Last weekend, the National Cartoonists Society held the Reuben Awards, in Philadelphia. Just a few months earlier, I had been invited to join the ranks; one of the greatest honors of my decade and a half in cartooning. My membership was finalized just in time to attend the Reubens (the Oscars equivalent for professional cartoonists).

It was an incredible experience to witness one of my longtime cartooning heroes, Lynn Johnston, winning the fifth NCS lifetime Medal of Honor. This year’s Reuben Award was presented to Glen Keane, legendary character animator at Walt Disney Animation Studios for feature films, including The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan, and Tangled (and son of Family Circus creator, Bil Keane).

Cartooning involves long hours of working solo, so it was a huge pleasure to connect with so many other professionals in this field. Many thanks to John Rose (Snuffy Smith), Greg Cravens (The Buckets, editorial cartoonist), Ray Billingsley (Curtis), Nathan Archer (editorial cartoonist), Jeff Stahler (Moderately Confused, editorial cartoons), Bill Griffith (Zippy the Pinhead), Farley Katz (New Yorker cartoonist), Joe Dator (New Yorker cartoonist), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy, Green Lantern Corps), Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), Mike Peters (Mother Goose & Grimm), and most of all my close friend and mentor, Gary Brookins (Shoe, Pluggers) who all made us feel welcome and right at home. We can’t wait to come back.

Here are a few photos from the weekend.