Baltimore Sun passed off as an editorial cartoon an AI-generated image

From the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

The AAEC Board of Directors has written an open letter to the leadership of The Baltimore Sun after it created and posted an AI-generated image it passed off as an editorial cartoon. 

Cathy Wilcox bids a relunctant farewell

 

Cathy Wilcox is ending her run as cartoonist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, part of a wider tranche of redundancies at the newspaper group. 

It has been gratifying to see the high level of support and well-wishes the announcment of her retirement has precipitated. 

In addition to a final week of cartoons that made explicit her feelings about several important matters, on her way out she had a word to say on the encroachment of A.I. upon the profession.

Pissing matches

 

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this Bill Brahall cartoon the other day. Here are a few matches:

Cartoonists fear for future of industry with rise of AI-generated illustrations

From Australian Broadcasting News.

The Herald Sun published this AI-generated image of Victorian Premier Ben Carroll

(Australian) cartoonists say they are worried about the future of their craft, as media companies continue to grapple with integrating artificial intelligence (AI) tools into their industry.

On Wednesday, the Herald Sun newspaper published an AI-generated illustration alongside an article about Victorian Premier Ben Carroll.

The illustration, which was clearly marked by the publisher as being AI generated, depicted Mr Carroll with a pirate's leg scraping barnacles off a ship decorated with former Labor premiers Jacinta Allan and Daniel Andrews.

Signe Wilkinson Donates Archive to University of Pennsylvania

 From Feridundemir.

Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson has donated a substantial collection of her political cartoons and working materials to the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication.

The collection includes original drawings, published cartoons, sketches, notes and other materials from Wilkinson’s career. It will be housed in the Annenberg Library Archives, where it will be available for research and teaching. 

The elephants in the room

 

Winners of the 11th World Humor Awards

From World Humor Awards.

The Theme of this year's contest was "Kindness and Courtesy"

Pat Oliphant dead at 90

Photo by Greg Preston 

I woke up this morning to the news that legendary editorial cartoonists Pat Oliphant died yesterday. He was a giant of the profession who spawned countless imitators.

In lieu of personal memories, here is a selection of articles about him on this blog:

Patrick Oliphant, Master of 'a Dying Art'

"A Savage Art: The Life and Cartoons of Pat Oliphant"

Cartoonist Ann Telnaes on Pat Oliphant

Pat Oliphant Interviewed in "The Atlantic"

Pat Oliphant by Dave Coats in Go Comics

News from Patrick Oliphant in the Santa Fe New Mexican

UPDATES

"The Man on the Trunk of the Tree." by Jason Chatfield

Pat Oliphant, world-renowned political cartoonist dies at 90 obituary in the Santa Fe New Mexican

The quiet man with the loud drawings in The Comics Journal

Remembering Mike Constable

 

It is with great sadness that I learned that cartoonist Mike Constable lost, last Friday, his battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

In keeping with Mike’s preference for informality, and to celebrate him in a place where he spent a lot of time, a memorial get-together will be held, from 3-6 pm, this Sunday at Last Temptation, 12 Kensington Avenue, Toronto.

Here are a few remembrances about a dear friend.

Russian cartoonist Semyon Skrepetsky shot dead in the street

From Cartooning for Peace.

Russian artist and cartoonist Semyon Skrepetsky, also known as Simon Skrepetski, was shot dead in the street on Monday June 15 in Biała Podlaska in eastern Poland, near the border with Belarus.

An exile in Poland since 2021, he used his drawings to criticize autocrats such as Putin, the Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko, and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. 

Winners of the 2026 Doug Wright Awards

From the Doug Wright Awards website.

Here are the winners (in bold) of the 22nd annual Doug Wright Awards which were given out on Saturday June 6 at the Arts & Letters Club in Toronto.

Guy Billout Exhibition in New York

From the Philippe Labaune Gallery.

Regulations - The Atlantic Monthly Magazine, 1997

The Philippe Labaune Gallery is currently presenting Quiet Catastrophes, a comprehensive solo exhibition of the work of acclaimed illustrator Guy Billout.

The exhibition brings together original drawings and editorial works spanning Billout’s career, including a significant selection from his remarkably longstanding collaboration with The Atlantic Monthly. 

Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2026

From TCAF.

Considered to be amongst the premier comic arts festivals in the world, TCAF is an annual two day festival in downtown Toronto. 

Held since 2003, TCAF is unique for its scale and scope welcoming 28,000+ local and international visitors and over 315+ artists, and its continued focus on independent arts culture and accessibility remaining a free public and non-commercial arts and cultural festival.

TCAF 2026 will be held from June 6-7, 2026 at our new location Toronto Metropolitan University's Mattamy Athletic Centre, with additional programming in the surrounding neighbourhood. 

Libraries and Education Day and Word Balloon Academy are scheduled for Friday June 5. 

Corax 1933-2026

From Syria Cartoon.

Predrag Koraksić Corax was probably the most famous political cartoonist in the former Yugoslavia. 

He was born in 1933 in the village of Gornja Gorevnica near Čačak, and lost his partisan father to the Chetniks during World War II. 

He finished high school in Zemun and studied architecture in Belgrade. 

In October 2004, he was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and he is the recipient of other awards, including the one called New Optimism (2017).

Norwegian Daily Faces Backlash Over Modi Cartoon

From News 18.

Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten faced massive backlash after it published a racist cartoon depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a snake charmer with a fuel-station filling pipe as the snake. 

The image was used for an opinion article titled “A sneaky and slightly annoying man".

Dave Brown loses "Independent" post

 

British cartoonist Dave Brown was laid off, due to budget cuts, after 30 years at The Independent.

Editorial cartoons about the erosion of freedoms displayed in Geneva

Every two years in Geneva, two cartoonists receive an international prize recognizing their commitment and courage.

This year, the winners are Safaa Odah from Palestine and Jimmy “Spire” Ssentongo from Uganda.

Throughout the month of May, their work, along with a selection of topical cartoons, is on display on Quai Wilson.

The 2026 edition is dedicated to three current topics as interpreted by cartoonists from around the world: new empires, the impact of artificial intelligence, and freedoms under attack.

On the Line

Anthony Feinstein in The Globe & Mail.

Strongmen have an extraordinarily thin skin when it comes to laughing at themselves.

It is a striking that these men with enormous power, vast armies, lethal weapons, and apparently limitless self-confidence fear the simple cartoon. 

Is it because they know instinctively that Mark Twain was correct when he had one of his characters observe, “Against the assault of laughter, nothing can stand”? 

Hitler’s fury at being lampooned by the cartoons of David Low pales, however, when compared to the violence unleashed more than half a century later by 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. 

Telnaes: Democracy Under Siege Makes Its U.S. Debut May 1st

From The Daily Cartoonist.

For four days, beginning May 1, 2026, Ann Telnaes and Friends are making the Laura Dix documentary Democracy Under Siege available in the United States.

26th World Press Freedom International Editorial Cartoon Competition (Results)

First Prize: Darko Drljevic, Montenegro

The jury, composed of five members of World Press Freedom Canada met on April 8 to select the winners of the 26th World Press Freedom International Editorial Cartoon Competition.

The theme, this year, was "Times are tough".