There have been new cartoonists entering the New Yorker stable nearly every year of the magazine’s life; there were a few years in the mid 1980s when there weren’t any newbies and I’m certain if I went back through every single year of the magazine I’d find a year or two here and there where no new cartoonists work appeared. Times were different then overall, New Yorker cartoon department-wise: one or two (and sometimes three) might make it in annually. All that changed in the past twenty-some years, as the the annual influx of newbies greatly increased. By 2014, newbies were arriving in double digits. In 2016 new cartoonists joining the party hit an all-time high of 18.
This year, the first full year of Emma Allen’s cartoon editorship, 12 new cartoonists made their debut in the pages of the magazine. Beginning here and now, the Spill will begin listing the newbies at the close of each year, along with the date of their debut.
Julia Bernhard… January 1, 2018
Navied Mahdavian… Feb 26, 2018
Bishakh Som… March 19, 2018
Elisabeth McNair… July 30, 2018
Caitlin Cass… August 27, 2018
Pat Achilles… October 1, 2018
Sara Ransohoff… November 5, 2018
David Ostow… November 12, 2018
Lonnie Millsap… November 19, 2018
Ali Solomon… November 26, 2018
Lila Ash… December… 10, 2018
Christine Mi… December… 23/31 (a double issue), 2018