Robert Mankoff (born May 1, 1944Wilson, Craig. "Top drawer at 'The New Yorker' Mankoff makes his imprint as cartoon editor," ''USA Today'' (2 October 1997): D, 1:2.) is an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, and

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

. He was the cartoon editor for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' for nearly twenty years. Before he succeeded

Lee Lorenz Lee Sharp Lorenz (October 17, 1932 – December 8, 2022) was an American cartoonist most notable for his work in ''The New Yorker''. Early life and education Lorenz was born on October 17, 1932, in Hackensack, New Jersey. After studying at No ...

as cartoon editor at ''The New Yorker'', Mankoff was a ''New Yorker'' cartoonist for twenty years.

Early life

Mankoff grew up in

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, and attended Music and Art High SchoolMankoff, Robert
"Comics: Meet the Artist," (transcript)
''Washington Post'' (November 5, 2004). (graduating in 1962) and

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

(graduating in 1966).Mankoff bio
''New Yorker'' website. Accessed April 5, 2013.

Career

Mankoff is the founder and President of Cartoon Collections, a cartoon licensing database, which also owns CartoonStock.com based in the UK. Mankoff submitted more than 500 cartoons to ''The New Yorker'' for over two years before he had his first one published in 1977. One of his cartoons (captioned "No, Thursday's out. How about never—is never good for you?") is one of ''The New Yorkers most widely reprinted cartoons. In 1992, Mankoff founded the online Cartoon Bank,Fleishman, Glenn

''New York Times'' (October 29, 1998). a licensing platform for ''New Yorker'' cartoons and art, with more than 85,000 cartoons available for sale. Mankoff was hired as ''New Yorker'' cartoon editor in 1997; he credits his administration of the Cartoon Bank as being an important reason for why he was chosen to replace Lee Lorenz, (who himself had been at the magazine for 20+ years).

Tina Brown Christina Hambley Brown, Lady Evans (born in England on 21 November 1953), is a journalist, magazine editor, columnist, broadcaster, and author, with dual British/United States citizenship. She is the former editor in chief of '' Tatler'' (197 ...

, ''The New Yorkers editor at the time, said of Mankoff, "Bob is not only a brilliant cartoonist himself, he's also an impassioned promoter, defender and curator of the art of cartooning. . . . He's put himself out to nurture cartoonists." Mankoff edited at least 14 collections of ''New Yorker'' cartoons, including '' The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker'' (Black Dog & Leventhal, 2004), a compilation of every cartoon published since the magazine was founded. The hardcover book is a 656-page collection of what Mankoff deemed to be the magazine's best cartoons published during the magazine's first 80 years, plus a double CD set with all 68,647 cartoons published to that point. Mankoff once stated that his all-time favorite ''New Yorker'' cartoonist was Jack Ziegler. He has also cited

Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...

as an artist he would have liked as a contributing cartoonist. Under Mankoff, the magazine brought in a new generation of cartoonists (including a number of female contributors); notable names include

Pat Byrnes Pat Byrnes is an American cartoonist best known for his work for ''The New Yorker''. He created the comic strip '' Monkeyhouse'', which ran for three years. Then, he received the National Cartoonists Society Advertising and Illustration Award f ...

, J. C. Duffy, P. C. Vey, Farley Katz, Emily Flake, and Julia Suits. Mankoff usually contributed a short article to each issue of ''The New Yorker'', describing some aspect of the cartooning process or the methods used to select cartoons for the magazine. Under Mankoff's stewardship, in April 2005 the magazine began using the last page of each issue for the subsequently very popular "The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest" (prior that date, the Caption Contest had appeared as a back-page feature in the magazine's annual "Cartoon Issue"). Mankoff himself contributes cartoons to '' Moment'' magazine's own monthly cartoon caption contest. In 2016, Mankoff co-founded Botnik Studios with Jamie Brew, a former ClickHole and

The Onion ''The Onion'' is an American digital media company and newspaper organization that publishes satirical articles on international, national, and local news. The company is currently based in Chicago, but originated as a weekly print publication ...

writer. On April 29, 2017, he left ''The New Yorker'', and was named Humor and Cartoon Editor at ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' magazine on May 1, 2017. Mankoff resigned from his position at ''Esquire'' in June 2019. Mankoff was named cartoon editor of

Graydon Carter Edward Graydon Carter, Order of Canada, CM (born July 14, 1949) is a Canadian journalist who was the editor of ''Vanity Fair (magazine), Vanity Fair'' from 1992 until 2017. He also co-founded, with Kurt Andersen and Thomas L. Phillips, Jr., Tom P ...

and Alessandra Stanley's digital newsletter, ''

Air Mail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be the ...

'', in July 2019.

Personal life

Mankoff and his wife Cory live in

Briarcliff Manor, New York Briarcliff Manor () is a suburban village in Westchester County, New York, north of New York City. It is on of land on the east bank of the Hudson River, geographically shared by the towns of Mount Pleasant and Ossining. Briarcliff Manor inc ...

; they have one daughter together, Sarah. Cory also had a son who died in 2012.

Film

The 2015 documentary, ''Very Semi-Serious'', presents a behind-the-scenes look at the cartoons of ''The New Yorker'', and features glimpses into Mankoff's career, his role at ''The New Yorker'', and his personal life. The film was produced by Redora Films.

Bibliography

* ''Urban Bumpkins'' (St. Martin's/Marek, 1985) * ''Call Your Office'' (Topper Books, 1986) * ''It's Lonely at the Top'' (Ballantine Books, 1987) * ''The Naked Cartoonist: A Way to Enhance Your Creativity'' (Black Dog & Leventhal, 2002) * ''How About Never — Is Never Good for You?: A Life in Cartoons'' (Henry Holt, 2014) — published to positive reviews in ''The New York Times'' and the ''Wall Street Journal''Kosner, Edward
"Book Review: 'How About Never—Is Never Good for You?' by Bob Mankoff: The cartoon editor of the New Yorker began as a psychology graduate student but quit when his lab animal died,"
''Wall Street Journal'' (March 21, 2014). * Title in the online table of contents is "William Hamilton’s incisive jabs". ——————— ;Notes

References

Moment Magazine ''Moment'' is an independent magazine which focuses on the life of the American Jewish community. It is not tied to any particular Jewish movement or ideology. The publication features investigative stories and cultural criticism, highlighting th ...