Political cartoon

An editorial cartoon of Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln, 1865, entitled "The Rail Splitter at Work Repairing the Union." The caption reads: (Johnson): "Take it quietly Uncle Abe and I will draw it closer than ever." (Lincoln): "A few more stitches Andy and the good old Union will be mended."

"To begin with, 'I'll paint the town red'." Grant E. Hamilton, The Judge vol. 7, 31 January 1885.

An editorial cartoon, also known as a political cartoon, is an illustration containing a commentary that usually relates to current events or personalities.

They typically combine artistic skill, hyperbole and biting humour in order to question authority and draw attention to corruption and other social ills.

History

Notable editorial cartoons include Benjamin Franklin's "Join, or Die" (1754), on the need for unity in the American colonies, "The Thinkers Club" (1819), a response to the surveillance and censorship of universities in Germany under the Carlsbad Decrees, and E. H. Shepard's "The Goose-Step" (1936), on the rearmament of Germany under Hitler. "The Goose-Step" is one of a number of notable cartoons first published in the British Punch magazine.

Institutions which archive and document editorial cartoons include the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in the United States, and the British Cartoon Archive in the United Kingdom.

Editorial cartoons and editorial cartoonists are recognised by a number of awards, for example the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning (for US cartoonists, since 1922) and the British Press Awards' "Cartoonist of the Year".

Modern political cartoons

Political cartoons can usually be found on the editorial page of most newspapers, although a few (such as Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury) are sometimes found on the regular comic strip page. A good collection of modern editorial cartoons can be found in each issue of magazines like the Humor Times and Funny Times. Recently, many radical or minority issue editorial cartoonists, who would previously have been obscure, have found large audiences on the Internet (a medium which also makes it possible to publish animated political cartoons). Cartoons can be very diverse, but there is a certain established style among most of them. Most use visual metaphors and caricatures to address complicated political situations, and thus sum up a current event with a humorous or emotional picture. Often, their content includes stereotypical, biased and/or demonizing portrayals of people and events.

In modern political cartooning two styles have begun to emerge. The traditional style, involving visual metaphors and symbols like Uncle Sam, the Democratic donkey and the Republican elephant, and labels is described as the "nast-y" style (named after Thomas Nast), and the more text-heavy "altie" style that tells a linear story, usually in comic strip format. Although their style, technique or viewpoints may differ, editorial cartoonists draw attention to important social and political issues. Political cartoons are an effective way for artists to express their thoughts about the events in a certain period in a comical manner.

Pocket cartoons

A pocket cartoon is a form of editorial cartoon which consists of a topical single-panel single-column drawing. It was introduced by Osbert Lancaster in 1939 at the Daily Express. A 2005 obituary by The Guardian of its pocket cartoonist David Austin said "Newspaper readers instinctively look to the pocket cartoon to reassure them that the disasters and afflictions besetting them each morning are not final. By taking a sideways look at the news and bringing out the absurd in it, the pocket cartoonist provides, if not exactly a silver lining, then at least a ray of hope."

Controversies

Editorial cartoons sometimes cause controversies. Examples include the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy (stemming from the publication of cartoons of Muhammad) and the 2007 Bangladesh cartoon controversy.

See also

• Attitude: The New Subversive Cartoonists
• Graphics
• List of editorial cartoonists

External links

• American Association of Editorial Cartoonists Political cartoons by the members of the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists
• About.com: Political Cartoons Comprehensive guide to political editorial cartoons on the Web
• Using editorial cartoons in the classroom Sources, analysis, interpretation (mostly English with some German)
• Gettysburg College Civil War Era Digital Collection Contains over 300 Civil War Era political cartoons
• American Social History Online
• The Role of Puck's Cartoons in Gilded Age Politics from American Studies at the University of Virginia
• CartoonMovement.com: Political Cartoons and Comics Journalism from around the world