This is the weekend of the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards Weekend. Cartoonists from all over the world are converging on New Orleans for panels, parties and awards. The awards will be given out Saturday night and that includes the most prestigious, the Cartoonist of the Year award, which is known as The Reuben.
The Reuben is, more or less, a Lifetime Achievement award and this year's nominees are Dave Coverly (who draws Speed Bump), Dan Piraro (who's responsible for Bizarro) and Mad magazine's own Al Jaffee. Wiley Miller, who draws the comic strip, Non Sequitur, has announced that his strip this Sunday will congratulate the winner by name. That strip, of course, was drawn some time ago and will have been printed before the award is announced. So how could he know who'll win?
Because everyone knows who'll win. Al Jaffee will win. It's such a foregone conclusion, it makes you wonder why it's taken 'til now for him to even be nominated. Piraro and Coverly are deserving but they'll both win in some future year. This year, it's Al's turn.