EXPRESS YOURSELF

The Sisyphean Task of Drawing Sisyphus

Or, how to draw comics, again, and again, and again

“Drawing comics can be an uphill battle” is a cringingly obvious way to start this article, so I’d like to apologise for that first and then apologise again for this next one before we get things rolling.

The undisputed home of single-panel cartoons is of course, a largely unknown weekly called The New Yorker and having taken the time to look through their entire back catalogue (yes, I have the time; I’m a cartoonist) I can confirm that our old mate Sisyphus and his bestie The Boulder have been a comedic mainstay on the comedy-duo circuit for at least the last 3,000 years or so.

Their enduring popularity is obviously a complete mystery. Just what is it about the plight of a person toiling away at the same rewardless task for eternity, only to have to repeat the same thankless task the next day that enamours and fascinates the public to this degree? We’ll never truly know.

As every cartoonist, Kardashian, or accidentally famous bystander has mused however; there’s no point analysing the reasons for fame, but rather expertly mining that popularity for every bit of continued attention and reward it might contain.