PULITZERS: Who'll win the Cartooning prize come Monday?

It's the column that gets us in the true Pulitzer mood. Each March, like a rite of spring, Joe Strupp handicaps the top contenders for the April prizes. And his picks often have the ring of good insider scuttlebutt.

When it comes to cartooning, however, Strupp has a tougher chore of it, because really, most years, who knows? The Editorial Cartooning category seems to be anyone's guess. As Strupp wrote last month: "In the other categories of editorial writing, commentary, photos and editorial cartooning, it is hard to know which of the many annual nominees will get judges' eyes this year."

Part of the challenge and the sport of the thing, of course, is guessing whether the Pulitzer jurors will go with a repeat winner or seemingly seek a first-timer.

Such cartoonists as Steve Breen and David Horsey and Michael Ramirez are among the multiple winners who perpetually are in the running. And past winners such as Mike Luckovich seem to create Pulitzer-worthy portfolios each and every year.

But what of such rising stars as Politico's Matt Wuerker, who next Thursday will pick up his Herblock Prize for cartooning at the Library of Congress? Or ever-talented Pittsburgh veteran Rob Rogers (who, by the way, will be speaking at the Newseum in D.C. on Sunday). And quite a few veteran cartoonists have told me they expect to see the Washington Examiner's young Nate Beeler bag a Pulitzer one day. And those are just several worthy talents.

What do the pros think? Several commenters weigh in at DailyCartoonist.com.

So in advance of Monday's Pulitzer announcements, Comic Riffs will keep our ears open for more handicapping.