Dave Horsey in DC too

In addition to all the comic strip characters coming to DC, Dave Horsey is here as well. The ex-presidential candidates from Scott Stantis' Prickly City just arrived as well.

Thompson and Cavna - together like never again

Cavna at Comic Riffs has Our Man Thompson's deep reflections on Bush's departure - and hopefully that'll be the last time we see them reflect on Turdblossom's nom-de-guerre bestower.

And remember you can still buy Richard's drawing of FD Obamavelt on stuff too.

Political humor CFP in DC

A call for papers announcement courtesy of ComicsDC buddy Jeff Reznick. Although this says it's in DC, it appears to be run by the University of Southern California?

ASA--Political Humor in the post-9/11 Era
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Call for Papers Date: 2009-01-17 (in 4 days)
Date Submitted: 2009-01-08
Announcement ID: 166146

Political Humor in the post-9/11 Era:
Papers on all aspects of political humor and satire are welcome: stand-up, visual and cartoon humor, film and television, etc. Papers focusing on humor and 9/11, George W. Bush, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Guantanamo, Dick Cheney, or any other political question of the era are welcome. Focus should be on humor in the 2000s from an American or cross-cultural perspective. Comparative pieces discussing connections between another era and the 2000s will also be considered.

Proposals are due by January 17, 2009.

Lanita Jacobs-Huey
Department of Anthropology
Program in American Studies and Ethnicity
jacobshu@usc.edu

Cameroonian and Marylander cartoonist Issa Nyaphaga's exhibit in NYC

Issa's sent me the following press release about his new exhibit:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ARTBREAK GALLERY presents
BARACKUDA: POST-ELECTION CARTOON SHOW
by ISSA NYAPHAGA

January 4 - February 6, 2009
Opening reception Friday, January 9th from 5 to 9 PM

ARTBREAK GALLERY is proud to present the work of ISSA NYAPHAGA, an international artist/activist who is working on global issues with FREEDIMENSIONAL here in NYC.

ISSA began his career working as a political cartoonist and reporter in a weekly satirical newspaper in his home country of Cameroon, Le Messager Popoli. His opposition to the political regime in Cameroon led him to several trips to jail in 1994 for his publications. In 1996 he escaped from his country to seek asylum in France, where he began collaborating with the famous photographer Jacqueline Hyde, a former assistant to Man Ray.

Being known as an activist devoted to the issues of refugees and immigrants, ISSA NYAPHAGA was invited on June 16, 2001 to20speak before the French National Assembly on the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees for the U.N.H.C.R. He also co-founded the organization JAFE (African Journalists in Exile), which defends and protects journalists in danger, and in 1999 he co-authored Comment la France traite l'asile politique (L'Harmattan ed.), a book
that deals with political asylum in France and analyzes the exile experience.

As a way of remaining in contact with his native country ISSA founded the Association "HITIP" (Hope International for Tikar People), which contributes to the development of rural areas in Cameroon, especially in the cultural exchange, health and education sectors.

ISSA NYAPHAGA is currently participating in a three-month residency program in NYC with the HARLEM STUDIO FELLOWSHIP. He is one of many emerging black artists who followed the last presidential election campaign in the US very closely, which then inspired him to produce the body of work in this show.

"As a political cartoonist I was censured and jailed. Today, after 12 years in exile, I seek to examine contemporary society with an expression that transcends the primary function of caricature. For me, drawing cartoons has always been about examining current events in newspapers, and transferring this expression onto a huge canvas or into an installation gives me immense pleasure," explains ISSA.

As part of his 'URBAN WAY' project, on the night of the reception ISSA will be performing on stage with live music.

The show will run from January 4th to February 6th.

For more information go to www.artbreakgallery.com , www.freedimensional.org or www.nyaphaga.com

ARTBREAK GALLERY
195 Grand Street
2nd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11211
718 302 1021
www.artbreakgallery.com
info@artbreakgallery.com

OT: Kirk Anderson's new book of political cartoons

Political cartoonist Kirk Anderson wrote in (and note that Washington Post connection!) so I'll give him some electrons too (and coincidentally, here's an editorial he wrote that I just ran across):

My new book, Banana Republic: Adventures in Amnesia, is a collection of the weekly, quarter-page cartoons of the same name that ran in the Minneapolis Star Tribune for years, a sort of serialized graphic novel in a mainstream family newspaper. The fictional banana republic of Amnesia parodies America's War on Terror. More information is below and at the website. I have been a political cartoonist for 20 years, including eight as the staff editorial cartoonist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. My work has appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Onion, Newsweek, and hundreds of other trusted publications around the world.

BANANA REPUBLIC
- Adventures in Amnesia -
the small backward Third World nation with hearts of silver and mines of gold

www.MolotovComix.com

BANANA REPUBLIC follows the mischievous death squads and hilarious junta hijinks of Amnesia, a zany Third World dictatorship that is the polar opposite of America! In Amnesia, Generalissimo Wally engages in roughhousing practices we would consider unconstitutional in our own country, such as torture, warrentless surveillance, and imprisonment without charge! Why, even secret prisons are not unheard of! Unlike the advanced American system, the Amnesian regime only serves the wealthy elite, not the peasant classes; in fact, politicians openly take money from wealthy businessmen with direct financial stakes in pending legislation! From the Amnesians' overflowing prisons to their state propaganda, from their crippling foreign debt to their questionable elections, from their privately contracted paramilitaries to their millions without basic health care, you'll be chuckling, "Thank God WE don't live in a banana republic!"

"Kirk Anderson is an outrageously bold and talented cartoonist. [Banana Republic] entertained me hugely... a hilarious education in recent history." – Howard Zinn, historian and author of A People's History of the United States

That darn Toles, continued

Disrespect for the President
Washington Post November 21 2008

The Nov. 18 "Obama ends torture" editorial cartoon by Tom Toles was tasteless and mean-spirited and reflected an angry and biased mind-set.

One may not like President Bush or agree with his agenda, but the U.S. president deserves the respect of all Americans. That includes The Post's editors and cartoonist.

-- Billups E. Lodge

California, Md.

Comic Riffs interviews latest fired editorial cartoonist

Unfortunately this seems to have been the year when many papers who had editorial cartoonists decided they could probably do without one. Michael Cavna interviews the latest victim in "The Interview: Steve Greenberg: Life as a Pink-Slipped Political Cartoonist" on the Comic Riffs blog.

Elena Steier's new book

Fringe: A Cartoon History of the George Dubya Bush Administration is Elena Steier's new book of political cartoons. I was Elena's guest at the only Cartoons & Cocktails that I've been to (as she's a friend of my friends Gene and Kate), and these are cartoons about the Administration, so there's two DC links. This press release gives the details on the book and how to order it.

KAL at Duke this week

Charm City's editorial cartoonist Kal sent in this note:

From November 10-14, Editorial Cartoonist for The Economist Kevin "KAL" Kallaugher will be an Artist-in-Residence at Duke University's Sanford Institute for Public Policy. During his time on campus, he will be creating a clay sculpture to commemorate the 2008 Presidential campaign.

The Sanford Institute will also be holding a forum titled “Laughing at Power: Satire in American Politics” on Tuesday November 11. It will feature Kal and North Carolina cartoonist Dwane Powell as well two staff members of the “Daily Show” with Jon Stewart. The forum is Free and open to the public.

For more information visit the Sanford Institute's website: http://www.pubpol.duke.edu/news/features/panel_nr102208.php

Today's finger puppet - Obama!

Our Man Thompson finally draws a finger puppet that I want to make - Obama!

Shilling for Ted Rall

He asked nicely, so here's a press release about Ted Rall's EXCELLENT AND EXCITING NEW ANIMATION:

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

New Animated Cartoon by Ted Rall:
DEATH CAB FOR SARAH PALIN

Editorial cartoonist Ted Rall and animator David Essman have released a hilarious, vicious parody of GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin to celebrate Election Day 2008.

Distributed for free on YouTube and at tedrall.com, "Death Cab for Palin" is an animated political cartoon that lampoons Sarah Palin's presidential ambitions. Noting that vice presidents frequently become presidents, "Death Cab" depicts a rabid Vice President Palin trying to poison and bomb President McCain in the style of the classic "Road Runner" cartoon series.

Rall, a syndicated cartoonist for Universal Press Syndicate, is no stranger to controversy. His "Terror Widows" and "FDNY 2011" cartoons after 9/11 were some of the most controversial cartoons in U.S. history. Will "Death Cab for Sarah" join their ranks? "I don't know," says Rall, "but it was such a fun idea I just couldn't resist going with it."

Permission for reproduction and broadcast are freely given under the condition that the piece not be altered in any form without express permission. To contact Ted Rall, please email ted@rall.com.

---

TED RALL's editorial cartoons and columns are syndicated to more than 100 newspapers around the U.S. Twice the winner of the RFK Journalism Award and a Pulitzer Finalist, he is President of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists.

DAVID ESSMAN is an animator currently at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His animated films have been screened across the country, including Animation Block Party, The Chicago Underground Film Festival, and the St. Louis International Film Festival.

Good stuff in today's papers

"Godzilla's Older, Creepier Cousins: Beings Such as Filth Licker Haunt Japanese Culture," By Blaine Harden, Washington Post Foreign Service, Friday, October 31, 2008; A01. This is about creatures called yokai, who are apparently roughly equivalent to goblins and boggarts. Hiroko Yoda and Matt Alt are a married couple have written a book about them, when not translating manga.

The animated movie Fear(s) of the Dark was also reviewed in "Gripped (at Times Loosely) by Fear," By Neely Tucker, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, October 31, 2008; Page C06.

Meanwhile in the Post's Comic Riffs, Michael Cavna's interviewed a bunch of cartoonists about the election including locals Telnaes, Sorenson, and Wuerker in "Who'll Win the White House? Cartoonists Issue Their Predictions" as well as decidedly non-local Garry Trudeau in "Obama Wins? Yes, 'Doonesbury' Calls the Election!"

And on Disney's direct to video movie and Fairies product line is "Disney Hoping 'Tinker Bell' Spreads Fairy Dust on Sales" By BROOKS BARNES, New York Times October 31, 2008.

Chance visit in DC causes lifetime of collecting

See "Political cartoons inspired alumnus; Michael Kahn, a UCLA graduate of 1970, boasts an extensive collection of more than 75,000 images," by Max Schneider, Daily Bruin Tuesday, October 28, 2008.

The article begins, "Michael Kahn remembers the moment he fell in love with political cartoons... The UCLA alumnus, who graduated in 1970, was studying in Washington D.C. and while visiting his professor’s apartment with his class, he saw something that struck a chord."

The incredible shrinking Examiner cartoon

The Washington Examiner, Nate Beeler's home paper, has cut the size of its editorial cartoons in half again to about 3" x 4" - tiny in other words. They've got Nate doing a full cover color caricature for the front of the Sunday tabloid (and two other editons), but inside you can barely see the cartoon. When the paper started a few years ago, Nate's cartoon ran at about 1/3 of a page and they had two pages of comic strips which are now gone. I'm sensing a trend...

Art of Political Cartooning in an Election Year photographs

The event at the Writer's Center was a lot of fun. KAL showed print cartoons of the last few presidential elections and then demonstrated several of his projects including Democrazy and his live poltical animation. Richard followed his with drawing caricatures - he marveled that people think it's 'magic' that he can draw a recognizable face, but then again so do I. Matt wrapped up and talked about doing political cartoons for Politico. Links to the websites of all three can be found on the right.

All the pictures I shot can be seen on my flickr site, but here's a few. You can also download an audio recording of indifferent quality.


Richard Thompson caricaturing Sarah Palin. Lipstick courtesy of KAL.


Matt Wuerker showing his Politico home page.


KAL's cartoon journalism on attending a presidential convention.