It was publicly announced yesterday that John Glynn, an executive at Andrews McMeel Universal, the company that distributes Tom the Dancing Bug, has officially left the company.
I met John when he first started at AMU (I'm told, 20 years ago), and it was immediately clear that he was not your typical syndicate editor/executive. He is socially funnier than the vast majority of the cartoonists he represents, and with a sense of humor that is deeply offbeat and silly, even whimsical. And I was honored and kind of puzzled by his knowledge of Tom the Dancing Bug -- he routinely drops obscure references and quotes to years-old Tom the Dancing Bug comics that even I sometimes have to strain to recall.
I say this here not just to flatter John -- although he sure likes to be flattered -- but because this blog is about Tom the Dancing Bug, and he has been very important to the comic strip. As he rose to become President and Editorial Director (I think that was his title) he was always a champion of the strip, showing great faith in me as a cartoonist and writer.
For example, it was his efforts (and his colleague Bridget McMeel's) that led to the option, and eventual purchase, of one of my characters, "Harvey Richards: Lawyer for Children" to New Line Cinema. (Scripts were written, money was paid, tears were shed, but no movie was ever made.)
He also worked enthusiastically to bring others of my characters to Hollywood -- I recall that he even wrote his own treatment for "Sam Roland, the Detective Who Dies" that led to me "taking a meeting" with Wayne Brady.
John made an appearance in a Super-Fun-Pak Comix.
He has also been a warm, encouraging, confidence-inspiring presence at the company. We would meet whenever he admitted he was in town, to talk shop or just talk. Late one night, when we stumbled across some Karaoke, and I challenged him to choose my song, he had enough faith in me to select Barbra Streisand's "Evergreen" -- yes, I'm choosing to cast it that way, and not as an act of utter cruelty. There's a bar downtown that still has my picture by the door on the DO NOT ADMIT list.
And he was there for me on so many occasions -- it really touched me that he came for the ceremony when I received the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and he led the celebration afterwards.
2018 at the RFK Awards. L to R, Johnny G., Your Humble Correspondent, and my friend David Grayson. Just before the picture was taken John said, "Chins out!"
Most recently, John conducted a very silly two part interview with me on the occasion of the publication of my two new books. Part 1. Part 2.
Yes, John has been a fantastic supporter Tom the Dancing Bug, but he's also a great friend to me.
And I think the real testament to his talent as an executive/editor is that so many other Andrews McMeel creators also feel they have that kind of special relationship with John.
But I'm not jealous. He's so skilled, he can have a real friendship with me while faking it so well with others.
It's indisputable that John has become a giant in the comics industry. In a time of seismic contraction of the newspaper world, he oversaw a great expansion of Andrews McMeel syndication, becoming the biggest syndicator in the world, the development of GoComics.com, and the successful launch of many new, innovative, popular comic strips. He has great skill at managing and nurturing talent, but also a great eye for spotting and developing it.
John was due to receive the Silver T-Square Award at the National Cartoonists Society award banquet this past June, for his outstanding dedication and service to the cartooning profession. Unfortunately, the event was capsized by the pandemic -- John really would have deserved that moment in the sun.
Whatever John decides to do next, I know he will succeed, and as that venture progresses, I'm looking forward to getting daily, bizarrely hilarious texts that have or do not have anything to do with that.
Thanks for the soup, John.
Just look at that boyishly handsome face looking confidently into the future!