Getting the Last
at the Eastern Echo, it came with sincere praise and a some- what tongue-in-cheek warning from none other than nation- ally syndicated cartoonist and Eastern Michigan alum Dave Coverly (BS87). Coverly concluded his
W
remarks about a technique Zweifler had used with: “It’s a downright brilliant touch from someone who will obviously be doing this sort of thing for a living someday, if he unwisely decides to pursue a career that offers so little pay for so much work... Not that I’m bitter.” And with that, Zweifler was
hooked. “I know in (Coverly’s) career
there were people who said, ‘If this is what you want to do, you should do it,’ and that’s kind of what he’s been for me,” Zweifler said. “...I’m really self-critical, and not very receptive of com- pliments, but when someone I look up to gives me serious consideration, that’s really vali- dating.” Zweifler, 22, graduated from EMU in 2011 with a fine art
Laugh Cartoonist serious about pursuing his passion for humor
hen Caleb Zweifler won his first cartooning award
degree but after three years of drawing cartoons for the Echo, he knew he wasn’t cut out for the fine art world. He enjoys the pace of cartooning, the oppor- tunity to produce a lot of work in a short time and distribute it right away. His work won state and in-
ternal awards at the Echo, and in early 2011 one of them—a close-up look at the forced sep- aration of a unibrow—earned honorable mention in the Asso- ciated College Press’s Pacesetter Awards, a national competi- tion that EMU student media
director Kevin Devine calls the Pulitzer of college cartooning. Zweifler continues to draw and enter contests, refining his style while he works a day job at a local cafe. Zwiefler’s humor springs
from an inquisitive mind and a keen sense of humor. He loves documentaries, is fascinated by philosophy and says he could watch stand-up comedy all day. “
...Especially if it has a po-
litical bent,” he said. “I think I wanted to kind of follow in that vein with my humor—some- thing that has a satirical mes-
sage and makes you laugh.” Drawing always felt natural, and though he came to EMU with thoughts of going into animation or 3-D graphics, his interests and skills kept nudg- ing him toward cartooning until there was just no going back. “...I think the most you can
hope for is that someone reads your comic and has to chuckle. Laughter is a definitely a very scarce resource these days, so to be so pleased by something that you can’t hold it in, I think that’s
a pretty powerful thing.” 3 —Amy Whitesall
Eastern | WINTER 2012 13
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