So I’m sitting at a function the other night. A nice one. Black tie and all that. The theme was Hollywood Red Carpet Night and every table was decorated around a particular movie. Our table was an homage to the Rocky Horror Picture Show. So they use newspaper as placemats because it has something to do with the movie. No, I’ve never seen it. It annoys my wife to no end that I haven’t. But as luck would have it, the placemat of the guy next to me was open to a Loose Parts cartoon. They were thrilled at the coincidence but I was secretly cringing. Why? Because it wasn’t one of my favorites.

     It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that not all entries in a daily comic strip are equal. Some are better than others. It’s just the way it is. The trick is to make sure your worst ones are above a bar of quality that you always jump above. Kind of like the qualifying height for the high jump.

     Weird thing is, I can never tell which ones are better than others. Ones I think are so-so draw letters from people who love them. Want to know a secret? I always put the Loose Parts cartoons I personally like best on Mondays and Fridays. Don’t ask me why; I just do. But, like I said, I’m often wrong when I try to guess which Loose Parts cartoon people will like most.

     Anyway, the whole episode got me thinking about consistency. It’s consistency that sets the daily syndicated cartoonist apart. The ability to day-in and day-out deliver makes this job both maddening and wildly rewarding.

     But lately, I wonder if that matters anymore.

     The Internet has killed consistency.

     Or should I say it’s killed the NEED for consistency.

     See, I’ve long believed that there are lots of funny people in the world .... people as funny as the so-called professionals like, well, me. I have funny friends. You do, too. Except maybe for that one guy. But it’s one thing to be funny on Saturday night when you’re feeling good and things are rolling. It’s another thing entirely to have to be funny on a Tuesday night when you have the flu. That’s what set apart the pros from the not-so-pros.

     And the pros that delivered consistently, every day, were successful and wanted and valued.

     But now that the Internet is a stage for everyone, there are enough people around that comedy consumers can just graze, and they don’t have to come back to the same fields to do it. If 365 people only have one good cartoon idea a year, but they all put them on the web, the consumer can get a year’s worth of cartoons, one a day. Do you need one person who generates 365 from one brain? Do you still need a “brand’ cartoon?

     As more people graze for their comedy, it makes the need for consistent humorists fade away. That would be me. And that should be a concern for you.

     Because do you really want to live in a world where you have to graze every day? Does it really make things simpler to root through a hundred garbage cans instead of just a handful? Has the web made things too complicated?

     I don’t know. But it concerns me.

     So part of my task in doing Loose Parts is to build my own consistency in the Loose Parts world. To make sure you come back every day with the knowledge that this Loose Parts “brand” delivers. To make it so you don’t have to visit a thousand points of light, but one very bright one.

     And I want to remind you to visit your favorite daily cartoonists even if I’m not one of them. Because while the one-offs on the web are great, I’d like to think there’s a little extra specialness that comes from cartoonists who have several thousand cartoons under their belts; several years of experience; and something a little extra that no one can quite define ... except you.

     Hope this made sense. Let me know if it didn’t. It’s late.

     Stay Loose.