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As you know, we’ve just moved home and that means changing some details of the service we provide.

These include the email subscription link we use to send you automatic updates of our posts. If your email service, ahem, is disrupted at all during our changes, please use this link to resubscribe. The email options are at bottom right of the second column on the page. Thank you.

Bloghorn is made on behalf of the UK Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation

Following an MP-generated controversy earlier in the year, when the University of Dundee launched the first mainstream postgraduate course in comic studies, student Laura Sneddon has helpfully begun blogging about the MLitt on a weekly basis for Comicbook resources.

Pulitzer-Prize winning US cartoonist Clay Bennett gave a talk this week in which he discussed the ‘best’ piece of hate mail he has ever received, and why “it’s hard to draw good cartoons where people are progressive”. Read more here.

As Steven Spielberg’s motion-capture Tintin film is released in cinemas, Scotsman.com asks how it will be received in Hergé’s Brussels.

Finally, a piece of original artwork by legendary Batman illustrator Jerry Robinson – the cover to Detective Comics #67 from 1942 – is expected to sell for over $300,000 when it comes to auction next month. Click here and get your chequebook ready.

There is also a new set of jokes from the pocket cartoonists we named in yesterday’s post. You can still see the cartoons online, whereas today’s batch can be seen here. The Bloghorn sends congratulations to all those featuring in the finals and encourages you to get to know the best cartoonist folios here.

The Bloghorn is made on behalf of the UK’s Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation

Rob Murray

Hergé’s most controversial Tintin book, the infamous Tintin in the Congo, has come under fire again, with a Belgian court being asked to ban the comic book on the grounds of racism.

Political cartoonist and PCO member Steve Bell has been busy on the party conference circuit over the past few weeks for the Guardian, which has posted a selection of his sketches from this week’s Tory get-together in Manchester.

Maus, the Pulitzer-winning graphic novel by underground cartoonist Art Spiegelman, is 25 years old. In a new book, MetaMaus, he tells the story of how he created his epic Holocaust allegory. NPR has a 30-minute interview with Spiegelman here.

US satirical cartoonist Peter Bagge – who received advice from Spiegelman early in his career – has been interviewed by Reason, the libertarian magazine for which he has been a contributor since 2003. Bagge talks about his political views and how they have affected his comics work – watch the video here.

Ahead of an exhibition of magazine illustrations by Edward Sorel at the School of Visual Arts in New York, the cartoonist and illustrator has been interviewed by The Atlantic about his long career. You can read the article here.

The Bloghorn is made on behalf of the UK Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation

Rob Murray

As the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 nears, around 90 US cartoonists across five different syndicates have come together to produce commemorative editions of their strips. There’s more on the story at The Huffington Post and Voice of America. Meanwhile, Daryl Cagle has also asked some of America’s top political cartoonists to reflect on 9/11.

Here in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority has banned an advert for mobile phone retailer Phones 4u, which features a cartoon depiction of Jesus, for being ‘disrespectful’. New Statesman weighs in and asks what is more offensive: the cartoon itself or the ASA’s decision to ban it. (Bloghorn is most perturbed by the apparenty lack of originality in the image – which bears remarkable similarity to this parody from the movies)

The Malvern Gazette notes that a plaque to First World War cartoonist Bruce Bairnsfather – creator of Old Bill – is to be unveiled in the village of Colwall in Herefordshire, where he lived towards the end of his life.

Finally, PCO member and fellow Bloghorner Royston Robertson has written about his recent visits to two cartoon exhibitions – both focused on the saucy seaside postcard. You can read his piece here.

Bloghorn is made on behalf of the UK Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation

We’re moving to a new home alongside all of the portfolios from our membership of professional UK cartoonists.

Packing the boxes will take us a little while but this blog won’t be moving anywhere even though eventually all our new updates will appear at the new, ahem, pad.

Long time readers of Bloghorn may recall we have done this before and we are sure we will get better with the practice.

Keep your eyes here for the updates about progress and in the meantime do check out the membership artwork which is frequently updated.

Bloghorn is made by  Matthew Buck, Royston Robertson, Alex Hughes and Rob Murray.

Rob Murray

Music by The Smiths has inspired a comics collection, Unite and Take Over, due for release in November. Smiths fan Shawn Demumbrum of Phoenix, Arizona has assembled 13 creative teams to interpret songs by the band as comic strips, each three or four pages in length. Demumbrum, who is currently looking for contributions towards printing costs, discusses the project in a promotional video here, and with the Guardian here.

Another rock band, Art Brut, have commissioned a 28-page comic to mark the release of their latest album. The comic features art by Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley, and you can read more about the project here.

Elsewhere, a vintage TV clip of film director and Monty Python animator Terry Gilliam discussing his animation techniques has resurfaced courtesy of Cartoon Brew. The blog points out that, given the continuing interest in animation, it is a shame that such shows no longer exist. Bloghorn agrees, but would also like to see more in-depth coverage of other cartooning formats.

As always, please alert us to anything we might have missed, using the comments below. Thanks.

You can try a digital copy and subscribe to six print issues a year for £20 here. Don’t miss it.

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Rob Murray

A handsome new book about the use of cartoons in early advertising is released this month by graphic novel and comic art publisher Fantagraphics Books. In 128 full-colur pages, Drawing Power spans from the 1870s to the 1940s and features lesser-known work by cartoonists such as Peter Arno, Thomas Nast, George Herriman and Dr Seuss. More information on the book, including a slideshow of many of the cartoons featured, can be found here.

The News International phone-hacking scandal has made headlines around the world, and reminds Vancouver Sun writer Darah Hansen of a classic Doonesbury strip, as she explains here.

Judge Dredd, the iconic star of long-running UK sci-fi comic 2000 AD, is getting a second chance at movie stardom – this time without Sylvester Stallone – in a new film due early next year.

Last but by no means least, the UK Professional Cartoonists Organisation – which runs the Bloghorn – has this week unveiled its portfolio website. Take a look, if you haven’t already. We will be moving to the new site in due course.