Henry Martin Interview

Gag cartoonist Henry Martin, who was one of the mainstays of The New Yorker, may now be better known as Ann M. Martin's Dad.

Upon the occasion of donating 700 originals to his alma mater, Princeton, Grace Kim, writing for The Daily Princetonian profiles Henry Martin's career.

"'In all my years there, I don’t think I ever sold more than 35 cartoons a year,' he explained. 'But you have to remember that The New Yorker received about 2,000 cartoons a week and would buy about 20–22 cartoons a week,' Martin said. Martin would then try to sell the remaining cartoons to other publications, such as Punch and The Saturday Evening Post."

Henry Martin is one of those cartoonists I have always wanted to meet. I admire his style and I have been told that he drew every day, like clockwork, producing five good finished cartoons per day. His daughter, Ann, was inspired by his relentless drive, and used it as a template to overcome rejection back when she was launching her BABYSITTER'S CLUB books.

Hat tip to Comics Reporter!