A Note from Clay Jones
I miss drawing local cartoons. I love drawing on national and international issues, but I broke into this business drawing on local issues. I started at a small weekly paper in Mississippi in 1990 drawing about county supervisors. I started my own syndicate in that state focusing on statewide issues, and when I was hired by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, they said I was their choice because they could understand my cartoons on Mississippi topics.
From there, they had me draw a daily cartoon on local topics six days a week in full color on the front page. And when The Free Lance-Star hired me, it was to draw local cartoons. Even after I was laid off, I won first place in the National Newspaper Association’s Better Newspaper Contest for a cartoon I drew for a New York paper on a local topic.
So, in a way, I felt it was kind of a shame and waste I haven’t been able to draw on local issues in a while.
But I’m back.
Martin Davis challenged me to draw on local issues for his new publication, the FXBG Advance. I’m excited to get started.
Recently, a cartooning colleague of mine asked me about Martin, wondering if he’d be a good editor for a cartoonist. My endorsement is this: I’m drawing cartoons for Martin Davis.
Fredericksburg, Stafford, and Spotsylvania… I’m back.
