Cartooning Would-Be Kings

From Google Event.

To mark World Press Freedom Day on May 5th, the Institute of Democracy, Journalism, and Citizenship (IDJC), Syracuse University, Washington, DC will host a special event exploring cartoonists' contribution in the the age of "strong man" leaders and media oligarchs.

Speakers: cartoonists Barry Blitt, Kevin Kallaugher, Joel Pett, and Signe Wilkinson and experts Katherine Jacobsen and Roslyn Mazer will discuss findings from the latest report by the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The event will also include the announcement of this year's Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award.

Michael de Adder wins National Newspaper Award 2024

Michael de Adder (Halifax Chronicle Herald / The Globe and Mail) is the winner in the Editorial Cartooning category at the 76th edition of the National Newspaper Awards.

Patrick LaMontagne (Calgary Herald / Calgary Sun) and Gabrielle Drolet (The Globe and Mail) were the finalists.

Program for the 14th Edition of the Montreal Comic Arts Festival

From the Montreal Comic Arts Festival.

 

The Montreal Comic Arts Festival (MCAF) is proud to announce the programming for its 14th edition, taking place from May 23 to 25 on Saint-Denis Street, which will be, for the occasion, free of cars between Gilford and Roy.

Presented in collaboration with the SDC Rue Saint-Denis and Télé-Québec, MCAF offers a rich lineup under the theme "Back to the Future" featuring over 60 free activities. 

This year, more than 320 creators and 170 exhibitors are expected under its tents.

25th Euro-Kartoenale Kruishoutem Finalists

From Ecc Saskia

The grand winner of the 25th Euro-kartoenale The Hat - Hats Off! is Javad Takjoo from Iran. 

He managed to captivate the jury with a romantic interpretation of the theme “The Hat – Hats Off!”, bringing a smile to everyone’s face.

Yaakov Kirshan 1938-2025

 

Yaakov Kirshan, one of the giants of the Israeli cartooning, died Monday after a lengthy illness. He was 87 years old.

His comic strip Dry Bones was internationally syndicated and published in The Jerusalem Post for 50 years, after which Kirschen moved to the Jewish News Syndicate.

Marty Two Bulls, Sr. Wins the 2025 Herblock Prize

From The Herblock Foundation.

Marty Two Bulls, Sr. has been named the winner of the 2025 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning. 

Marty Two Bulls Sr. is an Oglala Lakota originally from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. 

He has worked as a graphic designer in television, commercial printing, daily newspapers and new media. 

His work has also appeared in the newspapers like Indian Country Today (Martin, SD), Mandan Hidatsa Arikara Times (New Town, ND), Cherokee One Feather (Cherokee, NC), and News from Indian Country (Hayward, WI).

Zagreb 2025 Finalists

From the Facebook page of the Croatian Cartoonist Association.

I was happy to learn today that the above drawing was given a special mention in the 30th International Cartoon Exhibition “Zagreb 2025”, organized by the Croatian Cartoonist Association.

Here are the other award winning entries:

Brad Holland 1943-2025

 

We have just learned of the passing of illustrator Brad Holland after a fatal operation. For lack of more information, here are excerpts from his Wikipedia entry.

"Capitulation is contagious"

Adrienne LaFrance in the March issue of The Atlantic.

By killing a cartoon that lampooned its owner, The Washington Post set a dangerous precedent.

Musa Gümüş 1963-2025

From his website.

I have just learned of the passing of celebrated Turkish cartoonist Musa Gümüş.

Born in Gaziantep in 1963, he has won a total of 275 awards from competitions both at home and abroad.

UPenn Lays Off Cartoonist Mr. Fish

From The Daily Cartoonist.

Days after the Trump Administration froze $175 million in federal funding the University of Pennsylvania has terminated the employment of progressive Lecturer (and Cartoonist) Dwayne Booth, aka Mr. Fish.

From the Mr. Fish Patreon page:

National Newspaper Awards 2024 Nominations

The Canadian Daily Newspaper Association announced the finalists of the 76th National Newspaper Awards.

Toronto: A Sketchy History

From The Globe and Mail. 

Brian Gable, seven-time winner of the National Newspaper Award for political cartoons, takes readers on a witty, visual journey through Toronto’s transformation from a modest military garrison to a bustling metropolis.

With over seventy original sketches, Gable captures the city’s most pivotal moments, weaving together humour and history in a brisk, engaging narrative. 

World Press Cartoon Oeiras 2025

 

The 18th edition of World Press Cartoon will take place in the autumn of 2025, once again in Portugal, now back in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, in the municipality of Oeiras.

The show continues to feature an attractive structure of 10 prizes, including a Grand Prix worth 10,000 Euros. 

We maintain the levels of rigour and quality that have made us the reference salon for graphic humour in the Press.

Paper Prints Danziger Cartoon, Publisher Apologizes, Fires Editor

The owners of The Palm Beach Post fired editorial page editor Tony Doris last month after the paper published the above Jeff Danziger cartoon and later condemned it as antisemitic.

The full story here.

‘Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse’ Review

Alan Gardner in The Daily Cartoonist.

The documentary Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse premieres at Film Forum in New York City last week. 

Given the current political climate in the United States and abroad, the film serves not only as an educational 90-minute exploration of one of the most influential comic creators of the 20th century but also as a reminder that the themes running through Art’s life—fascism, illiberalism, and extremism—are not relics of the past but present threats to democracies worldwide.

25th World Press Freedom Canada International Editorial Cartoon Competition

The theme of the 25th International Editorial Cartoon Competition is:

It’s a Trump World 

At Trump’s first inauguration, it was easy to dismiss « alternative facts » about the size of those in attendance.
Now with American big tech bosses bowing at his feet, « alternative facts » may become the only ones we know as Facebook eliminates fact-checking in the name of free expression and Twitter reinstates Trump’s account, making it increasingly difficult to discern the truth.
Media outlets refuse to endorse opposition candidates by invoking political neutrality and live under the threat of expensive lawsuits.
There may have been adults in the room during Trump's first mandate but his current circle appears to be catering to his every whim.

“Rea Irvin: An Appreciation" by Seth

From Drawn & Quarterly.

Seth (Clyde Fans) offers an homage to Rea Irvin, The New Yorker's first art editor and the man who invented Eustace Tilley.

The New Yorker 100th Anniversary

 

The New Yorker celebrates its centenary this month.

 It’s been one hundred years since our founding editor, Harold Ross, and his wife, Jane Grant, dreamed up what they called a “comic paper” over poker games and liquid lunches at the Algonquin Hotel and other midtown haunts. 

The 100th Anniversary Issue is available in full today exclusively to our subscribers. 

AAEC 2025 Convention

The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists is pleased to announce that it will be teaming up with the Small Press Expo, in September for its' 2025 convention.

From the European Cartoon Center.

The European Cartoon Center Kruishoutem is currently presenting the exhibition Drawing the Principle by Danish cartoonist Niels Bo Bojesen.

The uncertain future of editorial cartooning

From Fast Company.

Fast Company conducted a Zoom roundtable with a trio of some of the best political artists and illustrators working today: Pulitzer Prize winner Barry Blitt, Pulitzer Prize winner Jack Ohman, and Pulitzer finalist and Herblock Prize winner Jen Sorensen.

Jules Feiffer dies at 95

From The Washington Post.

Jules Feiffer, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter and children’s book author who was one of the most humorously neurotic literary voices of his generation, died Jan. 17 at his home in Richfield Springs, New York. He was 95.

The cause was congestive heart failure, said his wife, JZ Holden.

I have joined Cartoon Movement

From Cartoon Movement.

The English version of the cartoons I draw for Le Droit have been distributed for the last 20 years by Artizans.

Unfortunately, since the syndicate went under at the end of December, I am happy to announce that I have since joined Cartoon Movement.

Nominations Open for Courage in Cartooning Award

From The Daily Cartoonist.

Cartoonist Rights has announced they are now taking nominations for the 2025 Robert Russell Courage in Cartooning Award. 

The award recognizes a cartoonist’s exemplary bravery while facing threats to their human rights.

The Latrobe Bulletin will do away with editorial cartoons

From The Daily Cartoonist.

The Latrobe (PA) Bulletin has decided they can no longer publish opinion pieces – oops, make that political cartoons – “because we strive to better the community, not divide it.”

Cartoonist Lee Judge‘s commentary was the source of controversy in a red part of the purple state.

Political Cartoonists on facing Donald Trump

Zach Rabiroff in The Comics Journal.

Trump's ABC by Ann Telnaes

Zach Rabiroff for The Comics Journal investigates the state of political cartooning as the practitioners face a revitalized and seemingly very powerful Donald Trump who is entering his second term as President of the United States with few limits in his way. 

Being "Bado"

From the Historical Society of Ottawa. 

The editorial cartoons of Bado (alias Guy Badeaux) have offered Le Droit's daily readers a humourous and insightful running commentary on almost a half century of local, Canadian and world history.

Join us on January 25 as he reflects on a remarkable career that has spanned two generations of Trudeau and a vast expanse of lampoon-able news events in-between. 

Ann Telnaes reflects on the Charlie Hebdo killings

From The Freedom Cartoonists Foundation.

10th anniversary of Charlie Hebdo killings – A visual essay by Ann Telnaes

Ann Telnaes Quits The Washington Post

From Open Windows.

(rough of cartoon killed)

I’ve worked for the Washington Post since 2008 as an editorial cartoonist. 

I have had editorial feedback and productive conversations—and some differences—about cartoons I have submitted for publication, but in all that time I’ve never had a cartoon killed because of who or what I chose to aim my pen at. 

Until now.