Cartoon award season

Forget all those Hollywood award shows. They are nothing but pre-game warm ups for the big one – the world famous Reuben Awards. The Reubens are held each year on Memorial Day weekend, and cartoonists from around the world congregate to recognize the best in the business.

They are like the Oscars, except the tuxedos don’t fit and the shoes don’t match.

Awards are given for various cartoon categories, such as daily strip, panel, editorial, animation, etc. Winners in each group are determined by nominating committees spread all over the country. Cartoonists submit their favorite twelve cartoons to be reviewed.

For a military cartoonist like me, the submission process is a bit more daunting because in most cases, the nominating committee doesn’t get my jokes. Let me show you. Here is one of my favorites from last year:

It’s a potty joke. It is what we call a “can’t miss” joke. Except the committee probably won’t get it. They won’t have a clue what a voice tube is, let alone a midwatch or lookout.

So the challenge is to find jokes that translate into civilian-ese. Like maybe this one:

The characters could be sitting in a three piece suit and the humor would still translate (although I’m not sure there is as much of a love affair with dirty coffee cups in the business world).

But hey, maybe there are a couple of reservists out there. Maybe a veteran or two. Who knows? Hope springs eternal this time of year, so I’ll give it another shot.

And if that doesn’t work, maybe I can talk them into creating a “Single Panel Cartoon Published Weekly in Navy Times” category.

I’d be a lock.