Cartoonist David Simpson has resigned his contract position with the Urban Tulsa Weekly, after it was revealed he plagiarized last week. A second plagiarized cartoon appeared this week because that issue had already gone to print, said Urban Tulsa Weekly Creative Director Gavin Elliott. Simpson had been on contract with the Weekly since 2005. "I'm disappointed," Elliott told me by phone. "He’s a good cartoonist as far as the actual work goes." Elliott joined the Weekly this past August, after working in marketing at the Tulsa Zoo. He said the publication will probably get another contract cartoonist and will put safeguards in place as a result of this, though they are still reviewing what those protections might be.

The Daily Cartoonist
A week after calling out "the most blatant plagiarism example I’ve ever seen," in which Urban Tulsa Weekly’s David Simpson redrew a cartoon from the late Jeff MacNelly, Alan Gardner says Simpson has done it again. Gardner writes that the similarities between Simpson's cartoon and one by MacNelly indicate that Simpson again redrew the cartoon rather than trace it. Urban Tulsa Weekly, meanwhile, hasn't responded to questions about last week's cartoon, Gardner writes. Publisher Keith Skrzypczak tells me there will be something in the next issue about the plagiarism accusation, which should be online Wednesday. Update: Simpson has resigned his position with Urban Tulsa Weekly. Simpson lost his job at the Tulsa World in 2005 for plagiarism. || Related: Simpson loses place in Oklahoma Cartoonist Hall of Fame | Earlier: Could Tulsa cartoonist be a two-time plagiarist? Correction: The original version of this post misstated the name of Urban Tulsa Weekly.

The New York Times
Syria's leading political cartoonist was hospitalized with multiple bone fractures after masked gunmen abducted and beat him, then dumped him on the side of a road. The Times notes that the attack on Ali Farzat came days after he published a cartoon showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "hitching a ride out of town with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya, who was toppled from power this week." Farzat has been critical of Assad since the start of the Syrian uprising in March. The Times quotes a friend, Ayad Sharbaji, who visited Farzat in the hospital:

“They told him as they were burning his beard, ‘We’ll see what you will draw from now on,’ ” Mr. Sharbaji said. “ ‘How dare you disobey your masters?’ ”

Washington Post | Editor and Publisher | Kickstarter.com
It's titled "Stripped." Creators Dave Kellett and Frederick Schroeder interviewed cartoonists ranging from the veteran artists behind “Garfield” and “Family Circus” to creators of such new strips as “Cul de Sac” for their "love-letter to the art form." They hope to raise post-production expenses ($58,000) on Kickstarter by Sept. 22; at last check they'd received $16,686 from 447 backers. Michael Cavna says the filmmakers "have come along just in time" because "this is, most certainly, a seismic time for comics."

I have watched this unfold for two decades from the various perches of being a syndicated comic-strip creator (and among the first wave of cartoonists online); of being a newspaper feature-section editor combing through new comics and talking with syndicate sales reps; of being a comics journalist documenting the decimation of some of those syndicates and the evisceration of some of those comics sections. And now — at this very time — the industry’s tectonic plates feel as loose and perilous and potentially thrilling as ever.

Rob Tornoe writes in the latest Editor & Publisher that several news organizations are finding innovative ways to leverage the popularity of their staff cartoonist to help retain and grow readers.

Newsday occasionally runs full-page cartoons on its front cover by its Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Walt Handelsman. The Oregonian’s staff cartoonist, Jack Ohman, produces long-form sequential cartoons for the Sunday edition. And several cartoonists, from Handelsman to Mike Thompson of the Detroit Free Press, create animated cartoons for their newspapers’ websites.

Romenesko Misc.
Andy Borowitz reminds his Facebook fans that he wrote a piece last Thursday headlined, "New Study Finds iPad is Cure for Adultery; Owners ‘Stop Noticing Other People Altogether." He then points to Columbus Dispatch editorial cartoonist Jeff Stahler's drawing three days later that shows a group of people staring at their phones and has this caption: "New study: Smart phone users are less likely to commit adultery, since they've stopped noticing others around them."

I've emailed Stahler and Dispatch editor Ben Marrison for comment and will post what they have to say. || UPDATE: Marrison says the paper's investigation found that the similarity "appears to be a coincidence." [This post was modified to remove a comment from a Borowitz fan on Facebook.]

Washington Post
Michael Cavna's list of contenders includes Mike Thompson (Detroit Free Press); Steve Breen (San Diego Union-Tribune); Matt Wuerker (Politico); Garry Trudeau ("Doonesbury"); Gary Varvel (Indianapolis Star); and Nate Beeler (Washington Examiner).