After the bomb blasts in Sweden last weekend Slate asks if editorial cartoons are “a big deal” in Muslim countries? Yes. Most state-run and independent newspapers in Muslim countries carry political cartoons. If anything, the art of the political cartoon is more vibrant in those places than it is in Europe and the United States. […]

South African President Jacob Zuma finally made good on his promise to sue Jonathan Shapiro (pen name “Zapiro”), the editor-in-chief and Avusa Media for a cartoon that ran two years ago depicting Zuma about to rape lady justice. The suit was filed back in 2008 but it just now received by the defendants. Zuma states […]

In today’s “Sally Forth,” Ces touches upon one of my favorite topics. No, not Christmas, or stockings, or lonely children in need of family structure and certainly not “Roseanne,” but that of cultural references in cartoons.Sally is quite right: A child who was eight years old the last year “Roseanne” was on the air would […]

Not sure who did this – the animators working off hours? A purposely leaked alternative ending to go viral and get film’s title out among the public? Catch it while you can. The Booboo Kills Yogi ending:

The venerable Editor & Publisher has decided to remove its paywall to its content. The magazine’s online presence has historically had articles available only to subscribers and even articles posted openly on their website would disappear into the paid archives after a couple of weeks. “We have not been big believers in paywalls,” said Duncan […]

We talk a lot about the new economy for cartoonists. This video ought to be a case study of what to do (not just cartoonists but syndicates).Here’s what I note Stephan is doing right:1. Have something worth selling (Pearls Blows Up: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury book) 2. Produce viral marketing (video) 3. Engage with […]

Geoff Boucher, writing in the Hero Complex blog of the LA Times, notes that last week was the 30 year anniversary of Bloom County. I grew up in south Florida and fell in love with newspapers by reading the Miami Herald, which had one of the most personality-packed staffs in America – crime reporter Edna […]

Two bombs exploded in Sweden in what the police are describing as a “terror crime.” Before the bombs were detonated, a letter was sent to the media stating the act was a protest against Sweden’s presence in Afghanistan and the caricatures of Mohammad created by artist Lars Vilks. It also referred to caricatures of the […]

The Wikileaks cartoons are beginning to hit the comics page. Lots of Wikileaks cartoons. Santa’s list seems to be the most common tie-in.This one by Ward Sutton was pretty good, since the more you know about (A) Wikileaks and (B) Suess’s body of works, the funnier it becomes. Riffing on either is tough to do […]

Today’s “Pardon My Planet” explores the world of silly, ignorant people who don’t understand that some things really are set in stone.There are many things about the controversy over gay couples, gay adoption, gay marriage that I don’t understand, but I’m thinking that the problem is not complexity but simplicity. Once you pass most of […]

Today’s Stone Soup stands up well enough on its own, but to absorb the full effect of the bathos, you have to have been following the saga of “Holly’s boyfriend” since it began nearly a full month ago. We’ve not only gone through the sturm und drang alluded to here of Holly’s mom insisting on […]

Rio opens next April

Funny story out of Jessica Guynn on LATimes Blogs about the newly released Smurf game that was recently released for the iPad and how kids are racking up charges with in-app purchases. Smurfberries. One California mom realized her 4-year-old had spent $66.88 on virtual Smurf stuff in the game on the iPad before she figured […]

Know a young budding college aged cartoonist? The Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship is an award of $5,000 and a trip to the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Weekend. Applicants must be college students in the United States, Canada or Mexico that will be in their Junior or Senior year during the 2010-2011 academic year. Applicants do […]

Interesting news from MacWorld regarding the iPad’s impact on journalism Many thought that the iPad would save journalism?but, as it turns out, you can?t save journalism without breaking a few eggs…wrapped in newspapers. A survey by the Donald W. Reylonds Journalism Institute (RJI) at the University of Missouri found that the iPad could have a […]