Subtle Change Makes A Difference

New Yorker cartoons are mysterious

Subtle variations in a caption can make all the difference. In fact a few times in all the years I have been drawing for The New Yorker, I have submitted a cartoon and it was rejected, then I changed the caption slighlty and resubmitted it….and it sold. Who knows if it’s because of the caption change or because the next week the competition was not as steep.

Below are two cartoons that I changed slightly and submitted both in different weeks. The first one, done several weeks ago, is a wife extending her hands to her fearful spouse, reminding him of her vows to be there for him….somehow, he has forgotten. To me, it speaks to the vicissitude of marriage. The revision done this past week, is the next cartoon, and has a different tone,