Cartooning in real-time
Response to printed and digital cartoons is now pretty much instant as this tweet about a drawing by Peter Brookes of The Times shows.
Peter’s colleague Morten Morland (a PCO member) had a swift response below
The standard response of editorial cartoonists to feedback like this is
Or complete silence, but when the controversy crosses the oceans in seconds to other influential commentators…
This speed of interaction between opinion, response and offence pose, in Bloghorn’s view both a challenge and an opportunity to makers of drawings. What do you think cartoonists should do in the social media era?Answers welcome in the comments.
Updated: 2pm
Further response from the internet
Updated: Wednesday 27th July – The Guardian is reporting a letter from seven UK academics complaining about the publication of this cartoon. Read the story here and please comment below if you would like.
July 21, 2011 3 Comments
Obscene postcards? You be the judge
An exhibition of seaside postcards that were banned by local councils in the 1950s opens in Margate this week.
I Wish I Could See My Little Willy named after a postcard by Bob Wilkin, above, enraged the authorities in the prudish post war years. The show is being held at the Pie Factory gallery, opposite Margate’s old magistrate’s court where the publishers of the day would have been prosecuted.
Across the country the authorities confiscated and destroyed thousands of ‘‘saucy’’ postcards as they feared that that the nation’s morals were in decline after the Second World War.
The free exhibition, which opens on July 23 and runs until August 2, is held in conjunction with the British Cartoon Archive, which has been digitising the postcards and putting them online, along with their associated obscene publications index cards, as seen above.
Nick Hiley of the British Cartoon Archive, which is based at the University of Kent in nearby Canterbury, told Bloghorn:
‘‘We are organising the exhibition with the Dreamland Trust in Margate. I will be giving a talk in the magistrates’ court where the cards were condemned — they have a wonderful witness box on casters that I hope to lecture from.’’
The old court is now the Margate Musuem. The talk is at 2pm on July 30. The organisers are hoping to follow it with an airing of the Radio 4 play Getting The Joke by Neil Brand (BBC permission pending). It tells the story of the trial of Donald McGill, acknowledged master of the saucy postcard, in 1953.
July 18, 2011 1 Comment
Round up : What the Bloghorn saw
Rob Murray writes:
More details are emerging about The Phoenix, a new weekly comic from the former editor of the short-lived DFC that is due to launch in January. The Phoenix blog features an animated trailer for one of its strips, ‘The Pirates of Pangaea’ by Daniel Hartwell and Neill Cameron, while its latest email newsletter provides this interactive teaser for a strip by Dandy cartoonist Jamie Smart.
Saudi Arabia’s lone female newspaper cartoonist, Hana Hajjar, tells CNN about the importance of her role in a male-led society and how her cartoons speak out for women. You can read the interview here (thanks to fellow cartoonist Lou McKeever for spotting the story).
In Malaysia, cartoonist Zunar has been unsuccessful in his attempt to lift a ban on two of his cartoon collections, according to news agency Bernama. Zunar was arrested in September under the country’s Sedition Act for publishing books considered ‘detrimental to public order’. An open letter from Chuah Siew Eng of Malaysia’s Centre for Independent Journalism calls the latest decision disappointing. Zunar intends to appeal.
Timed to coincide with the release of the final Harry Potter film, cartoonist Lucy Knisley has launched a humorous comic that condenses the entire series. Time Out Chicago has the full story, and Knisley’s blog features an incredibly detailed poster to download (but beware of spoilers!).
If there is something Bloghorn really shouldn’t really have missed please add it in the comments below. Thank you.
July 16, 2011 No Comments
Have pen, will travel
© Stanley McMurtry of the Daily Mail
Mac of the Daily Mail writes about a low technology joy of cartooning on the road in this travel piece for his employer. It is a nice read and shows, at least to Bloghorn, that many cartoonists are equally comfortable when combining picture and word to make memorable communication.
Seen any other examples of cartoonists who can write? Let the Bloghorn team know…
July 14, 2011 1 Comment
Round up: What the Bloghorn saw
Rob Murray writes:
French president Nicolas Sarkozy has become the latest real-life subject of a ‘Where’s Wally?’-style puzzle book (others have included Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Osama Bin Laden). The new book, ‘Où est Sarko?’, takes a tongue-in-cheek view of Sarkozy’s presidency and apparent omnipresence, with the cartoon illustrations depicting memorable scenes from his time in office. You can read more at The Guardian.
The work of a local newspaper cartoonist may get a fresh airing, decades after they were first published. Frederick Terry Frampton’s 80-year-old son John has carefully compiled his father’s work for the Enfield Gazette from the 1930s and is considering publishing them as a book aimed at local history enthusiasts. Read more here.
Over in the US, The Salt Lake Tribune has shown it clearly recognises the popularity of cartoons with a newspaper’s readership. While continuing to publish a variety of comic strips in its print edition, it is also dramatically increasing the number of cartoons it carries online. In a piece announcing the changes, the SLT discusses the importance of cartoon content to a paper’s identity and sales. Bloghorn would like to see more of this sort of thinking from editors.
July 8, 2011 5 Comments
Round-up: What the Bloghorn saw
Rob Murray writes:
Australian current affairs website Crikey asks whether all physical attributes are fair game for caricature, or whether some may leave the cartoonist facing charges of sexism.
Too soon? In poor taste? Or a reasonable artistic response to world events? Eyebrows are being raised over at the Washington Post about a new graphic novel that interprets the events surrounding the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. Samples from a draft of the book can be seen here.
Scheduled for the last week in September, the Bath Festival of Children’s Literature 2011 is shaping up to be a memorable event for all those with an interest in illustration. The confirmed line-up includes appearances by artists including Axel Scheffler, Lydia Monks and Tony DiTerlizzi. Other highlights are a talk on Hergé’s great creation by Tintinologist Michael Farr, and a chance for kids to have a go at making their own picture book.
Retail news for all those either London-bound or living in the capital: haven for all things cartoony, Gosh! Comics, is moving to bigger premises after 25 years opposite the British Museum. It will relocate to a larger store at 1 Berwick Street in August.
If there is anything you think we should have seen please add it in the comments or write to us here.
July 1, 2011 3 Comments
Show: Messing about in boats
Bloghorn cartoon from Henley Royal Regatta © Ken Pyne
One of the displayed cartoons from the membership of the PCO currently exhibiting at Henley-on-Thames.
June 30, 2011 No Comments
Show: Messing about with boats
The Henley Royal Regatta is an essential event in the British social calendar and this year it also includes a quality cartoon show.
© Bill Stott cartoon at thebloghorn.org
Pictures of genteel landscapes and nature studies jostle for position with slightly more than an eights worth of Regatta themed cartoons. Visitors will find a large boatload of terrific jokes punted into position in the hallowed Member’s Enclosure and all providing an irreverent take on a great British institution.
The exhibition, organised by the PCO, will run throughout the week of the Regatta from June 29th. If you are in the area, you may enjoy the work of Ken Pyne, Bill Stott, Clive Goddard, The Surreal McCoy, Royston Robertson, Noel Ford, Pete Dredge, Nathan Ariss, Rosie Brooks, John Roberts and William Rudling.
You can read our full list of membership portfolios here and if you are the organiser of an event seeking something special to add to your big day do get in touch with us here.
June 29, 2011 2 Comments
Round-up: What the Bloghorn saw
Rob Murray writes:
Over at the New Yorker blogs, cartoon editor Bob Mankoff has been looking at what makes a good caption for a gag cartoon – and argues, contrary to popular opinion, that novelty is overrated.
Following up, he considers whether it is possible to generate a universal caption that would work with all the cartoons featured in the magazine’s long-running caption contest, and asks readers to suggest their own. Mankoff analysed some of these in a subsequent blog.
Five postcards by prolific cartoonist and master of the double entendre, Donald McGill, have gone on sale for the first time since being banned on obscenity grounds 56 years ago. The cards have been reprinted and sold by the Donald McGill Postcard Museum on the Isle of Wight, and the Daily Mail has the full story here.
Two months on from the royal wedding, Pippa Middleton is still making headlines – this time in cartoon form. The Duchess of Cambridge’s sister stars in a tongue-in-cheek comic strip, one of several released as part of the marketing campaign for video game Infamous 2.
A New York Times blog entry by historian Adam Goodheart deconstructs a cartoon that ran in Harper’s Weekly at the start of the American Civil War, and which later proved prophetic. It should make interesting reading for enthusiasts of both history and cartoons.
Meanwhile, in Russia, a new cartoon strip depicting prime minister Vladimir Putin and president Dmitry Medvedev as superheroes foiling a Speed-style bomb plot has become an internet hit. Creator Sergei Kalenik says he created the Superputin strip to change people’s depressing views of Russia’s political scene. You can read the strip in English translation here.
Bloghorn adds if you see something we should know, please tell us.
June 24, 2011 No Comments
US Open champion McIlroy bags cartoon
Golf’s man of the moment Rory McIlroy added a unique cartoon memory to his recent US Open victory. You can find the classic handover of artwork photograph in this story from The Sun.
© Andy Davey cartoon for The Sun
Bloghorn hat tips PCO cartoonist Andy Davey.
June 23, 2011 1 Comment
