Mark Parisi on Winning Cartoonist of the Year: "I Haven't Put the Trophy Down Since"
After nearly four decades of "Off the Mark," he won the coveted Reuben Award. We asked about his favorite cartoons, his process, and that deal with Stan.
This past August, Mark Parisi won the National Cartoonists Society's prestigious Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year for his work on “Off the Mark,” the “slightly skewed and just a little twisted” one-panel comic that’s been syndicated since 1987. This is the first time Parisi’s taken home the NCS’s top honor, though he was awarded Best Newspaper Panel four times, in 2020, 2017, 2011, and 2008.
We chatted with Parisi about the win, how he comes up with his sometimes wild gags, and how he connects with his fans.
Congrats on winning Cartoonist of the Year! How did it feel to take home the Reuben Award?
Thank you! Taking home that trophy felt surreal. Plus my arm is still sore. It's heavy, and I haven't put it down since. But the strongest feeling is that of being honored that my peers would even consider me for this award.
What’s your secret to coming up with so many funny ideas for “Off the Mark”?
I'm not sure there's a secret other than putting in the time. I work so hard on developing an idea, that there's no time left for me to do a decent drawing! At least that's my excuse. I've done this comic panel for almost four decades, so I think my brain has been trained a bit on ways to write. Also, I sold my soul to a friendly guy with a pointy tail. I think he said his name was Stan.
Do you have a favorite cartoon you’ve drawn, or one fans tell you they love the most?
It's impossible to pin it down to one cartoon out of 14,000. There are dozens I'd call my favorite, but I'll always be proud of the first “Off the Mark” published in 1987. It was three nails and a murder mystery. A recent one that went viral was about a dog, a tennis ball, and a sneaky dog dentist. Funny how these sound high-concept when I try to describe them.
Has a gag ever come from something that happened in your everyday life?
Oh, all the time! I ordered a black coffee and was asked if I wanted room, (room so I could add cream and sugar myself). But it sounded to me like, "Do you want rum?" Of course, being a cat lover, there are countless cat cartoons that came from direct experience. For example, I was defurring my clothes, and as I finished, I saw I was covered in fur again. Sometimes I'm just documenting life.
What’s the best part about connecting with readers through your comics?
Easily the best part of connecting with readers is the positive feedback. When a reader tells me they chuckled, spit out their coffee, or laughed in an inappropriate setting, that's the stuff that never gets old.