The Centre for Independent Journalism is throwing its support behind a legal challenge to book banning by the Malaysian government. Back in June, the Deputy Minister of Home Affairs signed an order banning two satirical books by cartoonist Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque (AKA “Zunar”) under the Printing Presses and Publications Act which prohibits material that is […]
The Comics Journal delves into recent news stories regarding a manga translator being arrested in Sweden for possession of manga depicting undressed children (the images posted on TCJ’s site depict a child taking a bath). In Sweden, all images ? be it photos, movies, animations or drawings ? depicting what one can understand to be […]
The Mainichi Daily News reports that Kimihiko Tsukuda, the creator of the longest-running serialized comic strip in Japanese newspapers, has passed away at the age of 80. His comic strip Honobono-kun, dubbed the “Japanese Charlie Brown,” first appeared in newspapers in 1956 and ran through 2007 after Kimihiko fell ill.
Canadian cartoonist (and architect) Shahid Mahmood was barred from flying on Air Canada because his name was a no-fly list back in 2004. Mahmood sued the airline fearing that after 9/11 his cartoons mocking the US administration and teenage years lived in Pakistan was enough to get him profiled. According to The Toronto Star, Mahmood […]
If you’re in the Netherlands (and I do have a couple of readers there according to my web analytics) you might be interested to know that the Anne Frank Foundation has announced a graphic novel based on Anne Frank’s life is now available. The idea for a comic book originated from the fact that children […]
The Somali man who is accused of attempting to kill Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard back on New Year’s Day has been officially charged with terrorism. The man’s name has not been released. He allegedly broke into Kurt’s home armed with a knife and axe.
Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani was honored last Friday by the Cartoonists Rights Network International for courage in editorial cartooning after his arrest in Iran for a cartoon featuring a cockroach using a ethnic slang. Because the cartoon appeared in a government newspaper, Iranian Azeris decided they were being harassed and classed with cockroaches. In ensuing […]
Foxnews is reporting that famed Danish Mohammad cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is retiring. Westergaard says he hopes his retirement might help “lower the terror threat” against the Jyllands-Posten newspaper where he has been working for the past 27 years.
Pakistan has re-opened access to Facebook, but only after Facebook assured the Pakistani government that the offending material has been removed. “In response to our protest, Facebook has tendered their apology and informed us that all the sacrilegious material has been removed from the URL,” said Najibullah Malik, secretary of Pakistan’s information technology ministry, referring […]
Earlier in the month, Daryl Cagle posted news that Slovakian cartoonist Martin “Shooty” Sutovec was being sued by Prime Minister Robert Fico for the sum of EUR33,000 (US$43,000) and an apology after a Shooty political cartoon was published that depicted the PM without a backbone.According to Chorlter.com, Shooty has raised $85,000 from thousands of contributers […]
Ted Rall, Matt Bors and Steve Cloud are leaving for Afghanistan the second week of August for one month. Rall writes: I’m leaving for Afghanistan the second week of August. I have three goals: Go to Taloqan in Takhar Province, to revisit the place where I spent much of the fall of 2001 during the […]
The AP is reporting that Mexican cartoonist Gabriel Vargas passed away yesterday at the age of 95. Gabriel was the creator of La Familia Burron – “one of the greatest representatives of the golden age of Mexican comics” and an “undeniable reference point for the nation’s popular culture” according to the The National Council of […]
Lars Vilks, the Swedish artist who was assaulted two weeks ago during a lecture on free speech, has been reinvited to speak at the same University. “The department (of philosophy) has reached a wise decision. Lars Vilks must be allowed to hold his lecture,” Uppsala University vice-chancellor Anders Hallberg said in a statement Tuesday. “Violence […]
Salman Masood, blogging on the At War blog on The New York Times, writes about reasons why Pakistan was so quick to block access to Facebook and other social sites due to Everybody Draw Mohammad Day. The weak political government of President Asif Ali Zardari is under pressure from an assertive judiciary. Discontent among the […]
So far I haven’t seen reports of massive rioting or killings that was associated with the publishing of the original Danish Cartoons, but here is the aftermath of the Everybody Draw Mohammad Day as I can determine.» The Swedish government has closed their embassy in Pakistan “because of a threat” according to a report by […]