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December 28, 2007 Check out my own 2007 Year in Review Slideshow from MSNBC.com.
I'm pleased to announce that we've added
a new cartoonist to our site, Drew Litton, the sports cartoonist for the
Rocky Mountain News in Denver, Colorado. Fifty years ago, sports
cartoonists were common at major daily newspapers - now I can
think of only one other full time sports cartoonist, Bill Gallo, at the New York Daily News.
Ex-Mormon Cartoonist Says Romney Not
Telling Truth In his talk, Romney said "I believe in my Mormon faith" while also noting that the church's "teachings" would not influence his decisions if elected president. "Yeah, right," responded Benson, adding that "Romney also believes in misrepresenting what his Mormon Church actually espouses." Benson is the grandson of former Mormon leader Ezra Taft Benson. He told E&P that, in his view, a Mormon believer is required by church doctrine (as dictated by the church's "living prophet") to "obey God's commands" over anything else. He said "Romney, like all 'temple Mormons,' made his secret vows using Masonic-derived handshakes, passwords, and symbolic death oaths that he promised in the temple never to reveal to the outside world" -- and that Romney also secretly vowed to devote his "time, talents" and more "to the building of the Mormon religion on earth." So, said Benson, the only way Romney could be truly independent of the church as U.S. president would be to disavow Mormon doctrine. "He hasn't done that," said the Creators Syndicate-distributed cartoonist. "When Mitt says he belongs to a church that doesn't tell him what to do, that's false; it's a 24/7, do-what-you're-told-to-do church," asserted Benson, who won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning in 1993. That was the year Benson left what he calls the "Mormon cult." One reason for his decision was disgust with the way Mormon officials tried to fool church members and the general public into believing that Ezra Taft Benson -- Steve's then-94-year-old grandfather and church president -- was still capable of leading the church. "He was not mentally or physically in a place where he could make any meaningful decisions," recalled Benson. "I know it because I saw his condition with my own eyes." Benson -- who was contacted by E&P for this story -- said journalists have basically given Romney a free pass on the "fundamental contradiction" between being an observant Mormon and a U.S. president. "Most journalists don't know about actual Mormon teachings and practices," noted the cartoonist, adding that they instead see the religion as perhaps "strange" but "rather benign." Romney "needs to face an informed member of the media with 'cojones' who has a working and perhaps personal experience with Mormonism," said Benson. "It would be harder for Romney to do his well-practiced duck and dodge."
Another reason Benson distrusts the words in Romney's speech is because the candidate has changed his public positions on issues such as abortion and gay rights to woo conservative GOP voters in states like Iowa rather than the more liberal voters he once courted to become governor of Massachusetts. "He flips and flops like Jesus is coming tomorrow," said the cartoonist. "It's like Romney is reading from the Mormon Church playbook." Benson explained his last comment by noting that the Mormon Church has also "publicly flipped 180 degrees when it feels it's necessary for its image, for its financial solvency, and for political expediency." He mentioned, by way of example, that black Mormons weren't allowed into the priesthood until 1978. And while polygamy has been publicly disavowed by the Mormon Church, Benson said "the church still holds that it will be practiced as a matter of eternal doctrine in heaven. The church also currently performs polygamist marriage 'sealings' in its temples around the world." Benson predicted that Romney will not win the Republican presidential nomination. If Romney is nominated, added the cartoonist, he will not defeat his Democratic opponent. Voters, said Benson, "are not ready
for someone in the Oval Office who has committed to absolute
obedience to a religion they feel is extremely odd and not in
the American mainstream. I trust the rational U.S. electorate,
not the weird Mormon God." December 10, 2007 From Vince O'Farrell: G'day Daryl,
Rainer sent us an outline of his creative process. Want to send a comment to Rainer? E-mail him here. Comment on Rainer's cartoon below. I'll hand it over to Rainer: This is my creative process: I inform
myself reading the morning papers and looking in some online
news. I enjoy caricaturing George W Bush.
He is one of the most ridiculous politicians in my repertoire.
The policies he stands for are criminal and dangerous. But that
does not change his ridiculousness, other politicians espouse
the same policies. He only has to put them across, which causes
him difficulties, because he doesn't really understand
them. I like to draw Bush in relation to Condoleeza Rice as a
helpless toddler. His Secretary of State is his superior in intellect
and other aspects also. He follows her lead and cries on her
shoulder.
Kems was a wonderful guy and friend to
cartoonists all over the world. It is hard to believe that he
is gone. Our thoughts and prayers go to his family,
Helen, Jed, Hywel and Sebastian.
MORE INTERESTING STATS We have a great new system that allows our readers to subscribe to any cartoonist on the site and receive an e-mail with that cartoonist's most recent cartoon, whenever we post a new cartoon from each cartoonist. It has been running for about three months now - that is what the Cagle Eagle is hawking over in the column on the left. Take a look, it is pretty cool. Subscribe to as many as you want, it is FREE. I just got stats on the individual artist newsletters for the first time and I was a bit surprised to see who the most popular cartoonists are with our reader/subscribers. Here is the top ten list, with the most popular first (I blush): 1. Daryl Cagle Take a look below at cartoonists number 2, 3 and 4. Pat Bagley and Monte Wolverton are Bush bashers who are strongly against the war in Iraq. Eric Allie is a loyal Bushie and supporter of the war in Iraq. Here are three examples of recent Iraq cartoons from each:
November 8, 2007 Wow! So many interesting comments on Mr. Fish's Imaginary Jesus Friend cartoon. Come take a look. WRITERS STRIKE YAHTZEE! I'd write something about the writer's
Strike, but my mind has gone blank! Click to see our new collection of cartoons on
the Writers Strike.
November 7, 2007
Every so often I like to post a controversial cartoon here and see what kind of reaction the readers have. Since the cartoonists on our site all draw for mainstream newspapers I very rarely see cartoons that are so outrageous that I feel compelled to take a cartoon down - that said, much of our e-mail comes from readers who are outraged by one cartoon or another and demand that I take a cartoon down. If I respond, it is to say that we exist to offend. Cartoonist Dwayne "Mr. Fish" Booth comes from a different place. His cartoons appear in the alternative weeklies The Los Angeles Free Press and The Village Voice in New York, where his readers are rather more tolerant of Mr. Fish's tone. On our site, surrounded by mainstream cartoonists, Mr. Fish is the spice in the Fish stew. When I received Mr. Fish's cartoon yesterday I knew it would generate some reader reaction, so I decided to ask Dwayne some questions about it and post his responses for discussion. If any of our readers would like to comment on the cartoon below, or would like to comment on Mr. Fish's responses to my questions, please click here. This is what I wrote to Mr. Fish: 1) Did you expect offend a bunch of people with this cartoon? 2) When you do really provocative cartoons like this, the audience in the Los Angeles Free Press and the Village Voice is less likely to be offended than a more typical cross-section of America audience - maybe like the audience on our site. You know you don't get mainstream papers running cartoons like this, right? 3) Tell me about the angry e-mail. 4) Is Jesus a bad guy too? Read the response below the cartoon and
COMMENT. Not with this one, no. I think that it's pretty clear that Bush is the target of my ridicule, not Jesus, whose approval rating is considerably higher than the President's. In fact, the fact that I specify in the gag line that it is Bush's imaginary Savior might help to deflect any criticism that attempts to say that I am mocking Christianity as it exists outside of George W's head. It is actually a cartoon about what the absence of Christ's most basic moral teachings looks like, not the other way around. 2) When you do really provocative cartoons like this, the audience in the Los Angeles Free Press and the Village Voice is less likely to be offended than a more typical cross-section of America audience - maybe like the audience on our site. You know you don't get mainstream papers running cartoons like this, right? Right, which is why, I believe that images such as mine are often misinterpreted and seen as political or religious debasements rather than as well-intentioned attempts to seek out the ideas muted by patriotic or religious symbolism. Advertisers, who provide the overwhelming bulk of funding for the mainstream, assume that dissent and rigorous debate over controversial issues is a deterrent to the selling of feel-good products - and they're right. Sometimes the feel-good product is our own hubris. More nay saying allowed into the mainstream might've prevented the invasion of Iraq rather than the lesser prize of preventing another Republican presidency. 3) Tell me about the angry e-mail. They come regularly and I answer every single one. I typically find that I can eventually develop a dialogue with my non-fans, converting some to fans even, because they generally blow all their anger in the first volley and are left with a frustration that they're all too happy to have dissipated through conversation. People are generally civil with each other when forced to quantify their vilification of another person, as there are very few real villains in the world capable of matching the ridicule they invite. 4) Is Jesus a bad guy too? Jesus is whoever a storyteller intends
him to be, regardless of whether you believe he existed or not,
because all that we have of him - given the fact that he was
either born or invented over 2000 years ago - are other people's
interpretations, followed by our own interpretations of their
interpretations. Hitler's Jesus, for example, is different from
Dr. Martin Luther King's. In fact, the very radical notion presented
by the origins of Christianity, namely that the underprivileged
have legitimate human value, is a hippie concept I believe to
be much further to the left of anything that most liberal Democrats
would want to support financially or to throw public policy behind.
In that way, my championing of the victims in most everything
that I cartoon aligns me much more with Jesus Christ than anyone
claiming to be his critic.
Clay Bennett Wins the Job in Chattanooga Clay Bennett, a long time contributor to our site and a Pulitzer Prize winner, will be moving from his current job at the Christian Science Monitor, to take over the editorial cartooning spot at the Chattanooga Times-Free Press, left vacant when Bruce Plante moved to the Tulsa World, to fill the spot left open with the tragic death of Doug Marlette. Congratulations to Clay on his move! Here's an article on the move, courtesy of Editor & Publisher UPDATE: 'CSM' Cartoonist Clay Bennett Talks to E&P About His Move to Chattanooga Paper By Dave Astor Published: November 05, 2007 1:00 PM ET NEW YORK Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Clay Bennett is leaving The Christian Science Monitor to join The Chattanooga (Tenn.) Times Free Press for several reasons. "I've had a hankering to get back to a metro paper," said Bennett, who joins the Times Free Press on Jan. 1 -- exactly 10 years to the day he started at the Monitor. "There's something to having a real constituency you can see." This also means a number of Bennett's Times Free Press cartoons will be local, which he looks forward to. "Local cartoons give readers what they can't get anywhere else," said Bennett, who mostly did national and international commentary for the Monitor -- and will continue to do those kinds of cartoons for the Times Free Press along with local ones. Bennett will replace Bruce Plante, who recently left the Times Free Press for the Tulsa (Okla.) World. The Monitor cartoonist told E&P that he heard good things about the Times Free Press from Plante, including praise about the "latitude" the paper allows its cartoonist. And given that the paper has two editorial pages (one liberal and one conservative), it would be difficult to "go outside what the newspaper professes" in its opinions, Bennett said wryly. "My political leanings are more liberal than not, but a lot of cartoons I do don't take a partisan position," he said. Bennett, 49, is also looking forward to working in Chattanooga, a city he has known and loved since he was a teen. Indeed, it will be a return to the south for Bennett, who worked for newspapers such as the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times. And the South Carolina native went to high school and college in two Alabama towns along the Tennessee River, which Chattanooga also borders. "I'm starting to feel a bit like Huck Finn," he quipped, adding: "I've always had this emotionally conflicted relationship with the South, but I can't deny the influence it's had on my life." Bennett joined the Boston-based Monitor in 1998 -- four years before winning the Pulitzer. Bennett said he'll always be grateful to the Monitor for hiring him, because he spent three years unable to find a staff cartooning job after being let go by the St. Petersburg Times. "The Monitor took a chance on me when no one else seemed to want to," he said. "So leaving is a bittersweet decision for me." Bennett said he expects the Monitor, which has a history of employing cartoonists, to hire a replacement for him. The Christian Science Monitor News Service has been distributing Bennett's cartoons, and the newly hired Times Free Press staffer said he's interested in signing with another syndicate to distribute the work he'll do for the Chattanooga paper. Tom Griscom, publisher and executive editor of the Times Free Press, said Bennett's work will appear in color on the front page of the Perspective section each Sunday and four times a week in black-and-white on the daily editorial pages. Bennett, who said his cartoons will still run in color on the Web, noted that he enjoys working in black-and-white. He creates his Monitor cartoons in black-and-white before adding color towards the end of the process. Griscom also said: "The Times Free Press received inquiries from readers and from those in the cartoonist profession as to whether our newspaper would join the ranks of those jettisoning the position with the departure of Mr. Plante." The answer, obviously, is no. Bennett -- a former president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists -- is now in the process of trying to sell his Massachusetts home and "move five people, three cats, and one guinea pig" to Tennessee in two months.
Some interesting stats We get lots of statistics from our cartoon database and I thought I would share a couple of stats here. Usually no one cartoon stands out above the rest as "most viewed" - but this month one cartoon dwarfs all the others in views, by a huge margin. The cartoon is "Gay Dumbledore" by Terry "Aislin" Mosher, below right. What does this tell us about our audience? hmmm. We have a new system for making comments on cartoons! Click here to leave a comment on the Gay Dumbledore cartoon.
1 Bush
Alli Dilem from Algeria joins our site I'm delighted to announce that Algerian cartoonist Ali Dilem has joined our site. Ali has been battling the government in Algeria for a long time, facing prosecution for insulting government officials there. See my Quicktime interview with Ali from 2005. See Ali's cartoons below. His cartoons are likely to make some of our readers angry - just keep in mind that he makes the Algerian officials even angrier. See Ali's cartoon archive here. E-mail Ali.
Emerging from my funk I've been getting complaints from readers that I haven't been drawing enough cartoons. Cartoonists complain about me not answering e-mails. Sorry, I'm just now emerging from my yearly funk finishing our annual "Best Political Cartoons of the Year" book. I'll be returning to the regular world any time now. That's the book on the right. We just sent it off to the publisher and it is slated to be in bookstores at the beginning of December, in time for Christmas. It sounds kind of silly to be finishing the "Best of the Year" book in October, but that's what it takes to get the book into the stores at the time when people want to buy it. I guess it's really the best of the fiscal year, October to October. I hope nothing happens in the next couple of months. It is also kind of silly to call the book "2008 Edition" when it contains cartoons from 2007. There are a couple of unsatisfying reasons for that - first, the book will be on sale throughout 2008, and the publisher thinks it would look old if it had the previous year on the cover. Also, a competing "Best of" book inflates the year in the same way, so if we put 2007 on the cover, it would look like the competing book is newer than ours. Crazy how inflation works. It will take a few more days for me to fully re-emerge.
Chattanooga will Hire a New Cartoonist The Chattanooga Times-Free Press will be hiring a new cartoonist to replace Bruce Plants, who is moving to the Tulsa World. Given the way things had been going lately, it seemed likely that Bruce's chair in Chattanooga would be left empty - now that's not a worry. Here is the ad for the job:
My buddy Jimmy
Margulies asked me to post that he has won first place in
the "Party Toons" editorial cartoon contest. Mike
Keefe took second place with his cartoon below. The Party
Toons contest is associated with a show that is being put together
for PBS, starring our own Will Durst, covering the news of the week
in editorial cartoons. October 5, 2007 Bruce Plante will Move to Tulsa Bruce Plante of the Chattanooga Times Free Press will be moving to fill Doug Marlette's spot at the Tulsa World. Marlette died earlier this year and portfolios have been pouring in to the Tulsa World, since the paper announced that they would be refilling the position. It is a much larger newspaper for Bruce and we congratulate him on his upcoming move. September 30, 2007 YOUR CARTOONS WILL BE GREATLY MISSED BY
THOSE OF US WHO FEEL EXACTLY AS YOU. WISHING YOU SUCCESS Lynne
Masters Jackee Allen, NJ
The Cartoonist Team of Cox & Forkum is Calling it Quits
I had a few questions for John and Allen, here is our conversation: Daryl: I was disappointed to hear that you are quitting political cartooning. I've noticed your cartoons all over the web, and I'm sure you have fans on our site, so it looked like you were a self-syndicating success. What are your reasons for quitting? Allen: I wrote about my reasons on our site. In short, it's mainly because I need to focus more attention on my publishing business, which is how I make a living, and focus less attention on daily politics. I no longer want to expend so much creative energy on the negative aspects of life. My hat is off to all the cartoonists, columnists and bloggers who can do it year in and year out. John: I'll miss working over ideas with Allen, but ultimately I've been more interested in my paintings and other less political projects. In fact I'm working on a project comic-book project with writer Jeff Racho that'll probably be out in November. Lots of fun stuff to do out there that doesn't involve divisive subject matter. Allen: Also, I don't know how much we qualify as a self-syndicating success. We did generate some income, mostly by self-publishing our own books and selling other products. We had a few publication and Internet subscribers, but that was never a big revenue source. I wasn't able to consistently put in the necessary time for marketing our cartoons to publications. Practically all of our clients found us through our Web site. I will say this: I've been impressed at what's possible in our digital world. From the Web site to print-on-demand books, it's amazing what one or two people can accomplish if they have the knowledge to put it all together. Daryl: I can't think of any other teams of artists and writers who do editorial cartoons; how did being a team effect your work and your decision to quit? Allen: Editorial cartooning is not exactly a career for getting rich. A team is at a further disadvantage in the marketplace, because it can't charge more simply because there are two people. There's also the added challenge of collaborating in such an opinion-based medium. Fortunately John and I are pretty close when it comes to philosophy and politics, so there weren't too many conflicts. John: Learning to collaborate was hard for me. I tend to be rather stubborn when it comes to personal aesthetics. I had to rein in my tendency toward humor to get at the real essence of Allen's approach to political cartoons -- controversial matter requires a serious approach. Thankfully, Allen was (and still is) patient enough to let me find my way and accomplish some of the best art I ever produced. Allen: John and I have known each other since the early '80s. We went to art school together and were roommates for a time. We have years of common experience to draw upon when working out an idea. If I think of an idea based on a famous old photograph or John finds inspiration in a classical painting, odds are we know exactly what the other is talking about. John's also a better illustrator than I am, and I'm better as a political commentator. Together we created something we couldn't create separately. Our guiding principle when working together is: What serves the idea? Everything else we try to ruthlessly slashed away. But probably he most difficult aspect was learning to communicate long distance about the cartoons. We live in different cities. Out of over a thousand cartoons, we've created maybe six cartoons together while we were in the same room. Daryl: What are your favorite cartoons? John: I prefer the silly ones. One of my new favorites was a recent one where I drew Ahmadinejad as a pleading child confronting a New York cop. Cracks me up every time I look at it. We used a famous photo for that piece and it really turned out well.
I also happen to get a big kick out of
the more surreal pieces. I'm at my best when I'm making stuff
up as opposed having to depict real environments and situations
that require lots of draftsmanship.
Mosque space ship. Alien pigs. What's not to enjoy? Allen: My favorites are cartoons with a powerful, immediate impact, which usually means they're iconic and have little or no dialogue. A recent favorite of mine:
A cartoon like this can speak directly to a viewer, almost on an emotional level. This happens to be one that didn't appeal to John from the drawing side, because of the necessary drafting. I also like these two for the same reasons:
These two happened to play right into John's strengths. The snakes being so large allowed John to include lots of detail, giving them a creepy feel. And the creationism cartoon has a great reference, of course. But John is himself a painter, so he knew just how to illustrate the artist and his tools. Daryl: Do you foresee doing editorial cartoons again? Ever? Allen: As a regular gig, no. We might occasionally produce a cartoon, if something in the news gets under my skin deeply enough. But I plan to stay away from closely following politics for a while. John: I'll be dabbling in editorial cartoons every once in a while. I've developed a healthy respect for sharp political commentary, and I'm interested in trying new ways of showing off my perspective on things. At my blog, John Cox Art, I'm posting everything from paintings to caricatures to comics . Daryl: We're always hearing from editors who complain that most editorial cartoons are liberal and who tell us that they want to see more conservative editorial cartoons. You are unusual for being conservative cartoonists. What is your experience with that? Does that matter? Allen: I haven't had much experience with that. All our clients had right-of center editorial pages. No left-of-center publication ever contacted us about providing an alternative perspective. But ultimately I don't think it should matter. One should do the cartoons one feels passionate about. Daryl: There are very few examples of successful self-syndicating editorial cartoonists. Most editorial cartoonists who don't have full-time jobs do it for the love of it, and make their living doing something else. Do you have any comments on the terrible business climate for editorial cartoonists - with newspapers dying and web sites unwilling to pay for content? Allen:
Only that that's just the nature of today's marketplace, and
cartoonists have to market themselves accordingly. But I don't
have an inside perspective of that end of the business. It was
never possible that some publication would hire two guys
to do one cartoon. So we've straddled both worlds from the beginning.
It's tough. I'm not sure what the future holds, but if our experience
is any indication (and I'm not saying it is), then cartoonists
may have to start doing more to market, publish, and distribute
their own work. There will always be some publications that will
hire full-time cartoonists. But they seem to be fewer and fewer.
The remaining cartoonists will have to seek out or invent new
venues for their work.
CARTOON RIOTS IN BANGLADESH A new round of Muhammad cartoon rioting broke out in Bangladesh, protesting the cartoon at the right, which depicts a boy telling a mullah that he has named his cat "Muhammad." Police with batons beat back protestors in Dhaka yesterday. The cartoonist, Arifur Rahman, has been held in jail for a month after the government said his drawings had insulted Muslims. Bangladesh's home minister is quoted saying that Rahman had "hurt the sentiments of the people." The cartoon was published in the satirical magazine, "Alpin." And reprinted in the nation's leading Bangla-language newspaper. Bangladesh is under military rule since
January when elections were cancelled after vote-rigging allegations
led to the army taking power. Seizing and banning publications
seems to be a popular thing for the Bangladesh military government
to do now. I like it. Spot on (pun intended) The two
critics you posted below the cartoon should think Our military is not yet fighting a real
guerrilla warfare. Nor have we choosing to fight the enemy from
9/11 lessons have not been learned from Vietnam. Wiley Miller More Comments on General Dog My e-mail box is still humming with passionalte comments about my General Dog cartoon. Here are some more comments ... From: Dan Tidrick The General is a man who stands on his
own. He is on no one's leash. Pulling out and abandoning this
was and these people would be another Vietnam where we did NOT
lose. We QUIT and millions paid the price Bet you never served our country - takes a sick person to put out this type of crap R Maxon Knowing the PRESSURE that the GENERAL is Under, & also as ONE that Believes WE should GET OUT ASAP,I still think the CARTOON As well as the Move On Paid Article in the NY Times Went Over the EDGE. GOD BLESS ALL (Including the GENERALS) OUR TROOPS Frank Mitchell The cartoons hit the nail on the head. I voted for the democrats to get something done, and all they have done is back down. which one is the dog? Cyndy, Long beach I don't particularly object to a general portrayed as a dog, but perhaps VP Chaney should be holding any leash. Actually, I'm inclined to believe that although the general knows his place in the chain of command, that he was speaking the truth as he knows and/or believes it to be. In any event, if the role of a political cartoon is to stimulate thought -- you succeeded. Bad doggie! The dog has gone to far but not Cagle. Jean Waller, Sherman Oaks, CA I think the cartoon was a little bit of a low blow. Suggesting that General Petraeus --- as well respected as he is --- would yield to Bush's desires is probably not true and certainly not fair. Petraeus is much brighter and more experienced in such matters than Bush in my opinion. In addition he has surrounded himself with very qualified people, including commanders from other nations all, like him, well educated and men of proven honor. When you damn Petraeus you damn them too. In short, I think Petraeus is very capable of giving Bush an ear full. Michael R. Losey, SPHR, CAE Yes ! Degrading people based on your political preferences does nothing to promote civility and respect for anyone. If you've got proof that he said what someone, anyone-- Bush-- his Commander etc,told him to say, instead of what he believes then lay him out. But if you're just a parrot for a political party then you need to tell the world that you're the dummy whose strings are being pulled, not your victim. Bobby Weaver How can you call yourself an American and put out this Kind of garbage. Jim Dexter Lafayette, In Maybe your readers are angry because the truth hurts sometimes. As for the unpatriotic remark, it isn't very patriotic to lie to an entire country so your buddies in the oil and weapons business can increase their profit margins. The people that desstroyed the world trade center didn't like Saddam either. He sure as hell wasn't a fundamental extremist, so we did Bin and the boys a favor by opening Iraq up for them. Prior to that all they had was a few caves on the Pakistan border, but we couldn't go in there and get them cause then the war would be over before Unocal got their new pipeline built in Afghanistan. So I contend that in the name of patriotism the power and money people get to continue playing their games, while our kids bleed all over the Middle East. John Parker Mr. Cagle: I loved the Doggie General cartoon! Keep up the good work -- and I would say so EVEN IF I personally agreed with Petraeus or thought that his report was truly objective and independent. Please do not be discouraged by those who call the cartoon unpatriotic or unAmerican. Dissent is considered by many to be the highest form of patriotism. And mindless deference to authority is more characteristic of Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, and modern-day China than it has ever been of America. By satirizing these very serious issues, your humor reaches out to your narrow-minded critics; hopefully some of them will be changed for the better. Keep on keeping on. Autumn Spritzer, Tucson, AZ I loved it. Very astute --jiniwhite September 11, 2007
My latest cartoon, a comment on General Petraeus' report to congress on progress in Iraq, has drawn an unusually spirited response from readers. I find that interesting, because a couple of weeks ago I drew a general standing in a field of dead Iraqi civilians, saying, " I'm pleased to report that we're seen a recent decrease in the fighting in Iraq" - and this cartoon got no reader response. Drawing a general as a dog touches nerves - showing a general indifferent to the death around him gets no reader reaction. Go figure. What do you think? Does the dog go too far? You can e-mail us with your comments on my general-dog cartoon. Here are some reactions so far: In short, I think Petraeus is very capable of giving Bush an ear full. Michael R. Losey, SPHR, CAE September
6, 2007 Animated Editorial Cartoons? Sorry, No. Here's an interesting blog post about how cartoonist Mike Shelton recently lost his job at the Orange County (CA) Register. Mike participated on our site for a couple of years. He's is a great guy and, unfortunately, is no longer drawing regular editorial cartoons. He plans on concentrating on animation. Mike's departure from the Register was less than cordial and should come as a disturbing lesson to the many editorial cartoonists who advocate doing animated editorial cartoons to make a cartoonist more valuable to his newspaper. WELCOME BACK, PEDRO I'd like to welcome Nicaraguan cartoonist,
Pedro X. Molina, back to the site. That's
Pedro's Michael Moore below. It's nice to have you here again,
Pedro! Send Pedro a "welcome
back" e-mail.
No Prison for Spanish Cartoonist
CLICK HERE
TO GO TO THE July/August 2007, CAGLE WEB LOG
|
Benson
himself drew a post-Romney speech cartoon that pictured John
F. Kennedy saying "Ask not what your country can do for
you..." followed by Romney saying "...do whatever it
takes for me to win Iowa." (Many people believe Romney gave
what he hoped would be a JFK-like speech on religion because
he was losing support in Iowa.) But Benson said he hasn't heavily
focused on Romney's Mormonism in other cartoons. "Religious
issues are very touchy," he said. "I do what I can,
but I pick my battles."
I'd
like to encourage all aspiring college cartoonists to apply for
our National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF), Jay Kennedy
Memorial Scholarship. It is new this year, the winner will
get a healthy (though as yet undisclosed) multi-thousand dollar
scholarship along with a trip to the National Cartoonists Society's
annual Reuben Awards convention where he/she will have an opportunity
to meet his/her cartoonist heroes and receive the award on stage
with the other cartoonist award winners.
December 4, 2007
We
also get a good idea of what is on readers' minds by what they
search for. Here is the list of most popular search terms this
month on 
I
was saddened to hear that the conservative editorial cartooning
team of 
September
21, 2007
General
Dog on Iraq
September 4, 2007