Five publishers and one author have filed lawsuit against Meta for deliberately pirating millions of books to train its AI model Llama. While symbolic, the suit also names Mark Zuckerberg for “personally authorized and actively encouraged the infringement.” The publishers include: Hachette, Macmillan, McGraw Hill, Elsevier, and Cengage, and novelist Scott Turow.The suit, filed in […]
Editorial cartoonist around the world are being encouraged to submit cartoons for the 2026 European Cartoon Award. The award recognizes “the impact of cartoons on societal dialogue” and serves to “encourage cartoonists in their vital role and stimulate conversations about Europe.”Requirements for entry include publications dates from June 2, 2025, and July 1, 2026, must […]
The Freedom Cartoonists Foundation has announced their selection for the 2026 Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award. Jimmy “Spire” Ssentongo of Uganda will be presented the award in a ceremony tonight. Palestinian cartoonist Safaa Odah is unable to leave her homeland for political reasons but will receive her prize at a future date. Safaa is a […]
The Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC) has announced their shortlist for their GMIC Awards for outstanding health-related comic projects completed and/or published in 2025. There are three categories, long-form, short-form, and educational, with five finalists in each category. Winners will be announced at their annual conference in Baltimore on July 25.Here are the finalists:EducationalLong FormShort […]
The Freedom Cartoonists Foundation will be marking World Press Freedom Day on Monday, May 4 with two events: the inaugural “Cartooning for Freedom” Exhibition and a ceremony to present the 2026 Kofi Annan Courage in Cartooning Award. “Cartooning for Freedom” ExhibitionThe exhibit opens today and runs through May. It features 60 cartoons selected by FreedomCartoonists […]
Cartoonist Ashraf Omar will be tried in Egyptian court beginning May 10. He’s been detained since July 2024 on four charges. According to his lawyer, three charges have been dropped but the prosecution added a new charge and will move forward to charges related to terrorism.The Initial charges are:Charges 1, 3, and 4 have been dropped […]
From Guy Badeaux’s (Bado) blog we learn the winners of the 26th World Press Freedom International Editorial Cartoon award. The theme this year was “Times are tough.” Taking the top first, second and third place are: Darko Drljevic of Montenegro, Joel Pett of USA, and Patrick Lamontagne of Canada.Ten cartoonists were honored with an Awards […]
Scottish cartoonist Tom Gauld is the first non-French cartoonist to be honored with the Le Prix Gotlib (The Gotlib Prize) for humorous cartoon book. Until this year, the prize for humor has been awarded solely to a French cartoonist or French language book of humor. His book “Physics for Cats” was originally published by Drawn […]
The Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum will reopen on May 23 after building and HVAC improvements and a redesign of the layout of the exhibition areas. Chris Ware’s international exhibition Life is Complicated, will headline the reopening.From the Billy Ireland website regarding the changes to the exhibit areas: At the heart of the enhanced museum […]
The prolific Dutch comics artist Dick Matena passed away yesterday. He was 83 years old. He also published under the pseudonyms A. den Dooier, John Kelly and Dick Richards.Dick was born and raised in The Hague in Amsterdam. Not one who did well in school settings, he dropped out of school at age 15 and worked odd jobs. […]
The Museum of Caricature and Cartoon of Vianden, Luxembourg has announced the winners of their annual International Caricature and Cartoon Contest of Vianden 2026. Taking the top prizes are Angel Boligan (Mexico) with second and third place going to Olena Tsuranova (Ukraine) and Heibat Ahmadi (Iran) respectively. This year’s theme was “Democracy (popular sovereignty, rule […]
The Angoulême International Comics Festival is largest comic festival in the world. It has been held annually in January in Angoulême France since 1974. The conflicts that are unfurling now in the news were sown in the early ’00s. This article tries to encapsulate the pivotal moments that led to the cancellation of the 2026 […]
Yesterday’s news about the Angoulême International Comics Festival selecting a new organizer left one question unanswered: will there be a festival next January? The contract for 2027 is held by the former organizer, 9eArt+, who is currently in litigation over their contract. Another hurdle is the mere logistics of organizing the biggest comic festival in […]
The Center for Cartoon Studies have announced their 14th annual Studio Prize winners. In the Long-Form category the award goes to Mimi Pond, and Suerynn Lee took the prize in the Short-Form category. The prize goes to cartoonists whose work “exemplifies excellence in cartooning.” The judges wrote that Mimi’s biography of the Mitford Sisters: Pond […]
One my favorite artists, Florian Satzinger, has an exhibit translated into English as “Ducks, who save themselves in rocket ships” about a Florian’s work as a character designer. The exhibit runs Jun 3–Jul 26 at the Comic Museum in Erlangen, Germany.Florian is a character designer heavily influenced by Carl Barks, Bruno Bozzetto, André Franquin and […]