Here’s the problem: It’s becoming hard for political cartoonists to satirize our situation, because our situation is beginning to feel like satire itself.So Ruben Bolling lays out a mocking synopsis of how foolish people reject science, common sense and civic decency, and it feels more like a documentary than biting commentary.A very well-crafted documentary, mind […]
Since DDDegg has done an excellent mop-up of the Pulitzer fiasco, I’m going purely for comedy today, leading off with this Super-Fun-Comix-Pak (AMS) strip, by Ken Fisher or Ruben Bolling or somebody.Irving Kristol — Bill’s dad — defined a neoconservative as a liberal who got mugged, and now Bolling certainly understands what it’s like to […]
Well, I stand by yesterday’s post, and I’m glad that it — and JP Trostle’s “epic rant” — got said before Columbia University and their Pulitzer Committee delivered that stunning mean-girl snub because otherwise it might sound like sour grapes.As I wrote thenThe Pulitzers do reward good work. But they’re still just plaques, and the […]
We’ll end the week with a bit of politics, as Gary Clement (Cartoon Arts) hits with one of the first cartoons to shift from war to cease-fire in the Middle East.I found it particularly interesting because I stumbled onto the press conference the White House scheduled with the President Biden and South Korean President Moon […]
I noted yesterday that I could have done a full day of nothing but “Ted Cruz in Mexico” cartoons, and, as it turns out, I’d have still had enough left over to do it again today.Someone complained that people are forgetting the far more significant horrible things he’s done and maybe so, but I used […]
Morten Morland (Times) offers this commentary tying in the coronavirus vaccine with the heroic but somewhat inexplicable return of Victor (ed. No, Alexei) Navalny to Russia, which — in case you hadn’t heard — has touched off massive, nationwide demonstrations in support of him and against Putin’s oligarchy.“Inexplicable” in the first place because Putin already […]
I’ve held this Mike Thompson piece longer than I like to, but I’m going to use it now because it illustrates, perhaps by what it isn’t, a factor in much of what’s going on.Which is to say that I like it because of its depiction of AOC’s cheerful, stress-free, total obliteration of a bullying caveman, […]
Tom Toles leads off today with the central issue our country is facing: Donald Trump and his minions are promoting a cult of personality.For those who only know the term through rock music, “Cult of Personality” emerged as a political term in 1956, when Nikita Khruschev took power in the USSR and began attempting to […]
Matt Wuerker suggests what we have to fear, though not only do we have to fear fear itself, but we also have to fear not fearing enough.It’s a particular challenge for cartoonists because commenting on the fear shouldn’t negate the need to be reasonably and sensibly cautious. It doesn’t help that Dear Leader has chosen not […]
Willie is not unlike Ralph Kramden, in that he is a fool in the classic sense and thus, no matter how ridiculous his antics, you can’t help identifying with him.And the classic fool often speaks truth, as in today’s Willie & Ethel, because much of what we know about the CIA, we know from Tom […]
I’ve seen about half a dozen Carol Channing obituary cartoons, which sent me to IMBD to find out the last time she worked. Turns out it’s not quite as long ago as this TV Guide cover, which was in 1966.She did some voice work a quarter century ago and a couple of cameo appearances a […]
The flow of inspiration from the Trump firehose has been such that I just want to flush it out now, hit Friday Funnies tomorrow, and hope for new things by Saturday.But, before that, Tom the Dancing Bug deserves praise for being able to bundle so much fraud and stupidity into a single, inventive, multi-panel cartoon, […]
Tom Cheney gets the top spot for drawing a tin-can telephone with a taut string.He’s originally from my part of the world, which is a good thing in itself, but the important thing is that he’s old enough to remember when comic books were for kids and had instructions for a tin-can telephone in about […]
I wasn’t planning to revisit the topic of civility so quickly, but here we are and I like Joe Heller’s commentary for a number of reasons, the first one being that the owner of the Red Hen is its owner, not its caretaker. So there’s a contrast right there.Another is that Heller distinguishes between denying […]
The Boston Globe and The Nib cartoonist Ward Sutton will be honored by the Herb Block Foundation tonight as the 2018 winner of their eponymous prize.According to the Herb Block Foundation site: “We were greatly impressed by the quality and breadth of submissions, with so much outstanding work being done in all types of political cartooning. But […]