Why Editorial Cartoons Have no Shelf Life

So the above is a reason why Editorial Cartoonists can’t create a buffer of cartoons to keep on hand to post at a time when they have nothing else to post or are busy with real life.  I created this one right after the Cincinnati Reds won the National League Central Division and went to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years.

Of course there was celebration of beer, champagne and cigars in the team’s clubhouse.  Well, the state of Ohio has a smoking ban for public places and it seems some concerned citizens felt it their duty to report this violation to the authorities.  Not a smoker, nor have I, but I thought this was just petty.  I bet they were Philly fans.

Well after the highs of that week came the following week which led to this cartoon.

The next weekend the Reds were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Phillies and the Cincinnati Bengals lost for the second week in a row to teams they were supposed to easily beat.

I would have posted them on their dates but other news items seemed more relevant and noteworthy at the time so these kept getting pushed back.

Now they seem somewhat dated.  So instead of creating cartoon buffers, I am left to post nothing if and when I ever get writer’s block.

Comments

54 responses to “Why Editorial Cartoons Have no Shelf Life”

  1. timm Avatar

    Love the cigar toon!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Thanks Timm…you owe me a 125×125 banner ad so I can add you to my links page.

  2. Dan Avatar

    Smoking in the clubhouse is *almost* as outrageous as the time Rob Dibble beaned the elderly lady in the center field bleachers by throwing the ball from the pitchers mound!

    1. Bearman Avatar

      IT SLIPPED!!! haha. Trying to remember which red it was that went into the stand after a fan.

  3. LoveintheDumps Avatar

    If the Yankees win again, there is no God.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I was hoping it would be a reds-yanks series and the reds beat up on the yanks.

  4. MJ Avatar

    Ha,ha,ha. Awesome material. Funny stuff as always.

  5. Nate Fakes Avatar

    I was rooting for Cinci to do well. I’m also a Rays fan, and that loss against Texas was brutal. Maybe next year….

    1. Bearman Avatar

      It worked for me. My American League team since I was a kid was the Rangers. Why? Because they always lost and I said if they ever became a winner, I could say I was a fan from the beginning.

      1. Nate Fakes Avatar

        Good luck with that! Actually, I’m hoping Rangers win it. I’d like to at least say that we got beat by the team that eventually won the World Series

        1. Bearman Avatar

          That would work for both of us then.

  6. Tony Avatar

    Love the smoke finger!!! I want a hairdo like the Cinncinatti guy

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Beggars can’t be choosers.

  7. nursemyra Avatar

    why has that man got a striped caterpillar on his head?

    1. Bearman Avatar

      It’s his Football Fan wig. Don’t worry…just an American thing.

  8. Jillsy Avatar

    Now that the Braves are out, I guess I’ll root for the Phillies.

  9. Jande Avatar

    I don’t follow sports anymore. I used to be a hockey fan until Saturday Night Hockey turned into Saturday Night at the Fights. But that was when I was still very young. Mostly I prefer to play sports rather than simply watch other people play.

    That said, I love your cartoons, as usual. I like the fact that you posted them anyway and gave us a history to go with them. Maybe you’ve found a way to have a buffer after all. :`)

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I thought the only reason to watch hockey was for the fights.

  10. Ahmnodt Heare Avatar

    The first one can be used again. You can use it when the Reds beat the Cardinals during the 2011 season.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Let’s hope.

  11. Friggin Loon Avatar

    I thought the Philly fans would have encouraged them to smoke ( a lot) …I’m just sayin 🙂

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I think they did given their playoff play.

      1. Friggin Loon Avatar

        OK, you lost me at playoff play. Is that some sort of basketball term?

        1. Bearman Avatar

          Tournament play.

  12. jynksie Avatar

    With all the crap going on in this world, suggesting you might one day draw a blank, is about as crazy sounding as that chicky-poo from Delaware… and her tea sipping loon of a friend from Alaska! o.O

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I draw blanks all the time. Luckily I don’t post every single day.

      1. Friggin Loon Avatar

        or shoot blanks …. I’m just sayin 🙁

        1. Bearman Avatar

          Keeps me from having a bunch of illegitimate kids running around

  13. Scott Oglesby Avatar

    The same thing happens to me quite often. I’ll look in my documents and find 3 or 4 posts that completely lost their relevance. I think I’m posting a satirical piece I did on the mosque later this week. About a month too late.

    So don’t feel bad.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      I think I have a “hanging chad” cartoon somewhere here.

  14. susi spice Avatar

    so let me get this right… Cincinnati Reds are different to the Red Sox ? whats this fascination with red? because it goes zoom zoom zoom?? hehe i crack me up hehe.

    but good cartoons 😀

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Because the people of Boston stole the name Red Stockings from us after we moved on to the Reds.

  15. G Avatar

    Now that, is pretty sad. The complaint about smoking at a victory celebration, not the delay in of posting the cartoons.

    The Smoking Zealots have raised their ugly head (which is to say they lowered their pants so they could think) and with great panache and tunnel vision, managed to squash any joyful celebration that would contain smoking.

    I suppose that pretty soon we’ll start doing like the UK does and airbrush old historic photos with smoking in it or give movies PG-13 or R ratings simply because they contain smoking.

    Example: 101 Dalmations now has the equivalent of a PG-13 rating because it features smoking.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      The UK airbrushes old photos???? How did I miss that gem?

      1. Sheila Deeth Avatar

        Sounds like another fun topic for an unairbrushed cartoon.

        1. Bearman Avatar

          I need the scoop on that one.

      2. G Avatar

        Been reading about it at another blog called “The Tainted Archives”, which you’ll find a link to it in my profile. The UK has been doing all kinds of silly stuff as it applies to smoking.

        1. Bearman Avatar

          And Duncan makes fun of the US.

  16. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

    Not being a baseball fan really takes the pressure off around playoff time.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Same for me during basketball and hockey and soccer and rugby and golf and…seasons.

      1. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

        …extreme skateboardin…Roller Derby…Jerry Springer. Oops..got off track there.

  17. George Avatar

    Dag, and I thought I was under a lotta pressure. I never thought about it from your point of view. It reminds of an old AC comic I may have made (I really don’t remember). Anyway, it featured Hank standing in front of the class with this blank paper in his hand.

    Ms. Yesnik asked Hank where his Current Events report was. He holds up the blank sheet and said “I;m waitin’ fer something to happen! I’m tryin’ to keep it as current as possible.”

    Well…it’s funnier with drawings and powerpoint and all.

    1. Bo Lumpkin Avatar

      You must have done it. I have a vivid image of that in my head now. Well maybe not. I just have a wild imagination.

      1. Bearman Avatar

        Love how you don’t remember. Reminds me of when I stole an idea from myself.

  18. bschooled Avatar

    Being against all sports (other than Hockey and Facebook creeping, that is), I have no idea if “being swept” is a good thing or not.

    Still, I’d like to order 50 of the first cartoon, only instead of the baseball head I’d like you to use my original avatar.

    Being a member of the “I Hate The Jonas Brothers” group on Facebook, I have a few teenage friends that I’d like to give “special shout-outs” to…

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Send me a picture of it and I’ll do it.

  19. Vodka and Ground Beef Avatar

    I love that Reds cartoon. This is sort of off-topic, but still Baseball – have you ever made a cartoon of that Cubs fan who totally devastated their season by reaching out for that fly ball? I think Steve Bartman was his name. I’d love to see what you’d do there.

    1. Bearman Avatar

      No but I should have and made it a goat that caught the ball.

  20. SpilledInkGuy Avatar
    SpilledInkGuy

    I’ve never been a smoker, but seriously … some people have WAY too much time on their hands. Ridiculous. Something tells me that their complaint buffers are maxed out. 🙂

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Still think it was a Phillies fan.

  21. DadaHyena Avatar

    I’m very lucky to have a buffer going (then again, I’m doing a full page every week), since it keeps me from going nuts trying to get caught up.

    But what’s wrong with cartoons getting ‘dated’? They’re still important commentaries about what’s been going on (I am tempted to use the term ‘historical value’, but that will just make Bearman go cry into his pillows).

    1. Bearman Avatar

      Na…Historical Value is close to antique…then I could sell them on the Antiques road show.