Blair cartoon from The Times by PCOer Morten Morland

The advent of statistics recording visits to web sites has allowed web publishers to see exactly which pages readers head for. Unsurprisingly, many have embraced this technology to show you – the reader – which pages are most popular.

So, I ask you to go to The Times website. Scroll down. No, you don’t have to get past the Great Pay Wall of Murdoch to do this – no small denomination payments are required. Look at the “Most Read” list of sections which are – as you might guess – the paper’s most popular click-through reads.

Of course, I don’t know when you’re reading this but I bet you that coming in the top three with a bullet will be “Cartoons”. I have checked assiduously for the past several weeks. “Cartoons” has been at or near the top spot for almost all of my visits (many times at Number One).

As I write, I am not chastened by the fact that nestling at number 2 is “Top Ten Chinos”.Well, a chap’s got to look the part while perusing the best of cartoon art online. Standards, you know. (Of course, if you want to actually look at the cartoons, you WILL have to pay at this point).

It’s a subject close to the hearts of us cartoonists. The popularity of The Times’ cartoons is, of course, not unrelated to the fact that they boast two fine cartoonists in Peter Brookes and Morten Morland, together with legend-inna-lifetime Gerald Scarfe at the Sunday title.

But it’s not just that. Readers love cartoons. We know that. It’s such a pity that this simple fact doesn’t prevent culls of cartoonists to cut costs at newspapers facing hard times. It seems counter-intuitive to us. For example the loss of almost all cartoon content from The Observer recently was mourned widely. So Bloghorn says hats off to the wildly good taste of Times readers.

Bloghorn is pleased to report that this evening’s talk by Peter Firmin, co-creator of Bagpuss, the Clangers, Ivor the Engine and Noggin the Nog at the Cartoon Museum is sold out.

This is a closing event for the Toy Tales exhibition which finishes showing to the public at the end of this week.

Bloghorn says go while you still have the chance. To talk to the museum, call 020 7580 8155

Updated: If you are interested in some of Peter’s back catalogue of work you also enjoy some here

PCOer The Surreal McCoy writes with a short review of  The Illusionist, the new film by Sylvain Chomet.

The perfect antidote to Hollywood’s current obsession with computer-generated 3D imagery, The Illusionist is the latest animated feature from Sylvain (Belleville Rendez-vous) Chomet.

I defy anyone to watch dry-eyed as the poignant story of an ageing magician trying to make a living during the dying days of variety unfolds in glorious watercolour against the backdrop of 1950s Edinburgh.

Based on an unfilmed screenplay by Jacques Tati, Chomet uses hand-drawn images to conjure up an atmospheric and nostalgic film with breathtaking landscapes and city scenes, employing plenty of visual background humour but hardly any dialogue.

I’d argue magicians do exist (you have to see the film to get that reference) and surely Sylvain Chomet is one of the master illusionists.

Bloghorn particularly enjoyed the English garden party (there’s a snippet from it in the video) and the Scottish island. Click the video for a larger version. Our thanks to Surreal for the review.

On Mondays you can rely upon Royston Robertson to be posting news of the UK’s cartoonists here at Bloghorn – but not this week.

After a long struggle, Bloghorn convinced Royston he should allow himself the week off because the Kent-based cartoonist will be giving an illustrated talk about his work at A Summer Squall in Ramsgate on Saturday 28th August.

Royston told us:

The idea is that I’ll show a load of cartoons – mostly published but maybe a few rejected ones as well – read the captions and talk a little about themes covered, the background to the cartoons, the process of coming up with ideas and drawing the cartoons etc. Hopefully it’ll raise a few chuckles and there will be questions and input from the audience.

So, kindly add yourself to the great August bank holiday weekend getaway for a high-quality end to the silly season.

The talk takes place at 2pm at Ramsgate Library on Saturday 28 August. Admission is free but you need to book. Tickets are available at the Custom House, Harbour Parade, Ramsgate, or by calling 07544-971 685.

“Double Dip and Toil and Trouble !!” by Nick Hayes,
from the Guardian’s summer cartoonists showcase.

As previously mentioned in Bloghorn, the Guardian is showcasing six up-and-coming cartoonists whilst regular incumbent Steve Bell is on his summer holidays.

Since the last week of July, the cartoons of Anna Trench, Lou McKeever (aka Bluelou), Ben Jennings, Tanya Tier, Bob Moran and Nick Hayes have been adding their own visual takes on the day’s news. Their contributions haven’t been without controversy, with many cartoons receiving over 100 comments each, including numerous pieces or rebuttal from fellow Guardian cartoonist, Martin Rowson. As Martin says in the comments:

The reason for giving these cartoonists an airing here – including, of course, the opportunity to fail – is that these days it’s almost impossible to undergo that kind of baptism of fire in a national newspaper , and thus hone your native skills.

and on the subject of the comments:

[...] these six debutants have overturned an original editorial decision not to have comments on their work when it appears on this site. I think that’s quite brave of them, so it might be worthwhile some of you repaying the compliment by being constructive in your criticism, rather than just trolling about as usual, beating up this particular bus shelter on the side of the information superhighway with the kind of reckless abandon that seems to come so easily to the heroically anonymous.

On a related note, Steve Bell and Martin Rowson will be in conversation at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this weekend, whilst Steve will also be chatting to American political cartoonist Garry Trudeau and comic book writer Alan Moore.

The new issue of Foghorn, the cartoon magazine of the UK Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation, has been published. Featuring a cover by Steve Bright and a back cover by Gerard Whyman, Foghorn is available to subscribers for the modest annual sum of £30 for six full colour issues all delivered to your door.

What’s inside this issue?

Toyshops in my life – Clive Collins reveals how he never got the hang of wrapping up a fully inflated football.

A word to the wise – Chris Madden explains how simplified spelling is quite str8forward.

The Trevelyan Files – Foghorn’s very own rip-roaring adventurer continues his exploits, courtesy of Andrew Birch.

Buildings in the Fog – Roger Penwill dons his architectural trousers and heads to the nearest railway station.

The Potting Shed – Cathy Simpson keeps our resident gardening experts in check. Careful with that strimmer!

A full page of Rob Murray cartoons (described by Michael Heath,  cartoon editor at the Spectator magazine, as one of the “smart new kids on the block”.)

Strips from Wilbur, Andy Davey and The Surreal McCoy.

And of course the fun-packed filler features – The Critic, The Foghorn Guide to, Letters to the Editor, and a fair bucketload of cartoons!

Buy your own annual subscription here.

Cover for Martin Rowson's Tristram Shandy re-issue

Shy and retiring soul that he is, The Guardian’s own Martin Rowson would blanch at the thought that Bloghorn would puff his upcoming talk at the London Literature Festival on 3rd July, but we feel it’s our duty as he is a fellow PCO member.

The subject at hand is the reissue of his graphic-novelisation of Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy – a monumental, rambling, discursive life of “gentleman” Shandy, first published in 1759 and often called the first “modern” novel. This promises to be fun, as Rowson himself was designed for the Rabelaisian environs of Georgian London in which the novel is set.

Martin is a veteran apologist for all things Georgian London, but primarily his heroes, Hogarth and Gillray. You can see the Hogarth advocate at work here in this short film. London is so ingrained in his DNA, that the Caligulan court of Red Ken bestowed the official title of London Cartoonist Laureate on him, before Boris installed some Victorian parsimony back into City Hall.

Rowson tells Bloghorn that the evening promises “an impossible talk about the impossibility of producing a graphic novelisation of a novel about the impossibility of writing a novel”. So there. His talks are always lively and interesting, although Bloghorn recommends not bringing one’s maiden aunt as the language can sometimes be somewhat, er, Georgian. Tickets can be purchased here.

You can watch BBC Four’s take on the theme of Rude Britannia, which ties in with the exhibition of the same name at Tate Britain, just click the picture.

The documentary is one hour long. Parts two and three can be seen tonight and tomorrow night on BBC Four or on the iPlayer.

Alex Hughes reports.

You may have not noticed, but there’s been a general election in Britian recently. And a general election means it’s open season for the political cartoonists, so here Bloghorn presents a brief summary of the events of the last month or so in cartoon form, starting at the beginning of the election with Dave Brown of the Independent on the runners and riders and the Guardian’s Martin Rowson on the approaching media obsession.
During the campaign The Guardian’s Steve Bell talks about drawing at the manifesto launches, the Sky debate, and drawing Nick Clegg, Peter Mandelson and David Cameron (and the cartoon that came from this).

The TV debates may have changed the direction of the election, but they were seen differently by Tim Sanders in the Independent, Dave Brown, Peter Brookes of the Times, Steve Bell and Paul Thomas of the Daily Expesss,whilst Morten Morland of the Times produced a series of short animated responses to each of the debates (ITV, Sky, BBC).

The debates lead to widespread Cleggmania as seen by Stephen Collins in Prospect, Matt in the Daily Telegraph, Martin Rowson and Paul Thomas, and the inevitable media backlash as satirised by Peter Brookes and Dave Brown.

Gordon Brown made what was probably the biggest political gaffe of the campaign by calling a member of the public a “bigoted woman”; Peter Brookes, and Dave Brown, Mac of the Daily Mail, Paul Thomas provided their own takes on Bigotgate.

The election night itself inspired Tim Sanders and Matt, but as we now know it resulted in a hung parliament, as shown variously the Sun’s Andy Davey, Dave Brown, Matt, Peter Brookes, Paul Thomas and Mac (and even a hung parliament themed game), Gordon Brown’s departure as seen by Nick Garland and eventually the Con-Lib coalition Christian Adams, Tim Sanders, Morten Morland and Martin Rowson.

Looking forward to the challenges for the new Government were Harry Venning’s Clare in the Community and Kal in the Economist, and looking back, Bloghorn’s very own Matt Buck produced a series of  weekly despatches for the Guardian from the 1710 campaign as seen by Tobias Grubbe (2, 3, 4, 5).  The Times produced a 9 page comic summary of the election campaign available for download here (PDF, 7Mb).

(“Keep Calm and Cameron” cartoon by Nathan Ariss).

The Editor adds: We are bound to have missed many other great examples of cartooning so please do feel free to add things you have seen in the comments. Thanks.

The Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival doesn’t actually finish at the end of the weekend.

Exhibitions continue in venues across the town and organisers run workshops for people keen to explore the skills of drawing and communication.

Cartoonist Wilbur Dawbarn ran one of these events and here are photos from his workshops. Bloghorn thanks Shropshire Council’s event development team for passing these along to us.

Some of the work produced will be displayed at the town’s Wakeman School and Arts College at the end of June.

An informant tells Bloghorn that Wilbur let slip he sometimes “meditated” on a subject for a cartoon while having a lie-in in the mornings. One of the older ladies immediately produced a cartoon of him lounging in bed – you can see it below.

"It's nice to finish the day's work before breakfast!"

Bloghorn thinks: If only…