Jack Ohman: A Cartoonist Sparks National Conversation

Sacramento Bee Editorial Cartoonist Jack Ohman's cartoon of last week (above) struck a nerve. This shows for the zillionth time just how powerful cartoons are. Poynter has the background.

The cartoon struck a nerve and hundreds of people contacted the paper and the cartoonist complaining. Governor Rick Perry saw the cartoon as "mocking the tragic deaths of my fellow Texans and our fellow Americans." Fox News called for Ohman to be fired.
The icing on the cartoon cake is that Stuart Leavenworth, the Sacramento Bee's Editorial Page Editor, backs Ohman 100%.

Video: "We Are (Not) Amused" 1996 BBC Political Cartooning Documentary

Part One:



Part Two:

Video: "From Walpole's Bottom to John Major's Underpants" 1994 BBC Political Cartooning Documentary

Part One:



Part Two:

1945 British Pathé Short: MEET GILES, CARTOONIST

Daily Express cartoonist Giles is the guest in this Pathé Personality Pictorial short from 1945 titles "Meet Giles, Cartoonist:"

"Yes. Giles is the name. He's a concerned snooper. Always noting down details wherever he goes to be used later on in one of those drawings that thousands of readers turn to first when the Daily Express or the Sunday Express arrives in the morning."

This is the first time I have ever seen footage of Giles, a cartoonist who a couple of generations grew up with. Foe decades, there was a yearly Giles Annual book produced and so many cartoonists I know have one or more.

I like how he goes onsite to sketch -- to make sure he gets details right in the finished drawing. I, too, have drawn in a chair in my garden, but I have to get my own strong coffee.

Video: Syrian Cartoonist Ali Farzat: "They broke my hands to stop me drawing Assad"

Ali Farzat was violently assaulted, his hands broken, by Bashar al-Assad's militia in August 2011.

Almost a year later, here is a moving video of a recovered Mr. Farzat speaking and drawing via The Guardian:

“The cartoonist doesn’t only present events, but also gives opinions on them. it is about me, how I think and how I should present my idea in the drawing. I use satire to draw dictators who use oppressive methods. I try to marginalize them and make them less important to people. This gives people hope that these dictators are empty. And gives people the courage to continue to demonstrate and be critical. This is why drawing, for me, carries human and moral causes to encourage the people to transcend their pain.”

Video: KAL "Freedom of Expression: Editorial Cartoons in America"

Political cartoonist KAL (The Economist Magazine) talks about political cartoons and freedom of expression with an audience in Jakarta, Indonesia. His presentation details his cartoon process, the importance and influence of the political cartoon in history, and the necessity of freedom of expression.

Editorial Cartoonist Charlie Daniel Tribute

May 17, 2012: Knoxville, TN - The Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy at the University of Tennessee honored Charlie Daniel, the News Sentinel's longtime editorial cartoonist, at a luncheon sponsored by Sen. Baker and his wife, Nancy Kassenbaum Baker, former U.S. senator from Kansas.

Senator Howard Baker commends Charlie Daniel on his cartooning skills ("I've been both the victim and beneficiary") in this video:

Offering tributes to Daniel were Baker; Ginny Weatherstone, head of the Volunteer Ministry Center, where Daniel has long been a board member and volunteer; News Sentinel columnist Sam Venable; and Marshall Ramsey, editorial cartoonist for the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, who as a student at UT in the 1990s was coached and encouraged by Daniel.

Daniel's loving nature and gentle style of humor were cited by all of the speakers.

Read the rest at Knoxnews.com

Video by Lauren Spuhler.

Video: Steve Bell in America

Here's Steve Bell in America. The Guardian editorial cartoonist gives a presentation at the PEN American Center World Voices Festival. 

This event was took place at the Wollman Auditorium at the New School on May 5, 2012. The video runs 90 minutes.



From the Web site:

Cartoonist Steve Bell has been lampooning Her Majesty’s Government since the early days of Margaret Thatcher. His weekly strip in the Guardian is a staple of British political discourse, and has been drawing outrage from the office of the Prime Minister to the House of Commons for over 30 years. With the U.S. Presidential election just around the corner, Bell couldn’t have arrived at a better time. In an intimate conversation, the cartoonist offers a ferocious take on the American political landscape in this election year.

Matt Wuerker Wins Pulitzer

Cartoon by Matt Wuerker, April 13, 2011. © 2012 POLITICO LLC

Congratulations to POLITICO's Matt Wuerker upon winning the Pulitzer Prize!

Dan Wasserman "Out of Line" Presentation

 Above March 12, 2012 cartoon by Dan Wasserman, copyright The Boston Globe.


Boston Globe editorial cartoonist Dan Wasserman gave a talk on March 31, 2012. Titled "Out of Line," it was the final program of the month-long One Book One Town series in Sharon, MA. Amy Nachbar reports for the Sharon Advocate.

A few excerpts:

Some of his earliest influences were Garry Trudeau, known for “Doonesbury,” Tom Toles of the Washington Post, Herbert Block of the Chicago Tribune, and Bill Mauldin of Pinstyle.com. But his first influence was his own father who was an amateur artist and exposed Wasserman to drawing as a young boy.

He said he still draws the old fashioned way with pen and a drawing board and then enhances his work on the computer once the drawing is complete.

Wasserman said he has five rules for men of his trade: democracy was designed for cartoonists, it's tough to compete with reality, cartoonists have attachment issues, religion is a funny thing, and politicians need cartoonists desperately.

Sometimes Wasserman gets hate mail which he also shared last night. One man sent him a nasty letter which was highly insulting and another letter a few weeks later. Wasserman recognized the signature on the second letter and when he turned the card over it had the name of the man and his wife with a photo of the man's house, address and the two family dogs.

Read the entire article here.

Video: Cartoonist Apologizes for "Awful" Trayvon Martin Cartoon

 Above: the cartoon by Stephanie Eisner. Hat tip to The Austinist.


The University of Texas student newspaper The Daily Texan published cartoonist Stephanie Eisner's above cartoon about the Trayvon Martin case. The Austinist has the background here.

Stephanie Eisner has apologized, saying in a statement:

"I apologize for what was in hindsight an ambiguous cartoon related to the Trayvon Martin shooting. I intended to contribute thoughtful commentary on the media coverage of the incident, however this goal fell flat."

There was a protest at The Daily Texan. Video from KXON:

Video: The Bully! Pulpit Show: Mark Joseph Interviews Michael Ramirez

Video: In Memory of Blaine

The Hamilton Spectator's longtime editorial cartoonist Blaine died on February 5, 2012. He was 74.


Mark Mcneil for The Hamitlton Spectator:

Blaine, who was the newspaper’s editorial cartoonist for 30 years until his retirement in 1993, had been in poor health in recent years after heart surgery and a stroke and was living at Macassa Lodge. He died at Juravinski Hospital Sunday evening.

Here's a short video from Mike Cope. It's September 24, 2010. The Association of Canadian Editorial Cartoonists are having a show "Doodles to Digital: Editorial Cartooning in the 21st Century," at the Jean and Ross Fischer Gallery of the Art Gallery of Hamilton. I was touched by it.



More from The Hamitlton Spectator:

Blaine’s caricatures of Trudeau have a special meaning to The Spec’s current editorial cartoonist, Graeme MacKay. Years ago, as a Grade 10 student with a sketchbook tucked under his arm, MacKay went into The Spec’s newsroom to meet Blaine.

MacKay says he remembers the five-minute meeting with his hero in such detail that he can still play it like a short movie inside his head. It ends with Blaine grabbing a blue pencil and a piece of paper, and in a matter of seconds drawing a cartoon of Trudeau.

“I thought, ‘This guy is incredible,’” MacKay says. “I still have the drawing.”

Syrian Forces Beat Political Cartoonist

Via Al Jazeera:

Ali Ferzat, a renowned political cartoonist whose drawings expressed Syrians' frustrated hopes for change was grabbed after he left his studio early Thursday and beaten by masked gunmen who broke his hands and dumped him on a road outside Damascus.

Tom Spurgeon at Comics Reporter has a link round up about the event, and the international outrage.

NY Times: Brian McFadden

Congratulations to Brian McFadden, who created the inaugural strip, "The State of Unemployment," for the NY Times reinvented Week in review section.

Michael Cavna has an interview with the alt-editorial cartoonist here.

Video: Mexican Editorial Cartoonist Mario Robles

Mario Robles is a political cartoonist in Mexico's Oaxaca province. He has been violently attacked several times for his critical cartoons.

Video: Jeffrey Koterba

1990: Bill Mauldin in Saudi Arabia

There's nothing new in this world -- there's only the history you don't know.

Here are a series of drawings that Bill Mauldin did in November 1990 when accompanying ABC reporter Sam Donaldson to Saudi Arabia.

These are reprinted from Cartoonst PROfiles #89, March 1991.

Video: Jeff Stahler

"INK." is an 8 minute documentary about how editorial cartoonist/newspaper panel cartoonist/comic strip cartoonist Jeff Stahler works. It's directed and edited by Amanda H. Cook, with music by Nickel Creek.

INK. from Amanda H. Cook on Vimeo.

Hat tip to Stacy Curtis!

Have Ted Rall Draw a Political Cartoon Just For You

Ted Rall has all the details here.

EDIT: If you're having problems getting a link to Ted's blog (as I am now), here's the direct link to the "Have Ted Rall Draw a Political Cartoon Just For You"auction on eBay.

UPDATE: It sold for $355.