Today’s Guest: Mark Anderson, cartoonist, Andertoons
Mr. Media is recorded live before a studio audience of one-shot cartoon characters just begging Mark Anderson for another shot at fame—or at least, infamy… in the NEW new media capital of the world… St. Petersburg, Florida!
![Andertoons by Mark Anderson Andertoons by Mark Anderson](https://mrmedia.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Image-1024x696.jpg)
I don’t know cartoonist Mark Anderson—not yet, anyway—but I complete “get” him.
His burning desire since graduating college in 1997 has been to be a cartoonist. Unfortunately, he hit the market just before the traditional print publishing world fell? jumped? leaped? was pushed? off a cliff.
Within a few short years of Anderson’s arrival on the professional scene, the newspaper and magazine opportunities for selling his wares went the way of Thelma & Louise.
MARK ANDERSON podcast excerpt: “I don’t know if you could tell by my matinee idol good looks, but I had to be funny. I’m not that attractive. If I wanted any time with any young ladies growing up, I had to be funny.”
![Andertoons by Mark Anderson Andertoons by Mark Anderson](https://mrmedia.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Image-1-1024x849.jpg)
But Anderson was driven to find a way. He worked a day job to pay the bills and spent his pre-dawn and late-night hours drawing comics for whatever customers he could find – magazines and newspapers, sure, but also greeting card companies, trade publications, corporations and websites.
I “get” Mr. Anderson because I’ve taken a similar route as a freelance writer. I always wanted to write but never limited myself to just pursuing newspaper and magazine assignments. I kept an open mind to corporate reports, scriptwriting, copywriting and advertising, all of which eventually led me to books and Mr. Media.
Today, Anderson has broadened his horizons – and his Andertoons.com website – to include a subscription model for businesses that see humor as another way to their customers’ hearts.
Mark Anderson Andertoons website • Facebook • Twitter
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Really enjoyed this interview. I met mark in Annapolis recently – gave a great talk at the Success in Comics Seminar – genuinely nice guy.
Glad you liked it, Bill. Thanks for taking the time to comment! Lots more interviews with comics artists in the archives at the top of the page…