Sometimes a Glenn Chadbourne’s subject is bigger than one single issue. He addressed the state of affairs in this effort, published Sept. 10, 2020. (LCN file)
In 1985, Glenn Chadbourne, of Newcastle, was a 24-year-old college student, attending art school in Portland and nurturing a pipe dream of making a living in the niche world of make-believe horror. Today, according to the terms he set for himself, he is an unqualified success, as familiar to fans of Stephen King’s work as the personal peculiarities of the horror master himself.
This week marks the 40th anniversary of Chadbourne’s association with The Lincoln County News. Beginning Jan. 31, 1985, Chadbourne’s cartoons have appeared on LCN’s editorial page every single week, almost without fail.
Chadbourne said he was shocked to learn it had been 40 years since his first submission. He was just grinding away when this milestone snuck up on him, he said.
The only “official” cartoonist in the newspaper’s 150-year history, Chadbourne is currently LCN’s longest-serving staff member outside of the Roberts family, which owns the business. During his tenure, he has worked with seven LCN editors and three generations of Robertses.
Although the work amounts to a few hours per week, Chadbourne called it a labor of love and said he plans to continue contributing as long as the newspaper will have him.
Aside from the business relationship, Chadbourne said he likes local news in general and LCN in particular.
“I love it, I really do,” he said. “This is home. It gives me a feeling. It’s cozy. I like the people and they have been good to me over the years.”
LCN Publisher John Roberts said Chadbourne has been an integral part of the newspaper’s editorial page for four decades.
“His wit and humor match perfectly with his ability to draw cartoons that enhance the paper,” Roberts said. “Congratulations Glenn on a job well done. We look forward to many more years of working together.”
LCN Editor Maia Zewert said she couldn’t imagine LCN without Chadbourne.
“Beyond being ridiculously talented, Glenn is one of the kindest people I know,” Zewert said. “It’s always a joy when he walks into the office on a Tuesday morning with a bellowed ‘hello!,’ a new cartoon in hand and recommendations of movies or books members of the staff might want to check out.”
Chadbourne credits Tierney Stetson, a close friend who worked in LCN’s Newcastle office at the time, for opening the newspaper’s doors to him. Chadbourne was not actively seeking work at the time, he said, but Stetson approached Sam and Abbie Roberts, who at the time were the publisher and managing editor, respectively, suggested the newspaper needed a cartoon and she knew a cartoonist.
For much of his time on staff, Chadbourne would call the editor, usually very early in the week, and solicit ideas for the cartoon. Subjects would usually be the hot topic of discussion for the week. In recent years he has been left to his own devices to come up with suitable subjects, an approach he much prefers, Chadbourne said.
Cartoons can take anywhere from a couple hours for a simple line drawing to seven hours or so for something with an extreme amount of detail, he said.
Newcastle artist and illustrator Glenn Chadbourne has been contributing to The Lincoln County News for 40 years. The locally owned newspaper published Chadbourne’s first submission on Jan. 31, 1985. (Sherwood Olin photo, LCN file)
Born and raised in Newcastle, Chadbourne said he was a withdrawn only child who found refuge early on in reading and art. He took an early interest in the horror genre, devouring monthly magazines with titles like Creepy, Vampirella, and Famous Monsters of Filmland as fast as he could get his hands on them.
He started drawing seriously when he was 9 or 10 years old. Beginning during his teenage years he produced and submitted illustrations by the dozens. He wrote, illustrated, and self-published a couple comic books, which sold just well enough to break even.
“I sent stuff out for years and years and years when I was young,” Chadbourne told LCN in October 2023. “I’ve got barrels of rejection slips. You just sit in a slush pile and a lot of times people, they’re overwhelmed. They don’t have time to look at some unknown schmo.”
In the early 2000s, Chadbourne’s friend Rick Hautula, known as “Maine’s other horror writer,” connected Chadbourne with Cemetery Dance Publications, a small specialty publisher. Cemetery Dance connected Chadbourne to authors in need of his services and ultimately, courtesy Cemetery Dance owner and founder Rich Chizmar, connected Chadbourne and King.
Chizmar suggested he and Chadbourne both send letters to King, asking if King would allow Chadbourne to tackle a graphic novel for “The “Secretary of Dreams.” Chadbourne said in October 2023. “You could knock me down with a feather on that, and then that led to other King gigs … Once you do something for him, that really opens the floodgates for you for work.”
Forty years after Stetson opened the doors to Chadbourne’s first and longest-lasting professional relationship, the Newcastle horror icon said he has no desire to put his pen down anytime soon. He said he plans to continue contributing to LCN as long as the paper will have him.
“They’ll find me amongst the cobwebs,” he said. “That’s when I’ll retire.”
