DarylCagle.comAlong with the brave fireman who gave their lives on 9/11, the members of Navy SEAL Team 6 have been elevated into the pantheon of American heroes for conducting one of the bravest missions in our country’s history.
Check out what cartoonists think of the bin Laden killing squad with our new Navy Seals cartoon collection.
I always find it fascinating to take a quick peek at how cartoonists across the world handle big news events. Obviously, the death of Osama bin Laden has been the biggest news story of the year, so nearly every cartoonist has their own take and spin on it.
Here are some cartoons by the great South African cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, who goes by the pen name ‘Zapiro‘ (view more cartoons by Zapiro). You might remember his cartoon about Lady Justice getting raped by South African president Jacob Zuma. One of his trademarks is to draw Zuma with a shower head coming out of his skull, after Zuma revealed during his rape trial that he had sought to prevent himself from contracting HIV by showering after having sex with his accuser.
Zapiro’s cartoons about bin Laden’s death are interesting, viewing the events from a different perspective than an American cartoonist might. His first cartoon is the most “American,” showing bin Laden’s face as one of the twin towers:
Next, Zapiro chose to draw his own conflicted thoughts about the bin Laden mission and the larger meaning of his death:
Finally, he places bin Laden’s death in the context of the “Arab Spring” movement that is washing out dictators throughout the Middle East and Northern Africa:
Newt Gingrich finally made it official, announcing on both Facebook and Twitter that he’s going to run for President in 2012. Actually, his message to his followers was to tune into Fox News on Wednesday night, where he will “talk about my run for President of the United States” with host Sean Hannity (once a Fox shill, always a Fox shill).
What do the nation’s cartoonists think of his chances? Check out our Newt for President cartoon slideshow to find out.
The editor of the Daily Lobo, the student newspaper of the University of New Mexico, issued an apology in response to criticism from students after it published this Hajo cartoon about the death of Osama bin Laden. Many of the protesters said they thought the cartoon resembled images used in the past to justify slavery.
The cartoon parodies a famous scene from “The Lion King,” having Obama play the role of Rafiki, the baboon. Instead of holding up Simba to announce his birth, Obama is holding up the head of Osama bin Laden, announcing his death. It’s the same scene that Obama tweaked Donald Trump with as a joke at the White House correspondents dinner last week.
We syndicate Hajo’s cartoons. Hajo is based in the Netherlands and draws for the Dutch newspapers NRC Handelsblad, NRC Next and de Pers.
“I’m so NOT racist,” Hajo said via email. “I see Obama a president and a person. And therefore I think it’s OK to let the president act in the Lion King.”
As a European cartoonist, Hajo is less aware of the sensitivity among readers when they see Obama as a monkey. Still. he said he should have known better.
“Not everyone can ‘read’ a cartoon,” Hajo said. “Some people get stuck in simple stereotypes. And that’s too bad, because a lot of the humor and insight lies behind the obvious.”
“Regrettably, this cartoon offended the African-American community — along with many others — who interpreted Obama’s representation as racist,” write Chris Quintana, the editor of the Daily Lobo. “For this oversight, I sincerely apologize.”
In 2009, New York Post cartoonist Sean Delonas drew the now-infamous cartoon showing a chimp shot by two policeman, who say “They’ll have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.” The prevailing view among the bloggers and talking-heads back then was the cartoon was a racist depiction of Obama as a monkey.
Back then, I suggested that every cartoonist should make a list of every racial stereotype to avoid regarding African-Americans, then go through the check list before putting pen to paper on any Obama cartoon, like a pilot goes through a check list before taking off in his plane.
The difficulty of course is that many cartoonists drew George W. Bush as a monkey. The cartoonists all chose to draw Bush with big monkey ears and a huge, monkey-like upper lip, so drawing Bush as a monkey was a natural progression. Now the cartoonists are all drawing Obama with similar, big monkey ears and we’re starting to hear complaints from readers about how we draw Obama’s lips. Presidents also get shorter in cartoons if they don’t perform well, and chimps are short, forcing cartoonists to have to tiptoe through a racial-metaphor-minefield.
I’d like to give a hearty plug to the new book by one of my favorite cartoonists, Mr. Fish (Dwayne Booth), who is probably the farthest left of any cartoonist on our site. Fish attacks Obama and Bush with equal passion and has a penchant for explicit language and images that would make even a socialist blush.
“Go Fish” includes all of the Fish cartoons that have been seared into my memory, in shocking color. I think Fish has included every drawing of a penis that he has ever done in this collection – and that is saying a lot.
“Go Fish” by Mr. Fish (Dwayne Booth), published by Akashic Books, will be available in August and can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.com.
Judging from my e-mail, most conservatives think all liberals are Obama supporters. A few Obama-bashing Fish cartoons are below, just to show our conservative fans how wrong they are.
Nothing could be worse than forgetting your Mom on Mother’s Day! Why not send your Mom a link to our collection of terrific Mother’s Day cartoons?
Here are some funny ones:
We just posted out big cartoon slideshow featuring the best political cartoons of the week. Obviously, the news of the death of Osama bin Laden dominated the news, and cartoonists were able to focus on multiple aspects of the story: everything from the bravery of the Navy Seals team to the possible duplicity of Pakistan.
Click to view the Week in Review cartoon slideshow.
Like every other cartoonist, my week has been consumed with the death of Osama and Abbotabad, the location of the sprawling complex in the suburbs of Islamabad where bin Laden hid. How did Pakistan not know bin Laden was there? Them must have been out cashing our $1.5 billion check:
One of the more peculiar aspects of the bin Laden story is the fact that we buried his body at sea:
It took long enough to find Osama. Luckily, he gets special treatment:
Even if Obama had decided to release bin Laden’s death photos, the birthers still wouldn’t be satisfied:
Now President Obama has a macho new look.
Americans forget that the death of Osama bin Laden reaches well beyond our borders, and touches the lives of people around the globe. The world’s cartoonists are no different then their American counterparts, and have their own opinions about the death of the mastermind of 9/11.
Patrick Chappatte, the cartoonist for The International Herald Tribune, brings us full circle on bin Laden with his cartoon:
Speaking of circles, Dutch cartoonist Hajo sees the bin Laden killing as a full circle of life:
Meanwhile, Israeli cartoonist Shlomo Cohen sees two certificates helping Obama in 2012:
Austrian cartoonist Petar Pismestrovic closes the book on bin Laden:
While Australian cartoonist Paul Zanetti thinks things haven’t changed much for Obama:
Slovakian cartoonist Martin “Shooty” Sutovec thinks hell might not be ready for bin Laden:
RELATED:
Osama is Dead Cartoon Live Blog
After the announcement late Sunday night by President Obama that we finally found and killed Osama bin Laden, people poured out into the streets to celebrate. Even the most die-hard partisans, like Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, gave credit to Obama and his administration, calling his actions a “gutsy move.”
As with any big event that unfolds before our eyes, most of the cartoons were non-partisan and focused on bin Laden himself, either rotting in hell or surprised to find 72 sturgeons waiting for him in the afterlife (view all of our Osama bin Laden cartoons here).
But a couple of our more conservative cartoonists decided not to go the same route, and voiced their opinions about the credit being heaped President Obama’s way. The first, by Gary McCoy, rips Obama for the so-called “leadership” he exhibited in the strike, basically says all the President had to do was tell his team “okie dokie” to get the job done.
Here are some of our readers’ comments about McCoy’s cartoon:
cf: “After 8 years of Republicans looking for Bin Laden in the wrong place, Obama tries looking *somewhere else* and finds him almost immediately. And now Republicans just can’t admit that a *gasp* Liberal *gasp* accomplished something that they never could.”
PoliticalMangu: “I guess this is the typical conservative response to Obama’s actions on just about anything. Too bad we can’t even celebrate together.”
D.C. Wilson: “It must cause wingnuts physical pain to admit Obama accomplished anything.”
Chris Carveth: “That’s what we fight for -freedom of the press. Agree or disagree…just be willing to defend the process.”
Rosie Felci: “Even Cheney is giving Obama props for it all. Guess even he now recognizes what “Mission Accomplished” looks like.”
The second cartoon was drawn by Brian Fairington, and was actually one of the first cartoons about Osama’s death that our syndicate received. In it, Fairrington wants to make sure Obama doesn’t hog all the credit, and reminds readers about the contributions he feels George W. Bush made in hunting down Osama:
And here are some reactions from readers about it:
mth44sc: “”I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea&really don’t care.It’s not that important.It’s not our priority.” – G.W. Bush, 3/13/02″
JacksonW: “How crass. The man isn’t dead 24 hours and he’s already being used to divide us. The end of the life of the mastermind of 9/11 should bring us together, not be used for petty political points.”
GroovyDave1962: “I disagree. The intelligence came in last August. IIRC Bush was not in office then. At best you might split it 50/50. Bush put the boots on the ground, but President Obama led them to success.”
ejg2: “Clinton tried, was unable. Bush simply didn’t. Obama did. Case closed.”
What do you think? Are these cartoons fair or foul? Comment below, or chime in on our Facebook page or Twitter:
By now, everyone knows that Osama Bin Laden, mastermind of the 9/11 tragedy, has been killed in Pakistan in an operation conducted by American military forces and the CIA. Cartoonists have been gunning for the reclusive terrorist for years, and have drawn many, many cartoons about him.
Check out some of the best cartoons drawn about Bin Laden over the years with our Best of Osama Bin Laden cartoon collection.
Tomorrow’s the big day. Prince William will marry commoner Kate Middleton in a ceremony full of pomp and circumstance that has pushed the British monarchy in front of us all, thanks to our ever-loving media that has been covering every minute detail leading up to the big event.
Cartoonists have their own thoughts about those crazy kids getting hitched. Check them out in our new Royal Wedding cartoon slideshow.
