Bloghorn notices that when political cartoonists pick the same targets, they often pick the same jokes, or at least variations on a similar theme.

This can be seen in the national press today as three heavyweight cartoonists give their take on Lord Goldsmith appearing before the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war.

One: Peter Brookes in The Times suggests he was leant on

Two: Steve Bell in The Guardian thinks pressure was applied

Three: Dave Brown in The Independent on suggests arm-twisting

Of course, all these cartoonists are working at the same time, operating under the same time pressures – there’s no suggestion of copying! – which makes it all the more a fascinating insight into the way cartoonists’ minds work. Thanks to Andy Davey for drawing it to our attention.

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Jonathan Pugh, self-portrait above, who has been pocket cartoonist at The Times for 15 years, is moving to the Daily Mail.

A member of the Professional Cartoonists’ Organisation, which runs the Bloghorn, Jonathan takes over from Ken Mahood who is retiring. The Mail has a profile of Jonathan, in which he outlines his working process:

“My cartoons have always been about everyday life, so they’re gentle and not nasty. I like to address the things that affect the quality of readers’ lives. The simplest jokes are always the best.”

Read more here

The Daily Mail has announced that pocket cartoonist Ken Mahood is retiring. Mahood, who next year will celebrate his 80th birthday, has drawn news and sports cartoons for the Mail since 1982. His first cartoon was published in Punch in 1948, a magazine for whom he was later Assistant Art Editor, and in 1966 became the first political cartoonist on The Times.

As we reported yesterday evening, Peter Brookes of The Times won the Political Cartoonist of the Year Awards for 2009. His colleague Morten Morland completed an excellent evening for the News International print title by winning best single image for a drawing of Gordon Brown and President of the US, Barack Obama.

The Times has coverage and Morland writes here too.

This post was corrected for a glaring misidentification of the US president at 12.26pm 11th December.

The British Museum is currently exhibiting original artwork from acclaimed Japanese manga artist Hoshino Yukinobu’s newest comic. The exhibition follows the adventures of Yukinobu’s character Professor Munakata and is set in the Museum itself. The work uses icons including the Sutton Hoo mask and the Lewis chessmen. Artwork from more of Yukinobu’s manga also features at the museum, alongside talks and family events.

British film director Ken Russell has written a review of the exhibition for The Times.

This image of Boris Johnson making a mess of Tory policy on Europe was Peter Brookes’ cartoon for The Times on October 6. You can read a “day in the life” profile of the cartoonist at work, explaining how he came up with the cartoon, at the Times Onine website.

According to the profile, “Brookes’ always irreverent, often scabrous, cartoons have a habit of sending readers spluttering to their writing desks and email accounts”. And the cartoonist likes nothing more than drawing people as animals because it allows him to show base behaviour: “You are able to depict crap and fornication and that sort of thing.”

The profile ties in with the new Peter Brookes exhibition at the Chris Beetles Gallery in London, which we covered on Bloghorn last week.

Link: A day in the scabrous life of political cartoonist Peter Brookes

Update, October 13: The Times has another article about Peter Brookes today, by Matthew Parris: Offend everyone: The secret of success

Bloghorn spotted this great work during this week ending the 25th September 2009.

One: Peter Brookes in The Times on the special relationship

Two: Nicholas Garland in The Daily Telegraph on
a very public crash

Three: Len Hawkins in The Spectator on paranoid parenting

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Bloghorn spotted this great work during this week ending the 31st July 2009.

One: Mike Williams in The Spectator: “Excuse me, could you pass me that magazine?”

Two: Martin Rowson in The Guardian: Waiting for the Iraq inquiry

Three: Morten Morland in The Times: Too many twits

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Bloghorn spotted this great work during this week ending the 10th July 2009.

One: Christian Adams in The Telegraph on the chase for the pink vote

Two: Hector Breeze in The Spectator: “It is suggested that one reign for a bit without pay.”

Three: And finally, Peter Brookes in The Times on trouble at No. 11

The PCO: Great British cartoon talent
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Bloghorn spotted this great work during this week ending the 2nd July 2009.

One: Jonathan Pugh in The Times on teacher re-training

Two: Peattie and Taylor from Alex in the Daily Telegraph on forward thinking

Three: …and Bloghorn’s own Royston Robertson in the Readers Digest on student hijinks

The PCO: Great British cartoon talent
Subscribe to The Foghorn – our print cartoon magazine