Andy Marlette: Wikis

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Andy Marlette is an American editorial cartoonist who attended the University of Florida. He is also the nephew of Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Doug Marlette.

Andy Marlette joined the staff of The Independent Florida Alligator in 2003, as an editorial cartoonist. He won several awards HUNT/awards.htm during his three years working for the paper, but his sarcastic brand of wit and (often feigned) disregard for social and ethnic taboos led to several boycotts and protests against The Alligator.

Marlette was at first tightly controlled by his editors, but as he grew more well-known and as more brazen editors took office, Marlette took greater risks. He graduated from UF in 2006 and has become a syndicated cartoonist like his uncle. After a two-month hiatus, The Alligator became one of the newspapers running his professional cartoons, however after some advertisers threatened to boycott the paper if it continued to run Marlette, it has since run only student-produced cartoons or cartoons from syndicated wire services.

Israel-Palestine cartoon

In October 2003, Marlette inked a cartoon for The Alligator depicting caricatured members of campus organizations Gators for Israel and Nakba ‘48 (he calls it “Gators for Palestine”) yelling “We hate you!” at each other, commenting on that month’s escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Gaza Strip. The character's insults also made reference to Hitler and Jesus.

The cartoon drew ire nationwide from Jewish students, alumni and advocacy groups, who claimed Marlette was stirring anti-semitic sentiment on the UF campus. Editor Joe Black and Opinions Editor Laura Merritt later printed an apology for upsetting readers, but not for the intent of the cartoon.

In personal response to the outcry, Marlette drew a self-portrait with his mouth bolted shut. This form of commenting on the commentators became one of Marlette’s signatures.

Matt Walsh “crying” cartoon

During the Florida Gators’ season-ending loss to 5th-seeded Villanova in the second round of the 2005 NCAA Basketball Tournament in Nashville, junior guard Matt Walsh grew visibly more and more frustrated during the 76-65 loss.

With CBS Sports television cameras rolling, a national audience saw tears streak down Walsh’s face. The next day, The Alligator featured a cartoon of Walsh crying, drawn by Marlette, in which the tears formed the word “choke”.

Walsh scored 12 points in the game, a low total by his standards, and given his crying and the Gators’ recent early-round NCAA tournament losses to low-seeded Manhattan, Creighton and Temple, Walsh was seen by many as an iconic scapegoat for the team’s failure.

However, a great deal of local criticism found its way to the newspaper. Marlette received multiple death threats and skipped town, while Alligator editors received thousands of letters from Gators fans criticizing the cartoon. Marlette, a rabid Gators basketball fan, later apologized for any offense caused.

Condoleezza Rice cartoon

In response to Kanye West’s statement “George Bush doesn’t care about black people,” during A Concert for Hurricane Relief in September 2005, Marlette drew a cartoon published in The Alligator that depicted West holding up a life-sized Joker card in front of Condoleezza Rice. The card says "The Race Card" and the cartoon Rice has her arms crossed in disgust, telling West, “Nigga please!”

The use of the term nigga, a direct comment on Rice being criticized as a “house nigga” by the black press [source?], drew immediate criticism from black student organizations on campus.

Marlette responded a few days later with the same cartoon, however this time Rice's phrase "Nigga please!" was replaced with "As per the cultural standard of African American entertainers deriding each other using a racial and/or ethnic context, I would like to address you in the same way. You are a rapper who constantly uses terminology denigrating to the African-American community. I am an African American and close friends with President Bush; hence, Bush does not hate black people. Please."

NCAA Native American Mascot cartoon

On November 23, 2006, Marlette drew a cartoon critical of the NCAA's crackdown on schools with supposedly offensive mascots such as Florida State University's Chief Osceola under the grounds that they were offensive to Native Americans. As Florida State is an arch-rival of the University of Florida, the cartoon was timed to coincide with the annual American football game between the two universities. The cartoon depicted a suited arm representing the NCAA wagging a finger at Albert E. Gator who gripped a caricature of a Chief Osceola by the neck. The caption read, "Sorry Albert but it's culturally insensitive to kill a native American this close to Thanksgiving." This cartoon prompted a letter to the editor, and multiple protests of The Alligator by the American Indian Movement of Florida.