Peru: cartoonist Carlín intimidated by police

February 7, 2024, 4:00 am

"Learn to tell them apart (Don’t get confused)"

From left to right: "Delinquent in a policeman’s suit", "Delinquent policeman ",

"Policeman doing his duty".

In a statement on January 30, 2024, the Peruvian National Police (PNP) announced that it would be taking legal action against cartoonist Carlín and his newspaper La República over the above cartoon.

The cartoon is a critical depiction of the Peruvian National Police.

It was published against a backdrop of media reports implicating members of the police in criminal activities.

The police communications department issued a statement (in Spanish) the same day.

Stating that the cartoon “ridicules” the police, it announced its intention to take legal action against the cartoonist and the newspaper La República.

Carlín, who stresses that his cartoon depicts an everyday situation in Peru, deplores this attack on his freedom of expression.

In 2020, he had already received insults and threats for a cartoon published in the same newspaper, for which he has worked for over twenty years.

This time, the attack goes beyond threats.

On Friday 2 February, the cartoonist and the newspaper La República were served with a notarised letter from the police, asking them to apologise and rectify their publication within 48 hours or face criminal proceedings for defamation.

Under article 132 of the Peruvian Penal Code, this offence carries a penalty of one to three years’ imprisonment, in breach of Inter-American jurisprudence ruling out any prison sentence for press offenses.

A number of cartoonists and journalists’ unions, such as the National Association of Journalists (ANP), the Instituto Prensa y Sociedad (IPYS) and the Peruvian Press Council (CPP), quickly rallied in support of the cartoonist and his newspaper, denouncing an attack on freedom of expression.

In its statement, the ANP points out that “humour enjoys special protection as a legitimate expression of freedom of expression” and that “a truly democratic system is based on tolerance of critical artistic expression, a tolerance that is clearly foreign to the person who drew the police statement”.

The IPYS’ lawyer, Roberto Peirera, emphasised that “the cartoon contains content that is critical of the police force, which has been severely criticised for objective and verifiable facts”.

The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Colombian lawyer Pedro Vaca Villarreal, reacted on X -formely Twitter (in Spanish):

“A cartoon does not affect the ‘institutional image’ of an entity. Eroding the space for humour aimed at an authority seriously undermines freedom of expression.

When the authorities are concerned by humour, it is because the thought it seeks to provoke is relevant”.

Support has thus spread far beyond national borders.

The World Association of News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) condemns this legal harassment and offers its support, as does the Inter-American Press Association (SIP).

The implications of this case on the work of the media, cartoonists and artists are causing growing concern in a country where attacks on press freedom are on the increase.

The ANP forecasts 206 attacks on the press in 2021 and 303 attacks in 2022, against a backdrop of marked political crisis.

Ranked 77 out of 180 in the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index in 2022, Peru dropped to 110 th place in 2023.

↧

de Adder Toast at the Post

February 11, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: "Cartoons do ano 2023" in Xira

≪ Previous: Peru: cartoonist Carlín intimidated by police

From The Daily Cartoonist.

It has been nearly a month since Michael de Adder‘s last weekly cartoon for The Washington Post.

Three years ago Michael, after freelancing for the paper, was signed as a contract cartoonist to The Washington Post and charged with supplying three cartoons a week.

Over the years that was dropped to two cartoons a week.

Then last Fall Michael announced he had been reduced to once a week.

That “new management” thing was a regular occurrence with The WaPo during 2023.

From Deadline:

[William] Lewis, who served as the CEO of Dow Jones and publisher of The Wall Street Journal from 2014 to 2020, will start in his role on Jan. 2 [2024]. He will succeed Patty Stonesifer, who has served as interim CEO in June [2023] after Fred Ryan announced his exit.

Now Mike Rhode at Comics DC has noticed that De Adder has been a no show at The WaPo for three weeks:

Michael de Adder appears to no longer be under contract with The Washington Post. He’s not listed as one of their three cartoonists on their Editorial Cartoon page, although Ann Telnaes, Edith Pritchett, and Michael Ramirez are. de Adder’s contributor page now reads “Michael de Adder was a political cartoonist for The Washington Post” and his last cartoon was January 16th.

Mike Rhode has reached out to Michael de Adder for more information and will report if any response comes.

Michael continues as a freelancer for the Halifax Chronicle Herald, the Toronto Star, and the Ottawa Hill Times.

Michael mentioned his Washington Post situation on X/Twitter last Friday night.

↧

"Cartoons do ano 2023" in Xira

February 18, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Jack Higgins 1954-2024

≪ Previous: de Adder Toast at the Post

From Víctor Vélez Chubasco's Facebook page.

Vila Franca de Xira presents, from February 24 to May 5, CartoonXira curated by António Antunes, at Celeiro da Patriarcal.

It features the work of cartoonists António. Carrilho, Cristina, Fazenda, Garcia, Gargalo, Maia, Monteiro, Rodrigo, Salgado, Saraiva and Silva.

Also presented, Imaginary horizons, a solo exhibition by Chubasco.

↧

Jack Higgins 1954-2024

February 19, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Harvard Faculty & Staff reposts antisemitic cartoon

≪ Previous: "Cartoons do ano 2023" in Xira

From The Chicago Sun-Times.

Jack Higgins, Pulitzer Prize-winning Chicago Sun-Times editorial cartoonist died February 10 after a long illness. He was 69.

Jack Higgins knew the power of the pen.

"Political cartoons are meant to take the mighty and the pompous and cut them down to a more manageable size. Afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted," he once wrote about his job.

He skewered local and national politicians alike, satirized scandals and offered poignant and absurd takes on city life and ills, especially gun violence.

In 1989 he won the Pulitzer for a collection of cartoons that included a drawing that pictured vice presidential candidate Dan Quayle playing golf while Vietnamese children flee from a napalm attack, with Quayle asking the children, "Mind if I play through?"

Mr. Higgins had a stiletto-sharp wit and "the sort of humor that played well at wakes," Crowley said.

"He could look at anything and find humor; that was his talent," said Mr. Higgins' sister Patty Crowley.

"Following media coverage of health concerns about the butter served on movie theater popcorn, Mr. Higgins drew a cartoon featuring movie critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert in which Ebert hands Siskel a barrel of popcorn and Siskel thinks: 'That's funny, he's never offered me his popcorn before,'" his sister said.

Following its publication, Siskel and Ebert each left separate voicemail messages requesting the original drawing.

"He gave it to Roger because Roger was with the Sun-Times," his sister said.

Mr. Higgins was known for his warmth and kindness and being the highlight of any school group that visited the newsroom and stopped by his drafting table.

He woke early and digested the day's news to generate ideas.

"I'll figure out what bothers me most about something, and how I can take the issue, turn it around, stand it on its head and stick my tongue out at it, so to speak," he said.

His cartoons were turned into the book "My Kind of 'Toon, Chicago Is: Political Cartoons."

Mr. Higgins was born Aug. 19, 1954, to Maurice James Higgins, a Chicago police commander who worked as attorney on the side, and Helen Egan Higgins, a homemaker who loved to draw and paint and encouraged her kids to do so, too.

Mr. Higgins, one of seven siblings who grew up in the Wrightwood neighborhood on the Southwest Side.

He took drawing classes in college and met Boston Globe editorial cartoonist Paul Szep, who influenced his career choice, his sister said.

After college he served for a year as a telephone hotline crisis counselor with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Washington, D.C.

In the late '70s he was an editorial cartoonist for Northwestern University's student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern, though Mr. Higgins didn't attend the university.

"My parents had these dreams of me becoming a businessman or a lawyer. I have six brothers and sisters. Two of them are scientists. A couple are lawyers.

My brothers and sisters have degrees from Cambridge University and London School of Economics, the law school of the University of Virginia, University of Chicago business school, and Harvard!

And here I come along with my crayons after college," Mr. Higgins wrote about his beginnings at the Sun-Times.

↧

Harvard Faculty & Staff reposts antisemitic cartoon

February 23, 2024, 7:41 am

≫ Next: 24th World Press Freedom Canada International Editorial Cartoon Competition

≪ Previous: Jack Higgins 1954-2024

From The Washington Post.

Harvard University is again embroiled in a controversy over antisemitism on campus, after student groups and a faculty group shared an antisemitic cartoon.

In a statement late Tuesday, Harvard interim president Alan M. Garber condemned the cartoon, calling it “flagrantly antisemitic,” after it was shared on social media by two student groups — the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and the African American Resistance Organization — and reposted by Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine.

Garber said the cartoon depicted a hand labeled with a Star of David with a dollar sign in the middle holding nooses that were tied around the necks of an Arab man and a Black man.

Screenshots of the cartoon appeared to show that the men were boxer and antiwar activist Muhammad Ali and former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser.

The cartoon was shared as part of an infographic on the historical links between pro-Palestinian and civil rights groups.

The student groups have since taken down the image and apologized for posting it, saying in a joint statement that it violated their standards and values.

They have since reposted the infographic without the offensive image.

The staff and faculty group also apologized and retracted its post.

But the criticism has not abated, with one Harvard student posting that the incident highlighted why “Jewish students don’t feel safe in class.”

On Tuesday, Garber — who was appointed after his predecessor, Claudine Gay, resigned amid criticism of her congressional testimony on antisemitism at Harvard and over allegations of plagiarism — said the school will seek to “better understand who was responsible for the posting and to determine what further steps are warranted.”

Incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen on college campuses, where the war in Gaza is a heated topic.

Harvard and other universities are the target of a Republican-led congressional investigation into allegations that they are not doing enough to combat antisemitism on campus.

On Friday, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce served subpoenas to Harvard officials to compel the university to turn over more documents, including details from meetings of its two most powerful governing boards, and all communications about antisemitism involving the governing boards, as part of its investigation.

The subpoenas, which experts called unprecedented, raised questions about academic freedom, safety on campus and the boundaries of free speech.

The House committee on Monday condemned the cartoon and said, “This repugnant antisemitism should have no place in our society, much less on Harvard’s faculty.”

The Harvard Crimson on Wednesday reported that Walter Johnson, a professor of history and of African and African American studies, resigned from the group and as a faculty adviser to the Palestine Solidarity Committee amid the backlash.

It was not immediately clear whether his resignation was caused by the controversy over the groups’ use of the cartoon.

The committee told the Crimson in a statement that Johnson’s term as adviser was due to end soon and that conversations about his stepping down “were ongoing.”

Johnson did not immediately respond to an overnight request for comment from The Washington Post.

Garber said in his statement that “Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab” members of the Harvard community “have reported feeling targeted, rejected, and ostracized.”

“Reckless provocation draws attention without advancing understanding,” he said.

“The war and its effects on the lives of people directly affected by the conflict demand our profound concern and sympathy.”

Online, many students and staff and faculty members condemned the cartoon and framed the incident as part of a wider problem around antisemitism at Harvard.

Harvard Hillel, the Jewish student center, called the cartoon “deeply disturbing” and said it expected the university to respond.

“This post follows an alarming increase in antisemitism on our campus in recent weeks,” it said.

On Wednesday, a group of alumni filed a lawsuit in federal district court calling for an injunction ordering Harvard to take concrete steps to “end antisemitism on its campus and hold accountable those who allowed antisemitism to fester.”

The complaint also claims that their Harvard degrees have been diminished in value by Harvard’s failure to address the problem, and seeks compensation.

Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in a statement the lawsuit reflects the growing outrage alumni at many U.S. campuses feel.

She blamed “radical” faculty and “impotent” responses from administrators for turning colleges into “hate centers.”

A spokesman for Harvard declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Shabbos Kestenbaum, a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School who is suing Harvard over antisemitism, condemned the post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Harvard *faculty* just posted an explicitly antisemitic poster depicting a Jewish hand controlling the black mind,” he wrote Monday.

“With Professors like these, it’s easy to see why we Jewish students don’t feel safe in class,” he added.

The student groups said in their post that the original image was created by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a civil rights group from the 1960s, and was included in the post out of negligence.

Harvard Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine also apologized Monday.

“It has come to our attention that a post featuring antiquated cartoons which used offensive antisemitic tropes was linked to our account,” the pro-Palestinian collective wrote on Instagram.

“We removed the content as soon as it came to our attention.”

“We apologize for the hurt that these images have caused and do not condone them in any way,” it said.

Susan Svrluga contributed to this report.

↧

24th World Press Freedom Canada International Editorial Cartoon Competition

February 26, 2024, 7:00 am

≫ Next: Mr. Fish accused of antisemitism

≪ Previous: Harvard Faculty & Staff reposts antisemitic cartoon

The theme of the 24th International Editorial Cartoon Competition is:

Artificial Intelligence: yes or no?

Some believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will solve all our problems while it inspires apocalyptic talk in others.

AI can help journalists gather information, but “deep fakes” and voice simulators capable of generating believable audio segments, can sow doubt about the authenticity of content and put democracy at risk.

On the other hand, some politicians brandish the term “fake news” to denounce opposing opinions or deny reality.

Finally, using AI to generate illustrations on demand robs artists of their work and infringes on their copyright.

Fortunately, AI hasn’t yet figured the number of fingers on one hand.

Competition rules

Three prizes will be awarded:

First prize: $1500 plus a Certificate from the Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Second prize: $1000
Third prize: $500

All sums are in Canadian dollars.

Ten additional cartoons will receive an Award of Excellence, which are not remunerated.

Only one cartoon may be submitted by each participant, either in colour or black and white. It must not have won an award previously.

World Press Freedom Canada reserves the right to use the winning cartoons for promotion of the Cartoon Competition.

The winners of the Cartoon Competition will be announced on Thursday May 2, 2024, the eve of World Press Freedom Day.

The names of the winners and their cartoons will be posted on our website

The deadline for reception of the cartoon is midnight (Eastern Daylight Saving Time), Friday, April 5, 2024.

Please submit your cartoon to: https://worldpressfreedomcanada.ca/cartoon-submissions/

↧

Mr. Fish accused of antisemitism

March 4, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: The "phony" in Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s ad

≪ Previous: 24th World Press Freedom Canada International Editorial Cartoon Competition

The denunciation of cartoons by Dwayne Booth aka Mr. Fish by a DC based blog and the leveling of accusations of antisemitism has led to safety measures at the University of Pennsylvania where he is an adjunct lecturer.

As the conflict in Gaza continues, reports of both antisemitic and Islamophobic racism are spiking all over the world.

From The Daily Pennsylvanian.

Campus discourse about antisemitism is escalating just weeks into the spring semester, with a Penn lecturer defending himself after his political cartoons were publicly denounced by Interim Penn President Larry Jameson.

Annenberg School for Communication lecturer and cartoonist Dwayne Booth — who publishes political cartoons under the pen name Mr. Fish — has come under fire for his artwork of Israel, President Joe Biden’s stance on the Israel-Hamas war, pro-Israeli figures, and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu.

Several of the cartoons — including one which resembles the antisemitic trope of blood libel — have been denounced as antisemitic by critics, and Jameson condemned Booth's art in a University statement published on Feb. 4.

Jameson said the loss of life in Gaza and Israel should not be “fodder for satire,” calling the cartoons “reprehensible” and “painful to see" while affirming Penn’s “bedrock commitment” to academic freedom.

“We also have a responsibility to challenge what we find offensive, and to do so acknowledge the right and ability of members of our community to express their views, however loathsome we find them,” he wrote.

In an interview with The Daily Pennsylvanian, Booth defended his cartoons from mounting backlash among Jewish community members, adding that he received no communication from the University suggesting that his job was endangered because of the cartoons.

A University spokesperson referred the DP to Jameson’s Sunday evening statement, and an Annenberg spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Jameson’s statement came in the wake of a story published by Washington Free Beacon on Feb. 1 that criticized the cartoons, calling them “grotesque" and "anti-semitic."

Since Jameson spoke out, Booth told the DP he has received backlash online and via the phone, including death threats and threats to his family.

In response, he alerted Penn's Division for Public Safety.

A DPS spokesperson declined to comment, though his email has been removed from the Annenberg website and Path@Penn no longer displays the time and location of a class he is teaching this semester.

Booth said that the columns are not new and have been publicly available on political columnist Robert Scheer’s website as well as Booth’s professional website since they were published starting in October of last year, after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

He added that the illustrations were originally created to accompany columns by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges.

Booth said that the columns provide the necessary context to understand the cartoons, and that they are open to misinterpretation when depicted by themselves.

Still, Jewish community members said that Booth's cartoons crossed a line, serving to propogate harmful messages rather than convey a nuanced opinion about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“Scholars strive to understand hateful words, images, and actions and their power in the past and the present.

But we don't create materials of our own that amplify messages of hate,” professor of modern Jewish history Joshua Teplitsky wrote in a statement to the DP.

"I worry that provocations do more to polarize than they do to foster discussion and debate,” he continued.

Jameson's statement also condemned a Booth cartoon that depicts photos of Jewish prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp holding signs opposing the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Booth said that he created the cartoon, which is titled “Never Again and Again and Again,” to accompany a Dec. 31 column by Hedges titled “Israel’s Genocide Betrays the Holocaust,” which compares Israel’s treatment of Gazans to Nazi treatment of Jewish people.

“By obscuring and falsifying the lessons of the Holocaust, we perpetuate the evil that defined it,” Hedges wrote in the column.

According to Booth, the cartoons have produced meaningful exchanges since they were published and have only recently been described as antisemitic.

He took issue with Jameson's description of Booth as using historical atrocities faced by Jewish people as “fodder for satire.”

“To say that to use that situation as fodder for satire means he doesn't know what satire is,” Booth said.

“Because satire [is] most effective at times of great tragic events, atrocities, and debates about what atrocities are public policy.”

Wharton junior and Penn Hillel Vice President of Israel Engagement Sadie Waldbaum told the DP that the cartoons “crossed a line.”

She added that she was particularly concerned with his depiction of Jews drinking blood, describing them as rooted in “medieval antisemitism.”

Waldbaum specifically referred to Booth’s cartoon titled "The Anti-Semite," which depicts three individuals drinking blood out of glasses labeled "Gaza."

The cartoon appears to resemble the antisemitic trope of blood libel — which suggests that Jews use the blood of other groups for religious purposes.

Teplitsky also expressed concern, saying that he was “taken aback” by Booth’s cartoon.

He added that the cartoons draw upon tropes with “deep antisemitic histories.”

The trope of blood libel has been “used extensively in similar cartoons by the Nazis to dehumanize Jews, and has no place in political discourse," College sophomore Morris Hakim said.

Executive Director at Penn Hillel Rabbi Gabe Greenberg wrote in a statement to the DP that the conflict between Israel and Palestinians was "complex and complicated," requiring Penn students to confront "nuanced perspectives that will help them understand and learn more.”

Still, Greenberg said the “The Anti-Semite” cartoon did not convey one of these nuanced perspectives.

“Instead, it is trafficking in a millennium-old antisemitic trope, the 'blood libel,' which has a dark history of being used to demonize and dehumanize Jewish people,” he wrote.

He expressed concern that “this type of speech contributes to a sense shared by many Jewish students that Penn is not a wholly welcoming environment for them.”

Two students currently taking Booth’s class — both of whom were granted anonymity due to fear of retaliation — told the DP that Booth has acknowledged the backlash.

The first time that many students had heard about the backlash Booth was receiving was when he sent an email explaining the situation, one student said.

“I don't think the intent was to endanger anyone, but his intent is definitely to catch people's eyes and make them think about it,” a second student, who praised Booth as a lecturer, said.

“His job is to produce thought provoking content. And that's obviously what he did."

The first student added that while Booth did not express concern over the controversy in class, he did tell them that he wanted to make sure they felt “safe and secure in the classroom.”

“I did appreciate kind of how forthcoming he was and the way that he's not let that affect the class,” the student said.

Booth reaffirmed his students' perspectives, describing “the whole point of satire" being to "start conversations not end conversations.”

Booth also said he did not show students the cartoons in class: "There's no real reason to bring those into the classroom because we're all engaging with this stuff in our own lives.”

“It's not up to me to try to skew one’s political belief one way or the other,” he continued.

On Monday, Booth released a cartoon entitled “Quiet!”depicting Uncle Sam putting his hand over a person’s mouth.

In a followup to its initial story, the Washington Free Beacon published a story criticizing Jameson’s “tepid” statement for not referring to Booth by name.

The story included the day that Booth would next be teaching a class.

↧

The "phony" in Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s ad

March 7, 2024, 3:48 am

≫ Next: Basil Wolverton Collection donated to The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

≪ Previous: Mr. Fish accused of antisemitism

From The Guardian.

A ‘poorly considered’ use of AI has resulted in a perplexing number of fingers – and a large amount of mockery.

The couple’s tangled fingers are both too large and too many; there’s a strange sheen making them look more like wax dolls; and then there’s the clothes: she in a tulle gown encrusted with jewels, he in a tuxedo – and, simultaneously, a tulle gown encrusted with jewels.

Also: she has a large cube on her lap.

It was apparently created by someone who has never seen an orchestra play, and imagines it as rows of violinists seated in the audience, many playing with three hands or one hand or no hands at all.

The picture, shared by the QSO on 22 February, appears to be sourced from stock image aggregator Shutterstock, where it is listed under the AI prompt “two people having a date at a indoor classical music romantic concert”.

On Tuesday, industry union the Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA) called it “the worst AI generated artwork we’ve seen”.

“It is inappropriate, unprofessional and disrespectful to audiences and the musicians of the QSO,” they added.

“Creative workers and audiences deserve better from arts organisations.”

The post also attracted criticism in its replies. “Next time pay photographers,” one comment reads. Another called it “terrible – literally an arts organisation not using artists.”

Classical music industry blog Slipped Disc was the first to report on the ad, claiming it had resulted in “uproar” and “fury” among the orchestra’s players.

Queensland Symphony Orchestra did not comment on that claim but justified their use of the AI image in a statement to Guardian Australia:

“At QSO, we encourage exploration, innovation, experimentation and the adoption of new technologies across all facets of the business. From time to time we will use new marketing tools and techniques as we are an orchestra for all Queenslanders.”

AI-generated imagery has stirred much debate and outrage since its rise in recent years due to the accessibility of consumer tools such as Dall-E and Midjourney.

Much of the controversy revolves around AI’s potential to devalue or plagiarise human artists.

In the past 18 months, at least two art prizes have made headlines after their winners were found to have generated or altered their works with AI.

“I’m not going to apologise for it,” said Jason M Allen, who took home an award for digital artists at the Colorado State Fair in 2022.

“Théâtre D’opéra Spatial” submitted by Jason Allen

“I won, and I didn’t break any rules.”

In 2023, German artist Boris Eldagsenwon a prize at the Sony world photography awards for an AI-generated photograph of two women in black and white.

He later admitted he had “applied as a cheeky monkey” in order to incite discourse around the ethics of AI – and refused to accept the award.

↧

Basil Wolverton Collection donated to The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

March 10, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: A review of Angouleme '24

≪ Previous: The "phony" in Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s ad

From The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Monte Wolverton has donated a significant collection of his cartoonist father Basil Wolverton’s archives, ephemera, and some original art to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Basil Wolverton (1909-1978) was best known for his contributions to Mad magazine and Timely Comics (the pre-cursor to Marvel Comics), and his characters Powerhouse Pepper and Spacehawk.

Self-described as a “Producer of Preposterous Pictures of Peculiar People who Prowl this Perplexing Planet”, Wolverton’s idiosyncratic and frequently-grotesque style stood out among his peers, and gained him cult following among future generations of cartoonists.

In 1946, Wolverton’s work was introduced to a national newspaper reading audience when he won a contest to depict “Lena The Hyena, the World’s Ugliest Woman” for Al Capp’s Li’l Abner comic strip (read more).

This collection, meticulously organized, preserved and donated by his family, contains roughs and page layouts for his comics, fan mail, personal and business correspondence, photographs, juvenilia, ephemera, newspaper articles and other publicity, and high-resolution negatives and copies of various pieces.

Of particular note are Wolverton’s personal daily journals from 1923 to 1925 and 1941 to 1974, as well as a notebook containing short stories and sketches he created between ages nine and eleven.

“This collection offers a fascinating window into the comic book business in the 1930s through the early ‘50s,” said his son, Monte Wolverton, “with correspondence from editors (including Stan Lee) who were offering direction and advice.

Such specifics may be less documented for other comic artists who were not working remotely as my father was on the West Coast.”

Also among the correspondence are “rejection slips from nearly every major magazine in the United States from the 1940s and ‘50s”.

Wolverton’s unique sense of humor, hobbies, and perspective on the world are reflected in the collection.

“It’s a rare delight to get this level of insight into the development, daily musings, and professional journey of a cartoonist,” said Caitlin McGurk, Curator of Comics and Cartoon Art,

“Wolverton’s work is frequently requested by our patrons and researchers, and we’re so grateful to his family for entrusting us with the preservation of his legacy.”

“I consider the Billy Ireland to be to be the number one institution in the United States for the history of comic artists and cartoonists—designed to be accessible to scholars and researchers” said Monte Wolverton.

“I have great confidence in head curator Jenny Robb and the highly professional staff!”

Patrons can access this collection by visiting the Lucy Shelton Caswell Reading Room.

Please contact cartoons@osu.edu to set up an appointment.

To learn more about the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum visit cartoons.osu.edu.

↧

A review of Angouleme '24

March 13, 2024, 3:50 am

≫ Next: Saltwire files for bankruptcy protection

≪ Previous: Basil Wolverton Collection donated to The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum

Dean Simons in Comics Beat.

If there is one thing you can guarantee about the Angoulême International Comics Festival, it’s that you will seldom have enough time to catch your breath – and that remained true for 2024.

While comparatively quieter than the intense record-breaking crowds of the 50th-anniversary extravaganza last year, some 200,000 people still made their way to the self-proclaimed French capital of comics.

As always, there were plentiful exhibitions, publishers, creators, and books to catch your eye and empty your wallet.

↧

Saltwire files for bankruptcy protection

March 13, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Cartoonist Zehra Ömeroğlu risks imprisonment over pandemic cartoon

≪ Previous: A review of Angouleme '24

From The Daily Cartoonist.

A private equity fund is initiating insolvency proceedings against Atlantic newspaper owner SaltWire Network Inc., claiming it owes tens of millions of dollars after several years of mismanagement.

The SaltWire Network‘s major daily newspapers are The Chronicle Herald (Halifax), the Cape Breton Post, The Telegram (St. Johns) and The Guardian (Charlottetown).

Bruce MacKinnon and freelancer Michael de Adder are the main editorial cartoonists who could be affected by the newspaper group’s troubles.

Michael de Adder noted the problem on his Patreon page under the heading of More Bad News:

Last month I lost my biggest client [Washington Post]. It left me with a 25% of my income intact.

This month my second biggest client is applying for bankrupcy protection. I’m not sure where this leaves me yet. Not in a great place.

I recently asked my third biggest client for a reasonable raise. Not sure they can afford it.

Three years ago I had a diversified clientele that could weather a bit of this. But I had to give it all up for a job that was supposed to be stable. I was supposed to be in a better position.

It left me vulnerable.

What can you do?

Michael continues to survive a hard knock life.

↧

Cartoonist Zehra Ömeroğlu risks imprisonment over pandemic cartoon

March 15, 2024, 8:52 am

≫ Next: National Newspaper Awards 2023 Nominations

≪ Previous: Saltwire files for bankruptcy protection

From Cartoonists Rights.

Sex and the pandemic… “At least I didn’t lose my taste and smell…”

Under the auspices of Türkiye’s Ministry of Family, Labour and Social Services, the Directorate of Child Services convenes a Board for the Protection of Minors from Obscene Publications.

On March 8th, 2024, the board returned a report to the Istanbul 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance, having at the judge’s request reviewed a cartoon by Zehra Ömeroğlu that appeared in the pages of LeMan humour magazine on November 25th, 2020.

The board have determined that the cartoon violates the relevant law (Article 226 of the Turkish Penal Code No. 5237), finding: “[the cartoon’s] main purpose […] completely contrary to the customs, traditions and moral understanding of our society and that offend[s] modesty, is to create sexual arousal in the viewer and thereby profit from this […]”; and concluding: “[the cartoon] offends the public’s feelings of chastity and modesty, and it has been unanimously deemed that it is against general morality and obscene, as it provokes and exploits desires.”

An unfair conclusion

We take great exception to the way in which Ömeroğlu’s work is characterised, with a definition that is indistinguishable from that of pornography.

In context (the long-established and very well-known LeMan, which is categorically not a children’s title) it is incredible to suggest that the cartoon’s “main purpose” was anything other than to amuse the reader.

Furthermore, while it is true that the cartoon portrays a couple engaged in a sexual act, as a matter of fact it does not portray nudity, only a state of undress, and there are no genitals or sex organs rendered.

The art style lacks detail or realism.

“Arousal” was very clearly not the intent of the author, a cartoonist whose work focuses largely on sex and female sexuality in a humorous and light-hearted manner.

“Either my eyesight has deteriorated or the board members can detect the invisible with their special powers […] I cannot see the person they call ‘completely naked’ twice in one sentence on the cartoon they are examining.”

– Barış Pehlivan writes in Cumhuriyet, 13/03/24

Cartoonists in Türkiye on notice

We understand that the stated aim of the board is to protect children from “the harmful effects” of “an open attack on the common decency and moral cleanliness of society” but also note their explanation that “In determining the violation of general morality and good manners, which is an abstract and variable concept, the rules of conduct related to the democratic social order should be taken as a basis, not the value judgments accepted in a certain segment of the society.”

They also concede that the cartoon portrays no “unnatural” behaviour.

Nevertheless, if this single cartoon qualifies as such an “open attack”, and one so egregious that it runs counter to the “democratic social order” of the entire nation, the board is setting an alarming precedent with ramifications for every working cartoonist in Türkiye.

Unspoken sexism?

Not for the first time we are forced to ask whether there is an unarticulated aspect to this prosecution?

Would the same cartoon, published under the same circumstances, have attracted the same judicial action and censorious ruling had it been authored by a man instead of a woman?

Rather than a stern warning about the prospect of children being endangered by exposure to allegedly obscene material, isn’t the message being sent one aimed squarely at Türkiye’s women, and that says, “don’t make raunchy jokes, or we’ll send you to prison?”

Although officially non-binding, there is no reason to expect that the court will ignore the findings of the board.

In essence it determines Ömeroğlu’s guilt ahead of her trial, expected April 16th, 2024.

This would mark the end of a protracted legal process, delayed four times over – first by the pandemic, and then by the apparent inability of the board to come to a swift determination about the cartoon – and that will almost certainly see her criminalised and at risk of a custodial sentence between six months and three years, plus a fine.

If a suspended sentence is handed down it will curtail the cartoonist’s freedom of expression going forward, as any future criminal charges will automatically carry with them more severe sentencing options.

↧

National Newspaper Awards 2023 Nominations

March 19, 2024, 5:32 am

≫ Next: Dust-up among Canadian cartoonists

≪ Previous: Cartoonist Zehra Ömeroğlu risks imprisonment over pandemic cartoon

The Canadian Daily Newspaper Association announced today the finalists of the 75th National Newspaper Awards.

Michael de Adder (Halifax Chronicle Herald), Brian Gable (Globe and Mail) and Bruce MacKinnon (Halifax Chronicle Herald) are the finalists in the Editorial Cartooning category of the 75th National Newspaper Awards.

The awards were established by the Toronto Press Club in 1949 to encourage excellence and reward achievement in daily newspaper work in Canada.

↧

Dust-up among Canadian cartoonists

March 20, 2024, 9:30 am

≫ Next: The 2024 Herblock Prize

≪ Previous: National Newspaper Awards 2023 Nominations

Mike Peterson from The Daily Cartoonist.

A bit of a dust-up among Canadian cartoonists, after Dave Whamond’s commentary on the bloodbath controversy drew a slap-down from the mysterious “Rivers” who is permitted to distribute his cartoons through Cagle without signing his real name or explaining his exemption.
It’s not unknown for people in the general public to copy a cartoon, alter the text in order to reverse the cartoonist’s intent and post it on social media, but it is considered both rude and a copyright violation.

For an apparently professional cartoonist to essentially do the same is unprecedented, and there is a wide sense in the cartooning community that “apologies to Whamond” does not excuse the insult.

Whamond himself has shrugged it off, which is politely Canadian of him.

Others are not as forgiving.

The gesture seems pointless, since there’s little chance an audience would see both cartoons to compare them.

But it has opened a sore over “Rivers” posting strong opinions and declining to sign his name to them.

There is also some anger over his apparent posing as an American when it is generally believed that he is Canadian, though the argument could be made that this speaker is not specifically identified as the cartoonist.

But, while readers may not be specifically told that Whamond, de Adder and others are Canadian, they are honest about their identity and it doesn’t take much to learn their citizenship.

Perhaps “Rivers” is not Cameron Cardow, former staff cartoonist for the Ottawa Citizen.

There’s no proof of that, and neither Cardow nor Cagle answered inquiries.

But, still …

↧

The 2024 Herblock Prize

March 21, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: The Association of Canadian Cartoonists defends Serge Chapleau

≪ Previous: Dust-up among Canadian cartoonists

From the Herblock Foundation.

Steve Brodner has been named the winner of the 2024 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning.

Steve Brodner has been a leading satiric artist for the last 40 years.

His goal during this time was to find an outlet for various forms of political and social commentary in the world of independent, freelance art.

His work has appeared in most major publications in the US.

He has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harper’s, The Atlantic, GQ, etc.

His work currently appears regularly in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Nation.

It also appears daily at stevebrodner.substack.com and weekly in thenation.com.

Brodner has covered over 50 stories as a journalist, including 16 national political conventions, the US farm crisis, a profile of life along the Mexican border, guns in Philadelphia, and climbing Mt. Fuji.

The Naked Campaign, his 32 short films for NewYorker.com, documented the 2008 presidential year.

In 2008 he was the subject of a major career retrospective, Raw Nerve, the first for a living artist, at the Norman Rockwell Museum.

Over 30 years he has won numerous awards from the Society of Illustrators, Art Directors Club, the Society of Publication Designers, the Society of Newspaper Designers, American Illustration, and Communication Arts.

In 2000 he won the Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism and has been the recipient of two Reuben Awards from The National Cartoonists Society.

He received a Gold medal for Editorial work by the Society of Illustrators and was the finalist of the 2018 Herblock Prize.

His career retrospective: Freedom Fries (2004) and the story of the Covid years in the US: Living and Dying in America (2022) were both published by Fantagraphics Books.

Brodner has kept a regular schedule of lecturing and is currently an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York

The Herblock Prize is awarded annually by The Herb Block Foundation for “distinguished examples of editorial cartooning that exemplify the courageous independent standard set by Herblock.”

The winner receives a $20,000 net cash prize and a sterling silver Tiffany trophy.

Steve Brodner will receive the Prize on June 4th in a ceremony held at the Library of Congress.

The Honorable Stephen Breyer, retired Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S, will deliver the annual Herblock Lecture at the awards ceremony.

Judges for this year’s contest included Ann Telnaes, winner of the 2023 Herblock Prize and Jen Sorensen, winner of the Herblock Prize 2014.

They stated “Brodner's work is unflinching, driven by a strong moral compass and imbued with a powerful sense of compassion.

As the quote from Herblock engraved on the trophy reads, "Political cartoons, unlike sundials, do not show the brightest hours.

They often show the darkest ones, in the hope of helping us move on to brighter times.

" Steve Brodner embodies this ideal: a singular, courageous voice who through the use of his artistic and writing abilities, spotlights inequities and injustices in the world.

His portfolio offers a mixture between traditional print media and the new opportunities that social media provides cartoonists.

In a time of rising autocratic voices and governments, Steve’s work reminds us of the important role editorial cartooning has in a free press and democracies.”

The Herblock finalist for 2024 is Pedro Molina.

He will receive a $7,500 net cash prize.

The judges said “Threatened by the regime in his native Nicaragua, Pedro Molina has proven himself a master cartoonist in the United States, where he chose to exile himself.

Bringing an immigrant’s point of view, he depicts anti-immigrant rhetoric as toxic to the United States.”

Molina says he wants to “alert US citizens of authoritarian behaviors that I have already seen and experienced as a citizen in Latin America for them to not fall into those same traps, such as the manipulation of religion, the control of the Judicial System by a single person, the violence, the populism and the search for common "enemies" from outside our borders.“

↧

The Association of Canadian Cartoonists defends Serge Chapleau

March 21, 2024, 9:13 pm

≫ Next: 2024 Kesterton Lecture with Michael de Adder

≪ Previous: The 2024 Herblock Prize

Nosfenyahou on his way to Rafah

In the last 24 hours that our colleague at La Presse in Montreal, Serge Chapleau, has been accused of antisemitism due to his latest cartoon of Benjamin Netanyahu.

The following is an excerpt from the CBC:

The following story contains an image that has been criticized for being antisemitic.

A political cartoon in a French-language newspaper depicting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a vampire has sparked accusations of antisemitism.

The cartoon appeared in Wednesday's edition of La Presse, a prestigious digital-only newspaper. It shows Netanyahu with long claws, pointed ears and wearing an overcoat — imagery reminiscent of Count Orlok, a vampire from the 1922 silent film, Nosferatu.

In the cartoon, Netanyahu stands on a ship above an inscription that reads "Nosfenyahou, en route to Rafah."

Politicians, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, and Jewish leaders criticized the cartoon, calling it antisemitic and reminiscent of Nazi propaganda against Jews.

Serge Chapleau, the cartoonist who drew it, dismissed the criticism in an interview with CBC and said he did not believe it was antisemitic.

Nonetheless, by late morning, the cartoon no longer appeared on the La Presse website and the newspaper issued an apology.

The ACC has issued the following statement:

Our cartoonist colleague Serge Chapleau of La Presse has had a cartoon of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu censored under the accusation of it being antisemitic.

This is a very sensitive topic for cartoonists, perhaps at the very top of the pyramid of cartooning quandaries.

Caricaturing world leaders as mythical villains or monsters is a common practice virtually around the globe and Netanyahu should be no exception.

As professional cartoonists we are well aware of the grotesque history of abusing Jewish individuals in graphic work and cartoons, most notably by the Nazis as hate propaganda.

In our view, Mr. Chapleau's rendering of Netanyahu as Nosferatu is not an attack on Israelis or Jewish people globally, but rather a very strong statement on a controversial world leader during a major conflict.

The task of the cartoonist is to always punch up and counter abuses of power, regardless of the nation or background of the subject. This cartoon does not punch down.

Even though this cartoon may be shocking and disagreeable to some, we do not regard it as antisemitic and for Mr. Chapleau, a cartoonist of great sophistication, to be accused of that is something we wholeheartedly disagree with.

We are greatly disappointed in La Presse for not standing behind their cartoonist.

Members of The Association of Canadian Cartoonists

Wes Tyrell - President
Sue Dewar
Graeme MacKay
Andy Donato
Dan Murphy

Guy Badeaux

↧

2024 Kesterton Lecture with Michael de Adder

March 22, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo threatened

≪ Previous: The Association of Canadian Cartoonists defends Serge Chapleau

From YouTube.

↧

Cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo threatened

April 2, 2024, 4:26 am

≫ Next: Don Wright 1934-2024

≪ Previous: 2024 Kesterton Lecture with Michael de Adder

From Cartooning for Peace.

Ugandan cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo, member of the Cartooning for Peace network, has received death threats after launching an anti-corruption campaign on X (formerly Twitter) calling Parliament to account.

This is not the first time that Spire has highlighted dysfunctions in his country through social media campaigns that have earned him threats.

But this time, Spire’s fears seem to have gone up a notch. He said that Parliament had requested access to his communications data from the Ugandan Communications Commission.

I’m authoritatively aware that ‘Parliament’ has secretly asked UCC @UCC_Official for all my communication details and the job has started – including tracing who I talk to, what, when, where, where I stay, the time of day/night I last communicate, movements, etc. This may include…

— Jim Spire Ssentongo (@SpireJim)

“Our attention has been drawn to renewed threats to the life of our member, Dr. Jimmy Spire Ssentongo, which are circulating on Twitter among other media. We take these threats very seriously”.

These are the opening words of the statement of support published on 20 March by Makerere University, where Spire teaches.

It stresses that the anti-corruption advocacy that he carries out as part of his academic work and in his capacity as an intellectual is a matter of academic freedom, and calls on the authorities to protect him from any threat to his life and freedom.

It also refers to the serious human rights violations committed in the country and reports recent cases of enforced disappearances, murders and attempted assassinations.

Cartooning for Peace is very concerned that Jimmy Spire Ssentongo is under threat and calls for his safety to be guaranteed. We will keep a close watch on his situation.

↧

Don Wright 1934-2024

April 4, 2024, 11:06 am

≫ Next: Graeme Mackay meets pushback for an editorial cartoon

≪ Previous: Cartoonist Jimmy Spire Ssentongo threatened

From Wikipedia.

Long time Miami News and Palm Beach Post editorial cartoonist Don Wright passed away at 90 in West Palm Beach, Florida on Sunday, March 24.

Don Conway Wright was born on January 23, 1934 in Los Angeles, California and was the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, having received one in 1966 and a second in 1980.

Working as a copyboy at the Miami News, from 1952 to 1956, Wright was drafted and served in the U.S. Army as a photographer, before returning to the paper as its graphics editor in 1958.

While at The Miami News, Wright frequently played pranks on other reporters who returned the favor.

Wright would toss his keys on his desk when he came in each evening.

When he would leave his office for lunch or the restroom, his colleagues would slip an extra key on the keyring.

After a while, the keyring grew so heavy that Wright swore and exclaimed, "What the hell! I don't even know what some of these keys are for!".

Wright continued to work for The Miami News until it ceased publication in 1988.

In 1989, Wright moved to The Palm Beach Post where he worked until his retirement in August 2008.

His cartoons have been published in at least two books: Wright On! A Collection of Political Cartoons (1971) and Wright Side Up (1981).

In 1966, he won his first Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning, for a cartoon that captured the era’s Cold War anxieties.

In it, two men in tattered rags cross paths between two enormous craters on what appears to be an old battlefield.

One asks the other simply, “You mean you were bluffing?”

Walter Mondale looks for a running mate.

Fourteen years later, in 1980, he won his second Pulitzer, putting him in rarefied company.

Only a handful of cartoonists have won the award multiple times.

In addition to the two prizes, he was also a finalist for the prize five times.

He won the National Cartoonist Society Editorial Cartoon Award for 1985.

He has won the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Distinguished Service in Journalism twice.

He has also won the Inter American Press Award three times, the Overseas Press Club Award five times, the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Journalism Award twice, the National Headliner Award and the Best of Cox Award twice.

He is survived by his wife, Carolyn.

Services are private and a memorial will be held at a later date.

↧

Graeme Mackay meets pushback for an editorial cartoon

April 6, 2024, 11:45 am

≫ Next: World Press Photo 2024

≪ Previous: Don Wright 1934-2024

From Graeme Mackay's website.

I was met with push back after my March 20 editorial cartoon depicting Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin engaged in military offensives against innocent civilians juxtaposed with Justin Trudeau announcing Canada’s decision to halting arms sales to Israel.

My mission as an editorial cartoonist includes observing Canada’s place in global affairs, and the vote by Parliament to suspend arms shipments to the Netanyahu government was significant and warranted reaction.

While the cartoon may appear provocative to some, its intention is clear: to comment on current events and political decisions in a satirical manner.

Four letters to the editor essentially singing in chorus about my own cartoon alleging to be anti-Israel is as daft as saying a cartoon mocking Trudeau is anti-Canadian, or one ridiculing Biden is anti-American.

One called it antisemitic, another called for an apology.

Let’s be clear: I am not an anti-semitic person. Hamas are the terrorists – I am not.

I support the hostages being released asap, along with food, water, supplies, and medical aid being easily accessible to all in the Gaza strip.

The Hamilton Spectator has maintained a rich tradition of keeping editorial cartoonists on staff for longer than most newspapers across Canada.

Blaine, Doug Wright, and Ivan Glassco are just some of the names that have kept the light of satire burning bright in this city.

I am immensely humbled and honoured to walk in the trail cleared, and grateful that those controlling the levers in difficult times show their value for editorial cartooning by keeping me on the payroll.

We who target the powers are sometimes subject to the violent repercussions from those who react to offence by thrashing about.

In the instances when we become the news, be it the Danish cartoon controversy or the Charlie Hebdo magazine massacre, refreshers on the meaning of satire fills the airwaves.

While they can be helpful, it’s disappointing when so many people still pass judgment by declaring editorial cartoons complete fails when they don’t elicit laughter as if they are no different from strips found on the funny pages.

It’s boggling that people prove ignorance about newspapers which for ages, traditionally, carry hard news along with opinion.

It’s depressing when masses of people align themselves with politicians pledging disdain, or even revenge for media that dares to question or resist their intentions.

It’s disheartening when readers take it upon themselves to pen their own opinion to silence fair game opinion expressed in satire.

To those who demand an apology for being offended by my March 20 editorial cartoon, I default back to Stephen Fry’s expression where you can refer to my thoughts spelled out above.

↧

World Press Photo 2024

April 7, 2024, 9:00 pm

≫ Next: Nominees of the 20th Doug Wright Awards

≪ Previous: Graeme Mackay meets pushback for an editorial cartoon

From World Press Photo.

Saving the Monarchs, Jaime Tojo, 2024 Photo Contest, North and Central America, Stories

Please find above a link to the 2024 World Press Photo regional winners.

↧

Nominees of the 20th Doug Wright Awards

April 10, 2024, 7:03 pm

≫ Next: Trina Robbins 1938-2024

≪ Previous: World Press Photo 2024

From Doug Wright Awards.

Here is the list of nominees for the 20th annual Doug Wright Awards which will be presented at the Arts & Letters Club in Toronto on Saturday May 11, 2924.

The Doug Wright Award for best book

Val-d’Or Neon, Olivier Ballou (Self-published)
A Guest in the House, Emily Carroll (First Second)
Harvey Knight’s Odyssey, Nick Maandag (Drawn & Quarterly)
Naked: The Confessions of a Normal Woman, Éloïse Marseille (Pow Pow Press)
Roaming. Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki, (Drawn & Quarterly)
JAJ, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas, (Douglas & McIntyre)

The Nipper: The Doug Wright Award for emerging talent

James Collier, The Lonesome Shepherd, (Wig Shop)
Vincy Lim, When I was a kid I was taught how to die and When She Set Fire to My Friends’ Houses, ((Self-published)
Syd Madia, Syd Madia’s Dracula, (Self-published)
Christopher Twin, Bad Medicine, (Emanata/Conundrum)
Kyle Vingoe-Cram, Kettle Harbour, (Conundrum)

The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for best small- or micro-press book

Endsickness No. 2, Sofia Alarcon, (Self-published)
The Lonesome Shepherd, James Collier, (Wig Shop)
Old Caves, Tyler Landry, (Uncivilized)
Power 9: Part One, John Little and David Little, (Self-published)
Index, Sven, Rachel Evangeline Chiong and Joyce Kim, (Self-published)

The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for best kids’ book

ThunderBoom, Jack Briglio and Claudia Dávila, (Kids Can Press)
Pluto Rocket: New in Town, Paul Gilligan, (Tundra Books)
Hockey Girl Loves Drama Boy, Faith Erin Hicks, (First Second)
Otis & Peanut, Naseem Hrab and Kelly Collier, (Owlkids Books)
Bad Medicine, Christopher Twin, (Emanata/Conundrum)

Nominees for the 2024 Doug Wright Awards were selected from entries of books published in the 2023 calendar year. The short list and winners were chosen by a panel of three judges for each category.

This year, 200 entries by Canadian authors and artists were submitted from dozens of publishers and self-published authors.

Creators with multiple nominations include James Collier and Christopher Twin, while Olivier Ballou’s Val-d’Or Neon is only the second self-published book to be nominated in the best book category in the award’s history.

Publishers of multiple nominees include Conundrum, Drawn & Quarterly, and First Second.

Each winner will receive a small cash prize, and the winner of The Nipper will be awarded a week-long stay at the Valleyview Artist Retreat, in Caledon, Ontario.

Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame

This year’s Giants of the North inductees are Deni Loubert, the one-time publisher and founder of Renegade Press and one-time publisher and co-founder of Aardvark-Vanaheim; and Maurice Vellekoop, the artist and cartoonist whose most recent book is I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together.

The Ceremony

The 20th annual Doug Wright Awards takes place on Saturday, May 11th, at 8 p.m. ET, at the Arts & Letters Club, 14 Elm Street, Toronto, hosted by Dustin Harbin. The event will also be livestreamed on YouTube.

This year’s ceremony will double as the launch of The Collected Doug Wright (1963–1980), the second and final volume of this series, featuring an extensive section of strips from Wright’s masterpiece, Doug Wright’s Family (a.k.a. Nipper).

The book—the first from our own Giants of the North imprint—will be available for sale at the ceremony and during the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.

↧

Trina Robbins 1938-2024

April 11, 2024, 4:09 am

≫ Next: Steve Brodner Wins Herblock Prize

≪ Previous: Nominees of the 20th Doug Wright Awards

From Bleeding Cool.

Trina Robbins at WonderCon 2023, photo by Gage Skidmore

Comic book writer, artist, editor, publisher and historian Trina Robbins suffered a stroke at the end of February this year and died early Wednesday at the age of 85.

She is also survived by her daughter Casey Robbins and her partner and fellow comics artist, Steve Leialoha.

Known for works like Vampirella & Wonder Woman, and a feminist comics historian, Robbins had a versatile career from clothing design to creating pro-choice comics.

She leaves a significant legacy in comics, fashion, music, and women's rights activism.

Born in 1938, Robbins was an active member of sci-fi fandom in the fifties and sixties, with illustrations appearing in fanzines.

She ran an East Village clothing boutique called Broccoli from 1966 and made clothes for Mama Cass, Donovan, David Crosby and more.

Involved in the music scene, she was a friend of Jim Morrison and of The Byrds and was the first of the three Ladies of the Canyon immortalised in Joni Mitchell's song.

Trina wears her wampum beads She fills her drawing book with line
Sewing lace on widows' weeds And filigree on leaf and vine
Vine and leaf are filigree And her coat's a secondhand one
Trimmed with antique luxury She is a lady of the canyon

Trina takes her paints and her threads And she weaves a pattern all her own

But Trina Robbins was also creating comics while working at that clothes store, which included designing the infamous costume for Vampirella for Frank Frazetta for Vampirella #1 in 1969.

In 1970, she started work in San Francisco at the feminist underground newspaper It Ain't Me, Babe, from which she span off the one-shot It Ain't Me, Babe Comix with Barbara Mendes, the first all-woman comic book.

This led to Wimmen's Comix which ran for twenty years, as well as leading to Trina's Women for Kitchen Sink.

Her first strip for Wimmen's Comix, Sandy Comes Out, was the first comic strip to feature a stated lesbian character.

The eighties saw her work for Marvel, drawing Misty for their children's imprint Star Comics, based on their Millie the Model and her niece Misty, as well as Barbie and The Little Mermaid.

This saw her picked up by Eclipse Comics for the series California Girls in 1987, and drawing The Legend of Wonder Woman at DC Comics – the first woman to so at the publisher, which seems insane now.

She would return to the character for Wonder Woman: The Once and Future Story in the nineties.

She created a comic book imprint, Angry Isis Press which published Choices: A Pro-Choice Benefit Comic Anthology in 1990.

Robbins was a co-founder of the feminist encouragement group Friends of Lulu, and in 2000, she launched and wrote the comic book series GoGirl! with superhero stories designed to appeal to young girls, first from Image Comics and then from Dark Horse.

Her memoir,Last Girl Standing was published in 2017 by Fantagraphics.

She was also a major feminist comics historian, and her books including

READ ALSO

"Trina Robbins – RIP" in The Comics Journal

↧

Steve Brodner Wins Herblock Prize

April 12, 2024, 9:00 am

≫ Next: The Zehra Ömeroğlu trial is postponed

≪ Previous: Trina Robbins 1938-2024

From The Herblock Foundation.

Steve Brodner, Under Trump’s Comb-Over (2015).

Steve Brodner has been named the winner of the 2024 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning.

He has been a leading satiric artist for the last 40 years. His goal during this time was to find an outlet for various forms of political and social commentary in the world of independent, freelance art.

His work has appeared in most major publications in the US.

He has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, The Nation, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Harper’s, The Atlantic, GQ, etc.

His work currently appears regularly in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Nation.

It also appears daily at stevebrodner.substack.com and weekly in thenation.com.

Brodner has covered over 50 stories as a journalist, including 16 national political conventions, the US farm crisis, a profile of life along the Mexican border, guns in Philadelphia, and climbing Mt. Fuji.

The Naked Campaign, his 32 short films for NewYorker.com, documented the 2008 presidential year.

In 2000 he won the Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism and has been the recipient of two Reuben Awards from The National Cartoonists Society.

He received a Gold medal for Editorial work by the Society of Illustrators and was the finalist of the 2018 Herblock Prize.

His career retrospective: Freedom Fries (2004) and the story of the Covid years in the US: Living and Dying in America (2022) were both published by Fantagraphics Books.

Brodner has kept a regular schedule of lecturing and is currently an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts in New York

READ ALSO

Jeet Heer in The Nation.

↧

The Zehra Ömeroğlu trial is postponed

April 16, 2024, 9:00 pm

≪ Previous: Steve Brodner Wins Herblock Prize

The trial for "obscenity brought against cartoonist Zehra Ömeroğlu for a drawing published in Leman which deals with the effects of Covid, could not be heard because the Istanbul Criminal Court judge of First Instance was excused.

The trial in which the illustrator risks a prison sentence is postponed until September 26.

↧

Latest Images