Dust-up among Canadian cartoonists

Mike Peterson from The Daily Cartoonist.

A bit of a dust-up among Canadian cartoonists, after Dave Whamond’s commentary on the bloodbath controversy drew a slap-down from the mysterious “Rivers” who is permitted to distribute his cartoons through Cagle without signing his real name or explaining his exemption.
It’s not unknown for people in the general public to copy a cartoon, alter the text in order to reverse the cartoonist’s intent and post it on social media, but it is considered both rude and a copyright violation.

For an apparently professional cartoonist to essentially do the same is unprecedented, and there is a wide sense in the cartooning community that “apologies to Whamond” does not excuse the insult.

Whamond himself has shrugged it off, which is politely Canadian of him. 

Others are not as forgiving.

The gesture seems pointless, since there’s little chance an audience would see both cartoons to compare them. 

But it has opened a sore over “Rivers” posting strong opinions and declining to sign his name to them.

There is also some anger over his apparent posing as an American when it is generally believed that he is Canadian, though the argument could be made that this speaker is not specifically identified as the cartoonist.

But, while readers may not be specifically told that Whamond, de Adder and others are Canadian, they are honest about their identity and it doesn’t take much to learn their citizenship.

Perhaps “Rivers” is not Cameron Cardow, former staff cartoonist for the Ottawa Citizen.

There’s no proof of that, and neither Cardow nor Cagle answered inquiries.

But, still …