'An Age-Old Argument' (2014).
Adam Zyglis is best known as the house cartoonist of the Buffalo News, a local newspaper in Buffalo, New York, where he worked between 2004 and 2019. He draws both political as well as sports cartoons. His most iconic cartoon is 'An Age-Old Argument' (2014) which has been shared online by many people supporting environmental causes. In 2015 Zyglis received the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.
Early life
Adam Zyglis was born in 1982 in Alden, not far from Buffalo, New York City, and is half Polish by descent. He ranks Thomas Nast, Jack Davis, Todd McFarlane, David Levine, Edward Sorel, Bill Watterson, Sebastian Krüger, Tom Toles, Matt Davies and Robert Crumb as his main graphic influences. Between 2000 and 2004 Zyglis studied at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, where he graduated summa cum laude, with a major in Computer Science, a minor in Math and a concentration in Studio Arts. During his studies he published cartoons in The Griffin, the weekly college newspaper and a few smaller local papers and alternative weeklies. As a subject for his senior honors thesis he devoted his paper to the roles of art and journalism in cartooning and how each applied to each of these parts. It also gave him an excuse to interview some of his favorite cartoonists, namely Steve Sack, Clay Bennett and Mike Ritter. They provided him with helpful tips on how to become a professional. Zyglis sees his computer science and math education as an advantage in drawing cartoons, because in both professions he has to visualize abstract concepts through symbols.
Cartoon depicting Alaskan governor Sarah Palin, 13 January 2010.
Buffalo News
After graduation, Zyglis applied for a job at the Buffalo News, just when its home cartoonist Tom Toles left to join the Washington Post. It took a while before anybody wanted to talk to him, let alone agree to meet him. Even recommendations from his university professors didn't help matters much. Eventually Zyglis decided to just visit the newspaper offices with his portfolio by hand. The editorial page editor accepted his work, but it still didn't seem likely that he would actually be hired. Yet the editor in chief, Margaret Sullivan, thought he had potential and offered him an illustration internship for the summer months. After this period he was chosen as Buffalo News' new cartoonist. He would stay with the paper for 15 years.
Political cartoons
During his first two years Zyglis was still trying to find his own voice. He often argued with his editor over certain controversial cartoons and some indeed were rejected. Like all good cartoonists he often encountered criticism and angry readers' letters and phone calls. Luckily soon another editor came about who was more supportive of his work. It didn't take long before Zyglis' cartoons were syndicated nationally in The Washington Post, USA Today, The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. His illustrations have appeared in Artvoice, Time and The Week too. In issue #470 (October 2006) of Mad he wrote and drew the article 'The Zeitgeist of Zyglis - The Passion of the Cuervo' for the section 'The Fundalini Pages'. Zyglis has won several awards for his work, including the Pulitzer Prize (2015), which helped him get more public attention.
'Righteous Plagues', satirizing the sexual abuse scandals in the Roman Catholic Church and depicting Richard Joseph Malone, bishop of the Diocese of Buffalo in New York, 2019.
Several of Zyglis' cartoons make use of illustrated sequences. His best known cartoon, 'An Age-Old Argument' (2014), criticizes global warming sceptics by comparing how people in previous centuries also doubted scientific theories that have now been proven correct, mostly because they didn't understand them. The cartoon has frequently been shared online by environmental supporters.
While Zyglis is best known for his biting political cartoons, he is equally well known for his sports cartoons. One of these, published on 16 May 2019, paid homage to Ezra Castro, a man who was such a huge supporter of the American football team the Buffalo Bills, that he turned up for every game dressed in costume. He was nicknamed "Pancho Billa" in the local press and became somewhat of a local celebrity. In 2019 the superfan passed away from cancer. Zyglis drew Billa entering Heaven where he is greeted at Bill Backers Bar (the home bar of the team) by deceased players Tim Russert and Ralph Wilson. Many readers felt heartwarmed and congratulated him with this touching drawing.
"What Donald Trump brings to the table" (4 April 2016).
Recognition
Adam Zyglis won the National Award from the Associated Collegiate Press and Universal Press Syndicate, the Clifford K. and James T. Berryman Award (2013) and the Grambs Aronson Cartooning with a Conscience Award. He is also a triple winner of the National Headliner Award, respectively in 2007, 2011 and 2015. His most impressive award is the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning (2015), making him, after Bruce Shanks and Tom Toles, the third cartoonist of the Buffalo News to receive a Pulitzer.
"Flooding the ER" (26 February 2015).