Cartoonists Here and Abroad
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Martin Rowson and Ella Baron – Processes
The Guardian charges two of their cartoonists with the idea of “Trump and a world in turmoil” and then followed them as they transformed that into an editorial cartoon along with their thought process along the way.
This week, we challenged the pair to draw on the same subject (Trump and a world in turmoil), on the same day, to see what each – with their different styles, tools and perspectives – would come up with. Martin landed on a Shakespearean scene, with a warped “King Leer” flanked by snickering world leaders. Ella proposed him squatting in a dystopian nest, surrounded by his spoils.
Old School Martin Rowson:
In the same way humans have for at least 67,800 years, I make marks with something runny on a flattish surface. Despite the growth of digital imaging over the past 40 years, I can’t even do Photoshop…
New Age Ella Baron:
I draw with a Wacom Cintiq tablet and stylus. It’s frustrating when people say this isn’t drawing by hand: I have hands and my stylus is more sensitive to pressure and barrel rotation than an ordinary pen.
A photo gallery of Rowson and Baron at work.
Tillie Walden – Cartoonist Laureate
Publishers Weekly profiles Northeast U.S. cartoonist Tillie Walden.
After being sworn in as Vermont’s fifth cartoonist laureate in June 2023, Tillie Walden was approached by Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup, executive director of Vermont Humanities. The Vermont cartoonist laureate is tasked with creating comics depicting noteworthy events in the state, and Ilstrup pitched Walden on telling the story of Charity Bryant and Sylvia Drake, a gay couple who openly shared their lives together in the small town of Weybridge in the 19th century. Upon examining the historical materials about the pair Ilstrup provided, Walden was smitten.
With the cover for our spring comics and graphic novels preview issue, Walden wanted to capture what it felt like to create Charity & Sylvia. “It was really like spring had come again within me,” she says. “One of my goals with this comic was to remind myself why this medium matters to me, and use simple tools to tell a complex story. It’s cheesy, but it did feel like a bloom all around every time my pen touched the paper.”
Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2026 – Judges Choices
Comic-Con is pleased to announce that 19 individuals have been selected to be inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame for 2026. These inductees include 8 deceased comics pioneers and 11 living persons.
The inductees span the history of comics and range from newspaper and magazine cartoonists and Golden and Silver Age creators to international and underground comix greats and industry innovators.
The deceased choices are Edwina Dumm, Oliver Harrington, Don Heck, Abe Kanegson, Paul S. Newman, Hector German Osterheld, Tom Palmer Sr., and Jimmy Swinnerton. The living choices are Bob Bolling, Gerry Conway, Denys Cowan, Mike Friedrich, Lee Marrs, Go Nagai, Bud Plant, Mike Royer, Dave Sim, Carol Tyler, and Rick Veitch.
In addition to these choices, voters in the comics industry will elect 4 persons from a group of 16 nominees proposed by the judges. Those nominees will be announced next week, and a ballot will be made available for online voting.
At least half of the honorees have comic strip credentials.
An Evening with Mike Luckovich
If you are impatient to meet a Hall of Fame cartoonist at this Summer’s San Diego Comic-Con there is the opportunity to meet one in a week and a half. The rare two-time Pulitzer Prize recipient.
The City Menus shares news of the Carrollton, Georgia event:
On Tuesday, Feb. 3, at the Townsend Center for the Performing Arts, the University of West Georgia will host “An Evening with Pulitzer Prize-Winning Cartoonist Mike Luckovich.”
A two-time Pulitzer Prize recipient, Luckovich has served as the editorial cartoonist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 1989. Known for his bold, ink-only style, Luckovich’s cartoons convey complex political and social issues into striking, single-frame commentary that resonates far beyond the page. His work is published in newspapers across the country and has appeared in major publications including Time, Newsweek and The New York Times.
During the event, Luckovich will reflect on his life in cartoons, exploring how the medium both reflects and refracts the wider culture. He will also discuss the unique power editorial cartoons continue to hold in the digital age, where images can cut through noise, spark dialogue and challenge audiences to think critically about current events.
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