Industry news for the professional cartoonist
Bill Bramhall illustrates what FDR was talking about in his oft-quoted, rarely contextualized remark that “we have nothing to fear but fear itself.” It was in his first inaugural, as he took the reins from Herbert Hoover and began the task of rebuilding a shattered economy. Specifically, he was making a promise that honesty and…
Cornered touches on the fact that birds have a close evolutionary link to dinosaurs. I’ve been referring to the visitors at my feeders as “feathered dinosaurs” for some time and, by the way, they have really begun crowding in for the past week or so, which I would put down to fattening up for the…
This story arc from Wallace the Brave — which starts here — is so totally ridiculous from beginning to current moment that it would be futile to try to point out where it went so wonderfully off the tracks, were it not for this segment. To set the scene, Spud was been picked up…
Relax, Willie. I’m gonna give cartoonists another 24 hours to catch up with the Kamala Harris choice. Today, we’ll set that table at which you don’t want to talk politics. This SMBC dropped before Biden’s announcement, but still presages the wisdom we’ll see shared online over the next 83 days. According to this depressing…
The week begins at Candorville with Lemont facing the start of school for his son and making a decision. It’s long been hard to time Back-to-School gags, because the start of school, once pretty much pinned as “just after Labor Day,” is now scattered all over the calendar. That’s still true during the pandemic, so…
There used to be a thing floating around the Internet about how no two nations that had McDonalds had ever gone to war. A more serious observation was that China had such major holdings in the American bond market that, if they ever cashed out or called them in, our economy would fall to pieces….
This week I think we’ll start our Friday Funnies with a Jason Chatfield cartoon that seems likely to piss off some people but gave me a laugh of recognition. I’ll admit he doesn’t have a caption reading “This is set in NYC,” but, then again, I’d suggest he doesn’t need one. Maybe other cities have…
This gig is often a case of chicken one day and feathers the next, and this is the former: The cartoonists have been sharpening their pens. Let’s start things off with Juxtaposition of the Day #1 (Steve Breen) (Adam Zyglis) (Chris Britt) Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) put a snippet from a blistering Senate speech…
People who don’t understand editorial cartooning often look for humor instead of incisive commentary, but the point is to have a point, not to get a laff. However, Signe Wilkinson offers a rare chance to get both with this one. I take Trump’s attempt to corrupt and thereby deny the November elections very seriously, but…
Matt Wuerker starts off today’s review of conspiracies with the widespread notion that the stock market is reflective of the overall economy. As he notes, the connection between the Dow Jones and how average people live is tenuous at best and, at the moment, we’re not “at best.” The market is inbred: It’s no longer…
I’ve held this Mike Thompson piece longer than I like to, but I’m going to use it now because it illustrates, perhaps by what it isn’t, a factor in much of what’s going on. Which is to say that I like it because of its depiction of AOC’s cheerful, stress-free, total obliteration of a bullying…
Smash Pages Q&A: Steenz The cartoonist who took over ‘Heart of the City’ this year discusses the comic strip process, her focus on the characters, her other projects and more. Smash Pages covers Steenz‘s career with the focus on her new gig as Heart of the City cartoonist. On getting the job: We started an…
Based on Sunday’s Wallace the Brave, Will Henry is apparently the only cartoonist who knows that tin-can telephones require a taut line. He’s too young to remember when comic books were for kids (rather than perennial adolescents — we’ll get back to that) and used to have filler pages with jokes, riddles and craft projects,…
I’m not going to single out any particular cartoonist on this first element, because it’s a large enough accusation and there are too many people against whom it could be levied. Having established that … Editorial cartooning should be an extension of journalism. It is, of course, based on opinion, but valid opinions cannot be…
If we’re going to have a round-up, we might as well start with a round-up, and, besides, any excuse to feature Dog Eats Doug is worthy. I’m not sure anyone as young as Doug would have a fantasy this well planned out, or that kids know anything about cowboys anymore anyway, but I’m also pretty…