Every panel goes through a long process of selection for geographic region and originality. It's up to Chief Plugger Gary Brookins to select the Pluggerism that best defines an aspect of Plugger life. Here's how an idea goes from Brookins' mailbox in Virginia to newspapers around the country.
Step 1
The best part of my job is going through all of these letters every week to pick the seven Pluggerisms to draw. It is also the hardest part. So many great ideas are sent in that it's difficult to decide which ones to use. While some can be drawn almost exactly as described, others are just the germ of a good idea that really requires a lot of work.
Step 2
Once the ideas are chosen, I do a rough sketch to work out composition.
Step 3
I draw the cartoon using a digital graphics tablet that inputs it directly into a Mac computer. I add shading, the border, cutline (caption), dialogue, the "Thanks to" box, syndicate copyright, date and my signature, all on the computer.
Step 4
I then proofread them and pass them onto my wife who also checks them. Once we're satisfied, we e-mail them to my editor Bob Koehler at Tribune Media Services in Chicago. They are then printed up and mailed to the subscribing newspapers where they appear several weeks later.
Sundays
Sunday Pluggers are done the same way, but with an extra step of adding color, also done on the computer. The cartoons are then e-mailed to American Color in Buffalo, N.Y., where the color-plate negatives are made and sent to the printing plants that produce the color Sunday comics.
Finally
I look forward to opening the newspaper and seeing the finished product each day.
