Cartoonists on Parade
Skip to commentsCartoons win ‘Best in Ohio’
Jeff Darcy won a couple 2024 ‘Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards’ from the Cleveland Press Club recently.
EDITORIAL CARTOON 1st place
“Daily Planet Superman” Jeffrey Darcy Cleveland.com
Judges’ comments: Excellent graphics, reminiscent of the Superman TV show. Spunky and fun!


BEST IN OHIO: ILLUSTRATOR 1st place
Jeff Darcy Cleveland.com
Judges’ comments: Creative and amusing cartoons. The art and the words wonderfully convey the message.
Jason Bredehoeft of The Columbus Dispatch took second in the Best in Ohio: Illustrator category.
Jeff Darcy did some humble bragging and posted part of his winning portfolio.
To lead this post I chose the Liberty Bell King Don cartoon only because it was the most timely with the ‘No King’ protest marches happening Saturday in Cleveland and cities across the nation.
More Timely Cartoons from the Past
With the events in LA over the past week — particularly the borderline inherent ability of the police and the military to radically escalate otherwise peaceful situations by both instigating and inciting violence — I thought I’d share a collection of politicial cartoons from from the late 1960s and early 1970s.


Sean Kleefeld pulls nearly a score of police cartoons from 50-plus years ago featuring Ron Cobb, Sergio Aragonés, Sam MIlai, Herblock, and other unidentified cartoonists.
More Reuben Programs
The National Cartoonists Society continues adding events to their 79th Annual Reuben gathering.
We are excited to announce several publishing industry experts will be participating during our Everyone’s An Expert table conversations!
- Cassandra Jones from IDW
- Margaret Raymo from Little Brown
- Weslie Turner from Harper Collins
- Calista Brill from First Second


We will also be making a giant collaborative art project with cartoonist and art educator Cara Bean. Her interactive session blends creativity, mindfulness, and playful exploration as you discover your personal “artist characters” and create your own unique piece of art.
Check out the program line-up (so far) at the NCS event page.
Cartoonist in a Nutshell
“There’s no place like home,” Dorothy Gale reminds us repeatedly in “The Wizard of Oz.” Steve Smeltzer, pen in hand and tongue in cheek, does Dorothy one better.
The cartoonist’s work has graced the pages of Reader’s Digest and the Wall Street Journal, among other national and international publications. But Smeltzer’s takes on his favorite subject appeared once a month from 2004 to 2017 under the title “Meanwhile, Back in the Fort” in Fort Wayne magazine.

Keith Elchert talks to cartoonist Steve Smeltzer and reviews “Fort Wayne in a Nutshell: A Cartoon Retrospective” for The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.
“I find the best environment for coming up with ideas is a quiet living room in the early morning,” Smeltzer writes in the FAQ section of his website. “I like to keep all sounds down, like radio, television, music, wives. Seriously, I really prefer complete silence while I’m working on ideas. One sentence can completely derail an idea that is marinating in my mind.
What a Crockett
Crockett was one of the major political cartoonists in DC, working at the Washington Star alongside Clifford Berryman, and his son Jim Berryman as a sports cartoonist. He moved to editorial cartooning in 1948, and when he retired he was replaced by Pat Oliphant.

Mike Rhode at Comics DC profiles editorial cartoonist Gib Crockett with a host of links.
feature image by Jack “King” Kirby; Captain America © Marvel Entertainment
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