Photo courtesy of MOWA
Paul Noth
Paul Noth
Even though it’s still somewhat early, 2026 may just turn out to be a career year for cartoonist Paul Noth. On October 13, the Milwaukee-born creative will see the publication of his first book of cartoons, I Am Going to Eat You … and Other Awkward Truths: A Cartoonist’s Romp Through the Lunacy of Our Times (Union Square & Co.).
The compendium features many of the 400-plus cartoons Noth has created for The New Yorker and other publications, including 50 cartoons that have never been published. In his forward to Noth’s volume, comedian Jim Gaffigan praises Noth's “unique comedic voice, with its oddly gentle way of exposing disturbing truths.”
But before the book’s publication, Noth can claim yet another honor—becoming Wisconsin’s first Cartoonist Laureate in a new program sponsored by the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) in West Bend. The program recognizes the important influences Wisconsin artists and writers have had on the cartoon medium. It also signals MOWA’s increasing support of that medium not only in honor of Noth and his fellow contemporary cartoonists, but in recognition of the growing influence cartoons have in contemporary society.
Ambassador for Cartoon Art
Image courtesy of MOWA
Paul Noth, He Tells It Like It Is, 2016
'He Tells It Like It Is' by Paul Noth (2016)
“I was surprised when (MOWA Executive Director) Laurie Winters told me about the honor, and I was thrilled to accept it,” says Noth, the son of noted Milwaukee arts journalist Dominique Paul Noth. “I will be sort of like an ambassador for the art form, teaching workshops, promoting comics literacy, and championing the potential for the industry.”
Noth, who also sits on the MOWA Board, will serve for three years and receive a cash award of an undisclosed amount. He will also have an upcoming MOWA solo exhibition and receive recognition at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Vermont is the only other state with a Cartoonist Laureate, that one sponsored by the Institute for Cartoon Studies.
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What Vermont may not have, however, is the wealth of influential cartoonists that can call Wisconsin home. Either by design or happenstance, the Badger State’s influence on cartooning may be among if not the most significant to the art form itself since Sidney Smith of Lake Geneva first launched his strip The Gumps in 1917. Tomah’s Frank King followed with Gasoline Alley in 1921.
Milwaukee’s Kitchen Sink
In 1970, Milwaukee artist and publisher Denis Kitchen founded Kitchen Sink Press on the city’s East Side, reviving the careers of major cartoonists like Will Eisner and Harvey Kurtzman, while advancing socially engaged work addressing issues from civil rights to free expression. Milwaukee became one of the hotbeds of what then was known as the “Underground Comix” movement.
Wisconsin’s past comics history and the medium’s continued capability for flexibility and innovation is something MOWA admires and supports with its mission, according to Winters.
“Comics uniquely meet the moment and through the Cartoonist Laureate position and its broader work we are expanding artistic definitions while ensuring Wisconsin’s creative voices resonate far beyond its borders,” Winters explains.
Noth’s portfolio reaches far beyond just his work for The New Yorker. He has co-created animated shorts for “Saturday Night Live” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and developed projects for the Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, and Nickelodeon. He is also the author/ illustrator of the young persons’ books How to Sell Your Family to the Aliens, How to Win the Science Fair When You’re Dead, and How to Properly Dispose of Earth, a graphic novel trilogy for readers aged 8–12.
Literacy and Flexibility
In 2025, Noth became only the second artist to receive the field’s highly respected Thurber Prize for American Humor in Cartoon Art. He has even co-created educational comic books for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that are used in classrooms nationwide to teach financial literacy. His flexibility in both content and media types is another factor that Winters says make him the ideal inaugural Cartoon Laureate.
Noth has spent his career cartooning and doesn’t plan to quit anytime soon, but he has some common-sense advice for budding cartoonists.
“Cartooning is a great thing to fall in love with, and if you love it, do it,” he says. “But understand it’s not a great way to make a living.”
