Category Archives: Robert Ariail

Congratulations, Robert, on the Verner Award!

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Today, regular contributor Bart sent me a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon, which I enjoyed, since that was the best comic strip in the history of cartooning, by far. Neither Peanuts nor Doonesbury nor Bloom County nor Overboard ever came close to Watterson‘s brilliant strip, which combined unbelievably deft and communicative artwork with brilliant, unique ideas and perfect dialogue. Every line he drew was essential, and alive. It was amazing.

This reminds me of Robert Ariail, who would say the same. In fact, one big reason why he and I didn’t follow through on the comic strip we planned for years to do was that Robert didn’t want to do it unless it was going to be as good as Calvin and Hobbes — which I thought a ridiculously high standard.

But perfectionism can pay off, as it has yet again for Robert — he is the 2012 Individual Artist winner of the S.C. Arts Commission’s Elizabeth O’Neill Verner Award:

Robert Ariail is a nationally syndicated editorial cartoonist based in Camden, S.C. From 1984 to 2009, Ariail wielded pen and ink to capture the mood and viewpoint of the day as the editorial cartoonist for The Statenewspaper. With his entertaining and recognizable style, Ariail provoked thought, fueled controversy and poked a little fun as a satirist, storyteller and critic. He had the knack for channeling the spirit of the state, be it pride or frustration. His art and his satire continue to be available to readers through his work at the Spartanburg Herald-Journal and in more than 600 newspapers across the nation. Ariail has also published three collections of his cartoons.

A two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, in 1995 and 2000, Ariail was the first American to win the prestigious United Nations Ranan Lurie Political Cartoon Award, triumphing over a field of more than 1,500 cartoonists from around the world in 2009. A sample of other awards include:

  • The National Headliner Award (1990)
  • The National Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award (1992)
  • The Overseas Press Club’s Thomas Nast Award (1997)
  • The Society of Professional Journalists Green Eyeshade Award (an eleven-state Southeastern regional competition, 1991, 1997, 2001, 2004, 2007)
  • The South Carolina Press Association Award for Cartooning (2007, 2010)

Says Ariail of his work: “I try to give my readers a chuckle, perhaps even a guffaw on occasion. I’d even settle for a raised eyebrow,” says Ariail. “I don’t take cheap shots, but I like to make a point. I want my cartoons to say something, or at least to show the irony of a situation.”

Full disclosure — I nominated Robert for this. He did all the rest. As always, I am proud to know him, and thankful to have had all those years to work with him.

The Ariail cartoon that plumb tickled them ol’ fancy-pants NLRB lawyers

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Here’s the Robert Ariail cartoon that the smart-a__ Yankee NLRB attorneys were passing around and giggling about:

WASHINGTON — Lawyers for the federal labor agency fighting Boeing’s new factory in North Charleston, N.C., repeatedly joked among themselves about the dispute and exchanged a political cartoon portraying S.C. Sen. Glenn McConnell as a crass-speaking confederate soldier, according to internal documents released Wednesday.

They enjoyed it as much as they could, but we can take satisfaction from knowing that they couldn’t possibly have enjoyed it on the deeper, convoluted levels of meaning that are accessible to us, the cognoscenti.

One last treat: Robert’s Hallowe’en cartoon

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Ralph Hightower mentioned this Robert Ariail cartoon this morning on a previous post, so I thought I’d share it. Reminds me of something David Letterman did — Friday night I think — altering a clip from “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” to show Herman Cain’s head slowly rising out of the pumpkin patch, and ending with him flashing that unsettling grin from the end of the smoker ad. (See below.)

The things we run across looking back on a newspaper career

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Bill C. and Bill D.

Occasionally, I have reason to open one of the many boxes containing the roomfuls of files I brought home from The State when I left (in my last two weeks, there was barely time to load it up, and practically no time to go through it, although I did throw out a few things), and sometimes I post one of the finds here.

Looks like cartoonist Bill Day, formerly of The Commercial Appeal, has been doing something similar. He sent me this picture today, taken in the mid-90s, with this commentary:

I thought you might enjoy this photo. This was at the Detroit Free Press. He was a great sport posing and loved talking about cartooning. His staff told me that he was looking forward to talking to me because he’s a big fan. About a month later I received a White House photo of him showing it to everyone in the Oval Office. He signed it: ”To Bill Day, Thanks for the laughs!  Bill Clinton”

Bill’s the kind of cartoonist who would get a kick out of meeting Clinton. Robert Ariail is more of a Bush guy — although Robert had so much fun with Clinton when he was in office (Clinton was a large part of his inspiration both times Robert was a Pulitzer finalist, if I recall correctly) that he would have enjoyed meeting him, too — to thank him for providing so much fodder.

That reminds me of a picture I need to show you that involved Bush — and Tony Blair. I’ll try to track it down tonight or over the weekend.

Another funny from Robert

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It’s been awhile since I’ve shared one of Robert Ariail’s cartoons with you (I’m mindful that you are free to check them out on robertariail.com, and I hate to be repetitive). But this one cracked me up, so here you go.

And as is often the case, I may disagree with Robert’s dismissal of the importance of the health care issue, but I don’t judge a cartoon by whether I agree with it. It’s just a good cartoon.

And I can laugh even though, as you know, Robert and I know all about needing a job. You have to be able to laugh. I’ve used unemployment for comic effect myself.

I’ll let Robert speak for me today…

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Maybe I’ll get a chance to post something later, but so far it’s been on meeting after another (although in between, Lora from ADCO and I did manage to get lunch at Mojitos, which was awesome as always).

So for now, I’ll just give you an Ariail cartoon to enjoy and discuss…

Virtual Front Page, Monday, September 20, 2010

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Things are still kinda slow; here’s what’s out there:

  1. Graham: U.S. must consider military force against Iran (thestate.com) — Well, of course it has to be on the table, if you ever want Iran to get serious. And they have to believe it’s on the table. But watch people freak out when you say it.
  2. Stocks Climb to Four-Month High (WSJ) — So is it over? Probably not (sigh)…
  3. Recession Ended in June 2009, Group Says (NPR) — Well, OK, then — that’s a relief. But then, how come everything has continued to suck?
  4. Disappointed Supporters Question Obama (NYT) — Which is bound to make him rethink the desirability of the whole interactivity thing.
  5. Tea Party star Christine O’Donnell in witchcraft row (BBC) — She turned me into a newt! Fortunately, I got better.
  6. Republicans Making a New “Contract With America” (The Hill) — Yikes. Sounds like America’s gonna get whacked. Again.