September 11-14, 2025The AAEC will be joining the line-up at this year’s Small Press Expo as part of our annual convention in September 2025. Registration is now open.
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Word came recently of the passing of two cartoonists who had been involved with the AAEC over the decades: Jerry Fearing and Tim Jackson. Jackson, 66, died in November. The artist and historian was the long-time cartoonist for the Chicago Defender, and his work appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Cincinnati Herald, Dayton Defender and other […]
After an epic decade, The Nib is shutting down at the end of this month. Publisher and cartoonist Matt Bors explained why: “After ten years of publication, thousands of comics, and fifteen issues of the magazine, we are shutting down. I am choosing to give it a death with dignity rather than make painful cuts […]
Word broke last week of the untimely passing of Robert C. Harvey. Bob was a prolific cartoon historian and critic who understood cartoonists because he had worked as one early in his career — drawing gag cartoons for girly magazines — before turning his passion and knowledge of the industry into a 40+ career as […]
Three pulitzer prize-winning cartoonists sat down for interviews recently and looked back at their careers, the state of political discourse in America, the Iraq War, and the dumpster fire that is the Republican party. David Horsey notes how the Jan. 6 Committee has made it easer to talk about Trump’s crimes: https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/we-cannot-shy-away-from-hard-facts-about-trumps-betrayal/ Jim Morin talks […]
Long-time editorial cartoonist Tim Eagan is taking the plunge into graphic novels — literally. Eagan has just launched a Kickstarter to publish “Headfirst,” the story of his near-fatal 3-story fall and the existential thoughts it inspired. Eagan’s local paper also had an interview with the cartoonist on the book. Crowdsourcing for “Headfirst” begins today, March […]
Cartoonist and raconteur Ted Rall has written a new graphic novel that asks: what if a journalist decided it was more profitable to use his contacts to start wars instead of covering them? “The Stringer,” out next month from NBM, is a sprawling, dark fantasy that reads like Syriana met Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and went […]
Don’t have time to read Moby-Dick? Given up on ever finishing War and Peace? No problem! “Long Story Short” is due to drop in July. The high-concept tome, by the low-brow Mr. Fish & Friends, boils classic novels down to a single panel cartoon. Most of the entries are by the inimitable Mr. Fish (Dwayne […]
If you love Tom the Dancing Bug, you’ll probably like the pair of new books celebrating the 30th anniversary of the strip. But you NEED TO PREORDER BY JUNE 30 to get your copies. AND they’re only available online! The books will be out in mid-August 2020. Click here to seal the deal: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37544961
The Nib has launched a Kickstarter for their latest book — Greetings From the Wasteland — a collection of all the chaos from the Trump years. Support this new volume and relive every stupid, stupid moment of the last 4 years. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thenib/greetings-from-the-wasteland/
Cartoonist and publisher of The Nib, Matt Bors has announced a new collection of his political commentary. “We Should Improve Society Somewhat” drops in April 2020 and offers a survey of “our current dystopian hellscape.” From the press release: “Working as a political cartoonist for more than a decade, Bors’ brain is now fully melted […]
On the heels of the news that Gary Huck and Mike Konopacki would shut down their long-running labor cartoon syndicate, the duo announced “Torn,” the last collection of their editorial cartoons. “After 37 years of syndicating Huck/Konopacki Labor Cartoons to unions and newspapers, these Wisconsin-bred practitioners of pushback, parody, and in-your-face outrage against enemies of […]
Canadian cartoonist Terry Mosher (better known by his pen name Aislin) has written a new book on Duncan Macpherson, one of the best cartoonists to come out of Canada in the 20th Century. “Professional Heckler” is the first biography of Macpherson, “a formidable and groundbreaking artist, he was also an alcoholic who struggled with many personal demons.” The […]
While perhaps best known in America as the dude who did the art for Pink Floyd’s The Wall, Gerald Scarfe is celebrated across the pond as one of Great Britain’s greatest —and most vicious— political cartoonists (I mean, just look at this caricature of Margaret Thatcher!—ed). Scarfe recounts his 60-year-career in a new autobiography chock […]
If you grew up in South Carolina, you might remember Jak Smyrl, the first staff cartoon for The State in Columbia, SC. His life and career played out against the backdrop of the 20th century, and is now the subject of a biography, “The World of Jak Smyrl: South Carolina Artist, Journalist, Cartoonist.” The book […]
Whoa nelly — Tom the Dancing Bug is turning 30 this year! In celebration, cartoonist Ruben Bolling (aka Ken Fisher) is releasing not one but TWO topical collections of his alt-weekly comic strip. “Into the Trumpverse” collects his Donald-centric cartoons from 2016-2019, while “The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader” gathers together every fake comic strip Bolling has […]
Editorial cartoonist Randy Bish is part of duo that is reviving The Yellow Kid —the first comic strip, and the source of the term “Yellow Journalism”— for the 21st century. The former long-time staffer for the Tribune Review drew the iconic character for a new book, “Hully Gee It’s The Yellow Kid,” celebrating the 125th anniversary of […]
Cartoonist and publisher of The Nib, Matt Bors has announced a new collection of his political commentary. “We Should Improve Society Somewhat” drops in April 2020 and offers a survey of “our current dystopian hellscape.” From the press release: “Working as a political cartoonist for more than a decade, Bors’ brain is now fully melted […]
2020 is looking to be a banner year for cartoonists publishing books, so if you have something coming out, let us know. We’ll be posting a Book Nook on the news feed here on Fridays when there’s a release. First up: Remember when Patrick Chappatte got canned by the New York Times for a cartoon […]
While the newspaper industry continues to flee in terror from, umm, editorial cartoons, there is no shortage of media outlets that want to interview cartoonists. Here are all the links and articles that appeared online in January. First up WJTV on the prolific Marshall Ramsey: https://www.wjtv.com/news/focused-on-mississippi-marshall-ramsey-he-draws-his-own-conclusions/ Next, Cap Radio talks to Jack Ohman about political […]
“FRONT LINES: Political Cartooning and the Battle for Free Speech” is now available online! Published as a companion to the 2019 Billy Ireland Museum exhibit of the same name, FRONT LINES features lots of cartoons, and essays by Joel Pett, Lucy Caswell, Roslyn Mazer, Rob Rogers and Matt Wuerker. $20 gets you the book, poster […]
Ready to dive back into the Impeachment whirlwind? Cartoonist Clay Jones is leading the charge, creating a couple cartoons and columns every day. Comics DC’s Mike Rhode has an interview with the prolific @claytoonz and discusses his work habits, food, and his new book of Trump cartoons. https://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2019/12/meet-local-cartoonist-chat-with-clay.html UPDATE: Here’s another interview with @claytoonz about his new book […]
Cartoonist Gary Varvel talks to local station WISH about what it takes to survive as a cartoonist post-newspaper. Varvel also has a new book and newsletter out, and will be having a book signing at the end of November. https://www.wishtv.com/news/local-news/dick-wolfsie-chats-with-editorial-cartoonist-gary-varvel/
Like trenchant political cartoons? Love cartoon books? In the Bay Area? You have two chances this weekend to see Eric Garcia talk about his latest tome "Drawing on Anger." Catch him Saturday 6pm at Mission Comics, and Sunday at The Cartoon Museum at 2pm.
A lot of you know Don Asmussen — he's attended several west coast AAEC conventions over the years, and his Bad Reporter strip is one of the funniest (and pointed) things out there. Anyway, he's been battling cancer for awhile now, with an update that falls in the not-good column. Now the good news — […]
Charles Brooks had a long career as one of the bigger editorial cartoonists in the country. A former president of the AAEC, he was probably best known (at least among cartoonists) as the creator and editor of "Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year," an annual compilation that ran for over 40 years. A reporter at […]
Nuthin' like a deadline to get you motivated, right? https://folioweekly.com/stories/worth-a-thousand-words,20677
Long before he was a popular web cartoonist (and go-to illustrator for numerous game companies), John Kovalic was an editorial cartoonist at a daily newspaper. He was an integral part of the AAEC in the 1990s and helped them get online during the early days of the internet, and was the publisher of "Attack of […]
In Washington DC? Get to the Library of Congress ASAP! "Drawn to Purpose" closes on Oct. 20. This exhibit of all-women illustrators includes work by AAEC members Ann Telnaes, Signe Wilkinson and Jen Sorensen, among many other talented artists. For complete details on the show, got to https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/drawn-to-purpose/about-this-exhibition/ Also, you have just 4 days left […]
The last two years have seen a number of cartoonists turn their attention to politics (gee, we wonder why?). Two comic book artists, Pia Guerra and Mike Norton, are now doing regular editorial work, and both have books collecting their first wave of Trump cartoons. Norton's weekly web comic "Lil Donnie" is now in one volume, […]
Mike Luckovich has a new book of Trump cartoons out, and is making the rounds. Michael Cavna has an interview with the prolific political cartoonist over at Comic Riffs, and his hometown paper, the Atlantic Journal-Constitution, talks to Luckovich as part of a preview of his appearance at this weekend's Decatur Book Festival. "A Very Stable Genius" […]
IndyStar editorial cartoonist (and long-time AAEC member) Gary Varvel is having a busy summer. His second children's book came out last month, he recently popped up on PBS talk show "Story in the Public Square" to discuss his changing views of Donald Trump, and he will be a guest lecturer along with cartoonists Mike Ramirez […]
A mash of cartooning news for your Friday afternoon reading. So crack open a cold one and kick back… If you're in Oregon, you still have time to make it to the annual Homer Davenport Community Festival in Silverton, OR this weekend, Aug. 3-5. The annual celebration of hometown hero cartoonist Homer Davenport […]
Joe Sharpnack reports that a sudden condition has left him partially blind. The Daily Iowan has the story. Known for his wicked sense of humor, the stalwart Iowan's work has appeared in the Washington Post and USAToday over the years. He was a member of the AAEC for a time, before his iconoclastic ways lead […]
Who says print is dead? The Nib, home of some of the finest editorial editorial cartoonists and comics journalists working today, has launched a kickstarter to help launch their new quarterly magazine. (Update: Half a day into the fundraiser, they are already halfway to their goal, so clearly the support is out there.) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thenib/the-nib-magazine […]
Cartoonist and former-AAEC President Bill Sanders talks about his new book on his career retrospective.
Sometime you just gotta take a break from politics — especially if you're a political cartoonist. So kick back and enjoy this wide-ranging interview with award-winning political cartoonist Jack Ohman about his one true love — fly fishing. A river runs through it starting here. Then head over to The New York Times for a look […]
New retrospective out from Bill Sanders Cartoonist Bill Sanders has a new book out collecting the best of his long career. Sanders, who drew for the Milwaukee Journal from 1967 until his retirement in 1991, has also served as President of the AAEC. With a forward by Jules Feiffer, the hardcover "Against the Grain: Bombthrowing […]
On heels of the announcement of the return of The Davenport International Cartoon Contest, R.C. Harvey takes a look at a recent book on the seminal political cartoonist. Here's his review: DAVENPORT is one of the great names in American editorial cartooning, but almost nothing has been written about him—nothing, at least, approaching the scholarship […]
We got two stories today about AAEC friend and killer cartoonist Martin Rowson. First up —Fun with death threats! https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/16200356.Brockley_political_cartoonist_talks_about_the_death_threats_he_has_received_over_the_years/ Also, the British cartoonist's graphic novel of "The Communist Manifesto" is now out! Martin Rowson talked about this at last year's AAEC Convention in Long Island, and the long-awaited epic adaptation is finally here: […]
It's Spring, and that means more award announcements! Steve Sack is this year's winner of the "James Aronson Cartooning with a Conscience Award." The recognition is part of the annual Aronson Awards for Social Justice Journalism. Recipients will meet at Hunter College in New York City on Monday, May 21, to receive their award and […]
"Drawn to Purpose," the companion book to the Library of Congress' show of the same name, is now out. The book "gives readers a glimpse of the female factor behind comic strips, political cartoons and magazine/newspaper art over a 150-year span." The author, Martha Kennedy, recently sat down at the C2E2 Comic Book Festival in […]
Mike Peterson's Comic Strip of the Day has an excellent report from this weekend's MoCAA Fest 2018 — with an in depth look at the panel on political cartooning with Ann Telnaes, Mr. Fish, Steve Brodner and more. Go, read.
The LA Sentinel talks to editorial cartoonist and AAEC member David G. Brown on his recent book on Barack Obama — and other projects. https://lasentinel.net/catching-up-with-artist-david-g-brown.html
Cartoonist Ann Telnaes brings her Trump children's book tour to the California — starting tonight at the Diesel Bookstore in Santa Monica. The Washington Post cartoonist and animator will be doing a number of stops on the West Coast in support of her Fantagraphics publication TRUMP ABC.
We got two, count 'em, two announcements to kick off February: #1 The 2018 Locher Award is now open for submissions, with an extended deadline this year of JUNE 15. The John Locher Memorial Award is a contest for aspiring cartoonists, ages 18-25, who draw on political and social topics. Complete details here: https://locheraward.org/ (Also, […]
If you like political cartooning, this season has some lovely sugar plums for you to enjoy. + + + + David G. Brown has published a new book on the Obama legacy. "Barack, Race and the Media: The Obama Legacy" features a collection of political cartoons from Brown, Angelo Lopez, Lalo Alcaraz, David Horsey, Tim […]
The Library of Congress opens a major exhibit tomorrow focusing on women artists, including current AAEC President Ann Telanes. "Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists" looks at the work of 43 professional female illustrators over the last 150 years. The Library will release a companion book, by curator Martha H. Kennedy, in the spring […]
Barry Blitt has a book of New Yorker covers coming out, so of course he's doing the full-court media blitz. Two detailed interviews with the prolific cartoonist came out this week, and of course the best was conducted by another cartoonist — the AAEC's own Matt Wuerker. Catch the hot cartoonist on cartoonist action here! […]
The Times-Picayune highlights the work of it's long-time editorial cartoonist John Chase, who, beginning in 1927, drew for the paper for almost 60 years. The article manages to leave out two important facts: Chase was instrumental in the establishment of the AAEC in the early years of the association, and he edited and published "Today's Cartoon," […]
Have we got a show for you! Dan Perkins returns to his home town for a fall festival presentation Saturday.
R.J. Harvey reviews a book collecting 25 years of cartoons by Rob Rogers.
AAEC members have had a busy spring… Here are 10 updates.
Need a radical Earth Day card or children’s book? See Stephanie McMillan …
A number of cartoonists have something to be thankful for: Ted Rall a new book, Robert Ariail a new gig, Dick Locher a new sculpture, David Brown a show in Brazil, and more! Read on…
Rob Rogers has published a 25-year retrospective of his work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. With a Foreword by Dave Barry, “No Cartoon Left Behind! The Best of Rob Rogers” is now available from Carnegie Mellon University Press.
Cartoonist Jeff Koterba has a new book out, and KAL has done a calendar for The Economist
Deadlines, get your deadlines here! The first wave of deadlines for fall contests and books is fast approaching. Here’s what you want to know:
Hearst buys Dallas Morning News; Jane Pauley and G. B. Trudeau honored; New York Newsday: Truth, Justice, and the Comics; small town journalists disappearing; journalists...
The AAEC John Locher Memorial Fellowship is awarded each year to one early-career cartoonist whose work demonstrates clear opinions and strong artistry on political and social topics. Deadline to be considered is the end of March.
The Locher Fellow will receive a one-year Regular membership in the AAEC, be a guest of the CXC Festival — held every fall in Columbus, Ohio — and have the opportunity to meet with editorial cartoonists during the year of the Fellowship for portfolio reviews and career advice.
Every two weeks throughout the year, The Learning Forum and the AAEC offers CARTOONS FOR THE CLASSROOM, a free lesson resource for teachers discussing current events. Visit NIEonline.com for more lesson plans.
