Comic Riffs talks to Matt Wuerker on syndication

Politico's MATT WUERKER reacts to his new Universal UClick deal
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post Comic Riffs blog March 25 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/politicos-matt-wuerker-reacts-to-his-new-universal-uclick-deal/2011/03/26/AFHteoZB_blog.html

Matt Wuerker gets syndicated

Matt Wuerker is going to by syndicated by Universal Uclick, they announced today, in which we were scooped by Alan Gardner's Daily Cartoonist.

A little more on the Herblock Award, from two of the judges

Matt Wuerker, 2010's winner of the Herblock award, and Signe Wilkinson are the editorial cartoonists who were two of the three judges for the 2011 award. They've shared their thinking behind the selection of Tom Toles as the winner with us.

Judging the Herblock award this year was really, really hard.  There was too much good work in way too many inventive forms.  It's good news for our readers ... but hard for judges. Different judges would have ended up with a different decision.

In the spirit of transparency, we'd like to lift the veil a little on the thinking that went into our judging this year. Think of this as a little WikiLeak of what happened on the path to awarding the 2011 Herblock Prize.

Before the judging, it was agreed that this year the finalist would also be recognized.  We knew the job was to come up with two top cartoonists.

We had a great, broad sampling of political cartooning today: lots of traditional single-panel cartoons, plenty of stellar "altie" work, a number of great ventures into cartoon journalism and, of course, the animation submissions. We even had cartoons rendered with actual oil from the BP spill.

In the apples and oranges comparisons that are such a big part of the process, it was hard to measure the simple punchy genius of single panels by the likes of Pett and Britt against long-form docucomics that went beyond the headlines, like those submitted by Ohman, Wasserman and Varvel, or for that matter animated reporter's sketchbooks such as the engaging submission from Rex Babin.

Mike Thompson's finger on the pulse of Detroit crime and Bill Day's attention to child abuse were both powerful uses of our medium. For taking us where cartooning had not gone before, Ted Rall's enterprising trip to Afghanistan was particularly noteworthy.  Pat Bagley's wonderful loose humor and engagement with his readers made him a contender. The "Alties," led by Bors and Sorensen, all made it to the semifinal pile, as did Ramirez, whose graphic punch and strong, clearly expressed political opinions kept him in the running right up to the end.

We all agreed that, to the best of our abilities, we'd not judge according to our political bent but solely on the quality and consistency of the cartooning found in the portfolios we were looking at.

Though Matt Davies had what we all agreed was the single best cartoon of the year, "WikiLeaks" (by the way, a non-animated black-and-white single panel),  the quality and creativity of the Toles and Telnaes portfolios put them at the very top.  Choosing between the two was excruciating and took a while, but in the end we felt the overall consistency of Toles's complete portfolio made him the winner, with Telnaes No. 2 by a hair ... or a .3 Micron line.

---- Signe Wilkinson and Matt Wuerker

Wash Post's Tom Toles Herblock Prize Winner 2011

According to Jennifer Lee of the Post, "Washington Post's Tom Toles is this year's winner of the Herblock Prize & Lecture for excellence in editorial cartooning: http://www.herbblockfoundation.org/herblock-prize-winner/737 "

 

Congratulations to Tom, and that's two Washington winners in a row, as Matt Wuerker took it last year.

 

 

Comic Riffs has additional details including noting that Ann Telnaes was a runner-up.

Matt Wuerker of Politico wins Berryman Award

Matt Wuerker of Politico has won the Berryman Award for political cartooning. The award is from the National Press Foundation. An article on the NPF's website says that Matt beat out Tom Toles of the Post; Daryl Cagle of MSNBC and Jimmy Margulies of the Bergen Record in northern New Jersey. Matt's recently won the Funny Times' Irving Award, the Herblock Foundation's Herblock Award, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for the past two years. And he's a really nice guy. Here's a Washington City Paper interview with him and audio from a panel he was on this summer at the DC Public Library.

Congratulations, Matt!

Matt Wuerker on Paul Conrad

Among others, Matt's recollections of the great cartoonist are here - Conrad the mentor: An editorial is 90 percent idea and 10 percent drawing
By Kevin Cody
Easy Reader September 20th, 2010.

There's a tiny thumbnail of Matt's obituary cartoon - I don't know if it appeared in Politico or not.

Graphic Content panel in pictures

As far as I know, the DC Library hasn't posted a podcast of last weekend's panel yet, but here's my photos. To remind all, this was -

"Graphic Content: A Conversation with Five DC Area Graphic Storytellers."
Shannon "G.I. Joe" Gallant, Matt "Politico" Wuerker, Andrew "Trickster" Cohen, Evan "DC Conspiracy" Keeling and Ben "Dirtfarm" Classen at Northwest One Neighborhood Library, June 26, 2010, Washington DC.


Andrew Cohen, Evan Keeling and then Matt Wuerker in far background. The pages Andrew is showing come from the graphic novel he and Matt Dembicki are doing on DC's Huerich mansion, and look lovely.


Matt Wuerker. Nobody asked him about the hat.


Ben Claassen and Shannon Gallant.


Shannon Gallant signing a 'Black Canary' sketch he gave to me.


Evan Keeling, Ben Claassen and Shannon Gallant comparing pencils.


Andrew Cohen, Evan Keeling and Ben Claassen.

June 26: New, Improved! Graphic Content, now with additional cartoonists

Wires got crossed, and Ben Classen got left off the announcement, but regular readers of the Express (he does spot illos) and the City Paper (he does Dirtfarm and all kinds of stuff) can now ask about Fappy the Seal's true role in humor. And Matt "Trickster" Dembicki has said on Facebook that he'll be attending in the audience.

I'll be moderating this, and Shannon "G.I. Joe" Gallant, Matt "Politico" Wuerker, Andrew "Trickster" Cohen, Evan "DC Conspiracy" Keeling and Ben "Dirtfarm" Classen will be speaking on creating comics.

Event: Graphic Content: A Conversation with Five DC Area Graphic Storytellers
Start Time: Saturday, June 26 at 1:00pm
End Time: Saturday, June 26 at 2:30pm
Where: Northwest One Neighborhood Library
155 L St, NW @ New Jersey Avenue

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=130811430278136&mid=280312cG40206d0eG1a637daG7

June 26: Graphic Content: A Conversation with Four DC Area Graphic Storytellers

I'll be moderating this, and Shannon "G.I. Joe" Gallant, Matt "Politico" Wuerker, Andrew "Trickster" Cohen and Evan "DC Conspiracy" Keeling will be speaking on creating comics.

 

Event: Graphic Content: A Conversation with Four DC Area Graphic Storytellers
Start Time: Saturday, June 26 at 1:00pm
End Time: Saturday, June 26 at 2:30pm
Where: Northwest One Neighborhood Library
155 L St, NW @ New Jersey Avenue

To see more details and RSVP, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?event.php&eid=130811430278136&mid=280312cG40206d0eG1a637daG7

Bill Day's RFK Journalism award

Bill Day, winner of the 2010 RFK Journalism award for editorial cartooning.


Bill Day, winner of the 2010 RFK Journalism award for editorial cartooning, with 2010 Herblock award winner Matt Wuerker.


Bill Day, winner of the 2010 RFK Journalism award for editorial cartooning, with 2010 judges Sara Duke and Mike Rhode.

Matt Wuerker's very excellent hat and the Funny Times

As requested by no less than Richard Thompson, here are pictures from the recent Funny Times subscriber party in Arlington, which featured the first Irving Award presented to Matt Wuerker. The Irving Award is named in honor of publisher Ray Lesser's father, and his large collection of trophies, that Ray intended to regift, but never quite got around to. I'd like to thank Ray for making me welcome, and to note that I retroactively became a subscriber, especially since the magazine supports our local cartoonist Matt.


The party.


Matt and the hat.


Cartoonists Matt Wuerker, Bill Brown and Joe Sutliff.


Ray Lesser presenting the first Irving Award to Matt.


Matt admiring his award.

Lots more pictures are here.

My pictures of the 2010 Herblock Award

Matt Wuerker making his acceptance speech.


George Stevens Jr. speaking about his Herblock film while Frank Swoboda looks on.


Richard Thompson and Rob Rogers.


Michael Cavna and Kevin Rechin.


Nick G's friend from Greece and Richard Thompson.


Kevin Rechin, Nick's friend from Greece and the back of Nick's head.


Nick Galifianakis with his friend from Greece and Richard Thompson (in the red tie) in the background.


Matt Wuerker's contemplating the uses to which the award may be put.


Everyone wants a picture of Matt with his award.


Richard Thompson - not ALL of those drinks were his.


Kevin Rechin's STILL contemplating the award.


Kevin Rechin's now got it all - the award, the girl, the cheesy grin. It's better not to ask questions.

Joe Azar's Herblock award photos

Cartoonist Joe Azar sent these pictures of Matt Wuerker's Herblock award dinner over to me last month.


Herblock award winner Matt Wuerker's cartoons on display in the Library of Congress.


Wuerker surrounded by admirers.


Joe Sutliff, Nick G's date, Nick Galifianakis, Matt Wuerker and the previous year's winner Pat Bagley.


ComicsDC blogger Mike Rhode, apparently wondering what kind of seafood he just accidentally ingested.


Nick Galifianakis napping on Mike Rhode's shoulder as the speeches continued into the buffet.


Kevin Rechin may be getting ideas...

Wuerker's Herblock award - Cavna makes his attendance tax-deductible

I'll have my own post up eventually, with photos from Joe Azar, but here's Michael's take on the evening -

Politico's MATT WUERKER accepts the Herblock Prize
By Michael Cavna
Washington Post's Comic Riffs blog April 16, 2010

He also talked to Steve Breen and Jen Sorenson about their recent awards -
Fischetti-winning Steve Breen: Awards 'mean more than ever' in tough times
By Michael Cavna, April 17, 2010

Matt Wuerker once again a nominee, not a winner of Pulitzer

2nd year in a row that Matt's come close...

The 2010 Pulitzer Prize WinnersEditorial Cartooning
Current tab: citation

For a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing and pictorial effect, in print or online or both, Ten thousand dollars ($10,000).

Awarded to Mark Fiore, self syndicated, for his animated cartoons appearing on SFGate.com, the San Francisco Chronicle Web site, where his biting wit, extensive research and ability to distill complex issues set a high standard for an emerging form of commentary.

Finalists
Also nominated as finalists in this category were: Tony Auth of The Philadelphia Inquirer for his masterful simplicity in expressing consistently fearless positions on national and local issues; and Matt Wuerker of Politico for his broad portfolio that encompasses the nation’s historic political year, using rich artistry, wry humor and sometimes animation to drive home his deft satire.

Finally, I address iPad comics

I wasn't all that concerned about them actually, but my editor asked for an article - Shannon Gallant, John Gallagher, Matt Wuerker and Ann Telnaes ventured opinions for me - In D.C. and Industrywide, Will the iPad Save Comics and Kill Print? by Mike Rhode on Apr. 6, 2010.

Said editor, Jon Fischer, drastically cleaned up this article too and made it much more readable.

Matt Wuerker interview up at City Paper

Meet a Local Cartoonist: A Chat with Politico's Matt Wuerker

Posted by Mike Rhode on Mar. 8, 2010

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/books/2010/03/08/meet-a-local-cartoonist-a-chat-with-politicos-matt-wuerker/

R.C. Harvey on Matt Wuerker

It's pile-on the Wuerker gravy PR train, as R.C. Harvey writes on Matt Wuerker too. Remember, we'll be doing the same at the City Paper next week! Don't miss it as Matt reveals his favorite monument!

Joel Pett on Matt Wuerker

Joel Pett, whom we should pay more attention to because he cartoons for USA Today even though he lives in Kentucky (I think), has a nice little piece up about Matt - In the footsteps of Herblock: Editorial cartoonist Matt Wuerker of Politico took the first of this season's cartooning awards, the Herblock Prize, Los Angeles Times (February 21, 2010).

I'll have an interview with Matt on the City Paper's blog early next week.

Comic Riffs interviews Wuerker on winning Herblock

Politico's Wuerker says winning Herblock Prize is 'mind-boggling', by Michael Cavna, Washington Post Comic Riffs blog (February 18 2010).