The New Cartoonist Jul/Aug 2025

ISSN: 2977-6368

NUMBER 6 JUL/AUG 2025

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH COVER STAR REBECCA HENDIN

BORN TO DRAW

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£2.50

POLITICALLY SPEAKING...

WITH OLIVER WRIGHT

PUB CARTOON EXHIBITION DESERT ISLAND FUN

SUMMER CARTOONS A THEMED SELECTION

CARTOON TREASURE FOUND IN A NINETIES SKIP

118 DIFFERENT CARTOONS INSIDE!

PLUS: N MARK WINTER ON STEINBERG N TNC MEETS A NEWBIE IN MY NEW BOSS N MEET DEAN PATTERSON N A BUNCH OF PEDANTS N PROPHETICAL MILDRED HOROSCOPES

CONTENTS PAGE 4

THE ANIMALS WENT IN ONE BY THREE, HURRAH, HURRAH

POLITICALLY SPEAKING WITH OLIVER WRIGHT

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HEAD LINES REBECCA HENDIN PROFILE

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DUKE PUB EXHIBITION

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MEET DEAN PATTERSON

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THE 3 S’S CONTIUED MARK WINTER ON STEINBERG

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MIKE WILLIAMS NEW BOOK

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90’S CARTOON TREASURE

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SUMMER CARTOON SPECIAL

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TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

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BOB & VICKI SCOTT CHAT

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MY NEW BOSS WITH LOUIS COLLINS

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ONE NEW STREET ANNIVERSARY

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PENS DOWN BOOK REVIEW

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CARTOONISTS AT THE TENNIS

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THE CARTOON MUSEUM

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ANIMATION - IN THE SHADOW OF CYPRUS

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DESERT ISLAND CARTOONS

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THE DIRECTORY

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HOROSCOPES & CAPTION COMP

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PARTING SHOT WITH MICHAEL KING

WANNA BE IN IT? GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS AND CARTOONS AND WE WILL DO OUR BEST TO PUBLISH THEM!

CLICK HERE 02

FIGHTING THE HEGEMONY OF THE MONOGAMOUS COUPLE RELATIONSHIP. MARSHALL NOT FUNNY HAS BEEN AWAY TRAVELLING SO HAS HAD TO DO THIS ISSUE’S ANIMATION OLD SCHOOL.

GET YOUR HOROSCOPES FROM PROPHETICAL MILDRED p81

MEET DEAN

EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE IRISH CARTOONIST on p22

DESERT ISLANDS!

CHECK OUT THE LAUNCH OF THE NEW PUB EXHIBITION

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Ed’s Welcome Hello and welcome to the Jul/Aug edition of TNC. Blooming heck, it’s been very hot - and very wet! Why oh why the UK weather gods can’t just keep it at a fair-to-middling 75 degrees is beyond me. I’d vote for it Keir... just saying!

July has been hectic. As well as sourcing material for the next issue, and Mirror and Guardian toons to get out, there’s also been the launch of the latest cartoon exhibition at the Duke of Greenwich pub. With the help of Mark Winter and Steve Hamson - and of course the over 90 cartoonists that contributed - the pubs walls are now decorated in a lovely ‘Desert

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Island’ cartoon hue until 31st August 2025.

This event has also given me the chance to decorate my own walls with another poster design. It sits quite happily alongside those from previous exhibitions, the first TNC cover and a new purchase from the cartoon legend Martin Rowson. His Nibs put some of his wares up for sale this month as part of the Brockley Open Studios proceedings, and TNC was delighted to be able to make it.

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That’s enough about me...what about the next issue? Well, it’s another packed one!

It was my absolute pleasure to spend time with the fantastic Rebecca Hendin, learning more about her artistic processes and meeting her cat Cosmonaut. By by now you’ll have seen her fabulous front cover!

We also have the very talented Oliver Wright in ‘Politically Speaking’, and a piece on the aforementioned evening spent at the launch of the latest cartoon exhibition in Greenwich.

Superstar cartoonist Dean Patterson gives us an insight into his work, and there’s an interesting outline of Nineties press life, with Pat Williams uncovering a bit of cartoon treasure.

Mark Winter further extends his three S’s

series, exploring the incredible work of Saul Steinberg, and there’s a few trips down Pedant Lane in a new feature called ‘Technically Speaking’.

Cartoons? Well we have plenty of those, with a ‘Summer’ theme in the centre pages, as well as gags, politics, and some of those Desert Island exhibition toons featured.

We have an interview from across the pond with Bob and Vicki Scott, discussing their new book from their Molly & The Bear series, and an exploration of the latest book from the cartoon great Mike Williams.

Dy meets up with budding cartoonist Louis Collins, and the most accurate soothsayer in Greater London, Prophetical Mildred, returns with your horoscopes. Finally, there’s a romantic tale from the seventies in ‘Parting Shot’, and a beautiful portrait from the extremely talented Kevin Wells a.k.a SquiggleKing.

Enjoy!

EMAIL PETE THE EDITOR

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POLITICALLY SPEAKING

WESTMINSTER BUBBLES POLITICAL AND POLICY EDITOR OF THE TIMES, OLIVER WRIGHT, SPEAKS TO TNC PETE SONGI poking and probing What a lively few weeks it has been within the political sphere. Labour U-turns, TacoTrump and Musk splits, whilst wars and conflicts continue. As a political cartoonist it’s rich pickings, but what’s the view from the news desk? TNC caught up with Oliver Wright from The Times.

Based in Westminster, Oliver leads The Times’ coverage of government policy with a particular focus on Brexit. A former health correspondent and news editor at The Times, he was previously the political editor of The Independent.

We’ve recently passed the first year anniversary of Keir Starmer coming into power. How would you rate it all so far? Do you think he thought that majority would make it easier?

I think all of us - Keir Starmer included - thought that Labour’s landslide would, for a while at least, bring a bit of calm to British politics after the madness of the previous few years. I remember Starmer pledging in his first speech outside Downing Street that he wanted the government to “tread more lightly” on people’s lives. That didn’t age well.

But in some senses Labour’s difficulties are reflective of a much wider problem facing Britain. The truth is that after a financial crisis, Brexit, Covid and Trump the country is poorer and less secure than it has been at any time since, arguably the early 1980s. And governing in those circumstances is really tough.

popular on the left - but would struggle to win support on the right of the party while Wes Streeting would have the same problem in reverse. Starmer might of course decide to fall on his sword - but I don’t think he will.

On the other side, 2029 seems a very long way away for Kemi Badenoch as well. Do you think this is a ‘we’ll come As well as being under pressure up with policies later’ approach? And from back-benchers, Starmer is now if yes - is it working for the getting squeezed from Reform on the Conservative Party? right and a potential new party on Opposition leaders always face calls to come the left, resurrecting Jeremy Corbyn. up with policies - but it is almost always a bad idea. If they are good then the government Do you think Starmer will make it to will nick them and if they’re bad they’ll hang 2029?

Yes. You can never be certain but two significant things count in his favour. The first is that it is much harder to get rid of leaders in the Labour party than it is in the Conservative party. And the second is that there is no one obvious to succeed him. Angela Rayner would be more

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them around your neck for years to come. So in that sense she is probably adopting the right strategy. But given the road the Tories have to climb, winning in 2029 seems implausible from where we stand now - no matter what policies they come up with.

Do you think the UK will ever revisit Brexit?

It is hard to see the UK revisiting Brexit in the next decade - even if polls show a majority in favour of rejoining. That said I think the UK will move closer to the EU as time goes on especially if America continues on its current trajectory.

Over the years we’ve had Ed Miliband and a sandwich, Gordon Brown and ‘that bigoted woman’, Liz Truss and a lettuce, Rishi in the rain and now Rachel Reeves in tears at PMQs. Great material for us as political cartoonists; but why do you think these moments define politicians so strongly, and for so long? Why such albatrosses around their necks??

What’s the saying - an image is worth a

WITH OLIVER WRIGHT thousand words. Not wanting to do down my profession but often it is images and cartoons that most resonate with people and not the words that we journalists write. I remember someone at The Times many years ago telling me that when Peter Brookes first began drawing for the comment pages that cartoon was almost an afterthought as a way to illustrate the words. Now it is absolutely central to the paper...

You are into your tenth year at The Times. What do you feel have been the biggest changes in your role over the past decade?

Without a doubt digitalisation. When I started the following day’s paper was still the absolute focal point of the day - everything led up to the paper’s evening ‘off-stone’ deadline. That has now changed and we are much more flexible around when we ‘publish’. That makes us much more responsive to events - but changed the way we think about covering politics in quite a significant way.

Do you think print can survive AI and all the ‘digital first’ agendas?

I think in the longer term a daily printed product will ultimately be unsustainable - but we are not at that point yet. It is also possible that even if a daily print product is no longer produced you could see a weekly printed compendium in a magazine style format.

Political cartooning is becoming an increasingly precarious role for cartoonists. Do you think satire can survive current cultural change?

Absolutely. Because culture changes - and not always in one direction. You are already seeing some backlash to so-called political correctness both in the UK and the US and I suspect this will

OLIVER DRAWS! Starmer effecting us all...

continue. The idea that some satire is deemed unacceptable feels to me like a dangerous path down which to travel. Freedom of speech is critical - and some of the best freedom of speech is cartoons.

Have any cartoons stood out for you as a journalist?

The one cartoon I will always remember is one by the great Times cartoonist Peter Brookes in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks. It depicted a conference table sitting at which was Gerry Adams, Nelson Mandela, Yasser Arafat and Osama Bin Laden. In front of them they all had name plates - with ‘terrorist’ written on each one. But for all except

Bin Laden the label had been crossed out and replaced with ‘peace maker’. There is a speech bubble coming out of Bin Laden’s mouth saying ‘give it time’.

Of course that didn’t come to pass - but it was still a brave, important and acutely well observed cartoon - which went against the grain of political norms at the time.

What are your political predictions for the rest of 2025?

This is going to carry on being a difficult year for the government - with the budget in particular looking really tricky for Labour. For the time being at least Reform is going nowhere while the Tories look unable to break out of their current doldrums.

Anything us cartoonists should be looking out for?

Trump’s state visit. A satirist’s paradise.

What’s next for Oliver Wright?

I want to see how the next chapter unfolds while trying to shine a light on things that the government does not want to talk about - which should always be every journalist’s lodestar.

Finally, here at TNC we like a challenge and believe everyone was ‘born to draw’. Could you draw us a political cartoon?

See ..... (above).

A CARTOON TO REMEMBER The brilliance of Peter Brookes

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OLIVER WRIGHT

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NEWS & POLITICS

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NEWS & POLITICS

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NEWS & POLITICS

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HEAD LINES

A PORTRAIT OF REBECCA HENDIN

MEET ‘THE LAYERS’ QUEEN

TNC CAUGHT UP WITH ILLUSTRATOR, ANIMATOR & GUARDIAN CARTOONIST REBECCA HENDIN If you find yourself scouring the opinion pages of The Guardian or scrolling online, you won’t be able to miss the unique and colourful world of Rebecca Hendin.

Rebecca is a London-based American-born freelance illustrator, cartoonist, artist and animator.

Her political cartoons are syndicated by UniversalUclick, America’s leading newspaper syndicate, via GoComics. She was previously an in-house illustrator/designer at BuzzFeed, and wrote and cartooned a weekly editorial at Daily Kos. Rebecca was the winner of Britain’s Political Cartoon of the Year Award in 2019, for her work in The Guardian. She was the artist behind Amnesty International’s 2017 Write for Rights Campaign, following 2016’s artist Ai Wei Wei, and in 2013-2014, her artwork wasdisplayed on a 30 metre mural high up over Foyle’s bookshop on London’s Charing Cross Road.

Where did it all begin? Were you drawing and making art from an early age?

Yep! I’ve been drawing, painting, and all the rest for as long as I can remember. When I was very little, teachers’ comments usually said something along the lines of ‘she’s doing well, but her work is covered in doodles’. By high school, I had absolutely zero interest in any other subject besides art.

I didn’t realise back then that ‘artist’ was a real career that real humans in the real world could actually do, so I didn’t think I’d have a future as such at all. But fortunately, my high school art teacher introduced me to the existence of art school. So I went there and found my people, and realised that what I did naturally and obsessively could actually be my job. So it began.

CARTOONIST IN SITU! Rebbeca at home which she is allowed to share with cat ‘Cosmonaut’ in London

20, at 25, at 30, at 35, and beyond are all shades of the same person, but with bits added on and chipped away. I’d assume that being in the UK has changed me in all sorts of ways; but I’ll never be able to pin down what’s down to that, and what’s down to time.

And no, I don’t feel I have more freedom of expression in either country. They’re about the same, in that regard. I think? I mean, I’ve never lived and worked in the US as an adult, so it’s sort of hard to say.

As well as winning multiple awards and having several clients, you appear most regularly in The Guardian. How did that contract come about? It must be one big rollercoaster ride on deadline?

The Guardian got in touch and asked, of all things. I’m very lucky Did your art change when in that! I’ve been doing cartoons you made the move across for them since 2019, and I love the pond? Do you feel you doing it. I’m not sure I’d call it a have more freedom to express BOSS CAT!! rollercoaster, as I’m quite used to yourself here? working on tight deadlines between that I’m not sure. Whenever people ask and other jobs I’ve done over the years. But it’s me about what’s changed - in my art, my definitely high energy (inasmuch as sitting at a life, my thinking, etc - since I moved to the UK, I desk, drawing, can be high energy). It’s sort of find it impossible to answer. I can’t really isolate like a mental sprint, and it feels like all the gears the physical move from all the other changes in my brain are turning from when I begin to that would have happened regardless with age, when I file. I work best under pressure, and thrive experience, and time. I came here nearly 17 on energy like that. years ago, when I was 20. The person you are at

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Your work is based in illustration and is amazingly bright with multiple layers and collage. Do you enjoy that process? Does it help when trying to add hidden messages to your work?

Yeah, it’s pretty enjoyable! I suppose that’s how I work because it’s what comes most naturally.

My art, my flat (my brain, lol)… They’re all big old maximalist, detailed, layered universes. I’ve never been able to keep things simple. I’m sure it helps when trying to add hidden messages, as there’s no lack of space to stick them in.

As an American, how do you find the depiction of Trump from UK cartoonists?

Do you feel that your perspective is different, coming from the US? Or do you just want to join the great ‘pile-in’?

Ha! I mean, I don’t feel particularly American, really. But I don’t feel particularly British, either.

I guess that’s the result of a life pretty equally split between countries: feeling ‘of’ neither.

Trump feels as foreign an entity to me as he does to anyone over here, I’d guess. Then again, I think he probably feels like a foreign entity to plenty of people within the US, too.

Re the ‘pile-in’, I’m not really interested in cartooning to that end. I don’t like the idea of laying in on anyone just because it’s the done thing, or because they’re easy fodder. Trump simply does enough awful and ridiculous shite that there’s plenty to go in on. If there wasn’t, I’d draw something or someone else.

GUARDIAN APRIL 2025 On life outside our solar system...

GUARDIAN OCTOBER 2024 On Labour’s plans for the NHS...

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HEAD LINES

GUARDIAN NOVEMBER 2019 On Boris Johnson’s visit to flood hit towns in the UK

NAME IN LIGHTS!

Rebecca’s artwork seen from 2013-2014 over London’s Charing Cross Road on a 30 metre mural over Foyles bookshop

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A PORTRAIT OF REBECCA HENDIN Editorial cartoons, especially those for print in national newspapers, seem to be diminishing at an alarming rate, and there are very few women getting published. You, Nicola Jennings, Ella Baron, and more recently Saffron Swire seem to have bucked that trend.

Why do you think that is? And what advice do you have for women; or anyone - starting out in these uncertain times?

Absolutely no idea! Like, not even an inkling of an idea. I have zero advice for anyone. No one should take my advice about anything— except perhaps on colour theory or portable fans.

You describe yourself as a General Art person, and another dimension to your work is animation, creating multiple GIFs on GIPHY, and video titles and explainers for TV and other media outlets. Does this genre give you more scope? Or do you find it a hindrance?

One million per cent more scope. Freelancing is hard to make work, and having as many tools in your kit to make money is always a good thing.

Plus, it allows you to do lots of things creatively and makes it harder to get bored.

Who was your biggest influence in becoming the artist you are today? Is there a piece of art that best expresses that?

I don’t know. I didn’t really know about any artists growing up. I do love Ralph Steadman, whose work I was introduced to at art school. But I can’t say with any certainty that his work influenced mine. I’m sure it did somehow? I feel like I’m a big sponge generally, and I’m constantly seeing and hearing and experiencing things that all feed into the great goo inside my head, which feeds into what comes out on the page. But I’m terrible at pinning things down with any more specificity than that.

Finally - what’s next for Rebecca Hendin?

Hopefully many more years of doing the Guardian cartoon. I do love doing that. Other than that, whatever I get hired to do! I am for hire! Hire me!

REBECCA HENDIN

@rebeccahendin @HendinArts

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A SIGNED A REBECCA HENDIN COVER PRINT!

REBECCA HENDIN QUICK FIRE! FAVOURITE FILMS?

’I don’t have a favourite anything, with very few exceptions. I just like a lot of things a lot. I generally can’t do hierarchy. This is wildly annoying to some people. Sorry, those people. But the last film that I saw and loved and mentally stuck somewhere up my leader board was ‘A Fish Called Wanda.’ A perfect film’.

FIRST CAR? It was some sort of SUV that used to belong to my stepmum. I don’t remember what make or year it was, only that it was purple.

MOST LOVED CUISINE? Thai, Vietnamese, and Korean.

WHAT WORD DO YOU HATE HEARING? I don’t think I hate any words.

Is that a thing? Hating words?

Words are good!

Big up words!

COCKTAILS IN AN LA CLUB OR A PINT IN YOUR LOCAL PUB?

Simply email: editor@thenewcartoonist.co.uk subject: Rebecca Hendin print competition DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES AUGUST 27TH 2025 Congratulations to Stephen Dean who was picked out of the hat from the last issue and gets a Jeremy Banx signed cover print

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ENTER HERE NOW

I don’t care! I just wanna drink with my friends! Wherever they may be!

WHAT SUPER POWER WOULD YOU HAVE?

The power to give eternal life to my cat.

CARTOON HERO? YOU, PETE.

(ED: HA, HA...LOL) 15

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THE RUBADUBDUB PUB

ALL ROADS LEAD TO MAZE HILL IN SOUTH EAST LONDON FOR THE LATEST CARTOON EXHIBITION PETE SONGI nursing a pint Number four anyone? Well the pub called -and the cartoonists answered-for the latest cartoon exhibition in a London boozer!

This time around the theme was that much used trope: Desert Island, and the response was outstanding. Over 95 cartoons are now on display. Some of the great cartoonists who took up the challenge include: Jeremy Banx, Martin Rowson, Clive Goddard, Mike Stokoe, Nick Newman, Jonathan Pugh, Jess Judge, Marshall Not Funny, Royston, Mark Winter, Pete Dredge, Joe Dator, Kipper Williams, The Surreal McCoy, Steve Lillie, Tom Johnston, Steve Bright, Guy Venables, Des Buckley, Chris ’Dink’ Williams, Achaz von Hardenberg and many more.

VIDEO WALK THROUGH Exhibition Ends: 31st Aug ‘25

THE DISPLAY

The exhibition was hung on the hottest day of the year (with help from Steve Hamson and Mark Winter!), so all those palm trees felt very appropriate! It’s up until the end of August.

So what are you waiting for? If you find yourself in SE London and fancy a chortle and crisps, then come along and give it a visit.

Check the website below for opening times.

WHAT’S IN IT? Expect the unexpected down at The Duke...

THE DUKE OF GREENWICH 91 COLOMB STREET, LONDON, SE10 9EZ Opening Times Wednesday | 4pm - 11pm Thursday | 4pm - 11pm Friday | 12pm - 11pm Saturday | 12pm - 9pm Sunday| 12pm - 9pm

TOON CITY! over 95 cartoons on display...

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THE DUKE OF GREENWICH

CARTOONS IN A PUB EXHIBITION

A PUBFULL OF TOONS! THE BEFORE...

HANGING OUT AT THE BAR...

HIGHER... LOWER!

BACK IN THE PUB! capturing the walk-through

I’M IN IT! Dimitra Rizou finds her entry...

WELL-BENCHED!

Images: Mark Winter

INSPECTING THE INTERIOR...

A WINTER’S TALE...

Frankie & Mark with pal Richard

HAPPY CLAPPERS! Des Buckley approves

HOLDING COURT... a whynge of cartoonists enjoy a whine or three...

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CHECK OUT A SELECTION OF DESERT ISLAND TOONS ON P64

STRIKING A POSE! Dave Simmonds, Ryan Fairbanks, i Jess Judge, Martin Rowson & Pete Song

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A CARTOONIST PROFILE

KEEPING OUR EYES SMILING TNC CATCHES UP WITH EVERYONE’S FAVOURITE IRISH CARTOONIST DEAN PATTERSON One of the first times I met Dean Patterson was in Herne Bay. I was covered in paint and completely stressed out at doing a live cartoon in front of a confused public, when he offered me a Bishop’s Finger to help me get through the afternoon.

Now the real ale drinkers amongst you will know that’s not a euphemism but a wonderful gesture from a fellow cartoonist who was completely at ease with ‘live paint’ day at the festival. He also looked after me again in Galway last year, (another festival I highly recommend by the way), so basically Dean is a really nice man as well as a very funny cartoonist!

Dean is a contributor to Private Eye, The Spectator, The Phoenix, The Critic, The Idler, The New Cartoonist and many others. He lives with his beautiful dog Peculiar in Banbridge in County Down, Northern Ireland.

WHERE DID CARTOONING START FOR YOU? WHICH CARTOONISTS HAVE INSPIRED YOU? It all probably really started with Ronald Searle.

When I was at university I saw a few Ronald Searle original cartoons and they blew me away. At university I used to write articles for the student rag and I got a call from a friend of mine who was involved with the paper saying they needed to fill a bit of space and could I draw one of those “mad drawings you do”? That was my first drawing in print. But it was about 13 years ago when I really started cartooning. I was living in very rural Thailand for three years where I taught a bit of English. No one could understand a word I was saying, so I used to draw cartoons to show the English when teaching. I’ve never really stopped since.

I’m a fanboy that got lucky. The people you see when you open any mag featuring cartoons are my inspirations. I think, like all cartoonists, I have accidentally stolen a lot. I can see a poor

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CARTOONIST IN SITU Dean at home with Peculiar the dog

man’s Mike Stokoe or Grizelda maybe in my drawing style. But that is only looking back, I never consciously did that.

Any success I might have had really comes down to people who are better than me, for example Jeremy Banx. I fell for his work from the first time I saw it. Jeremy, extraordinary kindly, always went out of his way to be supportive and encouraging. That’s probably the key to a mag like the New Cartoonist doing this for silly me; people like Banx and Andrew Birch and Colin Whittock to name a few who encouraged.

The funny thing is, I think my biggest influence is probably Graeme Keyes, despite if you put two of our cartoons side by side you wouldn’t see much in common. For one thing Graeme can draw. I am lucky enough to know Graeme, a fellow Irish man. Truth is I became a fan of his work before I knew he was Irish. I learnt the best thing from being a fan of Graeme’s work; it’s not just about coming up with an idea, it has to be a good gag well told. Looking at Graeme’s cartoons, the wording of the joke is perfect, the drawing enhances the joke and the joke enhances the drawing. It’s more than ‘oh, that’s an idea, can you imagine?’. It’s a perfectly tuned gag well done. I don’t achieve that very often but I learnt that’s what to aim for.

Graeme gets it spot on time after time.

He’s one of the best, and, according

to the late singer Sinead O’Connor, also a very compassionate lover.

WHAT ARE YOUR PROCESSES? DO YOU DRAW WITH TRADITIONAL EQUIPMENT OR DIGITALLY? I’ve never drawn a thing digitally. I love the feel of pen on paper (I don’t get much sex, I take what I can get). I’m quite a slow drawer, often working on three or four toons at any one time.

They may not look like much but I tend not to just draw my cartoons but rather go to war with them. I agonise over them. I always hate them by the time I have drawn the final product.

I don’t do topical or political stuff usually because it is not my forte, but rather I just do gags. Coming up with the gag is usually the easy part. If I’m very lucky, I’ll get the drawing in one go - otherwise it’s a slog. I use cheap inky rollerball pens for all my roughs. I will re-draw roughs over and over until I am happy as I can be with them, then they go on a homemade light box with either 200 GSM paper or Bristol board and I use a Uniball Air pen. I envy people who can just draw; I lose a lot by overthinking them.

For example, If I think a hand is not right, I will redraw the whole cartoon over and over until I get that hand right IS THERE A CARTOON WHICH YOU FEEL WAS A ‘BREAKTHROUGH MOMENT’ IN BECOMING A CARTOONIST? I am very much looking forward to my breakthrough moment, that will be nice. My first cartoon published in Private Eye was a very nice point in an otherwise disappointing life. It was a two-panel gag of a spy holding a file saying FOR YOUR EYES ONLY and then him opening the file with a pair of spectacles in it. I genuinely

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danced around the room when they asked to have it. I thought I had made it, I was going to be a famous cartoonist!

And sure enough, a mere year later they published my second one.

But the truth is I don’t really look back at past toons or moments. I just hack away at the next one with that wonderful mixture of hope and disappointment.

YOU’RE REGULARLY PUBLISHED, APPEARING IN THE SPECTATOR, THE PHOENIX, PRIVATE EYE AND OF COURSE TNC. YOU TELL A GOOD STORY ABOUT NOSES AND A CHANGE TO YOUR STYLE THAT BROUGHT ABOUT A BIT MORE SUCCESS, EVEN AN AWARD. CARE TO SHARE? Ah, you’ve heard of my big famous and prestigious award. People don’t believe that I am an award-winning cartoonist (the bastards have seen my work!) but it sits proudly on my toilet cistern.

I had a very strange nose, I don’t know why.

I just really enjoyed drawing them. My dear

friend Tom Mathews, one of Ireland’s greatest cartoonists, used to call them ‘corrugated noses’. Then I got an email from the art director of Private Eye saying Ian Hislop would love to publish me more but really doesn’t like my nose. I have no artistic credibility, so I instantly practiced new noses on a piece of A4 paper.

True fact, the very first cartoon I sent in the next batch was my characters in a rhinoplasty clinic waiting to get their noses fixed (I stuck a rhino in the waiting room as you need a gag). I got told that Ian laughed a lot at that. To this day I am incredibly grateful for the art editor sending me that e-mail; I was still learning and he went out of his way to give me advice.

Ian Hislop hated my nose, but then I got my big award (did I mention my big award?) for best nose, and who was laughing then Hislop!

Well, Hislop obviously because he is rich and successful. But! And I want this on record, I beat the best nose in the business at best nose, Glenn Marshall. I adore Glenn’s work, and love that I live in a world in which he exists.

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A CARTOONIST PROFILE

YOU HAVE HAD SOME EPIC MOMENTS WHILST ‘CELEBRATING’ WITH OTHER CARTOONISTS INCLUDING A BIG FALL IN THE DARK AT THE GALWAY FESTIVAL 2024 ON THE ARAN ISLANDS. IS THIS ‘FALL GUY’ APPROACH TO CARTOONING SOMETHING YOU WOULD RECOMMEND? Right I want to clear this up, I was NOT drunk, I was on my way to get drunk! The island of Inisheer is one of the most beautiful places on earth, and well worth a pilgrimage. Trust me reader, you will thank me for that. It is a tiny little island off the coast of Galway and it is the only place I have ever been to that doesn’t even have a policeman. It consists almost entirely of a Pub, a B&B, a little shop, a shipwreck and, of course, an art gallery. The type of place they build walls by stacking heavy boulders on top of one another and job done.

I was coming back from an exhibition of Irish language cartoons at the gallery towards the pub. I was between two parties and on my own.

Without streetlights, it was pitch black. But I’m a modern man and have a touch on my phone!

Not being able to work my phone however (not that much of a modern man) I accidently turned the touch off, tripped, fell over a wall. The wall was quite displeased and returned the favour by falling over me. I was buried under boulders for a bit.

It was only the next morning when it literally took me 20 minutes to get off the bed that I thought I might have done something. Joey Mason who is Californian but nice had to put my boots on for me for the rest of the festival.

After the festival I got home and Old Ma deAn marched me to the hospital. I had a broken collar bone and few broken ribs. I felt pain for weeks, but at least I was feeling something for the first time in a long time, so yes, I would recommend it. .

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IF YOU COULD GIVE THE VERY YOUNG DEAN SOME ADVICE RIGHT NOW WHAT WOULD IT BE? I would tell him, watch her, because that rash is going to take ages to clear up and the clinic waiting room is going to be as awkward as hell.

Also, no merlot before 10am. And another thing you unattractive skinny little shit, don’t spend so many years buggering about with a dip pen and ink, because you’re not very good at it and you’re going to waste a lot of time.

Get a Uniball Air and learn to draw A4 (I used to draw very big). .

WHAT’S NEXT FOR DEAN PATTERSON, FESTIVAL BOUND AGAIN THIS YEAR? MAYBE WEARING A HELMET THIS TIME? I have Galway cartoon festival coming up October 3rd to 8th which is always a highlight of my year. I did try to do a book of my cartoons but realised I had no idea how to go about that, so I’ve put that on hold. Basically, I’m just a hack, I’ll keep on hacking away at them and if they get published or people like the odd one, lucky me.

Otherwise, next-door on the right has stopped talking to me and I have no idea why, so I might egg her windows and blame old Eddy in the end house. But as John Lennon said, life is what happens when you busy making plans.

DEAN PATTERSON

DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A MEMBER OF THE PCO?

WHAT IS THE PCO?

Our title pretty much gives the game away: we’re an organisation for, erm, professional cartoonists. We considered Professional Political & Gag Cartoonists’ and Caricaturists’ Organisation…but not for long.

WHAT DOES IT DO?

The PCO promotes the work of its members and champions the cartooning arts across the board and around the world. We organise and support exhibitions and festivals.

We also stand up for, and have campaigned on behalf of oppressed artists.

All before breakfast.

HOW DO I JOIN?

The majority of your earnings need to come from cartooning and/or caricaturing.

Then you can send samples of your work or links to a website/social media platform to the esteemed Andrew Birch here: pcomembership@gmail.com

BENEFITS! You get a badge!

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THE THREE S’s (EXTENDED) A CARTOON ICON SERIES

THE SAUL STEINBERG EFFECT

A LOOK AT AN AMERICAN GREAT WITH A DISTINCTIVE STYLE AND A TOUCH OF ROMANIAN FLAIR MARK WINTER reflecting “The role of the artist is to ask questions, not to answer them.” Saul Steinberg..

I continues the ‘S’ tribute series with a double, Saul Steinberg, pre-eminent cartoonist and graphic artist of the 20th century, providing a snapshot of one of the most remarkable careers in American art.

“A writer who draws,” is how Saul described himself. “Line is the most beautiful thing in drawing; it is a form of writing,” he once said.

“Drawing is my way of explaining to myself what goes on in my mind.” The Saul Steinberg Foundation, established after his death in May 1999 to facilitate the study and appreciation of his contribution to art, stated that Saul defined drawing as “a way of reasoning on paper,” and he remained committed to the act of drawing, using it to think about the semantics of art, “sometimes with affection, sometimes with irony, but always with virtuoso mastery, peeling back the carefully wrought masks of civilization.”

His background in philosophy and architecture, plus his experiences in prewar Europe led him to “specialise in high I.Q. humour, in an age where cartoons were populated by henpecked husbands and conniving wives in hair curlers, he found inspiration in the unlikely realm of philosophical inquiry”. In the March 25 issue of The New Yorker art editor Françoise Mouly wrote a piece entitled ‘Saul Steinberg’s Masterful Language of Lines’ in which she says, “The artist’s seemingly simple pen strokes were capable of capturing the gravity and the absurdity of peacetime and war”.

The longtime New Yorker contributor is as celebrated for his elegant line as he is for his razor- sharp wit.

Mouly recalled that Saul confessed that he was unfit to do anything not funny to LIFE magazine in 1951. “But for him being funny was always a very serious business.” Within a

THE LINE -1954

equally acclaimed for the drawings, paintings, few years of immigrating, Saul had abandoned prints, collages and sculptures he exhibited the conventional cartoon format of The New internationally, that chronicled the modern Yorker for a purer form of drawing-drawing that American psyche. “Given his long, multifaceted was witty on content or style, sometimes even outrageously funny, but without gag lines. These career that encompassed works in many media and appeared in many different contexts he drawings relied entirely on pictorial graphics is difficult to position within the canons of and were keyed to the magazine’s middlebrow postwar art history, resisting conventional audience. Saul said his influences “range over critical categories. He himself defined the the whole history of art: Egyptian wall-paintings, problem, “I don’t quite belong to the art, graffiti in public lavatories, the primitives, the cartoon or magazine world, so the art world insane, Seurat, Cubism, children’s drawings, doesn’t quite know where to place me.” tapestry and Paul Klee.” His style is characterized He is a “modernist without a portfolio, by “emotive line work, a melange of high and constantly crossing boundaries into uncharted low cultural references and an acute eye for the visual territory. In subject matter and styles, details and absurdities of city life.” he made no distinction An essay between high and low on the art, which he freely Foundation’s conflated in an oeuvre website, ‘Saul that is stylistically diverse Steinberg yet consistent in depth Life & Work’ and visual imagination.”

by Sheila In its introduction to the Schwartz, ‘Along the Lines: Selected says, “While Drawings by Saul renowned for Steinberg’ exhibition in the covers and 2017, the Art Institute drawings that of Chicago wrote, appeared in “Through these parallel The New Yorker careers-cartoonist and magazine independent artistfor nearly Steinberg crafted a rich six decades, THE DISTINCTIVE SIGNATURE and ever-evolving idiom he was

A MEMOIR IN DRAWING - BUY HERE

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and in the process, became celebrated the world over for giving graphic definition to the postwar age.”d done so much live drawing, it was in his head.”

DEFINING ART

Austin English in The Comics Journal (March 5, 2025) explores the notion of “even defining what discipline Saul Steinberg belongs to is betraying a basic inability to understand him. He is not ‘a cartoonist’ in the sense that Daumier was a cartoonist.” In The Guardian obituary, (May 14 1999) Christopher Hawtree wrote “There is no pat way of summingup Steinberg. Diversely rooted, his work anticipated much of what was to come in American art, such as the pop movement, and stands above it all. Robert Hughes described him as having erected standards of precision and graphic intelligence that had not been imagined in American illustration before him.”

Born in the small Romanian town of CAT ON EAMES CHAIR Râmnicu Sărat in 1914 to parents of Russian Jewish descent, Saul studied philosophy in Bucharest before graduating with a degree To escape fascist Europe, the ‘stateless’ Saul in architecture from the Regio Politecnico of “drew his way to America.” Unable to initially Milan in 1940, ending his legal residence in Italy. secure a US visa, he fled to the Dominican Four years earlier, to supplement the limited Republic after being arrested and sent to San financial support he received from his parents, Vittore prison in Milan then to the Vila Tonelli Saul began moonlighting as a cartoonist for in Tortoreto on the Adriatic Sea, a repurposed Bertoldo, a twice-weekly humour periodical, internment camp set up to hold “illegals and becoming one of the paper’s most popular undesirables.” After a year in Santo Domingo, artists. He left in 1938 for a rival publication, (then called Ciudad Trujillo after the Dominican Settebello, and joined its editorial board. Later Republic’s dictator Rafael Trujillo) Saul finally that year the Mussolini regime’s racial laws secured the necessary documentation and ordered the expulsion of foreign Jews, with the arrived in New York on July 1, 1942. Throughout exception of those studying at University, who his period of exile, he continued submitting could remain until their studies were completed. artwork to numerous US publications via the But Saul could no longer work as a cartoonist illustrators’ agent Cesar Civita, formerly director and by November, Jews were banned from most of periodicals for Mondadori, the publisher of professions.

Settebello, who had also fled Italy, relocating to New York.

FIRST NEW YORKER CARTOON - 1941 By the time he landed in the States, Saul’s artwork had already been published in LIFE, Harper’s Bazaar and Town & Country, among others, as well as the Brazilian magazine Sombra. With the US entry into WWII his anti-Fascist political cartoons were featuring in the liberal New York newspaper PM. The first Steinberg drawing to appear in The New Yorker was in the October 25 1941 issue.

Saul’s immigrant classification was 1-A, meaning he was available for immediate military service, and through his connection with The New Yorker he became a consultant for the Office of War, Graphics Division based in New York before receiving a commission in the US Naval Reserve, and given the rank of Navy Lieutenant, junior grade. He was recruited

by OSS (Office of Strategic Services) director William “Wild Bill” Donovan to work for the

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FIRST NEW YORKER COVER - 1945

Morale Operations division in China, North Africa and Italy.

His cartoons, dropped behind enemy lines, were aimed at ridiculing Hitler and inspiring anti-Nazi resistance. They were printed in Das Neue Deutschland, a German newspaper created by the OSS “to represent a fake peace party inside Germany.” In a 1984 Washington Post article by Norman D. Atkins it was revealed that a portfolio of more than 60 Saul Steinberg cartoons, created for propaganda purposes during World War ll had been found amongst recently declassified CIA documents at the National Archives. He also provided observational drawings of military and civilian life and witty captions for the OSS booklet China Theater: An Informal Notebook of Useful Information for Military Men in China, using some of the sketches which previously appeared in The New Yorker China Portfolio. One of those sketches, depicting a table of soldiers eating at a Chinese restaurant, became Saul’s first cover for the January 13 1945 issue of The New Yorker.

NEW YORK

Returning stateside in 1944, he married fellow Romanian emigre artist Hedda Sterne (they divorced in 1960, but remained good friends) and settled back in New York, where he continued to be published in The New Yorker and other periodicals, including Fortune, Vogue, Mademoiselle and Harper’s Bazaar, with his debut book of an American collection of cartoons titled All in Line published in 1945. He also started his exhibition career with solo and group shows in US, Europe and South American galleries and museums and was included in the

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THE THREE S’s (EXTENDED) A CARTOON ICON SERIES

THE FAMOUS NEW YORKER COVER

now legendary ‘Fourteen Americans’ exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Fellow graphic artist Milton Glaser said that, “Steinberg could see the extraordinary nature of the banal in a way that you almost have to be an outsider to do.” In 1952 he signed his first contract with Hallmark to produce a series of annual Christmas and Valentine’s Day cards and branched into TV advertising providing drawings for Busy Day, a commercial for Jell-O Instant Pudding commissioned by the Young & Rubicam agency in 1953. He also entered the world of theatre, producing the backdrop for Jerome Robbins’ New York City Ballet production The Concert, which opened in March 1956.

Saul’s brief excursion into cinema began when he created a panoramic drawing for the opening credits to Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 film The Trouble with Harry and three years later he travelled to Hollywood to ‘play’ the painting hands of Gene Kelly in Vincente Minnelli’s production An American in Paris, walking off the set on the first day. “They summoned me with great promises of a free hand, do what you want,

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THE ‘PASSPORT’ COVER

based cartography humour by exaggerating the size of Manhattan and minimising the rest of the world. It showed the supposed limited mental geography of Manhattanites, described by the Chicago Tribune’s Steve Johnson as the “best expression of New Yorkers’ maddeningly internalised sense of superiority about their place of residence.”

Saul himself saw the response as an example of ‘unintentional fame’, the ‘THE AMERICANS’ MURAL type resulting from the work and not the artist. His but significance and notoriety they turned out to be the usual pricks who make was reduced to just “the man who did the technicolour musicals, stupid stuff.” poster.” It is regarded as one of the greatest He and Hedda remained in Los Angeles for magazine covers (ranked 4th) of the previous the summer, spending time with Gene Kelly, 40 years by the American Society of Magazine Billy Wilder, Igor Stravinsky and Charles and Editors in 2005.

Ray Eames, collaborating on a series of creative One of Saul’s other notable covers was ‘The experiments that included drawing on the Communications Explosion’ for TIME magazine’s Eames Studios fibreglass chairs. Saul also visited May 14 1965 issue, which was an example of his Pablo Picasso at his villa ‘La Califorme’ in Nice. ability to visually represent complex concepts Together they produced four ‘Exquisite Corpse’ with a blend of humour and sophistication. drawings on May 16 1958, two of which Saul During the 1970s, Saul developed the theme kept. of human solitude - empty beaches where the In the same year he worked on The Americans human figure is a dot in the distance, pastelmural for the US Pavilion at the World’s Fair in shaded skies where the sun is represented by a Brussels, which had eight themed sections, trompe l’œil circle of sealing wax. It is this quirky 10 feet high and 240 feet in length. His view of the world that inspired his design for the assignment was to create a “montage of the Mouton Rothschild label of 1983. paraphernalia employed by Americans in every. day life, something not only amusing, but also STYLE informative, ironic and attractive.” A collage of The hallmark of Saul’s art is his masterful use wrapping paper, wallpaper, fragments, cut out of the economical inked line, using a sparse or wrapped out illustrated newspaper-pages, elegance that often leaves much of the paper tape, wax crayon, oil on printed photo paper, bare, but still possessing sophisticated simplicity. glued on cardboard, newspaper comics While he acknowledged influences and other pieces in various shapes from artists like Paul Klee, Saul’s and hues, brimming with puns, style is uniquely his own, what semi-abstractions, distorted some call his unique “doodle figures and modernist style.” His line is not just white space. After efforts a visual element, but its to place the mural in an meaning can change American museum after depending on context, the fair failed, the Musées representing a physical royaux des Beaux-Arts object or a conceptual idea de Belgique agreed to to explore themes of identity, acquire it. In March 2013 the modernity and the human Ludwig Museum in Cologne condition. His perspective as reassembled the mural for an immigrant heavily influenced CAT AND NO4 NUMERAL an exhibition also called The his work, allowing him to see the Americans. world with a fresh, observant eye to Saul’s cover for a 1976 issue of comment on the American experience and the The New Yorker, entitled ‘View of the World from nature of identity.

9th Avenue’ is regarded as his most famous He signed his work with an unpretentious work. It is an artistic representation of the ‘STEINBERG’ in block caps or, alternatively, distorted self-importance relative to one’s true abbreviated to ‘ST’ which recur from one place in the world that is a form of perceptionend of his career to the other and became a

Perhaps his real signature is the visa stamp in as gifts for friends, gibberish.” synthesizing several of Saul’s Steinbergian smorgasbord of subjects, his interests, including styles and visual devices included collages, calligraphy, lettering calligraphy, block letters, numerals, false and handwriting. They documents, thumb and fingerprints, rubber ranged from a letter stamps, thought balloons, paper-bag masks and of safe passage for cats, one of his favourite and frequent subjects. the photographer Saul is considered one of the great collagistes Henri Cartier-Bresson, of the last century from the monumental ‘The Declaration Brussels mural to the smaller works on paper of Independence’ such as his ‘Vichy Water Still Life’ (c.1953) inscribed to Danish which is now in the National Gallery of Art in filmmaker Carl Washington DC, gifted by the Foundation. He Theodore Dreyer, had a lifelong love of the artform and began a fake diploma for doing cartoons amplified by collage in the Charles Eames who 1930s. Commenting on his use of the collage, studied architecture at Washington State The Saul Steinberg Foundation wrote, “I play University, but never completed his degree to with the absurdity of reality. There is something diplomas for dishwashing and cooking for his absurd about what we consider to be real wife Hedda. He imitated the conventions of even what we consider to be absurd.” the real ones, with stately illustrations, If anything marks Steinberg’s elaborate but purposely unreadable place in the course of 20thcalligraphy, prominent seals and century art and defines multiple signatures. He did his eclectic, high-low not simply imitate official imagination, it is collage. documents, he pushed “I was born,” he said, “in their format to the point of a college for collages. absurdity. A collection of his My father (a printmaker, false documents featured bookbinder and cardboard in The Passport, published box manufacturer) had all in 1954, that includes the materials for a collagistefake passports, diplomas, cardboard, coloured paper, gilt certificates, photographs and paper, glue and reproductions of autographs, wine labels, letters, SELF CARICATURE paintings for candy boxes.” diaries, manuscripts among other false Saul explored the visual and items. Saul turned his own thumb and conceptual qualities of numbers using them in fingerprints into what critic Harold Rosengerg his artwork as both representational elements called “organic signatures” which he affixed and abstract symbols. “Four is an interesting to faux passports with counterfeit seals and number because it is the shape that would stamps. His fingerprint portraits which, though arouse the curiosity of a cat,” he wrote. “Most they lack physiognomic features, became the numbers are either open or closed. Number 8, essence of identity. The rubber stamp device was for instance, is closed; a cat has no business to introduced in 1951 and he found the medium look inside. A cat likes to peer into something was ideal to express outrage at the Vietnam War; half open - a mystery. Number 3 is obvious; the cliché rubber stamp has a political meaning. number 1 is nothing; 5 perhaps is more In early 1960 a “conceptual shift led to the full intriguing, but 4 certainly is perfectly designed realisation of visual devices he had flirted with and engineered for a cat to look inside and find earlier, among them, the ‘thought balloon’. The out what is going on. I can combine an illusion words in the dialogue bubbles that had long of reality with an abstraction. The abstraction, served cartoons and comic books as narrative number 4, became containers metamorphosed a reality and the cat into images.” became an abstraction Between 1959 and 1963 because it combined Saul introduced a new itself with this number. subject matter into postwar It rendered the whole art, “the mystery of individual thing plausible and identity”, collaborating from a drawing point with the photographer Inge of view, perfectly Morath and having friends workable,” he said. and acquaintances wear Starting in paper bags on which he the 1940’s Saul had drawn faces ripe with introduced his innuendo.

SELF-PORTRAIT 1999 ‘false documents’ Saul’s work has been

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MILIANESE II & RUBBER STAMP

exhibited in London. On the first occasion in 1952 he arrived in the city for the 1 May opening of his show at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The BBC produced a film, Coast to Coast, with the camera moving across and closing in on a series of his drawings, accompanied by American jazz, marching and Western cowboy music. Afterwards Saul travelled through England sketching railway stations, pavilions and Victorian structures. The Serpentine Gallery exhibited 150 works, ranging from drawings and watercolours to collages, masks and tables, covering 30 years of the artist’s career in early 1979, organised by the Witney Museum in New York. The Arts Council of Great Britain published a 24-page paperback titled Documents on the occasion of the show.

Saul’s work was also exhibited at the Waddington Custot Galleries in November 1983 and as part of a group show entitled The Essence of Humour at the Crane Kalman Gallery in 1997. More recently, the Dulwich Picture Gallery hosted the touring retrospective exhibition Illuminations from November 12 2008 to February 15 2009, featuring over 100 works. A book with the same title, by Joel Smith, accompanied the show.

Despite his success as an artist, Saul struggled with self-doubt and anxiety. He was known to be highly critical of his own work and would often make numerous revisions before completing a piece. This perfectionism, combined with a fear of failure, led him to destroy many of his early artworks.

Saul once said, “I don’t quite know what I’m doing on this planet, but I’m glad to be here.”

And so say all of us. He passed away on 12 May 1999 from pancreatic cancer at the age of 84. His ashes are buried next to a twisted wild cherry tree on his Amagansett property in the Hamptons.

Thank you Saul.

The New Cartoonist acknowledges the image copyright of The Saul Steinberg Foundation, The Inge Morath Foundation and The Saul Steinberg Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

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A CARTOONIST BOOK

IT’S JUST GREAT WILLAMS A COCKTAIL OF THE BEST WORKS OF MIKE WILLIAMS (WITH A SLICE OF FAMOUS QUOTES AS WELL) What an absolute joy it was to receive this new book by the great Mike Williams.

A beautiful collection of the best works of this legend of cartooning, I challenge anyone not to be filled with joy at the artistry and comedy within these charming drawings.

Mike gave TNC an insight into his life, his thinking behind putting this delightful book together, and what he thinks about cartooning today .

In the beginning

I was born in the district of Allerton in the south of Liverpool in the month of February 1940 - a younger brother to Peter who was taller and cleverer, and actually began a successful career at least ten years earlier.

Having avoided Hitler’s wrath, I attended Quarry Bank Grammar School and from there began a career as a junior in a commercial art studio. Two more studios followed, ending in completing a six year apprenticeship as a qualified commercial illustrator.

The career of cartooning began in about 1963 when “Albert” Rusling and I, both working in the same studio, decided to throw responsibility to the wind and embark on new careers of humour, insecurity and fear… our wives must have been so thrilled. And now although we are geographically many miles apart, we still keep in touch; and we both still have no regrets about our chosen pavements.

Most of my cartooning has been in magazines like Punch, The Spectator and Private Eye, and the rest has been internationally in advertising and TV

OUT NOW! CLICK HERE TO BUY

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Available a Yorkbookshop.com

animation.

The arty and illustration part of my life has been mostly pleasure and experimentation and is thank goodness still in progress as we speak.

Having lost my beautiful wife to cancer 13 years ago I now live a different kind of life – fortunately we were blessed with 2 delightful daughters and a great family. I appreciate all of it.

PS I walk for miles daily (of-road) for fun.

(PPS I also work undercover for MI7,9 and 12 mainly in the evening and at weekends).

Who’s the book for?

It’s a Christmas present for the one that it’s impossible to buy for !

The target – the parent, the grandparent, the elderly in-law, and the members of the family who have always been a nightmare to pick for either in price range or in content.

The two still most popular cartoon books in my view contain fairly lame lifestyle gags on domestic and sporting subjects, or endless categories of quotations from Plato to Gary Lineker.

The reason for this book is that I feel that the fusion of the two forms of amusement would make a more formidable cocktail.

What do I think about today’s cartooning ?

I’m sure there are just as many, if not more people, who enjoy the cartoon in its straightforward way as we did in the “palmy days”. I feel the quality of Cartoon Editorship is not exactly in harmony with the general public’s sophistication. When I think of who we had to look up to: “Folkes, Tidy, Glashan, Francios, Ross, Scarfe, Steadman, Searle, Ungener, Larry, Anton, Heath, Giles, Blake and so very many more, we were very spoilt.

These stars of “ink pushing” were the icons we held in high regard, and unfortunately “our period” was only a shadow of what had gone before.

Basically, I believe magazines and newspapers decide whether the art of cartooning exists or evaporates. I’m sure that there must be just as many embryo Scarfes and Larrys who will never get the opportunity or the invitation to express their talent the way we have. However fashions do

change...as we do…unfortunately not always for the better.

PS I have just noticed on my kitchen wall a piece I must have attached over 10 years ago, and it expresses exactly my feelings... “…that the public is more intelligent, has a keener sense of humour and likes better pictures and drawings than most journalists, publishers and politicians believe.” Sydney Jacobson

What are your methods?

The re-draws for this book have been done with a mixture of old Post Office pen nibs and hand cut seagull or goose feathers on a quality cartridge; and for the water colour the gentle and forgiving Dutch Ecoline Ink, a combination I have found to be most harmonious.

Summing up...well to be truthful I see very little of today’s work.

Strangely enough, I always found it quite hard to be a proper cartoonist because I could never find a recognisable style or recognisable “Williams” characters to people the gags. I suppose it’s a bit late now.

However in my next life (as a woodlouse) who knows?!

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CARTOON TREASURES

THE SKIPPED ORIGINALS

A TALE OF UNWANTED FLEET STREET TOONS RESCUED FROM A ‘LANDFILL’ ENDING...

What to do with cartoons after they’ve been published? If you work digitally and are lucky enough to get published regularly, you probably create folders on your desktop and/ or a portable hard drive. If you work more traditionally, then perhaps giant reference books are your thing. Or maybe you cover your walls if you’re particularly proud of your work.

In the hardcore days of newspaper publishing however, things were a little different. TNC was contacted by Pat Williams who had managed to save a few originals from an unfortunate ending.

‘In the early 1990’s all of the major newspapers and agencies in Fleet Street were downsizing and embracing the “new technology”, and because they all had their own in-house libraries - both picture and written word - these were the first to be made redundant; mainly because the Apple desktop publishing system promised everything from research to grammar and spelling. Consequently the traditional entry into Fleet Street journalism (school leavers joining provincial newspapers and working their way through the ranks) was now considered archaic, along with the requirement to be a member of the union, the National Union of Journalists.

The consequences were akin to the Goths and Vandals sacking of Rome. Books, archives, investigative files, journalists’ copy, picture portfolios and stored cartoonist work were literally thrown into skips and sent for landfill.

CARTOON SAVIOUR In 1995 I began working at Express Pat Williams Newspapers on Blackfriars Bridge as a logistics assistant, or what used to be known in the old Fleet Street as “ the heavy mob”. We moved furniture, offices, installed cabling, took up floors, reconfigured departments and whole floors, and part of that work was to demolish the libraries and fill the skips. Being an avid reader I rescued mostly books, a few sports photos and the cartoons that I intended to take to The Cartoonist pub in Shoe Lane, but when I eventually got round to it, the pub, like everything else, was gone.

Ironically my previous employer had been the Daily/Sunday Telegraph whose rear fire-exit opened onto the rear door of The Cartoonist.

I worked in the Machine Room for 20 years experiencing all the good times that came with working in a town of 35,000 people all dedicated to producing the news. The stories, myths and legends could fill 10 books or one USB! Suffice to say that I loved every minute and it provided me and my family with the greatest 20 years anyone could wish for.’

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FERGIE AND KEEGAN AT LOGGERHEADS! Original on film from Dave Brown

HAROLD WILSON (BEFORE SPEECH BUBBLES) - WATERCOLOUR Artist unknown.... any ideas readers? Get in touch!

BLAIR WATERING THE RICH Original ink on paper from Dave Brown 1996

GROBBELAAR WAYING UP HIE OPTIONS...

Original watercolour by ALLEN.

BLACK AND WHITE ORIGINALS Felix Bennett - Sunday Express 1996

CHECKING OUT THE REAL WORLD VIEW Steve Lillie with iPencil at the ready...

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FROM THE ORIGINAL Churchill study by Baron Benjamin

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SUMMER TOONS

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SUMMER TOONS

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SUMMER

CATCHING ALL THE RAYS...

SUMMERS COME AND GO...BUT SOME THINGS LAST FOR EVER RUPERT BESLEY a seasoned voice

parlance through their creators, artists like Charles Addams or Gary Larson, just the mention of whose Summer. Humming of bees. Plink of leather name instantly conjures up on willow. (That’s cricket, in case you’re a particular kind of image wondering, not some arcane S&M ritual… oh, and whole world beyond.

I don’t know, the two aren’t that far different.) Few now can ever see a small Sand, sea and sangria. Pong of sun-cream child on a fat pony without and next door’s barbecue. Only, for some poor thinking Thelwell or an oversod of a cartoonist it’s none of these things. complicated invention and Instead, in the sweaty confines of an airless not think Heath Robinson. room, it’s icicles, Santa, reindeer and, after all And then there are these years, what the hell is there new to do on the characters created the subject. by cartoonists that have Summer brings deadlines from those universal recognition and compiling Christmas card live on for ever: catalogues. Some traditions BRAVO THE BASH Bairnsfather’s just keep on going, even Old Bill, STREET KIDS, Christmas cards, despite the Searle’s many attempts of death-wish THERE TO SUBVERT Belles of St Royal Mail to dissuade anyone Trinian’s, Giles’s AUTHORITY IN from posting these or anything Grandma, else. I nearly wrote to them ALL ITS TEDIOUS Reg Smythe’s once to suggest they take a leaf Andy Capp, NORMS from their customers’ book and Frank Dickens’ put snarling rottweilers in Post Bristow, The Office doorways.

Beano’s Dennis the Menace Down comes the first leaf of autumn and up and Gnasher… and so go Christmas decorations. December grinds on many more besides. In the and, look, those shelves are filling with Easter cartooning Hall of Fame eggs. Seasons change, increasingly fast, but creators jostle for space with some things - including even some cartoons their own creations last a whole sight longer.

There are cartoons that get framed and hung WHEN WE WERE YOUNG up on walls, usually either in the smallest room The cartoon characters first or as proof of status in the showy space of an encountered in childhood MP’s office. Others land up in books and so are among the most get lengthened shelf lives that way. But most endearing and enduring. They stay friends for cartoons are, by their nature, of the moment life. Bravo the Bash Street Kids, there to subvert and things ephemeral - none more so than authority in all its tedious forms. Bring on Nigel topical cartoons of the day. They get glanced at Molesworth, the Curse of St Custard’s. What and briefly enjoyed, before the page is flipped more exciting adventures could be had (always over and paper consigned to recycling (or, more safely, always home in time for tea) than those likely these days, lost in the updating of webshared in Alfred Bestall’s world of Rupert page). A few, just a sainted few, make it past the Bear and Chums (however dated, incorrect pearly gates into cartooning immortality. and inappropriate its cultural references Some do it on caption alone, adding lines undoubtedly are to modern eyes). to image that enter the language. Into this Charles Schulz’s Peanuts and Charlie Brown category fall Tenniel’s Dropping the Pilot and achieved this kind of recognition back in the Du Maurier’s ‘Parts of it are excellent’ (The 1960s, as had Pip, Squeak and Wilfred long Curate’s Egg), along with ‘Take me to your before. Disney’s Mouse, Hanna-Barbera’s Tom leader’ (first attributed to Alex Graham, only his & Jerry, Popeye, Yogi Bear & the Flintstones, cartoon said ‘President’). along with so many other classic creations of Others make it into dictionaries and common the animation studios of America fill out the

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ranks of cartoon immortals, there to delight and amuse.

Perhaps, in his malign and misguided order to have cartoon characters painted over in an immigration reception centre, Robert Jenrick correctly understood the potency of these in the lives of those growing up. But, however much you whitewash over the images, you cannot remove their existence from the minds of children. Or adults. They are friends we need and friends indeed. Summer, winter, all year long.’

RUPERT BESLEY

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THE SUMMER GALLERY

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THEME FOR THE NEXT ISSUE:

LAW & ORDER Email entries to editor@thenewcartoonist.co.uk Deadline: AUG 27th 2025 thenewcartoonist.co.uk

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SUMMER TOONS

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TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

A RIGHT LOAD OF PEDANTS We’ve all been there. You have that ‘Eureka’ moment. You’ve just drawn the funniest cartoon in the world, or created a spectacular political trope that will hopefully be re-used by others and ultimately take home that SPLAT Award. Yes - you are a cartoonist!

Then it gets even better. The publishers give it the thumbs up, and you await the cheers from the stands; the nods and the winks. Hey, there’s that cartoonist. #Fistpump . And I got paid for it, LOL. Print day arrives and you run to the local shop to see that part of your brain in all it’s glory. You tell your friends, tell the world, gleam yourself all over social-media. You milk the thing dry.

But then it happens...there’s a voice, a small

irritating whiny little voice that just won’t go away, with it’s tiny little hands and a tiny little keyboard.

A T-Rex from Tonbridge feels the need to comment...

“Dear Editor, Technically speaking the funniest cartoon in the world from your last issue is visually incorrect.

That car is a Vauxhall VIVA Mk 2 and they were first made in the1970’s.

Therefore I think you’ll find it’s too late to appear in a gag about a film set in 1964 Las Vegas, starring Elvis Presley”.

So here I present...

The pillocks in pedant suits!

“ I found the comments very enjoyable to read, and heck, it meant my cartoon made it into the issue again.. .”

JESS JUDGE (also a musician)

*This actually raged on for 3 issues in Private Eye with more updates added’

“Never submit a cartoon with chess pieces on the wrong squares or set up incorrectly. I had a cartoon published in Private Eye where the king and queen were swapped round and the pieces were in the wrong coloured squares which caused chess people to write in to gleefully point this out. It was doubly embarrassing as I play chess (badly) at club level.” ANDREW FRASER

“Submitted first version to Private Eye, received a reply from the Art Director saying they want to use it and will add the caption’Post-trump Maps No 1’.

It was suggested that to avoid being named and shamed by the British Astronomical Society for the inaccuate scale of the planets I should adjust accordingly for the final published version (August 2017).” MARK WINTER

“I drew a classic saw coming from beneath a rather forlorn-looking Rishi Sunak who was about to be sunk. A guy got in touch online claiming his brother was a carpenter who said I had the saw the wrong way round. My response was “I’ve always been shit at DIY.”

PETE SONGI

t “Letters about an incorrect version of an aircraft carrier launch catapul mind. to spring e machin sewing and a back-to-front A cartoon I drew of Trump becoming the perpetually-reigning emperor rom Warhammer 40,000 (predictably) kicked a hornets nest of nerds.

The resulting body of letters pointing out my inaccuracies were notable because... a) I think most of them were actually rather pleased to see their hobby cartoon and just wanted to show off their knowledge. b) Pedantry regarding a topic that’s all make believe anyway is a bit odd in itself..” JAMES MELLOR

“Occasionally the pedant has a point, though. Like when someone pointed out that the heptathlon should have 7 events and I’d struggled to think of 5.”

CLIVE GODDARD thenewcartoonist.co.uk

“I always think it’s quite funny and I confess I have been known to put in deliberate errors to wind up the pedants.

The best one ever concerning one of my cartoons was when I drew London buses in a Forgotten Moments in Music History cartoon in the Eye. The debate on the letters page raged for weeks!” WILBUR Got any grizzly stories from Pedantville?

Hit the link oppostie and tell us your worst.

A selection will be featured in the next issue.

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING

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in a

BOB & VICKI SCOTT

PROFILE

THE REALLY GREAT SCOTTS Bob Scott has worked for over thirtyfive years in the creative industry as an animator, character designer, storyboard artist, and voice talent for Warner Brothers, DreamWorks, Pixar, and more.

Bob’s creation “Bear with Me” (a.k.a. “Molly and the Bear”) became a syndicated webcomic in 2010.

Vicki Scott is currently a character and prop designer for Nickelodeon. She was a storyboard artist for The Garfield Movie and the Apple TV+ series The Snoopy Show. Vicki has also worked in licensing and publishing, drawing Looney Tunes, Tiny Toons, Garfield, and Peanuts characters.

You’ve both had amazing careers in animation and Graphic novels. Where did it all start for you?

Bob: Thank you for interviewing us. Apparently, my mom was pretty overwhelmed with three boys under the age of 4, and since I was the oldest, I was parked in front of the TV quite a lot.

Fortunately, she turned on the cartoons. I have loved them ever since. Even now after nearly 40 years in the animation industry, I am still enchanted by the art of animation. My love of comic strips also began when I was little; as soon as I could read, I poured over the newspaper comic section, spending afternoons drawing the characters.

Vicki: I wasn’t hit with the “I must animate” bolt of lightning until high school when my art teacher showed us an independent animated short that was done in colored pencils, all sketchy and always moving. It was so different to anything I had ever seen; it was so inspiring to me. My teacher gave me space in the film class to do animation and he figured out how to film it. It took me a while to make my way out to CalArts, but I knew animation was what I wanted to do with my life.

Bob: My web-syndicated comic strip, Molly and the Bear (aka Bear with Me) has been my side-hustle for nearly 25 years. The strip gives me a creative outlet that is free of bosses and supervisors, and also keeps me from feeling stagnant at work. I have to admit that the adrenaline hit of getting likes and nice comments within hours of finishing a strip is pretty addictive. But I do wish I had more readers.

Vicki: I worked for the Schulz family in Santa Rosa briefly (Charles M Schulz Creative Associates) and began writing there. Initially, I got a kick out of writing in Sparky’s voice, then I

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just got a kick out of writing. It was a pivot from drawing and something I never really thought about before, but it was just so much fun. My shiny new skill came along at just the right time to help with Bob’s wish for a bigger audience, so we began the journey into graphic novels.

Animation seems to have gone from something that takes an age to do - 24 frames per second - to app-based fun anyone can do on their devices. Do you ever look back and wonder ‘where has that skill-set gone?’

Bob: The skill set is still there!!! I’m not dead yet! It’s the demand for it that has waned.

Optimistically, I am hoping it is like a hibernating bear and will wake soon, hungry for more cartoons.

You have both worked on storyboarding for the most recent Garfield movie. Has that process helped being a team outside of work?

Vicki: We have actually worked together many times, starting right after we got married. Bob and Brett Koth were drawing Jim Davis’ new strip (okay, it was new in 1986) U.S.Acres, and I was the inker. Interestingly, Bob and I never talked much about work at home because “how was your day?” didn’t have to happen; we already knew because we were right there. We are able to work together on studio work as well as personal projects because we have infinite respect for the other’s artistic vision. Molly and the Bear is Bob’s solo creation; I am thrilled he invited me in to play with the characters as a writer.

Where did the idea for Molly and The Bear come from? Perhaps from some personal experiences?

Bob: I have always loved drawing bears. One day I drew a very calm girl based on my daughter.

Then I drew a terrified bear next to her. The juxtaposition made me laugh. I started drawing them in funny situations and before long I had a comic strip.

I hear there’s a new adventure for Molly and the Bear?

Bob: On August, 5 2025 the second Molly and the Bear graphic novel comes out. Molly and the Bear; Campers Beware, takes place at the family cabin during summer vacation. It is loads of fun with Bear managing to white-water raft, rock climb and trying to win over the ever-petulant Dad. The cartoon strip is syndicated on the web and it’s daily; how do you manage all that?

Sounds terrifying!

Do you work digitally for speed purposes?

Bob: There are many reasons why I do a daily strip alongside my full-time job, but the biggest reason is just the pure joy of pushing a pencil across a real piece of paper. Animation transitioned to a digital medium for me when I was hired at Pixar. We began boarding Monsters Inc on paper, but after that, everything was done on computers. I love working traditionally on my strip. Pencilling it on Bristol board and inking with a Windsor Newton brush. It is relaxing in a meditative way, and I like being able to hold

the final product in my hand, something that isn’t reliant on my Adobe subscription or my hard drives. Full disclosure; I do not create a new strip every single day. I mix in re-runs along with originals. There, I said it. I feel better.

Do you think the Graphic Novel will survive and adapt to new technologies? Can you see it becoming immersive or interactive in the future maybe?

Vicki: I think creators will continue to tell stories in exactly the ways that inspire them. I get excited about new formats and possibilities, and Bob is a super-traditionalist. I think there is room for both of these directions, and I think the audience will drift between the new and the old ways of storytelling. Right now, there is a lot of panic about the battle between AI and creativity, but in the end, I believe the artists and writers will win the day. People like original content; they will keep looking for it, certainly once they have seen Jurassic Park 107. I, myself, am thinking welding may be my next medium.

Any advice for anyone starting out? Maybe wanting to go beyond a Zine?

GET THE BOOK HERE

Bob: I think if someone is happy doing Zines the rest of their lives, they should do that. I wanted to do a strip, so I did a strip.

Sure, I wanted to be syndicated, but I create them for me. I did not have a giant master plan. I just do what I love.

Vicki: You know, Bob, I think you never really thought about how much success you could get out of the strip, or how much money you could wring out of it. I mean, you might have back when there were newspapers in every town, but even after the paper market died off, you kept going. I think you did the strip because you are an artist, and you just need to be that artist. The advice might be to do what you love for the simple reward of doing it.

And what’s next for the Scotts?.

Bob: We don’t really know what’s next. I have a fellow animator called Tim Hittle who does not plan his projects out to the last detail because he likes making it up as he goes. I think there is a lot of wisdom there.

Vicki: I can ask ChatGP what’s next. Hold on a sec....

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MY NEW BOSS!

A VERY VERY NEW CARTOONIST...

TNC CATCHES UP WITH THE NEW AND UPCOMING TALENT CHOOSING TO POKE FUN WITH A PENCIL, PAINT, FELTS OR iPAD DYANA SONGI meets Louis Collins Over the years Anime has become an extremely popular way for children to learn to draw cartoon characters.

For many of them, Anime is one of the first ways they are exposed to the idea of drawing for pleasure – with Pokemon enjoying a revival with younger children, introducing new characters and more refined animation. Before Anime became popular outside of Japan, children probably learnt this particular skill more commonly via cartoons or comic books. A lot of people transition to more realistic styles, painting, or illustration at a later stage, but for younger artists it’s something cool that’s also achievable. Plus there are tutorials that get you to a point where you can draw characters in a simplified style quickly and easily.

Anime fan Louis Collins is 11 years old and lives in East London. He loves drawing, acting, singing and music.

‘The reason I chose these characters was because they are from Animes I love. For the drawings I used pencil first, and went over it in pen, because if I made a mistake I could erase it.

For the sketch of Giyu (the one with the blue eyes) I deliberately used minimal colour. Only black and white - and blue for the eyes because it makes his eyes stand out more.

The colourful painting was my favourite to make because I made a background with paint, then waited for it to dry. After that I went over it in pen and drew a character.

I love drawing but I don’t draw enough. As a result I’m not as confident in drawing as I’d like to be - but I’m still very proud of my work.’

You might be my new boss one day Louis.

What sort of boss will you be?

‘I think I’d make a decent sort of boss, most of the time. If I was your boss, I would listen to what you’d have to say. I would also try compromise with you if necessary but still accept constructive criticism. Then sack you for insubordination.’

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LOUIS COLLINS

Would you like to have your work featured in My New Boss?

Please email editor@thenewcartoonist.co.uk with your full name, date of birth, and a parent/guardian’s name, mobile number and email address. You must be aged 12 or under, and be resident in the UK or available overseas.

You must also be prepared to take part in a Zoom interview and submit your own work only. thenewcartoonist.co.uk

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EVENTS

A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH IT’S ANNIVERSARY TIME AT THE ONE NEW STREET GALLERY AS IT CELEBRATES A DECADE OF SHOWS MARSHALL NOT FUNNY lauding number ten In a galaxy far, far away from the Herne Bay Cartoon Festival proper, is what I always like to think of as the festival improper at One New Street Gallery…and when I say far, far away I mean three streets over. We’re like Herne Bay Cartoon Festival’s estranged cousin.

The gallery is owned and run by artists Helen Wilde and Terry Sole and their festival sideshow exhibitions of art and cartoons has now reached its tenth anniversary. The exhibitions are a eclectic mix of cartoons sitting alongside paintings, sculpture, print making and photography.

My connection with the gallery happened in a very random way. Like many cartoonists, I was invited to participate in the Herne Bay Marcel Duchamp festival in 2013 (this evolved into Herne Bay Cartoon Festival). Many of POSTERS GALORE! our cartoons were put on display in pub 10 Years on view toilets around the town as a sort of tribute to Duchamp’s ‘Fountain’ urinal sculpture. During the festivities the cartoonists set off on a pub Talking of food, how many exhibitions have crawl to visit all the lavatorial displays. At the their own jam? Ours always do! Helen makes time I didn’t know any other cartoonists (this can either a chutney or a jam themed to the shows. be a solitary business) and during the charge We’ve even had a special beer ‘Ale Caesar’ from around the town I accidentally got attached to The Bay Brewer. an alternative pub crawl by many of the artists Originally we tended to hang the cartoons all involved in the festival. It was here I again met in groups separate from the art, but eventually Helen and Terry who I’d talked to earlier in the we decided to mix it all up on the wall which day. We got on very well, they even put up some looks much better - and I like the artwork being friends of mine who were down from London to presented in this more chaotic way. Our system see the events. The One New Street exhibitions over the past few years has been for the creators came into being a year later when Helen and to just turn up at the gallery with their work and Terry acquired what had been the butchers, then we find a frame for it and hang it on the spot. an antique shop, and turned it into a wonderful With my limited stature I can only put up the low gallery space and studio. ones, so Terry has to do any nearer the ceiling.

The first show was called ‘Not Just Cartoons’ One year we fitted in an extra show ‘The but the themes since have been wide ranging Exhibition of Nothing’ which was the gallery full from climate-minded ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ of just blank frames; interestingly the private and ‘All At Sea’ to the playful ‘Contains Male view was just as well attended as a regular PV Nudity’ an exhibition of male nudes made in an which says something. And I actually sold TWO attempt to address the imbalance of most big pieces which goes to show I’m more successful galleries being full of female nudes. A favourite selling a signed sheet of blank paper than when I show of mine was ‘Mona Lisa Not Happy’ which spoil it by doing a drawing on it! was sponsored by the fantastic Italian pizzeria The opening weekend ‘drop-in’ afternoon is next door where some of the exhibits were also always a thing of joy. A regular space is reserved displayed. The restaurant actually created a for Martin Rowson who draws his contribution special ‘Mona Pizza’ which was on their menu for on the spot. The exhibition always features some the duration of the run. illustrative work from Terry’s large collection of

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THE ONE NEW STREET GALLERY Get in contact below...

original prints and artwork from veteran artists like John Minton and Ken Cox. Away from the cartoons, the gallery always has a very varied roster of exhibitions and workshops which has ranged from exhibiting artists from India to bag-making classes.

This years theme is ‘Out of Line’ (See poster on page 57) which also features, for reasons I know not why, interpretations of Michelangelo’s statue of David. Once again, it will also spread into the excellent A Casa Mia pizzeria next door. If you’re in Herne Bay for this years cartoon festival drop in and see us.

The gallery is at: One New Street, Herne Bay, CT6 5AR

ONE NEW STREET GALLERY

THE ONE NEW STREET GALLERY Terry & Helen

NEW YORK STREET SCENE

by Terry Sole

ONE OF HELEN’S DRAWINGS For: CONTAINS MALE NUDITY

ROYSTON CARTOON For: SOMETHING BREWING

THE ONE NEW STREET GALLERY A glimpse inside...

BANX TEA-BAGGING DRAWING For: SOMETHING BREWING DAVE BROWN’S SISTINE CHAPEL For: CONTAINS MALE NUDITY

ROWSON’S JOHNSON REVEAL For: CONTAINS MALE NUDITY

ONE NEWS STREET JAM For: POSITIVE VIBES SHOW

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DES BUCKLEY GOES GALACTIC For: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

GLASS OF WINE SERVERD UP BY FT’s former cartoonist Ingram Pinn

THE COFFEE SHOP By: Chris Burke

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PENS DOWN!

NOT SUPRISING AT ALL...

A COLLECTION OF WACKY CARTOONS FROM CANADIAN CARTOONIST SCOTT JOHNSTON Need to take your mind off things and enjoy a bit of escapism? Then turn off that iPad and go buy a copy of Scott Johnston cartoons.

This is a fun collection of cartoons with an original quality to it; quite rare these days, and refreshing to see. Every page is filled with nonstop gags, with themes from animals to aliens - and even a couple of dating pencils! You never know what’s coming next. It’s genuinely very funny.

BUY HERE

THE SCOTT JOHNSTON WEBSITE!

CARTOONISTS AT THE TENNIS!

SWEATY BALLS! It was hot... so very hot. And what do mad dogs and English (and maybe New Zealand) men do? Yep, they spend 5 hours waiting in a queue in a field for a chance to see Wimbledon!

It was a very early start for two plucky

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cartoonists who went searching for inspiration amongst the outside courts in the sweltering temperatures of SW19.

A few famous faces were spotted

BATTLE OF THE SHADES Mark Winter & Pete Songi in SW19

and the odd autograph was snared.

Wasps were keenly avoided, as were the prices on liquid refreshments and strawberries!

Unavoidable was the obvious class divide on display, with over-excitable kids from local schools on ‘day trips’ and this quote of the day... “Well she knows I’m rich, but is she actually interested?”...Said out very loud in public, I kid you not.

The day ended in a pub in Waterloo...

Game Set and Match!

63 Wells Street, London W1A 3AE

5 minutes walk from Oxford Circus underground station

Event: 5 - 27 August Summer Holiday Workshops Join us for fun drawing sessions on a range of topics during the school holidays! Create a comic, brush up on your manga skills, learn to draw caricatures or for younger children have fun making Spider Potato!

Workshops are for children aged 8-14 and cost £15 per person attending.

Places on all workshops are limited, so advance booking is essential.

BOOK NOW

Event ends: 28 September 2025 From Garfield to Simon’s Cat, Krazy Kat to Bagpuss and everything in between, there is a long line of iconic cartoon cats.

For the first time, The Cartoon Museum is collecting many of the greatest cats to grace or comics, newspapers and magazines to explore why people love cats so much and what cats tell us about life.

Featuring works by artists such as Louis Wain, Ronald Searle, Heath Robinson, Wendy Eastwood, Simon Tofield, Anthony Smith, Gemma Correll, Natty Peterkin and Hunt Emerson - and more!

BOOK NOW

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EVENTS & ADS

BEGINS - THU, 24 JUL 2025 - 10:30 ENDS - SAT, 29 NOV 2025 - 17:30

CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE

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Cartoonists from the BC A gathered for the annual Summer Banquet!

Pictures courtesy of the rather well-dressed Mark Winte r!

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ANIMATION

MIRACLES IN HOLLYWOOD THE SIX AND A HALF YEAR JOURNEY TO OSCAR SUCCESS FOR ‘IN THE SHADOW OF THE CYPRESS’ MARK WINTER out and about When Iranian husband-and-wife director duo Hossein Molayemi and Shirin Sohani won the Best Animated Short Academy Award for their film, ‘In the Shadow of the Cypress’, they said it was a “miracle” while accepting their prized statuettes at this year’s ceremony in March.

Produced and self-financed by the couple’s own Tehran-based production studio, ‘Barfak’ in association with the Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults, under what Hossein called “extraordinary circumstances”, the long, bumpy road to Oscar glory seemed an impossible journey, one that took six and a half years. an interview for the online animation magazine ‘In the Shadow of the Cypress’ is a haunting, ‘Skwigly’, Hossein said that “Yegane is a very twenty minute, minimalistic, dialogue-free, 2D good filmmaker and there are a lot of other computer-generated animated short about a former sea captain, suffering from post-traumatic good filmmakers in Iran, but their works are not available.” Shirin added, ”There are a lot of Iranian stress disorder, who lives with his daughter in films she would suggest people see but they an isolated seaside home in the Persian Gulf, aren’t available internationally. We had a golden south of Iran. He wants to be a caring father, but age of Iranian animation in the 70’s with directors they face the challenges of a harsh life. One day, who were engaging in making short animated something unexpected happens. Is it a source of films in Iran and their films were screened in newfound hope or an additional burden?

Annecy, Venice and Zagreb. They were so avant After premiering at the 80th Venice garde for animation at that time.”

International film Festival in 2023, the film Shirin and Hossein explained in their ‘Cartoon collected multiple global accolades, including Brew’ interview last November, “We the Grand Jury Award for Best were particularly passionate about International Film at Spain’s themes such as PTSD, parent-child Animayo International Film relationships, nature and the Festival, Best Animated environment, and the impact Short at the LA Shorts of war. Beyond these themes, International Film Festival our own life experiences and a and Best Animation sense of responsibility towards at the Tribeca Festival, our people-who have endured where the jury said,”For suffering over the past 46 yearsusing a distinctive visual compelled us to create this film, style, unique imagery and especially in honour of Iran-Iraq exceptional sound design to OSCAR WINNERS! bring to life a poignant family Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi war veterans, many of whom still struggle with PTSD.” They relationship, characterized by Best Animated Short were committed to maintaining love and protection amidst a minimal and simple visual style because they an effective portrayal of the profound impact of post-traumatic stress disorder.” The film’s success didn’t want the audience to be distracted by pictorial elements and loose focus on the story. guaranteed eligibility for an Academy Award In a post on Instagram, Hossein shared their nomination and was included in the final shortlist, unfortunate situation and explained why announced on January 23. geopolitical challenges made it impossible to It was the second year in a row that an participate in most Oscar campaigning events.

Iranian animated short received Academy “Due to political issues, the absence of a U.S. recognition, following the nomination for embassy in Iran, lack of diplomatic relations, the Yegane Moghaddam’s ‘Our Uniform’ in 2024. In

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

low credibility of our passports, and sanctions, along with problems like blocked U.S.embassy websites for Iranians and difficulties with money transfers. The situation has become more complicated since President Trump’s time in office.” He also pointed out that no governmental or non-governmental organization in Iran had provided any financial assistance further limiting their ability to promote the film to Academy voters.

Despite the challengers producing the film, that included dealing with with the budget limitations, a lack of government support, sanctions imposed on the country and the falling value of the Iranian currency, ‘In the Shadow of the Cypress Tree’ became a reality.

“We did’t say anything political, but we talked about the financial challenges we faced because of sanctions and the devaluation of our currency and about how unreliable the internet here is, complicating things and how many useful online platforms are blocked here in Iran,” Hossein said, telling ‘Cartoon Brew’ he was speaking out about the situation so ”that perhaps our successors in important international competitions will not be left alone.”

Hossein and Shirin were only granted a last minute visa to attend the Oscars, after the Iranian government, who had initially agreed to fund travel expenses to festivals for the directors, pulled funding, arriving in Los Angeles three hours before the start of the ceremony.

A “miracle” indeed.

They dedicated their win to “fellow Iranians who are still suffering.”

MARK WINTER

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DESERT ISLAND

A MUCH USED TROPE FOR ALL...

Desert Island cartoons. Everyone has one or two buried deep beneath the surface and as you may have read earlier (p20), many now reside on the walls of a lovely London boozer!

When I sent the call out for cartoons I wasn’t surprised to be inundated with submissions.

In fact the variety of ideas blew my socks off!

So what better way to get a bit extra out of these wonderful works of art then to add an extra few pages in the latest TNC with some of my favourites.

TNC asked cartoonists to go deep delve into their sandy archives. These are their stories...

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EVENTS & ADS

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CONNECT WITH US thenewcartoonist.co.uk

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THE DIRECTORY

ANDREW BIRCH CONTACT HERE

VRONI HOLZMANN CONTACT HERE

MARK WINTER CONTACT HERE

ALLAN PAULA MCDONALD HAMMOND CONTACT HERE

ELIOT PHIL JOHNSON LORD CONTACT HERE

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SHAUNAK JESS SAMVATSAR JUDGE CONTACT HERE

BILL IAN DEMAIN BAKER CONTACT HERE

MEL DIXON CONTACT HERE

DAVID JON WOOTEN REY CONTACT HERE

CLARENCE ROGER PENWILL WAGNER CONTACT HERE

A LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

MIKE SEDDON CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

DIMITRA RIZOU

DEREK SCOTT

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

DES FONDANT CONTACT HERE

DEAN PATTERSON CONTACT HERE

MICK OHARA CONTACT HERE

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CLEMENS MOSES

ACHAZ VON HARDENBERG CONTACT HERE

MIKE STOKOE CONTACT HERE

MICHAEL MCDONNELL CONTACT HERE

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THE DIRECTORY

BRADY PETE IZQUIERDO DREDGE CONTACT HERE

VIKTOR JOE G KHOURY DATOR CONTACT HERE

TYSON ED NAYLOR COLE CONTACT HERE

ROSE FIRUZ ANNE PREVAC KUTAL CONTACT HERE

STEVE LILLIE CONTACT HERE

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PETE NICK NEWMAN DREDGE CONTACT HERE

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ISSN: 2977-6368

NUMBER 6

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Winner!

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HOROSCOPES Scorpio

the most accurate soothsayer in the Greater London region for cartoonist horoscopes

24 October – 21 November

You realise that cheese cartooning isn’t a thing, but cheese is very, very popular. Cats, dogs, desert islands, awkward situations, all these things are being cartooned to death, but not cheese. You will become the cheese cartoon master.

Aries

21 March – 19 April

You will draw a cartoon and the drawing part is absolutely immaculate, however there’s a spelling mistake that gets passed all the editors that brings the whole thing down: ‘Polar beer’. You will be ridiculed by the internet for a good six weeks before the sponsorship opportunities start rolling in.

Taurus

20 April – 20 May

Six of your close, personal friends and family members will have heart attacks on the same night. You will draw ‘get well soon’ cartoons for all of them and it will have a magical impact on four of them. The other two are going to have to rely heavily on medical science.

Gemini

21 May – 21 June

You will try to draw a cartoon on a tennis ball, but the fuzzy texture will wreck your felt tips. Enraged, you will start investigating the potential cartooning properties of golf, cricket and bowling balls. Friends will begin to worry about the need to stage an intervention on your behalf.

Cancer

22 June – 22 July

Climate change starts to affect the consistency of the leads in your special cartooning pencils.

The lightness and darkness of the mark is all over the place and you decide to purchase a fridge to temperature control these little bastards. You will write many scientific papers exploring lead/temperature theories and find yourself in line for a Nobel prize.

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Sagittarius

22 November – 21 December

Leo

23 July – 22 August

You will be forced to watch motorsport. You will come up with some very niche puns and cartoons that involve the words ‘chicane’, ‘safety car’ and ‘pole position’. It’s weirdly popular and soon you will have that sinking feeling that you can’t stop.

Virgo

23 August – 22 September

Inspired by the fact that Alphabet Soup exists for people who want to create words in their broth-based dietary choices, you will invent ‘Cartoon Soup’, so people can build their own cartoons. It will have little palm tree noodles and angry looking political effigies amongst the carrots.

Libra

23 September – 23 October

You will die and meet the grim reaper, but he will be so infuriated at how you make him pose for multiple drawings just so you can get the angle right for future cartoon ideas that he will let you live another 500 years so he gets a break from this shit.

You will draw a hilarious, side-splitting cartoon and a testy, disgruntled llama will wander up behind you and spit on it. It will improve the watercolour aspects but mess up the punch line.

Inspired by this situation you’ll begin to train a crack team of alpacas who can possibly have the same positive cartooning effects while negating the negative ones.

Capricorn

22 December – 19 January

You will buy a pen. It’s a good pen. It’s got a bit of an independent streak which is great for setting you apart from the cartoon crowd, but bad because it rolls off the table frequently.

Aquarius

20 January – 18 February

You will start a website selling second hand clothes to cartoonists. You find most of the clothes in skip outside of a haunted graveyard, but it’s almost embarrassing how much money you are making. Hand over fist. Business tycoons begin inviting you to parties to grill you for serious business tips.

Pisces

19 February – 20 March

You will have a mouse problem in your house.

Unfortunately, your mouse will have a weight problem, and as he diets to try and better himself you will find it impossible to catch the little bastard by luring him with cheesy foods and snacks. Instead you will lure him into traps using cartoons. The one that finally catches him is one that’s been heavily rejected even though you are sure it’s your best work. You will create a strong rapport with your new mouse roommate and often ask him for cartooning advice.

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PARTING SHOT

A TALE OF NUNS, COURT ROOM DRAMA & ROMANCE TEENAGE KICKS GETTING YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT AND A BIT LATE FOR SOCIOLOGY MIKE KING Rights and wrongs It was 1970s Liverpool and I was 19 years old. I had left school aged 16 and felt that my education had finished prematurely so signed up for night school.

Having been brought up in a Catholic family, and attended a Catholic school, I had been taken to mass twice a week.

I went with my parents on Sundays and with the school on Wednesdays. Now, I was irredeemably lapsed. However it did occur to me that there were many religions out there and it might be interesting to study them, so I signed up for A-level Religion.

The night of lesson one, I came over all ‘unreliable teenager.’ I arrived on my 100cc Suzuki, late, crash helmet under my arm and with no pen or paper. I quietly entered the class-room, pulled the door slowly towards me and closed it carefully. I turned around to see the teacher, a very large man in a suit, reading monotone from the largest bible I have ever seen. I turned to face my class mates and saw that all twelve of them were nuns.

I sat down too dazed to do anything else, and waited until tea break. I then left, never to return, and signed up for Sociology.

The first Sociology lesson was later in the week. The teacher was Helen. She was not much older than me and confident, intelligent and beautiful. She spoke her first words to us “I will be delivering this course mostly from a Marxists’ perspective.” I looked around thinking “oooh, I wonder what that is?”

LATE FUMBLINGS

A few weeks later I was in the magistrates’ court early in the morning. The local police had a bad reputation when it came to lifting innocent teenagers at night after the pubs shut. It was said that going to court was a nice paid day off for them. Greg and Willy had been arrested and charged with running up the road shouting and kicking people’s doors and banging on widows.

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It wasn’t true. They weren’t the sort, and they would have told me if they had. They had tried to engage legal representation but the solicitor told them not to waste their money; they were going to be found guilty.

I was there for moral support. I seem to remember two police constables reading their identical evidence from notebooks. Greg and Willy were invited to question them. Willy was angry. He stood up raging “Is that the biggest load of shit you could come up with?” The magistrate shouted at him to sit down and be quiet. It was then Greg’s turn. Greg was a bit of a dreamer, and right now he was Perry Mason.

He stood, his hand went to his brow, deep in thought. His words came out in a slow staccato.

“Do you mean to say…….are you telling me”… he waved an arm dramatically… that on the night in question…..” He stalled , and stopped.

“No questions...”

Greg sat down. That was the case for the defence.

They were both fined and we took the bus back home. It was still only about 11am and

the pubs had just opened, so we went in.

They closed at 3pm, so we took cans back to Greg’s. Totally drunk by 6pm, I suddenly leapt up and exclaimed “I have to go to Sociology”.

I staggered into class late , sat down in the front row, directly in front of Helen, put my head down on the desk, and went to sleep.

Helen woke me at the end, and I told her about my challenging day. She offered me a lift home in her green Volkswagen Beetle. Half way home she stopped the car and kissed me…and we lived happily ever after…NOT! She chucked me a week before the exam. But, I am sure that, from a Marxist perspective it was the right thing to do.

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KEVIN WELLS

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THE END PORTRAIT BY: KEVIN WELLS

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ISSN: 2977-6368

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