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Mike Constable – RIP

Canadian cartoonist Mike Constable has passed away.

Mike Constable

1943 – July 3, 2026

Cartoonist, animator, humorist, syndicator, street performer, social activist.

Mike Constable

From Bado:

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

From Canadianaci:

He studied sculpture at the Ontario College of Art and later sociology at Carleton University in Ottawa. He co-founded and was editor of Guerilla, a Toronto underground newspaper that ran from 1969 through 1974. As the same time, he freelanced for, Canadian Tribune, The Financial Post, Maclean’s, Saturday Night, This Magazine, Toronto Life, The Toronto Star and other magazines in Canada and the U.S. He was editor of Piranha a humour magazine.

Add Globe and Mail, The Badger, Today, Report on Business, Portfoolio, and more to that list.

In 1977, he was one of the founders of Union Art Services, a co-operative mailing service of graphics and cartoons which went out to about forty-five labour publications.

Among Mike’s controversies was his 2005 “A Creature of Habits” animation featuring Pope Benedict XVI giving a statue of The Virgin Mary a Nazi salute while saying “Heil Mary!”

Calgary Herald May 17, 2005

Mike Constable had a website now only available through The Wayback Machine.

Allen Booth has put together a compilation of Mike Constable’s political animated shorts.

Michael Connolly’s “How to Eat a Cat” documentary on Mike Constable from which the photos here are taken.

Mike Constable, Guerilla – August 14, 1979
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Comments 4

  1. R.I.P. and I hope his replacement is born soon to carry on. Being a gadfly isn’t popular but it sure gets their attention.
    My sincere condolences to his friends and family.

  2. Mikey had no time for pretension or fakery. There was a lot to admire both as a cartoonist and as a person.

  3. So sorry to hear this news. Mike was an unforgettable force of nature. Some years back, he spoke to a class of animators I was teaching a GNED course. They were so inspired by him! I am grateful for his willingness to share his journey with them.

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