Why Newspapers Run Cartoons
Rick London
Newspapers run a full page called "the comics page" in which they receive no revenue. Why do they do it?
It is more revenue-producing than you may think.
Newspaper comics create loyalty, and usually while the reader is very young and reads nothing but the comics. Newspaper publishers are not ignorant, and they know loyalty sells papers and circulation sells advertising.
Cartoons in many ways are news. They are what could be called extreme editing. They often reflect current news events and do so in a very ingenius way, with a graphic and a few words.
The publisher spoon feeds us comics at a young age for a reason. And it is not just to make us laugh, it is to make us used to reading that paper.
Comics have a powerful psychological effect and if we find one or two we like, we will surprise even ourselves at the fact that we will buy that paper on a daily basis, simply for our favorite comics.
A savvy newspaper wants a majority of cartoons to be "family-friendly" but also wants a mix of "somewhat controversial" or "different", though certainly reader-friendly to offset and appeal to college and post-grad level readers who may only have time to skim the paper, but will always go straight to their favorite cartoon, often before reading the news.
Peanuts Creator Charles "Sparky" Shulz put comics on the map. He was not a great artist, but he knew what we wanted.
Charlie Brown was the "proverbial loser" who, no matter how successful an adult becomes, still generally always works with that issue of "younger days" when even the dog knew answers more than him/or her.
Gary Larson understood clearly that college students and baby boomers liked comics too. And they didn't always like mainstream rated "G" comics. It was an experiment to create one that dealt with the intellect and it worked.
It is not well-known, but most cartoonists do not make the bulk of their money from newspaper publishing. It is from licensed products such as greeting cards, books, t-shirts, calendars and the like.
Cartoonist combines art and science, publishing and business. There really is no business like it in the world. It can contain a win-win element if it is done correctly by both cartoonist, publisher and manufacturer.
Cartoon gifts and collectibles is becoming a major investment surpassing the stock market for over 43 years. One of the best places to buy the most valuable collectibles is
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