Signe: Then & Now

After 35 years drawing cartoons on Philadelphia’s politicians and life, it’s clear. I’ve been an utter failure. Sadly, gunslingers don’t stop to think, “Golly, that cartoon made me decide not to pull the trigger.” Cartoons have yet to make a state legislator exclaim, “Gee, all kids deserve a good education.” They haven’t cured poverty and they certainly haven’t balanced a budget. My only hope is that my drawings have occasionally given a boost to those intrepid citizens who work for a safer, fairer, and more equitable city, state, and region.

In the meantime, let me thank the many politicians in and out of prison who have given me so much material. The new crop coming up deserve new cartoonists to keep them honest. And, thanks to you readers who’ve cheered me and to you who’ve so earnestly tried to correct my many idiotic ideas. We’re all in this together. Onward!

Editor’s Note: Signe Wilkinson, the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning, and the cartoonist for The Inquirer and Daily News since 1985, is putting down her pencil at the end of 2020 for daily cartoons (though she'll make occasional guest appearances on our pages through her syndicate). Here, she reflects on the city, and her work.