Who Is The Most Popular Living Cartoonist? Three Guesses.

Ever wondered who is the most popular cartoonist working today? It is relatively easy to tell with movie stars, simply looking at box office sales and how often they appear on talk shows. But cartoonists are a private bunch.

In the last quarter of the 20th Century, i would have to say my two favorites were Gary Trudeau (Doonesbury) and Scott Adams (Dilbert). Adams is still going strong with Dilbert. He happens to have an economics degree, worked many years in corporate America, so probably has a lot of stories to tell, and does so well in his strip. Even as late as 2000, the late great Charles Schulz was drawing Peanuts (he retired that year). Many say his later work was some of his best. I tend to agree, but he took some risky chances during the Viet Nam War and ruffled some feathers. In the early 1970's his strip debated sensitive issues such as religion, war, and politics. He was never one to make excuses or take prisoners.

Scott Adams had a reputation for rendering funny pictures of his bosses and getting caught. But more importantly, he revealed to us the "new corporate America" which was pitiful at best, at least from the point of comfort and ambiance, due to the fact we were all packed in cubicles, which he, as most workers, hated. Gary Larson (The Far Side, Rick London (Londons Times Cartoons), and Dave Coverly (Speed Bump) are all three brilliant in my book. This is only my opinion and I have heard others think differently. I prefer this genre of cartoojns because of its "extreme editing". These creators tell us a full-page news story in one small panel. I understand why the Pulitzer Commitee gives awards out to cartoonists. How could they not? It is the best journalism available. It takes more than genius to do what they do. Mensa, eat your heart out.

Though Mensa offers much in the way of learning and teaching to its members, my feeling is that it is outdated as it does not take EQ Emotional IQ into account. Some of the brightest people I have ever known or been exposed to, these brilliant cartoonist for instance, might not be Mensa material, but they are just as brilliant. This new type of brilliance was discovered by author Robert Goleman in the mid-1980's and he wrote a best-seller on it called "Emotional IQ" or EQ. It is a book worth reading. The author received a PHD from an ivy league school after being told all his life he was autistic.

I doubt seriously that Larson, London, or Coverly could pass the Mensa test, but I also doubt any Mensan could do what these three high EQ geniuses can do.

When Gary Larson and Dave Coverly started, periodical and newspaper publishing were king. In fact, the Internet was in its infancy and rarely if ever used for cartooning. I wish Coverly had more books out. I am sure it would be like when Gary Larson did and I collected them and kept them near my bed. If i felt tired or bad, I simply opened a Far Side book and my mood changed for the better. That is how I feel when I go to Rick London's cartoon site today.

Like Yves St. Laurent in the fashion world, who was not a very good artist, and hired others, Rick London had a similar obstacle. He too had to form a "team of creative illustrators to render his thoughts and ideas." But it worked and he surprised a lot of people, as he started with nothing, not even training or education, and ended up being the top cartoonists with the highest-ranking independent site on the Internet.

It is hard to choose who is the best in cartooning living today. But when one looks at Rick London's inventory of over 8500 cartoons, many of them classics, published worldwide in college textbooks, on licensed merchandise, and in magazines, one cannot help wonder how he did it, but he did. My vote is for Rick London as the greatest cartoonist and humorist in our lifetime.

Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/

The Web offers a plethora of funny cartoons. The most critically-acclaimed among them worldwide is Alexa Rankings: Top Cartoon On The Intenet, Rick London's Londons Times Cartoons

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