A spooky snapshot from my exhibition with Plantu now at the Théâtre de La Ville in Paris.
I have an exhibit in Paris with Le Monde’s front page cartoonist, Plantu, at the Théâtre de La Ville from September 10th through 30th.
The show features our graphic novel style “conversation” about the ten years since 9/11 that we did as a book project for Casterman, the Tin Tin publishers in Belgium.
Plantu’s poster for the exhibit is below, and below that is a clip from last weekend’s Le Monde, promoting the show.
Editorial cartoons are taken more seriously, and are seen as more important in France than they are here. I remember that, soon after 9/11, Time Magazine stopped running editorial cartoons because they thought “jokes” were inappropriate in such serious times. In fact, cartoonists do their best work when times are troubled and passions run high.
This week, as Obama attempted to persuade Congress to pass a new jobs bill, the top Republican contenders debated at the Ronald Reagan library about Ponzi schemes and Galileo.
Rick Perry was the star of last night’s Republican debate. Regardless of how you think he performed, it seemed like every question some how related to the Texas Governor. I think the most memorable moment of the night was Perry citing the treatment of Galileo as the reason he didn’t trust scientists on Global Climate Change.
With all the eyes of the political world fixed on tonight’s GOP debate, I thought it be fun to check out five funny cartoons summing up the race so far for the Republican front-runners.
This year’s Republican field is filled with some interesting and colorful characters, as Punchline’sRob Tornoe notes…
Texas Governor Rick Perry comes into tonight’s debate as the GOP front-runner, but as Pat Bagley of the Salt Lake Tribune shows, he might have to tone down his “Texas swagger” if he hopes to win the nomination…
Michele Bachmann’s popularity has waned a bit since winning the Iowa caucus. But her comments about God and Hurricane Irene brought back questions about her intelligence. Luckily, as Bill Day notes, the storm didn’t cause her any permanent damage…
Mitt Romney remains the GOP candidate with the best chance of winning the nomination, although Nate Beeler of the Washington Examiner thinks that comparisons between ObamaCare and RomneyCare are going to continue to give him headaches…
Ron Paul is still hanging around in the polls as well, although as Dave Granlund points out, his super-libertarian views sometimes runt contrary to Republican values…
It’s no big secret that technology and the internet have chipped away at the U.S. Postal Service. Now, cash is so low at the 235+ year agency (Ben Franklin was our first postmaster general) that it may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances.
Will Congress allow the Post Office to make the changes it needs to allow it to compete in the 21st century? Check out the thoughts of our cartoonists with our new Broke Post Office cartoon collection.
Mike Keefe / Denver Post (click to view cartoon collection)
Much to the chagrin of nearly every Republican in Washington, Dick Cheney is back in the media’ spotlight, hawking his new book which he promises will have “have heads exploding in D.C.”
Cartoonists have always loved Dick Cheney. From his Dr. Evil-like secret bunker and torture techniques to his propensity for shooting people in the face, he’s the exact foil political cartoonists love to make fun of.
Famed Arab cartoonist Ali Ferzat is recovering in the hospital after he was beaten by pro-Assad thugs in Damascus late last week, as part of a brutal crackdown of the Syrian Uprising that has killed over 2,200 people since anti-government protests began five months ago.
A recent Ferzat cartoon, showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad attempting to hitch a ride with Libya's Muammar Gaddafi.
According to reports, Ferzat was forced out of his car and beaten in Damascus by four masked men. The regime’s thugs focused their attention on Ferzat’s hands, beating them furiously and breaking two fingers on his left hand – a clear message that he should stop drawing. Farzat’s assailants also broke his right arm and bruised his left eye before dumping him on the side of the road. The American Embassy in Damascus called it “a government-sponsored, targeted, brutal attack.”
“They are afraid of giving symbols to the Syrian uprising,” said Murhaf Jouejati, the Professor of Middle East Studies at George Washington University. “This is reflective of their fear of losing power, which is why they want to take out anybody who can carry large audiences.”
Ferzat’s cartoons have been deeply critical of the harsh suppression of the five-month uprising in Syria. Just last week, he published a cartoon on his website showing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hitch-hiking a ride out of town with a fleeing Muamar Gadhafi. Many of his cartoons directly criticize President al-Assad, even though caricatures of the president are forbidden in Syria.
While making empty promises about having a dialogue with the Syrian people, the Assad regime continues to carry out brutal attacks against protesters. According to Sebastian Usher, the BBC’s Arab affair’s analyst, Ferzat’s beating is a sign that the Syrian authorities “tolerance for dissent is touching zero.” Just a month ago, Ibrahim al-Qashoush, the composer of a popular anti-regime song, was found dead with his vocal chords removed.
Here’s a video from Al-Jazeera English where you can see pictures of Ferzat, as well as some of his cartoons:
Cartoonists from across the world are coming to the aid of Ferzat, drawing their own cartoons in response to the brutal crackdown. I’ll post them here as we receive them.
Daryl Cagle / msnbc.comBill Day / Cagle CartoonsOlle Johansson / Cagle CartoonsJiho / Cagle CartoonsRick McKee / Augusta ChronicleGilmarSherif Arafa / Alittihad NewspaperNate Beeler / Washington ExaminerPedro Molina/ El Nuevo Diario (Nicaragua)Giacomo Cardelli / Italy
As Hurricane Irene (now Tropical Storm Irene, I guess) continues to make its way up through New England, I thought residents from North Carolina to Maine might need a laugh. So here are some of the funny cartoons that have come in. For more, check out our updated Hurricane Irene cartoon collection.
First an earthquake, now this? As Hurricane Irene approaches the East Coast, President Barack Obama warned coastal residents to prepare for the worst, saying all indications point to Irene being a “historic” storm.
Hold on to your iPads — Apple has announced that its CEO and co-founder, Steve Jobs, is resigning due to health reasons. What this means for the future of the world’s most valuable company is unclear.
Check out what cartoonists think of this huge announcement, as well as their jabs at Jobs over the years, with our new Steve Jobs Resigns cartoon slideshow.
Christo Komarnitski / PoliticalCartoons.com (click to view slideshow)
Yesterday, a 5.8 earthquake struck Virgina, and shook up the entire East Coast, from Georgia to New England. Striking just before 2 p.m., many cartoonists were undoubtedly putting the finishing touches on Wednesday’s cartoon before they had to quickly shift gears and pump out a new cartoon about the rare earthquake for their newspaper.
Nate Beeler, of the Washington Examiner, came up with this inventive and funny cartoon…
Mobile Press-Register cartoonist J.D Crowe thinks a little bit of a shake-up is a good thing…
Rob Tornoe used the news of the injury of one of the Phillies’ star pitchers as the peg for his Philadelphia Inquirer toon…
While John Cole of the Scranton Times-Tribune and Adam Zyglis of the Buffalo News, drawing hundreds of miles apart, proved that two great minds can think alike… and at the same time too…
