Nothing repulses a reader more than an inside joke he doesn't comprehend. I have actually had worldly-wise newsmen in our city room bring me my competitor's efforts and ask me to explain whatinell he was driving at. Now that is not my idea of an effective cartoon, yet obviously some editor thought it deucedly clever or he wouldn't have okayed it. The incomparable Herblock , the best in our business and a good friend of mine, maintains that if only 10 per cent of his readers get his message that is still a successful cartoon. I disagree, but Herb certainly has the acclaim to prove his point.
Poor taste is offensive even if it is funny.
My main objection to the bitter satire school, I think, is the ugliness that pervades it both in drawing and in subject matter. There is no warmth to it. No effort to present anything but a harsh picture. Poor taste is still offensive even if it is funny. Sarcasm as a steady diet is not a very palatable dish.