Member-only story
The ‘Recipe’ For A Cartoon For The New Yorker
An editor describes two elements other publications also seek
It’s no secret that readers of The New Yorker look first at its cartoons — but what’s the secret to the cartoons? Why have they been seducing readers since 1925, when co-founders Harold Ross and Jane Grant launched the magazine?
Perhaps the simplest answer is that cartoons are a unique art form, which differs from illustration. The best New Yorker cartoons appeal for the reasons all great works of art do: They have an enduring beauty and power that reflects the exceptional skill of their creators.
How a cartoon differs from an illustration
The longtime New Yorker cartoonist @LizaDonnelly puts it well in Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Women Cartoonists (Prometheus, 2022):
“The difference between a cartoon and an illustration is of utmost significance to cartoonists. An illustration is a drawing that goes with a written body of work, a story. An illustration can be drawn in a cartoon style, but that does not make it a cartoon. A cartoon is a stand-alone entity of word and picture, with humor and/or insight at its core.”
Yet the 143 drawings in Very Funny Ladies make clear that while there’s more to a great…
