Tin Man's retirement

As I draw this cartoon about the Tin Man's retirement, I want to share a clip from my podcast, ComicLab, where Dave Kellett and I discuss the times in our careers when we wanted to throw in the towel. For me, it was 2013, and the advent of ad blockers.

I had just left my day job at the Philadelphia Daily News after twelve years there — and twenty in newspapers in general. I had spent the previous several years preparing myself to run a small business as an independent cartoonist, and this was My Moment. A handful of months after I had jumped into the frying pan, ad blockers were developed, and I found myself deep in the fire.

Up until then, webcartoonists could make a very good living through the advertising they ran on their sites. I had spent the past several years preparing for this business, and the entire business model was melting — melting away! Ohhhhh, what a world, what a world!

I was faced with throwing in the towel. And I very nearly did.

Then I threw something else instead.

I threw a goddamned fit.

I had spent too much time building to this moment to be thwarted by ad blockers. I refused to be defeated. Refused to accept that this was The End.

I stopped looking for excuses, and I started looking for solutions.

Now, more than ten years later, I’m happy that I did.