About the New Gag Recap

What the heck is the New Gag Recap? No, it is not some kind of a reflux disorder. It is actually an updated version of the cartoonist trade journal that began back in the 1950’s. The previous Gap Recap publication ceased in 2012 with the passing of the Recap’s last Editor, Bill Keough The current New Gag Recap launched to worldwide acclaim in October 2013.

Monthly Information

From Issue #93
Phew! The latest Issue #93 was sent off to all subscribers and some Spam Folders (Check your Spam Folder, People!)
This was our biggest issue ever, 51 pages. Another sign of Inflation? Let’s hope not! The front cover was an homage to the great Al Gottlieb (Publisher of the Gag Recap for almost 5 decades)! It is a copy of the last issue that Al edited from August 1999. Al was also honored by our columnist Dan Rosandich (Rosandich Ramblings) about how Al and his Recap impacted his life and career. Also included in our In Memoriam feature was Al’s daughter Jackie Rosenberg about her father.

Our Market News section included information about 17 new cartoon markets (all the contact info you need to send and what they pay). Three Contests for cartoonists to enter, one new Greeting Card market and two markets for Art and Illustrations.

The Writers section offers two paying markets (Paying markets are the best kind!) and three contests.

Our News section presents information for working cartoonists about changes in the market.

And lastly, but not leastly (Is that a word, Spellcheck said no) we feature cartooning Books, Exhibitions, Events, Films, Fundraising, Interviews, Newsletters, Podcasts, Videos and Workshops that you can explore.

Let’s get meta and look at the data. Almost 600 cartoons recapped from a bevy of publications.
Here’s what we’ve learned from Issue #93.

What a difference a year makes! The June 2020 cartoons had 26 mentions of Donald Trump while the current 2021 issue had two. Cartoons reflect the times we live in, so the June 2020 issue had 100 that reflected on the coronavirus (Masks, social distancing, etc). That has not changed as 108 cartoons reflect Covid topics.

However, a hopeful sign, as 21 cartoons reference vaccination, shots or as our UK Cartoonist compatriots like to call them ‘jabs’. There were zero cartoons about vaccination a year ago.

One more observation on the Cartoon Cliché watch: 3 desert island castaway cartoons and 5 angel ones. Heaven wins again!

Gag writers
Contest, Greeting Card Market


Special Features
Monthly Column by Cartoonist Dan Rosandich
Monthly News
News About Cartooning Books, Cartoon Events, Exhibitions, Podcasts and more!

A Little About Van
Van writes for numerous freelance & syndicated cartoonists. You can easily recognize his cartoons as they are the funny ones in the funny papers.