I mentioned last Friday and wrote a letter to the editor arguing that the polls were flawed and that editors ought select the comic strips themselves. " /> I mentioned last Friday and wrote a letter to the editor arguing that the polls were flawed and that editors ought select the comic strips themselves. " />

Filed under: Controversies

Orphan Works Act update – please read!

by Alan Gardner

I’ve been following the Orphan Works Act and it looks like it’s making good speed through the House.  Over a Cagle’s blog, he’s posted a stirring story from Michiko Stehrenberger, a cartoon illustrator and character designer who took on a big tobacco company who used her work illegally. Because of current copyright law, she was able to win, but if the Orphan Woks Act were in effect she would have never had a chance.

Did Johnny Hart make another derogatory statement against Islam? (Updated)

by Alan Gardner

This two panel cartoon begins with the turtle character stepping on something in tall grass and ends with a question, “What makes a bite thats shaped like a crescent moon?”…  I remember at the time defending Johnny on ToonTalk as the crescent is a common symbol/cliché used on outhouses and that people were inserting their own views into the strip, but now with this strip, I’m thinking that perhaps Johnny is capable of these clever puns (verbal or visual).

Mike Lester cartoon stirs the pot in Tallahassee

by Alan Gardner

News-Tribune and Cagle Cartoons.Lester drew Uncle Sam holding a copy of the Times that featured a front page with the headline “All the Treason Fit to Print” and the subhead “U.S. Anti-Terror Program: Details Inside.”… He added that the letter that “really gave me second thoughts” was from former Democrat Publisher Carrol Dadisman, who wrote: “In more than 50 years of various responsibilities for newspapers and editorial pages, I’ve defended a lot of editorial cartoons.

Mike Luckovich’s cartoon on torture etiquette generates reader angst

by Alan Gardner

On the heals of Steve Benson’s Haditha cartoon comes Mike Luckovich’s cartoon on torture etiquette that has generated 18,000 votes on an online poll (Mike’s cartoons usually generate only 1,000) according to Editor and Publisher.Public Editor Angela Tuck, in a column Saturday, took issue with its timing, and claimed the “symbolism clearly overshadowed the intent.” The cartoon showed a hooded figure holding an American flag while reading a book on torture etiquette to an al-Qaida member.Not by design, it appeared just above photos of two Americans killed by insurgents in Iraq this week, whose bodies were brutalized, probably after they died.Tuck wrote: “Luckovich had that brutality in mind when he drew the cartoon, which was meant to criticize U.S. military leaders for allowing torture tactics, such as waterboarding (making prisoners feel as though they are being drowned) at Guantanamo Bay….’

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