Thirty years ago Doug Marrone was about to start his college career as a lineman under coach Dick MacPherson, the Syracuse University hoops team was in the midst of a 21-10 season heading into the Pearl Washington era and the Syracuse New Times had grown from an upstart alternative paper into a bona fide weekly tradition for Syracuse readers.
About that time, local artist Joe Glisson was getting started drawing cartoons about SU sports, local events and politics. For three decades, he has amused, inspired, amazed and infuriated readers, drawing cartoons that were published weekly in The New Times and occasionally compiled in book form.
You may wonder how long one guy can find the inspiration and motivation to express himself in such a forum, memorializing one selected hot topic every seven days. About 30 years, as it turns out, and Glisson has decided to retire his pen with his sketch in this very issue (see his farewell panel, above).
“I am a freelance illustrator for over 30 years,” he reflected, “I’ve done cartoons, related things, worn a lot of hats and was happy to do it. But I’m in my mid-50s now and my schedule is such that it’s every day, most nights, most weekends, I’m working. I don’t want to do it anymore. I want my nights back, I’d like my weekends back and fortunately I’m in a position where I can do that.”
Glisson had begun submitting cartons to The New Times around 1982, moonlighting from his regular gig drawing political cartoons for a union publication. “That went on until 1983,” he recalls. “and {then-editor} Mike Greenstein said, ‘How would you like to do that on a regular basis?’ We came to an agreement and it’s been ever since.”
Soon the fledgling cartoonist found a niche that became his trademark. “SU sports was doing very well,” he said. “Back then we still had {Sideshow cartoonist} Tom Peyer who was the flagship guy, so I tried to do a different subject matter than him. The Big East had started in 1981 and Coach Mac had the undefeated team in 1987, so there was a lot of food for me to work off.”
In addition to sports themes, Glisson established himself as a voice of conservative politics. In fact, while she didn’t always agree with what Glisson had written and drawn, editor-in-chief Molly English was grateful that the cartoonist provided a right-leaning voice for the paper, which has the reputation for a different political view. “We pride ourselves on many things here at The New Times, two of which are our local focus and our alternative nature, meaning we are open to all views,” she said. “While I didn’t always jump on board with what Joe was saying in his political work, I certainly didn’t interfere with his right to say it.”
Glisson will continue to work at many other jobs, some of which will continue to pay his bills. “Since the only thing people see of me is my work in The New Times, there’s an assumption that’s all I did,” he explained. “My dad always said, ‘I don’t get how you can do one cartoon a week and have a house and raise a family.’ In 30 years, I’ve done over 5,000 illustrations. That comes out to one every two-and-a-half days.”
Readers may have their favorites, but the artist is hard-pressed to name his. “My memory is terrible,” he confessed. “Once a cartoon is done, the next day I don’t even remember what I did it on because my mind is already on the next one.”
While Glisson is pessimistic about the future of print-media cartoons, he’s not closing the door to the possibility of occasionally drawing for The New Times. “I’m a freelance illustrator,” he says. “If somebody calls up and says, ‘Can you do a picture of this or that,’ I generally say if I’ve got time on my schedule, yeah. So a New Times {job} would be great.”
Still, he’s firm that stepping back a little is the right
move at the right time. “All good things come to an end and I don’t want
to start repeating myself,” Glisson said. “I want to thank New Times readers for allowing me into their world and I hope I’ve brought a smile or two. I wish them the best.”
