Probably one of the most popular feature for readers is the editorial cartoon caption contest by the Union-Tribune’s Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Steve Breen.
Breen and the editorial staff receive hundreds of submissions each week for a clever caption to accompany one of Breen’s cartoons. The fun part is that the cartoon will feature wacky images with nutty juxtapositions, such as two porcupines, holding those red plastic Solo cups, talking at a house party.
The contest appears Sundays on the editorial pages in the Local section. It started in 2010, when Dan McSwain, a former editorial writer suggested emulating The New Yorker magazine’s contest, but with a local flavor.
I’ve always wondered how Breen comes up with the scenes, like a monkey appearing at a complaint department window.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “The creative process for this is even more mysterious than usual. With the daily editorial cartoon, I’m outraged or flabbergasted or amazed by something in the news, so that’s the starting point for the inspiration.
“With the caption cartoons, it could literally be anything. And unlike an editorial cartoon, gag cartoon or comic strip, you’re intentionally not trying to set up a punchline. You want to keep it open for the reader.
“For instance, if I draw a tank at SeaWorld, I’m not going to put a mermaid in there with a park visitor looking at her saying something to his wife. That’s already kind of mildly humorous or obvious. I’m going to put something that does not belong; maybe a guy in a business suit swimming in there.”
Breen also never has a caption in mind when he draws the art.
Choosing the caption winner is really kind is informal. As letters editor about five years ago, I would participate in picking the top captions. Sheets of paper, stapled together, with submissions would be ed around the editorial section, and you would check off your favorites.
“I print out about 10 pages of the best ones,” Breen said. “I’m pretty generous as to what constitutes ‘the best.’ Then I hand the packet to the editorial department where six sharp judges put check marks next to their faves. The ones with the most checks get into the paper.”
Some readers submit pretty much every week, Breen said. “The Mationg family, Karen Farmington, Joe Puzo and Shirley Miller (who is in her late 80s) as well as some really sharp kids at Correia and Murlands Middle Schools. But I notice fresh names every week from young and old and all sections of our readership area. We’re also getting submissions from around the U.S., which is pretty cool.”
Readers, to improve your chances, there are a few guidelines to follow: Keep the captions brief, Breen stressed. “Steer away from anything harshly political. We like it when captions have a local bent, though it’s not a requirement.”
The caption contest has a special category for kids’ entries — K-12. “Student entries are generally fantastic,” Breen said. “I just love that these kids are reading the paper and being creative. We get the most from junior high students. It’s great that they are so tuned-in to modern slang and pop culture.
“If you are a teacher, get your students to enter. It’s a great way to get kids interested in creative writing, journalism and current events,” Breen said.
As with anything competitive, readers can sometimes dispute the winning entry, Breen said. They might say they submitted a caption just like the winning one.
“We get many duplicates and near-duplicates every week. In these cases, we choose the submission that came to us first (i.e. Sunday versus Monday morning),” Breen said. “If it’s a close tie, chances are we’ll use the entry by the person who has not been printed before. It’s a contest, but it’s also a way to get as many people as possible engaged with their hometown paper.
