WASHINGTON, DC, Monday, March 05, 2018 – Ward Sutton has been named the winner of the 2018 Herblock Prize for editorial cartooning.
Ward Sutton has been creating biting editorial cartoons for
The Boston Globe since 2008
.
He experiments with size and format, often producing multi-panel
cartoons that can read like a graphic novel. In 2010, his full-page “Tea
Party Comics” won a gold medal from the Society of Publication
Designers.
Sutton has also created cartoons for
The New Yorker,
The Village Voice, The New York Times, The Nib, In These Times, GQ, The
Nation, Time, TV Guide, Rolling Stone, Fusion, MAD Magazine, and many more.
Sutton Impact: The Political Cartoons of Ward Sutton was published in 2005.
Stephen Colbert has said: “
Ward Sutton’s satire doesn’t just bite, it maims. He
’s the perfect cartoonist for our discordant times.
’’
Alarmed by the incoming Trump administration, Sutton drew a
“RESIST” poster image and distributed it for free online in 2017. It was
downloaded, printed, carried in marches all over the world, and later
chosen by American Illustration in its annual competition.
Since 2006, Sutton has semi-secretly been the man behind Stan Kelly, the (fake) editorial cartoonist for the satirical weekly
The Onion. His book,
Kelly: The Cartoonist America Turns To (TM) was published in 2016.
In addition to cartooning, Sutton has created posters for
Broadway, the Sundance Film Festival, and musicians such as Beck,
Radiohead, Phish, and Pearl Jam. He has designed, directed and/or
produced animation for HBO, Noggin and Comedy Central. His work has been
recognized by The Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, The
Society of Publication Designers, The Society for News Design, The
Minnesota Page One Awards and The Art Directors Club.
Born in Minnesota, Sutton got his start cartooning for the
Edina Sun community newspaper when he was in middle school. He continued at Edina High School’s
Zephyrus and St. Olaf College’s
Manitou Messenger before launching his first professional political strip, “Ward’s Cleaver,” in the Minneapolis alt-weekly,
The Twin Cities Reader. Since
then, he has lived in Seattle, New York City, and Costa Rica before
finding his current home with his family in Fort Collins, Colorado.
The Herblock Prize is awarded annually by The Herb Block
Foundation for “distinguished examples of editorial cartooning that
exemplify the courageous independent standard set by Herblock.” The
winner receives a $15,000 after-tax cash prize and a sterling silver
Tiffany trophy. Ward Sutton will receive the Prize on May 9th
in a ceremony held at the Library of Congress. Scott Simon, Peabody
Award-winning correspondent and host of Weekend Edition Saturday on NPR,
will deliver the annual Herblock Lecture at the awards ceremony.
Judges for this year’s contest were Ruben Bolling, author of
the weekly comic strip “Tom the Dancing Bug” and winner of the 2017
Herblock Prize; Jenny Robb, Curator of the Billy Ireland
Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University; and Ann Telnaes,
editorial cartoonist for
The Washington Post and first woman to have received both the Reuben Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.
The judges said “We were greatly impressed by the quality and
breadth of submissions, with so much outstanding work being done in all
types of political cartooning. But we felt that Ward Sutton's
combination of strong artwork and sharp satirical writing stood out. Ward's
art style has an appealing comic book look that includes a mastery of
caricature within that context. He juxtaposes these attractive drawings
with strong, urgent writing, setting up creative premises and wringing
out of them cutting humor and provocative commentary that rise to the
historical importance of today's issues.”
Steve Brodner, a satirical illustrator who has covered nine national political conventions for
Esquire, The Progressive, The Village Voice and others, was named this year’s finalist and will receive a $5,000 after-tax cash prize. The
judges said “Strong caricatures in editorial cartoons convey vital
information to the reader about the character and motivation of a
political figure. Steve Brodner's superior draftsmanship
and effective use of caricature in his editorial commentary was
well-represented in his portfolio and is exemplary of the high quality
artwork of Herb Block and other legendary cartoonists.”
The Herb Block Foundation seeks to further the recognition and support of editorial cartooning:
www.HerbblockFoundation.org.
