Tandberg started working at Leader Community Newspapers in 1963, although he claimed he lost this job for impersonating his boss. At around the same time, he was producing a regular comic strip called "Fred and Others" which was syndicated to The Herald in Melbourne, The Advertiser in Adelaide, and eventually international papers including The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. After a few newspapers dropped the strip, Tandberg approached The Age about taking it on. Editor Graham Perkin declined, but offered him a job as a political cartoonist, which he reluctantly accepted in 1972, thus beginning a 45-year career with the newspaper. Tandberg became known for his distinctive "pocket" cartoons—minimalist single-panel images to complement and draw attention to a story.
