Umbert Gets Licensing Deal

ChristianShirts.net, a faith-based retailer of pro-family and pro-life merchandise, has signed a licensing agreement with cartoonist Gary Cangemi, creator of Umbert the Unborn.

According to a press release announcing the licensing arrangement, ChristianShirts.net will feature Umbert on T-shirts, bumper stickers, envelope stickers, buttons, and more.

The merchandise will feature Umbert-isms familiar to regular readers of the cartoon in the National Catholic Register, such as: “I Support a Woman’s Right to be Born,” “Irish Eyes Start Smiling in the Womb,” “Unborn Kids Are People Too,” and “Life Begins at Conception ... Viability Starts After College!”

According to the press release, “Cangemi, a professional cartoonist and graphic artist for over 30 years, ‘conceived’ Umbert in 2001, while rummaging through a scrapbook of his political cartoons. Seeing an editorial cartoon he drew years earlier of a baby about to be aborted, Cangemi thought about the impact that a regular prenatal character would have on the imagination of the public at large and children in particular. He threw together a dozen strips and pitched the idea to faith-based publications. Almost immediately, the strip was picked up by the National Catholic Register and a dozen other papers. Since then, Umbert’s readership has grown to over a hundred publications, including Faith & Family magazine, pro-life newsletters, church bulletins and diocesan newspapers.”