2022 Reuben Journal and Banquet Playbill by National Cartoonists Society

Tonight marks our first NCS Reuben Awards since May of 2019; over three full years of not being able to come together to celebrate the best and brightest in the cartooning world. We’re so happy to be able to enjoy your company once again. I’m personally grateful to finally be able to preside over a Reubens event without having to clink glasses with a computer

WELCOME BACK!

thank our gratious hosts, Andrews McMeel Universal for going above and beyond to welcome us to their home turf. The welcome party will be one for the ages. I’d also like to thank all of our very generous sponsors and supporters,

BRONZE SPONSOR

including our other Platinum Legacy Sponsor King Features, and of course, you, the NCS members who contribut ed an ad to this banquet playbill. Your contribution goes a long way to helping us afford to make this event as successful and enjoyable as possible.

Jason Chatfield President, National Cartoonists Society

The 76th Annual Reuben Awards are made possible by our generous sponsors.

SILVER SPONSOR

I’dscreen.liketo

We would like to thank the generous folks at alphagraphics, in Downtown KC for printing this year’s NCS Reubens Playbill.

Lastly, I’d like to give a big thank you to the NCS board, to the amazing Latisha, and to Lisa Aquilina for assisting me in putting this Playbill together. Nothing like this gets done without a dilligent team coming together to make it happen. Congratulations to all nominees, and Enjoy the show!

PLATINUM LEGACY SPONSOR

Variety Entertainment Art for Animated Media Newspaper Panels

Advertising / Product Illustration Book NewspaperIllustrationComicStrips

ACT II:

Magazine / Newspaper Illustration Comic

President’s Welcome

OnlineGraphicBookNovelComics:short form

NCS Gold Key: Mort Gerberg Gold T-Square: Garry Trudeau Elzie Segar Award: Patrick McDonnell Silver T-Square: Jeannie Schulz Tributes & In Memoriam

Online Comics: long-form Greeting Card

Break (15 minutes)

Editorial Cartoons Gag Cartoons

The Big One: 2021 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year

ACT I:

SHOW ORDER

Mort was unable to accept his award in 2021 due to pandemic restrictions, so he will final ly have the opportunity to do so this year.

Awarded by unanimous vote of the NCS Board of Directors, The Gold Key honors the recipient as a member of the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Mort Gerberg has been making art since he was a child. Through a combination of artistic talent and intuitive wit, he has become one of the finest—and funniest—cartoonists of his generation.

THE NCS GOLD KEY

MORT GERBERG

single panel cartoon, magazine spreads, and television. Most recently he has developed a presence in the digital world as well. His work has appeared in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, The New Yorker, Playboy, Saturday Evening Post, and the Huffington Post. He has illustrated more than forty books for adults and children. In short, Gerberg’s voice has been heard across media, across generations, across the country, and across the world.

Throughout his distinguished career stretching from the 1940s to today, Gerberg’s work has touched on issues ranging from women’s rights to social consciousness and from music to politics to sports. At times his work is commentary, at other times it is reporting. He chronicles American history as he sees it. Gerberg works across many platforms, including the comic strip, the

punch lines and simple jokes. Bull Tales was picked up by the Universal Press Syndicate in 1970 and began appearing in newspapers nationwide under the name Doonesbury. The strip has enjoyed wide readership and critical acclaim. Public officials, entertain ers, and media figures were frequently lampooned in the strip, often to devastating Trudeaueffect.

temporarily suspended Doonesbury in June 2013 to devote more time to Alpha House , a live-action political comedy series that he had developed for Amazon Prime. The series ran successfully for two seasons.

The Gold T-Square is awarded for 50 years as professional cartoonist.

GARY TRUDEAU

THE GOLD T-SQUARE

At Yale, his comic strip Bull Tales —the pre cursor to Doonesbury —appeared in the Yale Daily News and quickly developed a cult fol lowing. Influenced by Jules Feiffer and Walt Kelly, Trudeau utilized situational humour and complex characterization for comic effect; the deliberate, subtle pacing of the strip represented a departure from tradi tional daily cartoon style, which emphasized

Born in New York, NY, Garry Trudeau is an iconic satirist whose literate, sophisticated comic strip Doonesbury has reflected social and political life in the United States for over fifty years.

THE SEGAR AWARD

Patrick uses MUTTS to advocate for the environment and all animals, and to support animal welfare. He currently resides in New Jersey with his wife Karen, along with their rescue dog and formerly feral cat.

PATRICK M C DONNELL

Patrick McDonnell is the creator of the animal-friendly comic strip MUTTS , which has received numerous awards internation ally, both for comic strip excellence and for its themes of animal protection. Charles “Sparky” Schulz called his creation “one of the best comics strips of all time.”

This award is presented to a person who has made a unique and outstanding contribution to the profession of cartooning.

He has collaborated on books with author Eckhart Tolle (Guardians of Being) and with poet Daniel Ladinsky ( Darling, I Love You ). Currently, Patrick is working with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Heart to Heart , a book centered on the environment, animals, and compassion. It will be published by HarperOne in fall 2022.

Patrick has produced ten picture books, two of which have been adapted for the Kennedy Center stage. Me...Jane (a 2017 biography of Jane Goodall) was nominated for five Helen Hayes Awards, and The Gift of Nothing was awarded one for Best Play or Musical Adaptation.

ToonSeum, The National Cartoonists Society and so much more. Despite not drawing her self, she is regarded as a mentor and friend bty the many cartoonists she has personally hosted at the Charles M. Schulz Museum over the past twenty years. Through her kindness, generosity, and friendship, Jean Schulz has demonstrated again and again her outstanding dedication to cartoon arts and its preservation.

The Silver T-Square is awarded to persons who have demonstrated outstanding dedication or service to the National Cartoonists Society or the profession.

We are so pleased to be able to recognize Jeannie’s long-standing commitment to the National Cartoonist Society, our members, the cartooning community and its fandom.

THE SILVER T-SQUARE

JEAN SCHULZ

Jean Schulz, the widow of Charles “Sparky” Schulz and President of the Board of Direc tors at the Charles M. Schulz Museum, has committed her time and resources in her remarkable work, preserving the legacy of Sparky through her founding and continued guidance and leadership of the Charles M. Schulz Museum. The museum would simply not exist without her boundless energy and Hercommitment.supportand guidance go well beyond the Schulz Museum, extending that same commitment to the Billy Ireland Museum, The Cartoon Art of San Francisco, the former

TOM RICHMOND

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

NANCY OHANIAN

Nick Galifianakis is syndicated through the Washington Post Writers Group and is a character designer for animation. Nick has drawn the cartoons for the nationally syndi cated advice column Carolyn Hax since 1997. He has won past Reubens for Advertising Illustration and Newspaper Panels.

Tom Richmond is a freelance artist. He is best known as one of the “Usual Gang of Idiots” at MAD Magazine since 2000. Tom also produces his award-winning art for many other clients. He has been twice named ISCA Caricaturist of the Year and was the 2011 NCS Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year Reuben recipient.

MAGAZINE / ILLUSTRATIONNEWSPAPER

NICK GALIFIANAKIS

Nancy Ohanian’s political cartoons are syndicated through Tribune Content Agency. Her cartoons have appeared in The New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, LA Progressive, Downwithtyranny.com, and other publications since 1974.

ADVERTISING / ILLUSTRATIONPRODUCT

Ivan Ehlers is a writer, illustrator, and cartoonist out of Los Angeles. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, MAD Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, American Bystander, Weekly Humorist, as well as many more publications of note.

Self-described as a ‘natural born idiot,’ Johnny Sampson is a comic artist, most notable for continuing the fold-in pages in MAD Magazine after the retirement of the original creator, Al Jaffee. Johnny also draws gag comics and designs posters, flyers, and greeting cards. He is based in Chicagoland.

PASHUR HOUSE

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

JOHNNY SAMPSON

Pashur House is a cartoonist and illustrator. He studied graphic design and illustration at Memphis College of Art. After graduating, he served as art director of a planetarium before drawing caricatures for Disney in Orlando. Pashur also was a pioneer in the modern body painting arts movement.

IVAN EHLERS

Jonathan Lemon is a cartoonist whose daily strip Rabbits Against Magic has been syndicat ed online by GoComics since 2008. Previously, Rabbits was nominated for the NCS Reuben for Best Online Comic Strip in 2012 and 2014. Jonathan’s editorial cartoons have appeared in the Boston Globe, among other publications.

Rich Powell is an Emmy and NCS awardwinning artist and illustrator. His syndicated cartoon panel Wide Open! is distributed by Universal Uclick. Wide Open! was previously nominated for NCS Online Short Form in 2015. Rich won the NCS Reuben for Product Illustration in 2014.

Scott Nickel is a humor writer and cartoonist. He produces the daily online syndicated comic strip EEK!, creates humorous greeting cards, writes children’s books, and draws cartoons for national magazines. Scott has been nominated for an NCS Divisional Award in Greeting Cards four times, winning twice.

JONATHAN LEMON

ONLINESHORT-FORMCOMICS:

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

RICH POWELL

SCOTT NICKEL

DAN PIRARO

Dan Piraro is a painter, illustrator, and cartoonist best known for his syndicated cartoon panel Bizarro. His cartoons have been reprinted in 16 book collections. Dan received the NCS Panel Cartoon Reuben for 1999, 2000, and 2001. He was awarded the Reuben as Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 2010.

Emily Flake is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator. Her work has appeared in T he New Yorker and The New York Times, among other publications. Her comic strip Lulu Eightball appears in numerous alternative newsweek lies. Emily won a Prism Award for her book These Things Ain’t Gonna Smoke Themselves

MEREDITH MORIARTY

ONLINELONG-FORMCOMICS:

Meredith Moriarty is a freelance artist from Philadelphia. She specializes in visual storytelling through comics, illustration, and graphic design. Meredith‘s Third Shift Society is a Webtoons original comic. When not drawing, Meredith likes to bake, play video games, and hang out with her dog and cats.

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

EMILY FLAKE

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

Meg Park is a Visual Development Artist at Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California. Her vast client list includes DisneyHyperion, Paramount Pictures, and Sony Pictures Animation, Meg is an active member of BAFTA LA, ASIFA-Hollywood, The Society of Illustrators, SILA, and the Animation Guild.

Lindsey Olivares, character and production designer of the Netflix feature The Mitchells vs. The Machines, started her career at Dream Works Animation. Lindsey now works for Sony Pictures Animation, as a lead character and production designer for Sony’s original animated comedy Connected.

ART ANIMATEDFORMEDIA

Chris and Shane Houghton are animators, designers, television and comic book writers, producers, and voice actors, among many other talents. The brothers co-created the Disney Channel animated series Big City Greens. Chris and Shane also created and wrote the comic book Reed Gunther.

MEG PARK

LINDSEY OLIVARES

CHRIS & SHANE HOUGHTON

MARCO DEANGELIS

MICHAEL RAMIREZ

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

Michael Ramirez is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner (1994 and 2008), the 2015 Reuben Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, and a three-time Sigma Delta Chi, Society of Professional Journalism Award winner. He is the editorial cartoonist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal and is syndicated by Creators.

Ruben Bolling is the author of the weekly comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug, distributed by Andrews McMeel Syndication. In 2019 and 2021, Ruben was a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Editorial Cartooning. In 2017, his limited-run daily comic strip Donald and John won the NCS Online Comic Short Form award.

Marco De Angelis is an Italian professional journalist, cartoonist, illustrator, graphic designer, and editor. Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate, The New York Times Syndicate, GoComics and Andrews McMeel Universal publish and distribute Marco’s works world wide.

EDITORIAL CARTOONS

RUBEN BOLLING

DAVID PETERSEN

GIDEON KENDALL

Gideon Kendall is an Eisner Award-winning and Reuben-nominated cartoonist, illustrator, and muralist. He has been published by First Second, Dark Horse, Comixology Originals, IDW , Heavy Metal/Virus, MAD Magazine, and Albatross Funnybooks

COMIC BOOK

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

David Petersen is the creator of the critically acclaimed series Mouse Guard. David was the 2007 Russ Manning Award recipient for Most Promising Newcomer. He is a three-time Eisner Award winner and two-time Harvey Award recipient for his continued work on the Mouse Guard series.

TRISH FORSTNER

Trish Forstner is a relative newcomer to the comics industry but she brings a lifetime of experience in creating fun, lovable characters. Trish loves classic animation and has drawn influence from many sources, particularly classic 80s and 90s toons. Her work appears in IDW’s My Little Pony comic series.

Eric Powell, creator of Did You Hear What Eddie Gein Done?, is an artist and writer. Eric has contributed work for every major publisher in the comics industry. He continuously pro motes the validity and importance of creatorowned comics, including his own critically acclaimed series The Goon, launched in 1999.

JUAN CAVIA

ERIC POWELL

TED NAIFEH

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES GRAPHIC NOVEL From the moment his unspeakable crimes were discovered in November 1957, the story of the Wisconsin ghoul Ed Gein gripped the world’s imagination with mythic power. Immortalized in the forms of Psycho’s Norman Bates, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface and The Silence of the Lambs Buffalo Bill, the mild-mannered, seemingly harmless farmer from the tiny town of Plainfield was more monstrously deranged than any of his make-believe avatars. Painstakingly researched and illustrated, Harold Schechter and Eric Powell’s true-crime graphic novel vividly captures the various worlds Gein inhabited: the grim, Gothic home that proved a breeding ground for madness; the heartland village whose inhabitants couldn’t have imagined the monster in their midst; and, most shocking of all, the grotesque inner realm of Gein’s psychotic fantasy life—an unholy brew of human sacrifice, sexual obsession and bizarre mother worship that drove him to commit some of the most appalling acts in the annals of American crime. ALBATROSSFUNNYBOOKS.COM$29.99ISBN978-1-949889-04-8

Juan Cavia is an award-winning art director and illustrator. He has produced advertise ments, TV programs, music videos, theater and nine feature films, including Academy Award-winning Best Foreign Film, The Secret in her Eyes, by J. Campanella.

Ted Naifeh is a comic book writer and artist best known for Courtney Crumrin, the multi-volume horror-fantasy adventure published by Oni Press in 2002 and nominated for several Eisner Awards. Ted lives in San Francisco with a pet fog named Karl.

Christopher Weyant is a cartoonist for The New Yorker and Boston Globe. He won the Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel Award for his first illustrated children’s book, You Are (Not) Small, written by Anna Kang and published by Two Lions Press. Weyant is the second cartoonist to be named a Nieman Fellow.

GAG CARTOONS

CHRISTOPHER WEYANT

Amy Hwang has drawn cartoons for The New Yorker since 2010. She first started drawing cartoons while a student at Barnard College and worked in architecture before pursuing cartooning full-time in 2018. She was awarded the 2019 NCS Reuben Award for Gag Cartoons.

EMILY FLAKE

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

AMY HWANG

BOOK ILLUSTRATION

Keith Bendis is an award-winning freelance cartoonist/illustrator. He illustrated William Safire’s On Language column in The New York Times Magazine. Keith also has illustrated several books including The Fan Man by William Kotzwinkle and Casey at the Bat for Workman Publishers,

KEITH BANDIS

Rebecca Morgan has been represented by Asya Geisberg Gallery for 10 years. She created the cover of the first Fantagraphics Now Anthology- Issue #1 and reprised an image for the cover for Issue #10. Abrams Publishing is publishing a book about her life and work entitled Town and Country in 2023.

STACY CURTIS

REBECCA MORGAN

Stacy Curtis is an award-winning cartoonist, illustrator, and printmaker who has illustrated more than 35 books for children, including Penguin and Moose Brave the Night. In 2012, he became the inker of the daily Cul de Sac comic strip. His clients include BowTie Press, Chicago Tribune, and Scholastic.

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

SCOTT JENSEN

SCOTT METZGER

GREETING CARD

SCOTT NICKEL

Scott Metzger has been cartooning since 1996 and his work appears on greeting cards, in magazines, and various other outlets. Scott’s comics have been featured by Bored Panda, DeMilked, Country Living Magazine, Woman’s World Magazine, and Funny Times

Oatmeal Studios began publishing the Scott Jensen line of greeting cards in 1986. Scott also was a Reuben finalist in this category last year. A former Chairman of the Upstate New York Chapter of the NCS, he also writes and draws the Digby’s Hardware comic strip, appearing in The Hardware Connection trade magazine.

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT

CHUCK DILLON

JOHNNY SAMPSON

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

Bill Morrison is an Eisner Award-winning comic book artist, writer, and art director. He is cofounder of Bongo Comics, as well as serving as Creative Director at Bongo Entertainment. Bill was Editor of MAD Magazine and is past NCS President. He also created a graphic novel adaptation of The Beatles Yellow Submarine

Chuck Dillon has been an illustrator since 1993 and taught for thirteen years at his alma mater, the Hussian School of Art. Chuck has created award-winning illustrations for such clients as Highlights for Children, PBS Sprout, Princeton University, and more. Chuck enjoys convincing the world he is a cowboy (which he is not).

BILL MORRISON

Hilary Price is a cartoonist, speaker, and educator. She has been producing her awardwinning daily strip, Rhymes With Orange, since 1995. At age 25, Hilary was the youngest woman ever to have a syndicated strip. She also is one of the 2021 NCS Reuben nominees for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.

NEWSPAPERPANELS

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

Loose Parts is created by Dave Blazek, a writer, illustrator, animator, TV and radio producer, and reformed standup comedian. Dave’s work has earned more than 120 international, national, and local creative awards including a Clio and several ADDYs. He also co-created the comic Dr. Katz Professional Therapist.

DAVE BLAZEK

HILARY PRICE

Dave Coverly is the creator of the syndi cated panel Speed Bump (Creators), principal cartoonist for BarkBox, and author/illustrator of several children’s books. He won the NCS Newspaper Panels Reuben in 1995, 2003, and 2014. In 2009, Dave was awarded the NCS Reuben for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.

DAVE COVERLY

John Hambrock is the creator of the comic strip The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee. John’s wife Anne is the driving force behind John’s cartooning success. Edison Lee has been nominated for the NCS Newspaper Comic Strip Reuben in 2009, 2018, and 2021. John’s work is syndicated worldwide by King Features.

2021 DIVISONAL NOMINEES

Hector Cantu is the co-creator of Baldo, the first comic strip to feature a Latino family. Hector is a former journalist. In 2000, he created Baldo with his partner, illustrator Carlos Castellanos. Hector is the founding chair of Texas Cartoonists, a regional chapter of the NCS.

JOHN HAMBROCK

Mark is an award-winning comic strip writer/ artist, animator, and television producer, known for his strips Liō and Heart of the City. He is the author/illustrator of the middlegrade novel series, Desmond Pucket. Mark also is one of the 2021 NCS Reuben nominees for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.

MARK TATULLI

COMICNEWSPAPERSTRIPS

HECTOR CANTU

KEITH KNIGHT

THE REUBEN AWARD 2021 CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

BILL GRIFFITH

Keith Knight is one of the most highly regarded cartoonists in America. For nearly three decades, his art has appeared in various publications worldwide, including the Wash ington Post, The New Yorker, San Francisco Chronicle, the Nib, Ebony, ESPN the Magazine, MAD Magazine, and Funny Times.

Bill Griffith is a pioneer of the underground ‘comix’ movement. His career has spanned decades, leaving an indelible mark across the comics idiom - comic books, syndicated comic strips, and graphic novels. With Zippy the Pinhead and a plethora of work, Bill cements his place in the pantheon of comics greats.

HILARY B. PRICE

Hilary Price is the creator of the award-winning comic strip Rhymes with Orange. At age 25, she became the youngest woman cartoonist to ever be nationally syndicated. Her work is published in approximately 300 publications around the world. She has won an NCS Reuben for Newspaper Panel four times.

THE AWARD 2021 CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR NOMINEES

Edward Sorel is the grand old man of New York magazines and is one of the foundational New Yorkers. For decades, his blistering caricatures have lit up Harper’s, The Atlantic, Esquire, Time, Rolling Stone, and The Nation. Ed is especially revered for his work in Clay Felker’s New York in the late 60s and The New Yorker

Mark is an award-winning comic strip writer/ artist, animator, and television producer, known for his strips Liō and Heart of the City Mark released a biographical graphic novel, Short and Skinny, in 2018. It chronicles a sum mer in middle school in which he was inspired by the original Star Wars to parody that film.

MARK TATULLI

REUBEN

BEST OF LUCK TO ALL 2021 NOMINEES!

EDWARD SOREL

2021 marked the 75th anniversary of the National Cartoonists Society, and to celebrate this milestone, the NCS and the National Cartoonists Society Foundation joined forces with Heritage, auctioning more than 150 works of art.

Thank you to all NCS members who gener ously contribute to our NCSF fundraisers.

Several beloved comic and cartoon char acters also enjoyed anniversaries last year, so the auction also commemorated the landmarks of many characters that have sprung from the pens of NCS members over the Includeddecades.inthe

NCS president Jason Chatfield remarked “Cartoonists are blessed to have the ability to make people laugh or inform their opinions with our lines on paper. But we’re so much more fortunate to be able to give aid and comfort to kids in need through the sale of that original art.”

The auction raised over $54,000 in much-needed funds to help understand, treat and defeat childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases.

Consistent with the vision of their founder Danny Thomas, no child is denied treatment based on race, religion or a family’s ability to pay. Bidders in this special auction had a rare opportunity to not only own a piece of valu able original art by a great cartoonist, but also be made an investment in the important work of St. Jude.

array of cartoons, comic strips, and illustrations, were such favorites as Dennis the Menace, Wonder Woman, Captain America, Dumbo, MAD Magazine’s Spy vs Spy, Archie, 101 Dalmations, The Fantastic Four, Yogi Bear, Deadpool, Ren & Stimpy, Mutts, Zippy, Dick Tracy, and many Allmore.proceeds from the final bids went to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Their mission is to advance cures, and means of prevention, for pediatric catastrophic dis eases through research and treatment.

2023 will see the return of the Jay Kennedy memorial Scholarship.

75TH ANNIVERSARY ST. JUDE FUNDRAISER

To that end, the board of directors of the National Cartoonists Society has spent the past two years meticulously re-writing our outdated by-laws, line-by-line, to bring them in line with the shape of our industry in 2022 and beyond.

This updated ethos does not diminish the prestige of being part of the world’s premier cartooning organization. We believe it en sures that our distinguished legacy extends well beyond the bounds of our 20th Century

To apply for membership, nationalcartoonists.com/how-to-joinvisit:

As the premier organization of professional cartoonists, we are compelled to evolve too. To encourage exciting young artists, to cele brate new voices and styles, and to continue to support our talented members working throughout this diverse industry. We welcome you all to apply and be part of the generous NCS community. We believe in actions over words.

What it means to be a professional cartoon ist today is not what it meant 50, or even 10 years ago. Our industry changed more rap idly these past years than at any time in the 75-year history of the National Cartoonists Society. Gone are the days when you needed to land a big newspaper syndication deal to validate your standing as a professional art ist. New media and modern creative indus tries expand the opportunities and outlets for today’s cartoonists and reimagine what it looks like to work professionally.

A NEW DAY FOR THE NATIONAL CARTOONISTS SOCIETY

Afterbeginnings.sharing

them with our members, we have now ratified and adopted our updated by-laws. The National Cartoonists Society welcomes all professional cartoonists to become part of our ever-evolving community.