Journalists are known for their gallows humor, but the editorial cartoon in The Seattle Times a few days before Thanksgiving was downright disturbing.

Titled "Everything gravy? Not so much," the panel showed a fallen ax and two turkeys, one with its head missing. The intact Tom turns to his headless companion and says: "Ha! That's nothing. You should see my 401(k)."

If cartoonist Eric Devericks' art is a bit darker than usual these days, he can be forgiven. On Nov. 13, the ax fell on him. "It's tough to try to be funny or witty when your life is a wreck," the 32-year-old artist says, managing a weak laugh.

Devericks is one of about 150 employees being let go in a third round of layoffs or buyouts at the newspaper this year. His last day is Dec. 12.

The Times is not alone. Newspapers across the country have shed thousands of jobs in recent months as advertising revenues and circulation continue to plummet. The economic downturn has only made it harder on the industry, and in this rapidly changing ecosystem, cartoonists are among the most endangered species.

In the past three years, around three dozen artists have been laid off, forced to take buyouts or to retire, according to the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. The toll was nine during one three-month period this summer. And with the stakes as high as they are -- Devericks' paycheck is the sole support for wife Brandi and their three children -- this cartoonist is about to give up a career that has known only success.

In 2001, Devericks won the AAEC's John Locher Memorial Award, given annually to the best college-age editorial cartoonist in North America. In spring 2002, his senior year, the editors at The Times offered Devericks a trial position as cartoonist, followed by a full-time gig.

But as the number of newspapers -- and their profit margins -- shrank, cartoonists have increasingly come to be viewed as a kind of luxury. In a memo to the staff the day before the Nov. 4 election, Publisher Frank Blethen and President Carolyn Kelly said that while the paper's print and online readership "continue to be strong and stable," the company "had to adjust to structural industry changes which have reduced advertising revenue in all media, worldwide. "

The Devericks family is staying in Seattle long enough for the kids to finish out the semester, and are moving in with friends to save December's rent. In January, they're heading to Southern California, where two buddies have offered Devericks a job as a business development specialist for their new industrial design company.

In the interim, Devericks has toyed with the idea of making his last cartoon a headstone with his own name on it. But he has received many kind notes since word of the layoff leaked, even from politicians he has skewered. "I think I'd like to do something nice to say goodbye."