Douglas Ladd Announces Retirement

DISCLAIMER: This was my tribute to Doug, the guy who runs The Pits Online. If you're not a member there, go now so you can get the joke!
In front of a stunned crowd in downtown Milwaukee yesterday, cartoonist Douglas “Doug” Ladd announced his retirement from fulltime drawing at the conclusion of the 2004 cartooning season.
“Its been a full career”, a teary-eyed Ladd explained, “but I think that I’ve accomplished everything I set out to do. Besides, Tony Stewart has my home address now, and is threatening to sue.”
From humble beginnings as a graphic artist, Ladd followed his dreams of obscure internet stardom. Faced with going up against the monolithic Smithtoons, he decided to go it alone, creating his own website from scratch.
“We got a great group of guys together—Me, Donnie,…uh, Me—and put together a site that we could be proud of. Plus, its not TrackLaughs, which is a big bonus.”
Ladd has cited the recent strains of competing full time for the Cartoon Cup as a major reason in retiring from full-time competition. In addition, such pressing needs as cleaning out his garage and sealing the driveway loom large on his calendar.
Ladd also reiterated that he will not be leaving the drawing world entirely, running a partial schedule in 2005. The “Changing Pens” tour will stop at selected dates, and feature such special paint schemes as “Naked Sterling”, “Beat up Vickers”, and “I Can’t Cope”.
Ladd’s teammate, Mike “Outside Groove” Mackler, declined direct comment, though his spokesperson said that, “while its sad to see Doug go, maybe he’ll be replaced by that sexy, sexy Derrike Cope”.

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