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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

If you have not yet watched the behind-the-scenes video about Private Eye on the V&A site, you should take a look, particularly if you are in any way responsible for content in newspapers, magazines or websites.

Ian Hislop, Editor of Private Eye, one of Britain’s most successful magazines — which has seen its circulation rise of late, bucking the trend for the industry — reveals one of the keys to its success:

“Cartoons are fantastically popular — people love them. And I think most publications miss a trick …”

Watch the full video here.

The video shows Ken Pyne, a member of the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation, which runs the Bloghorn, drawing a cartoon. Then one by the PCO’s Alexander Matthews is singled out for praise by Hislop. And when he lauds the benefits of cartoons he shows a page that includes gags by seven PCOers. Get the message? Check out the PCO portfolios here.

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

Bloghorn

We also suggest that if you are keen to use cartoon art on your own or, the body of someone else, you pick from a wider menu of options. Take a random option or try the link below.

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

The American cartoonist Stephanie Piro, who had this unfortunate experience recently, told The Bloghorn what happened – and more importantly what to do about it should it happen to you:

A couple of months ago a cartoonist colleague, emailed me to ask if the Guardian news website was a client of mine as she recognised my work there. I told her they weren’t and then followed the link she provided.

Reconstructed image of the licensing infringement

This was, of course, upsetting as it appeared to have come from here or here.

Over the years I have had several major instances of my work being used without my permission. As my website rates for a single image are reasonable, I was surprised someplace as established as The Guardian would use an image without first contacting the artist and paying for it.

I eventually succeeded in contacting The Guardian through its Readers’ Editor and sent an invoice. After more prompting, I finally heard from a woman who was in charge of the books site on the Guardian site who blamed a third-party organisation and apologised.

This was unacceptable to me. When I threatened to spread the word to the NCS (the US National Cartoonists’ Society), the PCO (the UK Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation) and all the professional cartooning boards I belong to … then they responded to my invoice.

This was more meaningful than a simple apology.

The Bloghorn commends this excellent example of how you should look after your work. We also credit The Guardian and their contracted third-party agency for reacting to Stephanie’s messages and by eventually promising to pay for the use of her work over the previous nine months.

If you have anything helpful to add about the best way to manage your business interests please add it to the comments below. If you are a UK-based professional cartoonist you may also want to consider applying to join the PCO.

The Bloghorn is made on behalf of the UK’s 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

Bloghorn admires the company’s long-term use of drawn imagery as a piece of business promotion (do visit the archives.) Today they have moved the still cartoon image into a animated video celebrating the memory of the flamboyant leader singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury.

Agree with our view on the most high-profile cartoon in the world? Please have your say in the comments below.

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