But I thought about all the things that had to have spun into place in order for us to be alive and for us to be right there, right then. I thought about the few things we thought we knew and the billions of things we couldn't know, all spinning, whirling out there somehow." (p 223 arc)
The Great Unexpected is a story that defies categorization in terms of story and of audience. Found within its pages are mystery and magic, old and young, boys and girls, rich and poor. I just finished it an hour ago, and I already want to read it again!
1 Comments on The Great Unexpected, by Sharon Creech, last added: 7/13/2012
This sounds delightful! I'm so glad to have found your blog. :) I'm working on my Master's in secondary English education, hoping to to teach middle school, so I'm always looking for great recommendations for middle grades books. Excellent review, I can't wait for this to be released!
Pretty Dolls by Kimberly Dana, a finalist in the Children’s Picture Book category at the 2011 Pacific Northwest Writers Association Literary Contest, is a delightful story about overcoming jealousy and the love a girl can share with her special doll, no matter what she looks like.
Little Tasha has several dolls, but her favorites are Emily-Nicole and Gracie.
Emily-Nicole is the most beautiful of all, with porcelain skin, silky red hair and turquoise-blue eyes. She spends most of her days perched on the top bookshelf case with the other beautiful dolls.
Unlike Emily-Nicole, Gracie has tufts of brown hair (from when Tasha played hairdresser), purple eyes (from when she played artist), and a missing arm. She’s not at all beautiful like Emily-Nicole. But Tasha loves her because she’s the snuggliest of all and that’s why she always carries her around.
Unbeknown to Tasha, once she’s deeply sound asleep in the quiet of the night, Emily-Nicole, jealous of Tasha and Gracie’s closeness, starts making fun of Gracie and calling her cruel names. The other pretty dolls giggle and together they mock:
Pretty eyes and pretty hair. We’re the best dolls anywhere. If you were a pretty doll, you’d be up here standing tall.
Night after night the banter continues. As Emily-Nicole becomes more and more jealous, she turns increasingly cruel. Her heart becomes just as cold and porcelain-like as her beautiful face. Deep inside, though, she suffers. She would like to be the one to snuggle up with Tasha instead of standing on the shelf all day and night. She just can’t understand why Tasha prefers Gracie when Gracie is so ugly compared to her.
11 Comments on Children’s Author Kimberly Dana Pens Story of Dolls, Jealousy and Friendship, last added: 2/28/2012
Isn't that just the cutest cover! Mayra, you know much I love it when I see authors promoting other authors! (-:
Best, Carolyn Howard-Johnson Excited about the new edition (expanded! updated! even more helpful for writers!) of The Frugal Book Promoter, now a USA Book News award-winner in its own right (www.budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo)
Okay so, there I am, minding my own business one day, just going through Directv's guide of daily distractions, when I come upon something called H8Rs (You Have to See it to Believe it). Now, in this era of lazy restructuring of the English language (along the lines of LOL and OMGIJPMWL (Oh my god, I just pissed myself with laughter), I felt compelled to see what new form of abbreviation made it to prime time television. Turns out, H8Rs is a new reality show about regular people who, after extensively reading those irrefutably-reliable sources of truth that we call tabloids, have concluded that they hate certain celebrities.
The curious kitten in me couldn't help but record the show to see what all the hate was about. Well, needless to say, the first episode left my jaw on the floor, my eyes bulging in a this-has-to-be-a-joke sort of way, and my mind scrambling for some sense of understanding as to why any celebrity would ever agree to appear on this show, or, for that matter, why these haters haven't yet found something better to do with their time than sit around hating someone they don't know, based on what the media gossip-whores have deemed news-worthy information. You know, like how short Brittany Spears skirt was at one point, or how J-LO almost cut off all her hair and ran through the streets after discovering she wasn't the end all-be all of the entertainment world. You know, the news.
The premise of the show is essentially this: Mario Lopez and his dimples appear with the celebrity who's been spotlighted enough to apparently warrant actual hatred in the eyes of "regular people". And they listen to said haters as the haters moan and groan their way down their rationally-constructed list of I-hate-so-and-so-for-this-and-that-reason. Then, the celebrity confronts the hater to inquire about the hatred and to then spend some time convincing these haters to look beyond the tabloid gossip and like the celebrity for who they are.
The first episode of H8Rs was an hour long, and took me and my hubby about 2 hours to watch because of the constant pausing for fascinating and ultimately hilarious give-me-a-break infused discussions. Episode 1 involved a total loser that hated Snooki (Jersey Shore) and some girl who hated the Bachelor guy. I won't go into how mentally defeated both those haters were. Well, I just saw the second episode last night, and I gotta say, ".....to the H8Rs of Eva Longoria and Scott Disick (from the Kardashians) (and anyone else you haters don't personally know, in fact)....GET OVER YOURSELVES!"
First off, Scott's hater was a girl with a chip on her shoulder so big that I was sure she'd topple over; though to be honest, it might have been her glaring I'm-not-a-celebrity-therefore-I'm-a-better-person-than-you attitude that stems from hunchback of hatred syndrome, which she was clearly born with. This girl repeatedly called Scott Disick "the ultimate douche" because he (and I quote, because honestly, I couldn't make this up...well, I could, but only at the risk of sounding like a complete moron), "He has never done manual labor like regular people."
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!
Is she actually under the belief (or self-delusion) that the only jobs regular people hold involve manual labor? This girl criticized Scott's Lamborghini, then, after spending some time with him (bowling and telling him to prove himself worthy of her presence, by scraping gum off bowling shoes), she decided she wanted to drive the very car that, earlier, she called unimpressive and disrespectful to people who can't afford one; not a direct quote, but a fraternal twin to her underlying implication, mind you. She actually went on and on about how Scott was a bad person and deserved to be hated by her because he's never held, what she called over and over, "a real job. And this knowledge comes from where now? Her lifelong probe into his private life?
And then there was the hater of Eva Longoria. Or should I say, the hater of her weight. He wa
0 Comments on Don't Hate Me For Hating You as of 9/25/2011 2:11:00 AM
Yesterday was Independence Day, we correctly note. But most Americans do not merely think of July 4 as a day for celebrating Independence. We are told, especially by the Tea Partying crowd, that we are celebrating the birth of a nation. Not quite.
Independence, the liberation of the 13 original colonies form British rule, did not create a nation any more than a teenager leaving home becomes an adult. Far from it, even the Declaration of Independence (which incidentally, was not signed on July 4, but in August), did not even refer to the “United States” as a proper noun, but instead, registered the “unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America.” And that was all we were in 1776 – a collection of states with no common mission, linked fate, or general government. This was the understanding of the the Franco-American treaties of 1778, which referred to the “United States of North America.”
America was not America until it was, well, constituted. The United States of America was born after the 9th State ratified the US Constitution, and Congress certified the same on September 13, 1788. So we should by all means celebrate the 4th, but confusing Independence with the birth of a nation has serious constitutional-interpretive implications. If the two are the same, then the Declaration’s commitment to negative liberty — freedom from government — gets conflated with the Constitution’s commitment to positive liberty — its charge to the federal government to “secure the Blessings of Liberty.” The fact of the matter is that government was a thing to be feared in 1776. Government, or so the revolutionaries argued, was tyrannical, distant, and brutish. But it was precisely a turnaround in sentiment in the years leading up to 1789 — the decade of confederal republican anarchy — that the States came around to the conclusion that government was not so much to be feared than it was needed. This fundamental reversal of opinion is conveniently elided in Tea-Party characterizations of the American founding.
It is no wonder that politicians can get American history so wrong if we ourselves — 84 percent, according to the National Constitution Center’s poll in 1997 — actually believe that the phrase “all men are created equal” are in the Constitution. Actually, quite the opposite. Those inspirational words in the Declaration of Independence have absolutely zero constitutional weight, and they cannot be adduced as legal arguments in any Court in the nation.
Nations are not built by collective fear. Jealousy is a fine republican sentiment, especially if it is directed against monarchy, but it is surely less of a virtue when directed against a government constituted by We the People unless jealousy against oneself is not a self-defeating thing. What remains a virtuous sentiment, in monarchies or in republics, however, is fellow-feeling, a collective identification with the “general Welfare.” America can move in the direction of “a more perfect Union” only if citizens can come to accept that the Declaration of Independence was the prelude to the major act, and not the culminating act in itself. At the very least, we could get an extra federal holiday in September.
Hooray--it’s Poetry Friday! Today’s poem and lesson plan are at the end of this post.
I’ve always felt that that if nothing else, I’m good at being a portal.A conduit between what someone wants and how they can get it.That's what has given me the to courage to teach Writing Picture Books for Children through UCLA Extension’s Writer’s Program for over a decade.This class is for newbie children’s book writers--not for those who have read a lot, taken classes, submitted stories, or joined organizations.
To these toe-in-the-water beginners I assign two books. The first is
This is a comprehensive, down-to-earth guide—worth reading cover-to-cover and easy to dip into as a reference. It presents a broad overview of the field but also gives specifics. As with all Idiot Guides, it's easy to browse and packed with extras like "Vocabulary Lists," which explain terms in the children's publishing industry; "Class Rules," which detail warnings and cautions; "Can You Keep a Secret?" which include tips and resources to help a children's writer or illustrator present him or herself as a pro; and my favorite, "Playground Stories," which are anecdotes from and profiles of children's authors and publishers, giving an insiders view of the children's publishing world.
Teaching AuthorsJeanne Marie and Mary Ann have both talked about Bird by Bird...and I’m going to talk about again.Because yes, it’s that good.
My favorite chapter is the one on jealousy, which changed my life. I read it at least once a year to quell my burning heart.
Though I happily celebrate most friends' successes, some colleagues' successes cause me great agony and confusion. Several years ago, someone gently suggested that perhaps I shouldn't read the book review section right before I went to sleep. She was right. When I'd see certain names, I'd toss and turn all night, feeling like I'd lost a race I didn't even know I was in.
I am a mean and tiny person with tight fists and a black heart.
This is really embarrassing to admit.
I've been more loving to myself about this in the last few years, and Anne Lamott's BIrd by Bird is a big reason why. She writes: “But if you continue to write, you are probably going to have to deal with [jealousy], because some wonderful dazzling successes are going to happen for some of the most awful, angry undeserving writers you know—people who are, in other words, not you."
and later,
"It can wreak just the tiniest bit of havoc with your self-esteem to find that you are hoping for small bad things to happen to this friend--for, say, her head to blow up."
Who, me?
She writes about seeing a documentary on AIDS:
"You could see the amazing fortitude of people going through horror with grace...seeing that this is what you've got, this disease, or maybe even this jealousy. So you do as well as you can with it. And this ravaged body or wounded psyche...should...be cared for as softly and tenderly as possble."
Lamott has shown me that yes, I have this tendency to be jealous, yes, I have this green spot on my heart…and though I try each year to make it smaller, I may have to live with that little green spot, be amused by that part of me and love myself anyway.
I’m human.What a surprise.
Writing Workout / Lesson Plan—
Metaphor—Getting a Handle on a Really Uncomfortable Feeling
For ages 7 through adult (or younger, with individual help.) Objective: This lesson reminds us how writing can help us when we feel awful.(And if the feeling doesn’t go away, at least we’ve got a poem out of it!)
Instructions:
1. Think of someone or something that fills you with envy (or another awful feeling).
2. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath.
3. Feel this feeling in your stomach, in your bloodstream, filling every bone in your body.
4. Or instead, think about what helps drive this emotion from your body. Feel the relief as itleaves through the top of your head, through your finger tips, through the bottoms of your feet.
5. Brainstorm at least five metaphors for jealousy or for what makes jealousy go away.Are you a leaf and is your jealousy a worm chewing on you? Is your jealousy a ring in the bathtub being scrubbed clean with Ajax cleanser?
6. Write a poem using one of your metaphors.
7. Write honestly—even if it embarrasses you.
ANYTHING I CAN DO YOU CAN DO BETTER
or
CAN OF WORMS
by April Halprin Wayland
Varda once told us
that we were all cans on a shelf.
Cans of chili, kidney beans, split pea soup.
I decided that I was a can of apricot halves.
She said that the shelf was only one can deep
but that it stretched out forever
so there’s always room
for one more.
“You don’t have to be afraid that adding another can means there isn’t enough room for you,”she said.
Lamott's idea that writing is like driving with the headlights on(you only can see ten feet ahead, but you can arrive at your destination) has gotten me through many a firt draft.
Thank you for posting honestly about jealousy. There is always room for one more - sometimes you just want it to be yours! Just love you for that generosity.
A Tale of Jealousy, Revenge, and Death (with a Happy Ending)
by Henrik Drescher
Candlewick 2008
Blurb: Extremely satisfying in a very old-school sort of way, but what a strange planet it seems to have come from.
McFig, a widower, shows up one day having purchased a plot of land next to another widower named McFly. Both men hit it off instantly, as do their children Anton and Rosie. McFig
0 Comments on McFig and McFly as of 6/2/2008 7:41:00 PM
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ufh come on really? This is just a great expressing the bs that any many if not all creatives get on occasion. To sit there and say anything else is just silly and indicative of folks with a wild hate in their arse
Anyone seeing some kind of sexism in the comic is being a bit too oversensitive. What it means is pretty much just there on the page with an old guy and a young guy expressing frustrations with not being as successful as someone else.
These frustrations are understandable even to the rest of us that just follow the industry. Some people hit that right combination of talent, luck, and current mood of the zeitgeist and get a successful career out of it. Others don’t. That’s just the reality of pretty much every field of entertainment.
Two other cartoons came to mind when I read this (after nodding my head and saying “Seen” a dozen time).
There’s Feiffer’s cartoon of an aging man getting passed by his younger associates in the rat race. The woman whips past him, he can’t help himself, he says, I bet she uses her body to get ahead. The idea that women get a better deal because of their gender creeps in sometimes, but I don’t see it in Sturm’s story. The young winner in question could have been an eighteen year old male, wowing them with skills honed at SAW. Gender is irrelevant to the story.
The other image is a panel from Eddie Campbell’s “How To Be An Artist” — he talks about being bitter watching others succeed before him. He suggests a way to think about it is not You guys won the game, I’m so jealous, but rather, Wait for me and I’ll be with you shortly. In my often bitter and unsuccessful time working on my own comics, this thought has helped me cope.
A controversy out of nothing. How is it the two protagonists worrying about the success of a woman is anything other than a criticism of them?
Why do people immediately think the protagonists are people they as readers are supposed to relate to? That they are supposed to be sympathetic?
It reminds me of someone once telling me they didn’t like MR. ARKADIN because there was no one in the movie they could identify with. Everyone seems like a louse. So?
It’s much more interesting when cartoonists talk about the world around them this way. Instead of always living in this constant fantasy land of crime, alien invasions, noir, wars, space dramas and superhero events. Not that those aren’t valid subject but do they have to be 90-95% of the American comics medium ?! Cartoonists have a lot more freedom than movies or TV to explore these subject matters in a big or small way and not get shut down, The lady complaining about the two white guys probably hasn’t seen that well endowed fantasy writer who makes a habit of showing her wares every 5th tweet or so while jumping at the top of Kick Starter with Millar endorsements and cosplay shots. She may be good but it is what it is. So there’s people like that out there. It doesn’t mean all women creators are like that. Or that men are are all petty or disrespectful about their success, But don’t be so PC that people can’t comment on that in a legitimate way.
Look at what Image is putting out , mostly gruesome murder and horror comics every week. Doesn’t seem to be offend anybody in the comics community and they walk around expecting industry respect. That seems worse to me.
The Nib is very good. A much needed alternative.
I’m name-checked in this particular comic, so I can’t say much, but I’m pretty certain James made the young successful cartoonist a woman just because it says “new generation,” the same way the Kickstarter reference does. As Heidi points out, this whole comic is pure satire. Even the melodramatic set-up is funny because it’s just a couple of cartoonists, not some Vietnam vet addicted to heroine or something. Is that so hard for people to get?
Oh well. In other news, Randy Newman DOES NOT ACTUALLY HATE SHORT PEOPLE.
I read it more as just the person he was fixating upon, not that she was female. Maybe that’s my male-centric glasses on, but I took from it that the writer was giving a name to his experience, and probably really felt this about a female he knew. And he’s not mad at her, he just is having trouble handling it, which I think is pretty relatable. Not because she’s female, but because she’s doing better.
That isn’t to say gender isn’t something to be dealt with carefully, but just that in this case it felt to me like a person writing their personal experience, not picking on women.
Also, I’ll admit that this comic REALLY got to me. I’ve been going through a LOT of this lately, and it’s a dark road but unfortunately an easy one to walk down.
Thanks for taking a mature level view of the strip and its spot-on satirical take on such a common human inner conflict. Extra thanks for explaining the “controversy” without exploiting a wild hare for clicks in the title or article. Sorry, Ms. Frakes, you probably should have thought about that tweet a little more when you felt your knee jerking.
I thought Sturm nailed the 12-step call-your-sponsor-in-time-of-crisis framework. (Including the risk of passing along cravings, er, urges toward wallowing in unhelpful comparisons.)
ONE PANEL AT A TIME, PEOPLE; one panel at a time.
Good overview.
Thank you Heidi.
I liked this article way more than I liked that Twitter-fueled debate, which I found very, very off-point from the cartoonist’s (very clear, at least to me) original intent.
Are we the first generation that doesn’t get past the surface meaning of things? These are two clownish old men getting mad at a Kickstarter. Has professional jealousy been that elusive an emotion amongst the people annoyed at this?
This comic is the best of 2014. Everyone sees themselves in it and are interpreting it through the lens of their super-ego. It’s great. That’s what art should do.
That having been said: There is an aspect of the culture wars going on in the comic, intended or not. Women are moving in and they are destroying the Boy’s Club. (Good fucking riddance to it.) To say that it’s not there in the comic is dishonest. The comic is obviously reflecting the subculture around the medium. If it looks like that culture is built out of a pile of neuroses and self-serving actions, that’s because it is… and the responses so far seem to bear that out.
(Speaking as someone who has also felt the glorious touch of Scott’s recommendation and then proceeded to tear himself apart with self-doubt, self-pity, and pettiness to the point that he stopped making comics, I feel for the guy. But you know how it is: Do it or get out of the way so someone else can. )
Mind you, the comic does fail to comment on how small and incestuous the community is. Tessa is probably sitting in Ron’s den and doodling on his CINTIQ while he’s talking to Alan…
Many thanks for the links to resource. Don’t care where you are professionally they’re always worth the read – and THE BEAT tends to have the best. Here’s some more for those interested. http://www.jimkeefe.com/archives/5749