The New Cartoonist Jan/Feb 2025

NUMBER 3 JAN/FEB 2025

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

£2.50

READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH COVER STAR NICOLA JENNINGS

POLITICALLY SPEAKING...

WITH COUNT BINFACE

AWARDS 6 PAGE SPECIAL

BORN TO DRAW

RESOLUTION CARTOONS A THEMED SELECTION

MY NEW BOSS DYANA SONGI MEETS A NEW CARTOONIST

180 CARTOONS INSIDE!

PLUS: N MARK WINTER ON SEARLE N SOCIAL MEDIA MELTDOWN N NICK NEWMAN’S NEW SHOW N MEET THE SPECTATOR’S NEW CARTOONIST N MYTHICAL MILDRED HOROSCOPES

CONTENTS PAGE 4

A LIZARD EDWARDIAN PLAYING THE ACCORDION

POLITICALLY SPEAKING WITH COUNT BINFACE

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HEAD LINES NICOLA JENNINGS PROFILE

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PC0 SPLATS AWARDS

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CARTOON WINNER MEET LUKE FAROOKHI

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THE THREE S’s MARK WINTER ON SEARLE

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TECH SOCIAL MEDIA BREAKDOWN

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RESOLUTIONS A CARTOON THEME

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LET IT SNOW PUB EXHIBITION

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ELWOOD ATFILED AWARDS CARTOON GONGS GALORE

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MY NEW BOSS WITH EMILIA GUTSELL

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PENS DOWN BOOK REVIEWS

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EXCLUSIVE AARDMAN

PRINT OFFER Last few remaining!

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SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE FIND OUT MORE DETAILS ON P56

YOUNG CARTOONIST AWARDS ENTRY DETAILS

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EXCLUSIVE AARDMAN OFFER

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CARTOON CONFERENCE

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CARTOON SPECIAL CHINESE NEW YEAR

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SUBSCRIPTIONS

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THE DIRECTORY CONTRIBUTORS LISTING

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HORISCOPES & CAPTION COMP

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PARTING SHOT WITH DYANA SONGI

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

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Ed’s WELCOME Hello again, and a big welcome to 2025 with a brand new issue of The New Cartoonist. I hope you had good one!

It’s been quite the start to the year with fires in Los Angeles, continued war in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza (as I write, fingers crossed it continues) and a certain Donald J Trump back in the White House. Plenty for cartoonists to bite on there.

The start of year was award-winning for a some cartoonists at the inaugural PCO SPLATS Awards, with a couple of TNC regulars taking home awards. Yours Truly received a gong for Services to Cartooning, which was completely unexpected and a very proud moment. None of it would have been possible however if it wasn’t for the continued support of cartoonists contributing to the magazine and exhibitions.

The New Cartoonist has had a great start, and people are now subscribing, so if you like it, please recommend to all your friends! Thank you. Another perk was receiving an email on

S’s series with a close look at Ronald Searle’s work, and there’s a discussion on the perils of social media, with input from cartoonists.

NUMBER THREE We also meet In this issue we have the fantastic Nicola the winner of Jennings on the cover, along with an interview the Spectator’s inside showcasing Nicola’s skillful caricatures.

There’s also a video interview filmed at her studio competition search for a new cartoonist, Luke , and a chance to win a print of Nicola’s cover.

Farruki.

Flying into Earth’s orbit for ‘Politically There are cartoons Speaking’, we have the intergalactic space galore in the form of warrior and political heavy-weight Count a centre-spread special on something you’ve BinFace. Worthy of all our votes - especially as probably already broken... ‘Resolutions’ - and a he wants to make water bosses take a dip in the spread themed on the Chinese New Year of the Thames to see how they like it in his Manifesto Snake, which sssssstumped a few of you.

Got my X. Dy meets up with another budding cartoonist, There’s a mammoth six-page special on the this time from across the other side of the planet fore-mentioned SPLATS AWARDS, with details of all the winners in NZ. And the most accurate soothsayer in Greater London, Prophetical Mildred, returns and pics from the with your horoscopes. Finally, a parting shot from night. And a a squat in the Nineties, where dinnertime was catch-up on 2024 WINNER something best avoided.

December’s SERVICES Enjoy!

Ellwood Atfield Awards in London.

TO EMAIL PETE Mark Winter THE EDITOR CARTOONING continues his three

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New Years Eve when The Guardian asked me to fill a slot on the opinion pages for early January.

A dream come true, and for me it meant that the year 2025 had a busy start!

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POLITICALLY SPEAKING

EARTH CALLING SIGMA lX RECYCLON LEADER AND INTERGALACTIC SPACE WARRIOR COUNT BINFACE SPEAKS TO TNC PETE SONGI poking and probing The World can seem a crazy place sometimes; bonkers even, and now as we start 2025 it’s resembling something from a Bruce Willis disaster movie.

But how does it look from beyond our planet?

What do those who monitor us from far, far away think?

Without a phone to phone home and interrogate E.T., or a synthesizer to play a 5-tone tune to communicate an encounter of the third kind, the TNC did the next best thing and grabbed a few moments between political manifestos and holidays with the 6th most popular parliamentary candidate for the constituency of Richmond and Northallerton, 2024. The intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from planet sigma IX, Lovejoy fan, two-time candidate to be London Mayor and three-time candidate at UK general elections Count Binface.

ANALYZING PLANET EARTH Leader of the Recyclons

We have a tradition on Earth of consuming our media through here on your planet all the time? That would What’s the fascination with Lovejoy? printed form and from tiny bite-sized drive anyone mad.

His rogue nature? Maybe his ability messages on social media platforms. to spot a diamond in the rough? Is How do you get your news on SIGMA 2025 is set to be not so great again this interest mutual? with a certain IX? Clearly you haven’t watched enough Well, we don’t use social Donald Trump Lovejoy or you wouldn’t ask such media if that’s what you I’VE GOT A WHOLE set to take an impertinent question. Let’s mean. We worked out that it just say that he and I both have over as leader MANIFESTO TO was a horrific technological a talent for spotting unlikely of the free poison that degrades any opportunities. And we both love SORT OUT! AS IF world. Do you intelligent society into a pit a cracking theme tune. Plus I’m YOUR READERS think this is of screaming inanity. Instead, still holding out hope to play ever since I discovered an example of ‘Tinker’ in a big-screen reboot.

DON’T KNOW Ceefax, on Sigma IX we Ian McShane, call me. how recycling have placed our faith in the NOT JUST GREAT HAIR can sometimes go wondrous purity and blocky opportunity seeker Lovejoy What’s your take on AI? horribly awry? technicolour of Teletext services.

Good idea, or are humans Hmm. I don’t think of Trump 2.0 We don’t have a Recyclon equivalent of Elon as recycling. A more accurate parallel would just too lazy to offer resistance before Musk, so we must be doing something right.. be the moment when you flush the toilet and it’s too late? afterwards one of your turds surprisingly bobs Comparing humans and AI all comes down 2024 has been a politically seismic back up to the surface, while an unfortunate to the thorny question of whether it’s possible year for us Earthlings. With all that amount of excrement remains caked onto the for a species to ever control a more intelligent you’ve witnessed, does it make you sides of the loo. Still, millions of Americans voted species. (Short answer: no chance.) For humans feel lucky to be a Recyclon? for that this is a problem, because your AI creations Just a bit. I come to Earth for my holidays. To be

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What does it say about them?

are quickly overtaking your abilities in a large

WITH COUNT BINFACE number of professions. We Recyclons are ok, as we’re smarter than both of you. I guess there is a silver lining: if Liz Truss can - however briefly - have power over 68 million humans more intelligent than her, then anything is possible.

Does Sigma IX have political satirists?

Or indeed any political cartoonists?

Being a benevolent utopian paradise, we have no need for satire on Sigma IX, so there are no panel shows and no hilarious ‘review of the week’ podcasts. Imagine that. We do have cartoons, though. My favourite is ‘Bintanian and the Three Muskercans’. I like what they did there...

In your political quest, you have taken on Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan twice. Do you have any more political aspirations? May elections perhaps? Or is it a case of ‘bin’ there, seen all that?

I’m hungry for more! Like I say, I come to Earth for my holidays, so all these elections of yours are a lovely hobby for me. It’s just a glorious bonus that 117,654 humans (and counting) have placed an X in my box. I know there’s not going to be a British general election for a fair while. Surely? But even so, there’s a variety box of other delights coming down the track: byelections, local elections, and let’s not forget all those newly-sprouting mayoralties across the nation. For instance, in 2026 there’s going to be a ballot to be Mayor of Croydon. That’s right in my sweet spot of being (a) big enough to be worth contesting, and (b) shit enough that I might actually win.

NOT JUST A BASKET FACE ...downloadable phone art!

You are spreading the Recyclon message next year on an Alien’s visor view of Great Britain. What are your MEGA plans to make Earth great again?

I’ve got a whole manifesto to sort out! As if your

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readers don’t know. But ok, let me outline a few of my flagship policies to Make Earth Great Again. I’ll bring back Ceefax, price-cap croissants at £1.10, rename London Bridge after Phoebe Waller, make Claudia Winkleman’s fringe grade 1 listed, make water bosses take a dip in the Thames to see how they like it, ban speaker phones on public transport and force offenders to live with Matt Hancock for a year; and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. (Saving icebergs is another one.)

Nobody can match me!

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

Certainly. In fact I’ll go one better. I’ll give you a cartoon that’s a downloadable wallpaper for your phone. Beat that, Starmer.

Count Binface an intergalactic space warrior, leader of the Recyclons from planet sigma IX, Lovejoy fan, two-time candidate to be london mayor and three-time candidate at UK general elections.

Count yourself in and join the movement on THURSDAY, 6 FEB 2025 at the Hot Water Comedy Club, Liverpool.

Other dates available online-see link below.

COUNT BINFACE

THE podcast TRASH TALK is back!

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NEWS & POLITICS

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NEWS & POLITICS

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HEAD LINES

A PORTRAIT OF NICOLA JENNINGS

AMPLIFYING CHARACTERS THE NEW CARTOONIST CAUGHT UP WITH THE GUARDIAN’S CARTOONIST NICOLA JENNINGS So Trump is back, but the cartoonists never went away and this month TNC met up with one of the best in Nicola Jennings.

Nicola was born in London on 10 September 1958. Brought up in the family home of Babington House, in Somerset, her maternal grandfather was Christopher Hollis MP, a contributor to Punch.

Educated at St Mary’s School, Ascot, Jennings attended Taunton Art School from 1976 to 1977, and from 1977 to 1980 studied theatre design at Wimbledon School of Art. She spent most of the next decade working backstage in the theatre and illustrating books, but in 1987 began caricature work for the London Daily News. Here she had a daily spot, but when the paper closed after five months she moved to the Daily Mirror, where she drew caricatures for the television pages, as well as working for the Sunday Times.

Jennings stopped working for the Daily Mirror in 1996, but has worked for the Observer since 1990, the Guardian since 1991, and also for Prospect magazine.

You started out as a theatre designer working backstage on Operas. When did cartooning enter the fray?

I was always caricaturing - even at the back of the class at school - so it ran in tandem with anything else I was doing. The London Daily News commissioned me to illustrate their daily Diary column in 1987 which took over from the designing.

MAKING IT ALL MOVE Check out Nicola’s time lapse caricature of Martin Scorsese n below...

Did you look up to any cartoonists in particular?

I had always admired Gerald Scarfe for his draughtsmanship and sheer nerve for how far he could stretch a face when caricaturing it, without losing the likeness. I also admired David Levine

for his subtlety. Aubrey Beardsley (although not a cartoonist) intrigued me with his descriptive line.

It seems to have a weight to it which suggests motion and tension in the drawing Was there a moment when you realised you were going to draw for a living?

At art school I knew I would never be a nine-to-fiver.

You have also worked in animation, which a lot of cartoonists attempt but never quite pull off. Do you feel that’s quite a natural segway?

With the change to viewing images on a screen - from just seeing 2D images on paper - it was an obvious progression to take advantage of the possibility of adding movement to a drawing. I particularly enjoy the excitement of watching a drawing emerge on the screen.

Technically this isn’t true animation but the movement adds drama - a third dimension.

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16 OCTOBER 2024 GUARDIAN

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20 AUGUST 2023 GUARDIAN

The Guardian deadline is very tight and the space quite large. Do you find it a big pressure to fill it in such a short space of time?

The deadlines are very tight which means starting early and working with an early morning story. I rather envy other cartoonists who have later deadlines and who can work to the lunchtime news. The size makes no difference.

You, Rebecca Hendin and Ella Baron lead the way in the mainstream media for female political cartoonists. Do you think we are heading for a less male-dominated

profession now?

I do hope so.

them collect cartoons of themselves.

It’s been a very unstable time in world politics.

Do you think cartoon satire can get lost in all You once said that Peter Mandelson was that fog? How do you navigate it all? ‘the only person vain enough ever to have Cartoon satire has the ability to cut through the complained to me about being lampooned.’ fog and it is needed now more than ever. I don’t Do you think that politicians actually secretly think we bring down governments but we can love being depicted? call politicians to account, damage reputations Yes, politicians are flattered when they appear and undermine their credibility. in a cartoon, they take it as a badge of honour I sometimes wonder what the psychological and believe that they have ‘made it’ even though effect on us cartoonists is. We do spend a lot of they might hate how they are depicted. Cartoons time drawing really vile people! have a definite place in the history of public life and politicians want to be part of it. Many of Your caricatures are very accurate; are there any that you have trouble with or try to avoid? A politician that makes the headlines just as your shift starts - and makes you shudder?!

I tend to work on newcomers as soon as they are appointed and so I work out how to treat their faces in advance. This makes it easier to adapt on the day.

I never felt I truly caught Gordon Brown.

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You are the chair of the BCA and are closely involved with the Cartoon Museum and the Young Cartoonist of the Year Awards. Do you feel there’s a danger we could lose a generation of satirical cartoonists because of current ideologies?

It is true that editorial nervousness about offending can lead to a neutralisation of satire but there are many more outlets for satire than the newspapers and satire can never be entirely

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NICK CLEGG PALETTE

RISHI SUNAK PALETTE

CREATING PALETTES USING COREL DRAW SOFTWARE

quashed, it is too popular and it will just move elsewhere. The key is to winkle out the new young talent and encourage them to self publish online to counteract the growing untruths out there - and reach a much bigger audience..

Do you have any exciting plans for 2025?

I have just become the Chairman of The Cartoon

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Museum and I am looking forward to taking care of this precious museum along with my fellow trustees, our brilliant director, Joe Sullivan and the team at the museum. For starters we are having a fundraising champagne reception on 6th March at the amazing Fitzrovia Chapel with Alice Loxton as guest speaker (Uproar, Icon Books). It will be a wonderful event, do come.

Here at TNC we want to actively promote young upcoming cartoonists. Do you have any advice for those just starting out?

NEVER miss a deadline. Enter the Young Cartoonists Awards run by the BCA and The Cartoon Museum, closing date for entries 2nd Feb 25. As well as prize money the winners will have their work exhibited in the Museum for a year and will meet working cartoonists at the awards night.

NICOLA JENNINGS

OLDER STYLES an example of Nicola’s early work...

A Keith Richards portrait ONE THAT GOT AWAY! a classic rejected by The Guardian

STUDIO SPACES

NICOLA JENNINGS QUICK FIRE! FAVOURITE FILM? La Dolce Vita, by Fellini FIRST CAR? 2nd hand Austin A40 MOST-LOVED WRITER? Sarah Winman NICKNAME AT SCHOOL? ‘Nix’

YOUR CHANCE TO WIN A SIGNED NICOLA JENNINGS COVER PRINT! Simply email: editor@thenewcartoonist.co.uk subject: Nicola Jennings print competition DEADLINE FOR ENTRIES FEBRUARY 20TH 2025

ENTER HERE NOW Congratulations to Kerina Strevens who was picked out of the hat from the last issue and gets a Dave Brown signed cover print

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PIECE OF EQUIPMENT YOU CAN’T DO WITHOUT WHEN CARTOONING? Command Z, Oh and my digital pen and tablet BEST OPERA? Any Handel opera WHAT SUPER POWER WOULD YOU HAVE? To silence liars!

WHERE IN THE WORLD WOULD YOU LIVE IF YOU HAD NO RESTRICTIONS? Italy or New York 15

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THE SPLATS AWARDS

A NIGHT TOON CELEBRATE THE UK’S FINEST HIT THE BIG SCREEN FOR A NEW AWARDS SHOW HELD AT CHANNEL FOUR HQ PETE SONGI scuffing the red carpet The bright lights of London and a plush media venue beckoned for the inaugural Splats Awards, a new event run by the Professional Cartoonists Organisation.

So who needs another Awards night right?

Well the PCO felt after it’s long association with the Elwood Atfiield awards (see p40), that it was time for something different; a celebration and maybe an awards not so dominated by how many followers a cartoonist might have on Social Media. It included an extended offering of catergories including a Best Reject gong, which I suspect was as long a list as there could ever be!

And also a mention to those who came 2nd or 3rd, well done to all.

PREAMBLE

WHO DID YOU VOTE FOR?

PRE-DRINKS

‘SPECIAL’ GUEST!

Any early landing a farage drawn by Chris Burke strip just outside the cinema room was made available for the rabble with wine, beer and Pizza available. For those on Dry January, 0% Peroni could be found either deliberately or accidentally as one cartoonist found to their cost.

Above the circular pit a window ceiling into the Channel 4 world gave it all a Westminster Jubilee tube station vibe. Still, a wonderful place to circulate and meet fellow cartoonists before the main action of the night.

pictures:Pete Songi

an expectant whynge of cartoonists A really interesting and meaningful event gather before the main event preceded the main Awards ceremony in the form of a panel discussion on the colouring book for migrant children produced by the PCO. and Guy’s original quest to rock up to Kent with a load of paint and rabble of cartoonists, the This initiative, for anyone who is not aware panel discussed the refugee crisis in the round already, was born out of the controversy over Robert Jenricks decision whilst Minister for State and what impact the book had had including on those troubled polticians. and Immigration at the Home Office to get a The roles of cartoonists and the perils of mural of Mickey Mouse painted over at the Kent the career were also discussed, as well as the Intake Unit, believing it sent out a too welcoming prospect of a third version of the book through message to migrant children. (See here). publishers Titan Books. A very worthwhile chat The panel consisted of cartoonists Guy for those lucky enough not to be on deadline Venables, Clive Goddard & Surreal McCoy, Tom that day and able to arrive early.

Kuehnel from 38 degrees , Imran Hussain from the Refugee Council and Chair Sue Kelly.

As well as highlighting the origins of the colouring book (Amy Goddard’s product idea)

COLOURING BOOK CHATTER! the panel discuss the wheres and wherefores

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A BIT PECULIAR ...Mark Winter takes one for the team

FANCY VENUE! entrance to Channel 4

FULL LIST OF WINNERS SEE IT SAY IT SORTED! ceiling above the pit

Best Strip Cartoon Series Grizelda Best Current Affairs Cartoon Chris Williams (Dink) Best Caricature Kevin Wells Best Editorial Cartoon Harry Burton

CIRCULATING! cartoonists ponder what’s next? pictures:Mark Winter

Best Pocket Cartoon Series Guy Venables Best Gag Cartoon (Bill Stott Award) Glenn Marshall SNACKS! pre-award offerings

Best Reject Cartoon Sarah Boyce Best Nose Award Dean Patterson Services to Cartooning Award Pete Songi

SPLENDID HOST! Clive Goddard in all his finery

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Best Cartoonist Morten Morland 19

THE SPLATS AWARDS

BIG SCREEN ACTION the stage awaits...

APOLOGIES! Andrew Birch & Andy Davey

THE MAIN EVENT Ten catergories awaited those that sat in the plush cinema room and along with the offer of popcorn Sue Kelly was on hand to dish out snacks before the show commenced.

The talented Clive Goddard was host of proceedings and after the fantastic animated intro by Glenn Marshall we got started.

Many cartoonists travelled a long way to attend, including Achaz Von Hardenberg from Northern Italy, Dean Patterson via Dublin and Steve Bright down from Scotland. Others who couldn’t make it sent apologies, including Andrew Birch and Andy Davey. They were brought to us via video messages; another welcome addition to this new Awards show.

BEST STRIP CARTOON SERIES First up a new award for strip cartoons, a genre often forgotten about in other Award shows.

Royston Robertson did the honours.

GRINNING GRIZELDA! takes the win

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS CARTOON A new award for not political and yet still newsworthy cartoons.

3rd - Jonesy 2nd - Mark ‘Chicane’ Winter WINNER: CHRIS ‘DINK’ WILLIAMS A fab cartoon from Private Eye.

3rd - Becky Barnicoat 2nd - Steve Bell WINNER: GRIZELDA

THAT’S SOME SQUGGLE! Kevin Wells with a deserved win

A much-deserved win for a truly great artist for his work in The New Cartoonist.

BEST EDITORIAL CARTOON One of the big awards of the night presented by the ever-hilarious Guy Venables.

3rd - Graeme Bandeira 2nd - Morten Morland WINNER: HARRY BURTON A superb editoral cartoon from the the Irish Examiner. Accepted via video message.

A worthy winner for her brilliant Culture Bores cartoon strip in Private Eye.

BASHING GB NEWS! Dink lets it sink in

BEST PORTRAIT CARTOON An award giving cartoonists their chance to have their likenesses judged.

BEST STRIP! a fully clothed Royston announces

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3rd - Dave Brown 2nd - Jonesy WINNER: KEVIN WELLS (@SQUIGGLEKING)

IRISH EYES SMILING! Harry takes the win to Dublin

BEST REJECT CARTOON Sarah Boyce

BEST CURRENT AFFAIRS CARTOON Chris Williams - DINK

BEST POCKET SERIES Guy Venables BEST PORTRAIT Kevin Wells - SquiggleKing

BEST GAG CARTOON Glenn Marshall

CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR Morten Morland

SERVICES TO CARTOONING AWARD Pete Songi

BEST CARTOON NOSE Dean Patterson

BEST EDITORIAL CARTOON Harry Burton

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BEST CARTOON STRIP Grizelda

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THE SPLATS AWARDS BEST REJECT CARTOON Another new initiative celebrating those awards that some how get missed by Editors.

This award was presented by the very talented Chris Burke.

3rd - Glenn Marshall 2nd - James Mellor WINNER: SARAH BOYCE MIC SIZED! Hendin announces

Appearing nowhere amazingly.

BEST POCKET CARTOON SERIES An award for those great cartoons in tiny spaces, presented by the fabulous Rebecca Hendin.

3rd - Rob Murray 2nd - Nick Newman WINNER: GUY VENABLES An award for the daily slog at The Metro.

THE SERVICES TO CARTOONING AWARD It was a huge and very unexpected honour to receive an award for my efforts in promoting cartoonists in 2024.

I was bit dumbstruck on the night, rambling on about a raffle I won as a 7 year old, so what I meant to say was...

‘This award is for all those who have submitted work to any of the exhibitions or adorn the pages of The New Cartoonist. I do this work to promote an industry and a job that I love, and to make sure the art of cartooning has a future by providing young and up-and-coming artists a platform. The wine went nicely with a Rib-Eye steak (Well Done... apologies), and the award sits with me in a very messy studio” Many thanks to the PCO!

MORAL VICTORY! A deseved win for Boyce

BEST NOSE AWARD On to the final stretch with an award set up by Glenn Marshall to celebrate noses everywhere.

WINNER: DEAN PATTERSON COMFORTABLE WITH RED a great night all round

HAPPY GUY! Venables victorious

BEST CARTOONIST AWARD The final and most prestigious award brought the show to an end.

BEST GAG CARTOON (BILL STOTT AWARD) A strong field for this much merited award.

Presented by cartoon legend Martin Rowson

WINNER: MORTEN MORLAND

3rd - Mark Winter 2nd - James Mellor WINNER: GLENN MARSHALL Animated and in The New Cartoonist.

NOSEY BUSINESS! Dean with award & beer

SUPREME TALENT! Morten the marvellous

NOT SO... VERY FUNNY Marshall with top award

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the fun continued at The Barley Mow pub...

...MOMENTS

DRAWING UNDER THE INFLUENCE! cartoonists attempt to scribble...

THE AFTER SHOW! Kevin Wells, Pete Songi & The Radical Embroiderer

DOING IT FOR SE LONDON! ....Banx announcing award

CAN YOU SEE THE PUB FROM THERE? ....Hendin & Venables on stage

SPEECH!

THIS WAY UP! Mike Stokoe, Rebecca Hendin & Ken

pictures:Mark Winter

IN CONVERSATION ....Achaz von Hardenberg & Guy Venables

PUB CHATTER!

WELL LIT! Rob Murray, Ed Naylor & Dean Patterson

EYES ON THE PRIZE Ken with Jess Judge

ALL MINE!

ALL SMILES! Rebecca Hendin, Ella Baron & Jess Judge

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CHEERS! Ben Jennings, Achaz von Hardenberg & Martin Rowson enjoying a tipple

MAKING A RUN FOR IT!

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CARTOONIST FEATURE

THE WINNING SPECTATOR THE NEW CARTOONIST SPENT AN HOUR WITH THE COMPETITION VICTOR LUKE FAROOHKI It’s not everyday one of the leading political magazines in the country announces a competition to find a new cartoonist.

With the departure from the cover of cartoon legend Morten Morland, The Spectator found itself one cartoonist short, and so a decision to launch a comptition was launched, with £500 to the winner and the chance to adorn the pages of the magazine.

They were looking for fresh, funny and original work and were happy for seasoned pros or newbies to enter with Michael Heath (The Spectator’s Cartoon Editor for 33 years) forming part of the judging panel. The brief was simple; to choose at least one of three themes and to produce a cartoon in full colour.

1) A special relationship: Donald Trump wins in November. How will Keir Starmer handle relations with the new US president?

2) Refuseniks: why Gen Z doesn’t want to join the army.

3) Starlink: Meloni and Musk – how these new power players took on the world.

Congratulations Luke! How do you feel winning such a prestigious competition?

I’ve always drawn for fun, but in the past have only rarely been paid for it. Becoming an illustrator and cartoonist has been my life-long ambition, so it’s a wonderful feeling.

Did your winning ideas come to you straight away and did you go for all three themes?

I decided from the beginning to go with the theme of the potential relationship between Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump, because of the distinct and contrasting personalities of the two men.

Keir Starmer was unexpectedly the easier of the two to caricature; once I got his mouth right, the personality was there.

Donald Trump had been caricatured by so

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CAPTURING LIKENESS ...studies of Kemi Badenoch Robert Jenrick & Rachel Reeves

PRIZE WINNER Luke Farookhi

many others - and so well - that it was initially difficult to draw a caricature of him that did not feel derivative. The solution was a quick sketch of the Golden Pheasant (which famously looks like Trump, not just in the blond plumage but also in its facial expression) to discern exactly which facial features of Trump I wanted to exaggerate.

Once the caricatures were settled on, the relationship was defined by the size difference (to indicate relative power) and the personality of the caricatures.

My original sketch had Starmer holding onto Trump’s long red tie, but the landscape composition made it more suitable for him to be clinging on to Trump’s hair in the final drawing.

The Spectator issue in which the competition winner was announced coincided with the US election, but as the winner was not yet known a different illustration was called for, depicting

WINNING ENTRY Luke depiction of Trump and Starmer

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris playing tug-of-war with the American flag. It was a (welcome) challenge to fit a tug-ofwar in a portrait-format composition.

Where did cartooning start for you? Have you always drawn political cartoons?

I first got interested in political cartoons long before I knew anything about politics, when I saw Peter Brookes’ Nature Notes cartoon of Margaret Thatcher as a ‘Rabid Old Bat’ in the Times in 1996. From that point I was cutting cartoons out of newspapers to collect them and copy them - gradually I became more aware of the deeper meaning of the cartoons and the politicians being depicted.

Before the Spectator competition, I had occasionally drawn cartoons as and when I felt I had a good idea for one. At Leeds university I did illustrations for the student newspaper. A couple of times I was the in-house caricaturist for

LUKE FAROOHKI events held by friends and family, doing quick caricatures of the event attendees. But until this competition, I had never been paid to draw political cartoons.

Which cartoonists inspire you?

Peter Brookes was the first political cartoonist I became aware of, and I wrote him fan-mail (to which he very kindly responded) while I was still in school.

I also adore Gerald Scarfe’s drawings and studiously copied him as well - his ability to use very elegant lines to depict very grotesque subjects is particularly appealing.

Al Hirschfeld is also an enomous inspiration to me. He was a brilliant caricaturist - I love the way his drawings distil the person being depicted into a distinct essence of their likeness, with only a few smooth lines.

What are your processes? Do you draw with traditional equipment or digitally?

I work in traditional media, and then scan the drawings in.

The lines are in ink dip pen and india ink. Most of my other drawings are purely black and white and drawn in a more engraverly style with a lot of cross-hatching, but my illustrations for the Spectator are more economic with the line-work, to allow the colours to breathe a little. I draw the colours in magic markers.

INCORPORATING COLOUR Lukes previous political work

When will we see you in The Spectator?

Whenever they ask me I am happy to contribute!

I am enjoying the articles I am being asked to illustrate; British politicians are always welcome fodder for the cartoonist, but I’m also very grateful to have had the opportunity so far to caricature other world leaders like Presidents Xi, Putin and Trump, all larger-than-life personalities.

Finally, I imagine a £500 prize is very welcome. Did you spend it well? January sales?

It is indeed very welcome! I haven’t yet decided on what to do with it, but I should probably spend a small amount of it getting my cartoons framed.

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

LUKE FAROOKHI

GETTING STARTED! Luke’s work so far in The Spectator

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THE THREE S’s A CARTOON ICON SERIES

THE RONALD SEARLE EFFECT

LOOKING AT THE LIFE AND WORKS OF ONE OF THE GREATEST CARTOONISTS OF OUR TIME MARK WINTER reflecting “There was an irrepressible impulse to draw.

I cannot remember wanting to be anything else other than an artist.”.

Ronald Searle passed away peacefully a day before the end of 2011, aged 91. it was, give or take, 25,200 days longer than he expected to live, after his horror hiatus as a prisoner of war in the Southeast Asian theatre of the Second World War. “My God! Every day is a present,” he told the BBC, when interviewed on his 85th birthday.

Nearly seven decades on borrowed time gave us all the chance to witness and admire the work of the world’s greatest cartoonist of the last 100 years.

With war inevitable nineteen-year-old Ronald suspended his studies at the Cambridge School of Art and enlisted in the Royal Engineers as an architectural draughtsman. 2072249 Sapper Searle R., RE was eventually stationed in Singapore, arriving on the same day General Yamashita’s Japanese army poured into the soCATS Searle’s feline series called British stronghold in January 1942.

A few days later the invaders secured victory, cholera. resulting in the largest British surrender in “What kept me going was that if I could only history. Untrained and ill-equipped for jungle show people what it had been like, I would have warfare, Ronald dubbed the defence plan, achieved something in the short life I was likely “a scorched arse policy”. He was one of the 50,000 captured and initially incarcerated at the to have.”.

Changi Prison Camp. He wore an armband with LEFTIE a Japanese inscription that translated as ‘one Ronald was a natural left-hander, who has been captured in battle and is to be but when a severe skin disease beheaded or castrated at the will of the caused massive ulcers to Emperor’. render his drawing mitt Ronald suffered repeated useless for a while bouts of malaria, beriberi, he used his right. running sores and frequent Fellow prisoners beatings with the bamboo found scraps of lash, including a pickaxe paper for him embedded in his back. His and various forms weight dropped to less than 40 of crude drawing kilograms, subsisting only on PORTRAIT AT WAR implements. He even a daily bowl of rice. “I had to do devised ways to create something to preserve my sanity, his own ink, including using and so I painted.”

He made hundreds of sketches of the squalor dyes meant for staining microscope slides. When hunger took control, and the misery, the deplorable conditions, the they supplemented their daily rice atrocities, the horrors, the sadistic guards and intake with fried cats, always saving the tails for fellow soldiers at great risk, concealing them Ronald’s brushes. under the mattresses of prisoners dying of

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His sketches are described as “remarkable documents of survival in the face of the grossest inhumanity.” Harrowing and moving, he had mastered the fine balance between description and expression. Ronald called them “the graffiti of a condemned man”, intended to leave a rough witness of his passing through, but found himself to his surprise and delight, among the reprieved.

“It was the making of me… it made an artist out of a cartoonist and gave me a purpose – life models, captives stricken, dying, you can’t have that sort of experience without it directing the rest of your life”. It changed his attitude to all things, including humour.

300 of his drawings survived along with him.

On his return to England they were part of an exhibition at the Cambridge School of Art –

month for the next three years.

The assistant editor, Kaye Webb (who he later married) had published the first in the series in the October 1941 issue.

She said, “Searle does not really think of schoolgirls as murderous little horrors. But subconsciously he was seeking to reduce horror into a comprehensive and somehow palatable form.”

ST TRINIANS The main inspiration for Searle’s view of human nature was now his wartime incarceration. The new series content was much darker compared to the earlier years.

Ronald agreed that the cruelty depicted at St Trinian’s derived partly from his captivity.

It made Ronald one of the best-known reproduced in his first book Forty Drawings cartoonists of the day – one of the (1946). Some also featured in fellow prisoner, ‘fathers of black humour’ considered Australian writer, Russell Braddon’s bestseller ground-breaking in the 1950s. A classic The Naked Island (1952) which was a chronicle example: two girls wrestling in a physical of his POW years and later included in the education class with one plunging Collins and Imperial War Museum’s a knife into the other’s back. publication To The Kwai And A teacher rebukes her with Back: War Drawings 1939-1945 “Some little girl didn’t hear (1986). The majority of the me say ‘unarmed combat.” St drawings are now part of Trinian’s became a national the museum’s permanent institution with the cartoon collection in London. comic strip series and a flood of With Ronald back in book collections that followed England he lost no time and Ronald became annoyed. picking up his career, walking He baulked at producing yet into the offices of the irreverent DELINQUENTS another in the sequence, complaining and popular six penny Lilliput sketch for Lilliput he was becoming a prisoner of his magazine, dropping off a folder containing seventy two cartoons in faded brown own creations, and was being ‘trivialised’ and ‘typecast’. ink on stained, yellowing paper. Among them He tried to “kill them off” in 1952, blowing up were the second and third St Trinian’s cartoons, the school with an atomic bomb in The Terror about sadistic teachers and juvenile delinquent Of St Trinian’s, but it did not kill off the franchise pupils at an anarchic girls’ boarding school. He with the popular characters spawning a series of was asked for more and published them every comedy film adaptions.

Enter, Nigel Molesworth, a classic postwar cynic, semi-literate hero, self-styled curse of St Custard’s lurking in the depths of 3B created with his friend, former teacher and BBC journalist Geoffrey Willans. The supporting cast included Headmaster Grimes and head boy Grabber, a younger brother called Molesworth 2 (identified as ‘George’ by a ‘gurl’ in the final book) and a ‘grate’ friend Peason, but with Nigel’s phonetic spelling could actually be Pearson. Five books followed from Down With Skool: A Guide To School Life For Tiny Pupils And Their Parents (1953) to The Complete Molesworth (1958) and the Molesworth Penguin reprint in 1994.

“It was really just a potpourri of ideas that dribbled on… became a sort of cult thing,” Ronald said in one of his final interviews for Channel 4 news. He had achieved ‘sainthood’ with the malicious minxes of St Trinian’s and

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

their male counterparts at St Custard’s. But Ronald wanted to move on to more serious work.

He also said that St Trinian’s was only a small, single chapter in a long career and his principle was, “the moment something is successful, kill it, because it can only get worse!”

Writing Ronald’s obituary in The Independent, John Walsh said, “The man who defined the fine art of the satirical sketch, depicted the anarchy beneath the English school system, whose scratchy, satirical pen skewered a throng of national stereotypes that included egomaniacal teachers, clueless debutantes, droopy moustached colonels, black stockinged schoolgirls and ink-stained scholars.

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THE THREE S’s A CARTOON ICON SERIES work and the burden of celebrity. It was the first time he had paused since leaving prison fifteen years earlier. He needed to reassess the direction in which he was going and eliminate responsibilities and social demands.

Ronald arrived in Paris with a clear plan of intention to start again and stayed in France for the rest of his life, moving to the secluded hilltop village of Tourtour in the Alpes-de-HauteProvence in 1975 with his second wife, the English painter, theatre and jewellery designer Monica Koenig. They remained devoted for 44 years, until her death in July 2011, a few months before Ronald’s.

‘Discovery begins with the exception’ is a saying I have used often. In drawing terms it relates to broken symmetry, objects stand out when they are not the same. Ronald Searle was an exception when I discovered him.

MOVIES

COURTROOM SKETCH from the Eichmann trial, 1961 in Jerusalem

To the post-war generation, in need of reassurance that British values of decency and fair play continued unscathed, Searle was a bracing shock.”

He lampooned the foibles of the English class system as well as clerics, politicians, even other artists. His publisher, Simon Winder confirmed, “he was extraordinarily sceptical about all forms of authority.” He produced a phenomenal volume of work for magazines and newspapers, including Life, Holiday, Punch, The New Yorker, The Sunday Express, The News Chronicle and Tribune and later Le Monde. Brilliant, impromptu draughtsmanship, searching, exploring, deceptively whimsical concealing the barb of satire or disapproval.

FRONT PAGES Ronald was Punch magazine’s chief cover artist, theatre caricaturist, produced endless books of cartoons, a regular in The New Yorker, advertising, posters, theatre sets and animated films. His unique distinctively spidery and angular style of drawing was in demand on both sides of the Atlantic. “His drawings sometimes superficially resembled scrambled eggs laced with cobwebs” said The New York Times cartoonist Bill Mauldin.

Life magazine opened the way for more illustrated reportage. He was sent around the world to draw landscapes, characters and events - from ringside at a wrestling match to American Presidential primaries (including JF Kennedy’s campaign), to a courtroom artist at the

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He entered my stream of consciousness when I was a youngster, living in New Zealand’s southern most city, Invercargill. They had their priorities right back then, three cinemas in the main street, only a few blocks apart. I was a permanent resident – my parents always knew where to find me. Two movies come to mind; Nuremberg trials and the Nazi war criminal in late 1965 the British epic period comedy Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem. film satirising the early years of aviation Those Ronald was one of the first media stars. His Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines Or career took a meteoric rise, a trajectory that How I Flew From London To Paris In 25 Hours looked unstoppable until one day he quietly And 11 Minutes. Ronald created the title, stopped it. In 1961 he left a note, he left his wife intermission and end credits art and of course and son and daughter, he left his possessions, he the poster. I was star struck by Searle and the left for France and left Britain for good. film wasn’t bad either. A book was subsequently He said later it was a “brutal, but necessary published including all of Ronald’s illustrations, act of survival,” acknowledging it caused his written by Bill Richardson and Allen Andrews. It family great pain. He had struggled with the went on my Christmas list. expectations, the obligations, the pressures of a Five years later, Ronald Neame’s film Scrooge punishing schedule of deadlines, non-stop was adapted from Charles Dickens 1843 novella A Christmas Carol, with Albert Finney as the title role and also featuring Alec Guinness and Kenneth Moore… but, the highlight for me was Ronald’s title sequences that comprised of background illustrations rendered with watercolour, gouache, pencil, pen and ink on board with credit overlays produced with gouache on celluloid. He and his first wife Kaye had worked on an animated version with Christopher Fry in 1959. Sadly the project fizzled out, but the drawings did make it to print in a book published two years later. Another one for my Christmas list.

The online publication Art Of The Title featured Scrooge, saying it was “one of the countless renditions of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol but the only one introduced with luscious hand-painted titled cards by illustrator Ronald Searle”. A book by Elaine Donaldson also featured Ronald’s Scrooge art, published by Cinema Centre Films – yet another

addition to my Christmas list.

When I was 13 my favourite teacher Kath Sutton (yes, another ‘S’ of influence) introduced me and my classmates in 2S to The 13 Clocks And The Wonderful O (1962), a book containing two of James Thurber’s short stories illustrated

by Ronald.

I was immediately mesmerised by the mixture of fairy tale, parable and poetry of the writing, but equally taken by the cover art and the illustrations inside. It remains today one of my favourite publications. Molesworth then became a must read for me at High School. The library had all of the books, and he was probably responsible for my misadventures with spelling.

Ronald collated a bibliography of biblical proportions, from Forty Drawings (1946) to What Am I Still Doing Here?

(2011, with Roger Lewis) with well over a hundred in between including adaptions (Charles Dickens, Gilbert and Sullivan) and collaborations (James Thurber, Jeffrey Archer). Not all appeared on my Christmas lists, though some are on birthday requests still to materialise.

“I love champagne,” exclaimed Ronald in one interview. He called it his engine oil. “The bubbles started giving me ideas…” and obviously inspired many books, including The Illustrated Winespeak, Ronald Searle’s Wicked World of Wine Tasting (1983) and Something in the Cellar: Ronald Searle’s Wonderful World of Wine (1981) While I’m not a connoisseur of the grape, I would be interested in attempting some of the directions provided in his guide How to Open a Bottle of Wine (1983), with the ‘train track method’ being a particular favourite.

In Paris, Ronald found a new commercial subject: cats! He began drawing “quirky, impossibly charming, exuberantly expressive” cat caricatures. He confessed he actually possessed no love for cats (apart from the occasional fried moggy morsel back in the Kwai

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

SEARLE ALFRESCO PERIOD from 1977

Jungle). They were simply “what sold” and a “convenient international currency”. America loved the cats and many of his New Yorker covers featured a feline gag. The original cartoon canon of Searle’s Cats was published in 1967, and The Guardian’s Michael McNay commented that they were “as pampered, avaricious, ugly and dissatisfied as their owners. This work retained to a high degree a sense of poisonous unease which was his legacy from the war.”

CORRESPONDENCE While I had an admiring artistic connection with Ronald, I decided to extend it to another level – airmail – and posted letters to him during the 1990’s. One included a simple caricature, which he signed and dedicated for me. He also graciously contributed to the Celebrity Circles project I was coordinating for the Koru Care Charitable Trust, raising funds for Kiwi kids with cancer.

It was a request that resonated with Ronald since his wife was cleared of breast cancer after many years of treatment. I mailed him a blank circle and he kindly sent back a wonderful ‘Searle cat’.

Ronald was, as they say, the cartoonist’s cartoonist who influenced practically everybody, aware of it or not. Without Searle, the development of satirical and political cartoons in the UK would be distinctly different.

It’s impossible to imagine Steadman or Scarfe without Searle, or the

generations inspired by them, with an obvious link to contemporaries such as Chris Riddell, Quentin Blake and Martin Rowson. Martin, in fact recalled in a Guardian tribute receiving an unsolicited package, “addressed in an oddly familiar, spidery hand”. It was from Ronald and contained a box of pens he had bought in 1963 along with a note and a few doodles he’d made to check the nibs worked. He thought Martin would like them as he had quite enough to see him out. “For any British cartoonist this was the equivalent of being given the high five by God”.

Steve Bell, who arranged the 90th birthday retrospect at the Cartoon Museum in London and was also a recipient of a box of Ronald’s pen’s said “His work is truly international, yet absolutely grounded in the English comic tradition.”

Gerald Scarfe described him as his “hero” and Ralph Steadman has always been a huge fan. Even John Lennon attributed his early drawing style to Ronald. By consensus Ronald Searle was easily the greatest cartoonist of the 20th century, or as the man himself preferred to be called, ‘graphic satirist’. Not bad for a lad who left school at 14 and had his first drawing published in his local newspaper The Cambridge Daily News a year later.

We are all grateful he was given the extra 25,200 days to live. In his final interview, when discussing his prolific output Ronald was asked, “how do you feel?” He replied “Exhausted. Did I do all that? It’s kilometres of line, I must have been a maniac.”

Simply thank you, Ronald.

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TECHNOLOGY

... SO #SOCIALLY SPEAKING SHOULD I STAY OR I SHOULD GO? THE PERILS OF A CARTOONIST ACROSS MUTIPLE PLATFORMS PETE SONGI #everything Another day and another pearler on social media from Planet Wisdom via the finger tips of Elon Musk!

Whether you are in it for the likes, selling your wares or just plain trying to entertain, as a cartoonist it’s hard not to keep your head buried in an ostrich-shaped hole when certain gate keepers decide to vent.

Then there are the trolls or armchair critics that take joy in pointing out inaccuracies, saying something is “S**t” or “Who’s that supposed to be?”. “Why would you put yourself though it?”, I was once asked. And after one Twitter follower pointed out that his brother, a carpenter, had noticed I’d drawn a saw cutting the floorboards beneath Rishi Sunak the wrong way round, I kind of agreed. For about 45 seconds. My retort that I had always been crap at DIY felt so right at the time and was met with the right kind of emojis but the interaction could have easily gone South.

THERE’S APPS FOR THAT! So what does everyone use? And for what reasons. I did a quck survey of a few cartoonists to see what their preferences were...

“Twitter is definitely the place to be for the endorphin kick of likes and retweets. Perhaps less so under the new regime, but it still seems to be the

place you can showcase you work to the widest audience.

For me though, this rarely translates into new work or sales.

I find LinkedIn is much more useful for generating work. Perhaps it’s because I began cartooning for the corporate world long before I hack a crack at the print media. It’s also cyclical though – the companies that commission

“Twitter/X seems the absolute go to still despite the purge over to BlueSky. I never felt comfortable losing my numbers by just ditching it only to risk Musk selling it on a whim like he bought it. I’ve only recently started posting on facebook after seeing other with all that. cartoonists using it, but I feel that’s As you probably know, I’m barred indefinitely just old mates and work colleagues from Twitter after then Tory chairman Greg Hands so not likely to gain any gigs with it. posted a photo of himself with a plate of fish and Instagram is fun but again, it feels chips, and I said that I hope it choked him. like just a place to store images Despite the best efforts and threads just appears souless. I of fellow cartoonists and might give Linked-In more of a go journalists I stayed banned, to see what comes of it, but in all and have now moved to honestly Scoial Media feels to me BlueSky, like many others. just like a momentary dip in a very Chris Williams(dink) has large ocean. Did anyone see that formed a cartoonists’ ripple? No? Ah ok then.” group there with lots of Pete Songi members, it’s good to @songicartoons be surrounded by fellow woke libtards!

“Twitter was always my main @birchy01.bsky.social platform of choice for many

BATTLING THE HATE WITH ANDREW (BIRCHY) BIRCH! I’ve been on Facebook for ages, like most people I know. I’ve joined several niche groups, such as No Context Atomic Comics, where someone posts a frame from an obscure Sci Fi or early superhero mag, and the others come up with alternative captions. Much more fun than it sounds. Also The Mods, whose members argue about the correct number of buttons on a jacket, and post photos of Paul Weller or The Small Faces. At the moment of writing, I’m in FaceBook jail after being reported by a racist for saying that there’s no photo on his profile because he’s too ugly to be f****d without a bag over his head. I reported him back to be told that his vile remarks aren’t reason to bar him…

I’m on Instagram but rarely use it, it seems to be mainly for selling your wares, I can’t be bothered

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cartoons tend to post them on LinkedIn, so when other individuals and companies see them and want their own it’s the first place they look “ James Mellor @jamesdfmellor

years but I no longer post on it. I’ve no plans to “As the Editor of a brand new product deactivate my account though, I want to hang for cartoonists I’ve had to take on the extra on to the @roystoncartoons handle and not responsibilty of it’s social media output. have it hijacked. Plus, as an eternal optimist, This has found me lost in passwords and I hold out hope that Elon Musk may implode usernames galore recently so I’ve had to like one of his rockets and someone else will be pretty picky about were I put The New buy it and return it to normal. At its peak it was Cartoonist. brilliant, a fun way of interacting with people and I went all in on Twitter and Instagram feleing keeping up with the news as it happens. I was they were the most established for a cartoonist gutted at the way it declined. following. I then followed the Like many, I jumped to hoardes over to BlueSky which Bluesky. It’s as near to Twitter I’ve found gets very heavy “I still use Instagram as you can get but so far it and therefore Facebook on likes and follows each all seems rather serious. Less time I log on. I try and keep and am therefore irreverent. Maybe that will it cartoon related if I can so looking forward to change. I’m also starting to eachtime that means clicking use Instagram more, it’s good on accounts and hoping I making up the vilest for showing your work though lies imaginable about can see cartoons and not less good for conversations, I something nasty or 18+. So far Zuckerberg in the name fingers crossed I’ve avoided find. Posting cartoons online of “Free Speech” has led to me selling prints any harm or hate but hat no and originals and I have got doubt will change the bigger MARTIN ROWSON some commissions but I’ve the magasine gets. never really “monetised” Linked-In and Facebook any of the platforms. I’ve set up Insta so the are probably a step too far for the magazine posts automatically appear on Facebook and although I have mistakenly set up a Facebook Threads, which is useful, although of course page which needs taking down.

Mark Zuckerberg is starting to appear as odious Pete Songi as Musk. We’re not exactly spoilt for choice with (with my TNC Editor cap on) social media.” @thenewcartoonist.bsky.social Royston Robertson @roystoncartoons CONCLUSIONS It’s perilous out there on Social“I’ve wiped all my content from Media and with TikTok being Twitter so it cant be used for AI banned and probably retype purposes and just left a instated by a certain Mr single post with forwarding Donald Trump, who knows details. Logged out and what the new thing round deleted the App from my the corner is going to phone. be? And as long as I’m not missing it Elon Musk is around and I get the feeling I buying and breaking may be doing the same things like some with facebook the way sort of irritated things are going. schoolboy then Bluesky still seems the road will be like a good place to be a very long one. and although my follower Get out of it numbers are still a bit lower what you can in I’m confident people are seeing terms of work things and not being hidden due but I fear the days of actual to an algorithm. Interactions are interaction or meaningful debate a lot better than on Twitter. Trolls are just clouds in everyones coffee. and nutters are starting to turn up, Get obsessed with likes and retweets because people are people, but as and go round telling everyone how many far as I know they are easier to deal followers you have if it makes you happy, with.“ for me I can take it or leave it!

Chris Williams (Dink) PETE @chriswilliams-dink.bsky.social SONGI

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

MARTIN ROWSON ON HIS OWN SOCIAL MEDIA TALE The reason I finally left Twitter was because Ego Mush was about to change t&cs unilaterally, meaning he could harvest any and all of my content to feed his cages full of AI flying monkeys, like the squalid little thief he is.

That was the final straw, but he’d already broken his new toy so there was no way the rest of us could play with it like we used to. So far as I can tell practically no one was seeing my posts, and wouldn’t unless I paid the richest man in the world so he could have yet more money.

Well, as her majesty Queen Elizabeth II said to Sir Anthony Blunt when he distracted her from peering at her Tiepolos to look at the cock ring Stalin had given him for Christmas, “Well f**** that for a game of soldiers!”

Thus I abandoned my 30k followers, having failed to get myself banned for repeatedly calling Musk a c***. Andrew Birch was luckier. As to BlueSky, to be honest I no longer have the time or energy to lower the tone - which was quite fun on Twitter a decade ago (I once spent an entire evening goading Louise Mensch into blocking me) - but now is both boring and degrading for everyone involved. Do I miss the whining sanctimonious fascists? No. I still use Instagram and therefore Facebook and am therefore looking forward to making up the vilest lies imaginable about Zuckerberg in the name of “Free Speech”.

But I’ve never really believed any of the claims social media makes about reach or traction. Even back in the day when I had 30k followers on pre-lapsarian Twitter, they might like or hate my sweary rants, but even if a third or maybe two-thirds were actually bots, I still couldn’t get any of them to buy my books, buy tickets for my shows or my original artwork.

We should close the internet down in a vast global ritualised conflagration as the warehouses full of servers are ceremoniously put to the torch by UN peacekeepers and the techbros are sacrificed in gorily inventive ways to appease the great 1000 headed pig-god “Free Expression “. We’ll miss the cat gifs for a few weeks but we’ll probably get over it. @martinrowson.bsky.social

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RESOLUTIONS

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RESOLUTIONS

DOES SIZE REALLY MATTER? DOTS PER INCH, LARGE CANVASES, TINY NIBS AND THE CONFESSIONS OF A SLOW LEARNER! RUPERT BESLEY from the coalface ‘Resolution’ brings to mind new leaves not turned over and good intentions not fulfilled.

I can’t be the only one to have a loft lagged with youthful diaries that begin with meticulous observation and lengthy expositions on the meaning of life, before getting pared back by mid-Jan to ‘Got up - nothing much’ and petering out a few days later.

But, since the arrival of computer graphics, resolution has more often to do with dots per inch. With digitised artwork, there’s a balance to strike between files too small (that blur on printing or enlargement) and things too massive to send. In my early days of computing and first attempt to email a rough, I managed to attach the whole desktop. As the minutes of whirring turned into hours, it dawned on me what was happening and I did somehow stop the machine passing its entire contents and my darkest secrets (but not that dark, I assure you) on to an unknown client.

So, size matters? Not really. The technology has moved on and most things can be sent one way or another. Computers handle enlargement and reduction with ease. Cartoons look good onscreen, not just the glowing colours but, with high-ish res, the ability to zoom in and out almost infinitely.

Anyone not in the know might easily think that cartoons they see in the paper are drawn at much the same size. Some are, most not.

That’s the mistake I made as a naive teenager bowled over by the work of Gerald Scarfe and Ralph Steadman that seemed able to

map out every pucker and wrinkle of ravaged and materials to hand and the requirements of flesh in the tiniest of spidery lines. In a vain the job in hand. ‘Half-up’ has been traditionally bid to do likewise, I bought myself a technical reckoned to be about right for print purposes. drawing pen with the finest of nibs. More like But, happily, there are no rules to cartooning. a hypodermic syringe really. Every time I tried Less happily, with increasing competition for it, the ink had clogged inside and my furious diminishing space, cartoons tend now to get shaking to start the flow ended printed ever smaller in the few with stabbing the other paw. that still take them.

OTHER WIZARDS publications I’m left marked for life, with Shame. They’re better larger.

DO THEIR MAGIC knuckle tattoos as if by Seurat.

Somewhere beneath the tip Only later did I find out that the that is my workspace are stacked SOMETIMES maestros worked with regular huge pads of quality art-paper SMALLER THAN pens on huge sheets much that I bought in a sale offer at reduced in print.

YOU MIGHT EXPECT the start of my career 40-plus Steadman and Scarfe (and years ago. It had not occurred to Searle was another) use large me that the future of cartooning surfaces to attack with a freedom and vigour could be paperless. Nor had I realised just that stay alive on the paper. For half a century how daunting it would be to face a large the work of Giles and Thelwell was everywhere, blank sheet of expensive paper with every in newspapers, cards and books. But the real chance of messing it up, should any idea ever treat is to find in exhibitions the larger (A2) arrive. Instead, each time, I reach for the less originals and to see all the skill and work intimidating back of an envelope or scrap of gone into them. Other wizards do their magic used paper on which to make that first scribble. sometimes smaller than you might expect This, I soon decide, will only get worse if copied (cf Steve Bell’s ‘If…’ strips just over 8 x 3 ins, or overworked, so this is what then gets fed into Jonathan Cusick’s caricatures in acrylics, some the scanner. Cartoons are there to be drawn around 8 x 10 ins, or Matt’s pocket cartoons at in any way, to any size, on any surface. Just so 3 x 4 ins). long as they raise a smile, enliven text or make a point.

SCALE

Cartoonists work to whatever scale they are most comfortable with, depending on the tools

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

RUPERTBESLEY

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THE RESOLUTIONS GALLERY

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THEME FOR THE NEXT ISSUE:

GROWTH

Email entries to editor@thenewcartoonist.co.uk Deadline: FEB 20th 2025 thenewcartoonist.co.uk

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RESOLUTIONS

38

PUB EXHIBITION

SO LET IT SNOW IN SE10

SOME OF THE UK’s TOP CARTOONISTS DISPLAY THEIR WARES IN A PUB IN GREENWICH, LONDON PETE SONGI curating again The third cartoon exhibition in a south-east London pub in a year was launched at the end of November 2024.

Following on from exhibitions ‘Pubs & Bars near me’ in January and ‘Summer Lovin’ in June, ‘Let It Snow’ is a winter themed collection for the walls of this wonderful boozer and runs until the end of January 2024. You can check out a video walk through opposite.

There are over 90 cartoons on display from over 50 cartoonists including: Nick Newman, Tim Ruscoe, Roger Penwill, Steve Bright, Steve Bell, The Surreal McCoy, Lorna Miller, The Radical Embroiderer, Dave Brown, Martin Rowson, Kathryn Lamb, Banx, Guy Venables, Glenn Marshall, Samuel Ojo, Jess Judge, Dean Patterson, Chris Williams (Dink), Ed Naylor, Ros Asquith, Mike Stokoe, Pete Dredge, Mark Winter and many more.

The exhibition is also blessed to be furnished by a very special Ben PUB QUIZ NIGHT Jennings offering. A ... and didn’t come last really wonderful piece from his fantastic Snowflake’s Progress show. Those attending the launch were treated to a pub quiz were I can exclusively report they didn’t come last!

DUKE OF GREENWICH PUB

JOHN SACKS MODEL King Charles & Steve Bell

IT’S HERE! Chris Willams locates the toons!

GOOD VIBES! launch night

THE 3RD ONE! 2024 Exhibitions At The Duke of Greenwich

CARTOON IN A PUB TOILET ...a Ben Jennings special!

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

SNOW WAY! ... the wonderful work of Royston

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POLITICAL CARTOON OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2024

AND THE WINNERS ARE...

CARTOONISTS GATHER FOR FREE BEER AND NIBBLES FOR THE ANNUAL AWARDS SHOW PETE SONGI in attendance The silly season began with the annual Political Cartoon Awards in association with Ellwood Atfield and the Political Cartoon Society in London.

This year the PCO were notable in their absence from the awards, having chosen to dissociate themselves after last year’s ‘bun-fight’ involving the rather toxic Suella Braverman and the plucky cartoonist Rebecca Hendin.

This meant no ‘Gag Cartoon of Year’, although PCO members were still allowed to enter ‘Pocket cartoons’ via a very welcome Jeremy Banx sized porthole.

EARLY DOORS Those of a nervous dispostion or who just like to arrive early at these events found a comfortable landing strip in the form of The Plough public house on Museum St, a stone’s throw away from the new venue of Bloomsbury Way, (Ellwood Atfield’s shiny, recently acquired new office space.)

Those braving an early tipple before quaffing the free stuff included cartoon legends Steve Bell and Nick Newman as well as Mark Winter, Frankie Winter, James Mellor, Rob Murray, Royston Robertson and Mike Stokoe.

BIG SCREEN ACTION the awards back drop

TAKING IT WELL Newman happy for Banx

to drum up support on social media, and willing the sooner it can get back to the church on to hit the neigbours and extended family with St John’s Smith Square the better! an iPad, any cartoonist could quite easily The first Award was for Pocket Cartoonist of find themselves standing on the the year and was won by Grizelda with her winner’s podium. For those offering from The Spectator, beating who need that kind of boost off some pretty tough competition ‘CROWDS ‘GATHER to an either fledgling or but sadly not in attendance to a small room of expectation flailing career I tip my pick up the award. hat. For everyone else I Next up Jeremy Banx took THE EVENT say ‘Cheers!’ home The Pocket Cartoonist For many these awards are just an excuse to Perhaps still of the year, a much deserved meet up with some old cartoon faces, have a hungover from last win. The Political Cartoon laugh and a whynge while trying to avoid any of the year followed with the corporate noise. There’s year’s PR disaster, the organisers opted for a wonderful Graeme Bandeira an opportunity LANDING STRIP the Plough public house more sedate, cuddly line picking up the runner-up prize for to hear a talk up in the form of ex Green his effort for the Northern Agenda from politicians Party Leader Caroline Lucas and podcast. Fergus Boylan who hadflown and the enjoy old Tory grandee Sir Graham Brady. over from Dublin won first prize for his the freebies on Both gave excellent speeches with some funny work in The London Economic. Fergus offer, and the anecdotes, with Brady also offering his book for also won a bottle of fizz which he couldn’t actual awards sale... (also funny that). take back on the plane, so TNC took presentations The venue however the opportunity to relieve him of this can become was less funny, stressful situation and will definitely secondary. For feeling a bit tight, tell him what it tastes like. The big others however, and even prize of the night brought it can feel a bit smaller the proceedings to a more serious. than last close, Ben Jennings With the year’s, receiving the voting system and runner-up prize open to CHEERS FERGUS for Political CAROLINE LUCAS anyone SIR GRAHAM BRADY from TNC Towers Cartoonist of who’s happy go go for green in the blue corner

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GRAEME BANDEIRA runner-up for political cartoon

TO THE VICTORS THE SPOILS! winners Banx, Boylan & Brown

FERGUS BOYLAN winner for political cartoon

ALL THE ENTRIES ON SHOW watch the video run-through...

THE FULL LIST OF WINNERS!

the year and TNC cover star Dave Brown taking home the victory.

So with the presentations over the next job was to mingle and out stay our welcome until the office staff got twitchy around 9pm.

POCKET CARTOON OF THE YEAR

GRIZELDA

POCKET CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR

AFTER PARTY

JEREMY BANX

I say ‘After Party’, but essentially we all furrowed ourselves back to The Plough to continue the conversations until the poor staff kicked us all out way after the last bell.

POLITICAL CARTOON OF THE YEAR RUNNER-UP

“You really do need to leave now” “Can you keep quiet outside, we do have neighbours you know!”

POLITICAL CARTOON OF THE YEAR WINNER

GRAEME BANDERIA FERGUS BOYLAN

Face palms all round.

Cartoonists hey? Who’d have them?

POLITICAL CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR 2024 RUNNER-UP

Ellwood Atfield’s chosen charity and presence at the event was The Listening Place

BEN JENNINGS

The Listening Place offers free, confidential, face-to-face support for people who are feeling suicidal.

THE LISTENING PLACE

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GRIZELDA winner for pocket cartoon

POLITICAL CARTOONIST OF THE YEAR 2024 WINNER

DAVE BROWN 41

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 Emilia Gutsell Emilia Gutsell is 7 years old and lives in Invercargill, New Zealand. She is a gifted watercolour artist, with excellent handeye coordination, as well as having a talent for drawing Anime and creating her own characters from scratch.

Where do you get your ideas from?

Sometimes I think of them myself and sometimes I find them from books and videos that make me want to draw the stuff so I try to draw them.

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What influences your artwork?

I really like fantasy a lot, magical creatures and animals. I really like Japanese art - Hello Kitty and Anime. I watch a lot of youtubers make art.

What is your favourite artwork in a book?

I think the books that are fantasy like the Peter Rabbit books with fantasy art and the “I got you some kisses” books. Oh and Poppa Mark of course.

What inspires you to do art?

It’s because then you can get a lot of money by selling art because you can do really really good art. And I think maybe it’s just what I like to do.

EMILIA AGED 7

You might be my new boss one day Emilia – what sort of boss will you be?

I would be an art boss. I would be kind and let them take their time to make the art and if they mess up I will hand them a rubber and say it’s ok just try again. I would have lots of pictures on the wall of art I did as a kid, and the staff would be drawing pictures of stuff that will be put on sale - mostly animal drawings. They will work on the drawings that I tell them and at lunchtime everyone will get a break and when they return their work will be a little bit done by me. It’s fun and there is music and they can draw whatever they want in a style of the animal that I give them. Really good realistic drawings will sell for $100, ones that are kind of real but not really are $20.00 and ones that are still kinda good will be $5.00.

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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PENS DOWN!

ROWSON AS YOU PLEASE 38 YEARS OF WRITINGS WITH MIND BOGGLING ARTWORK ALL CAPTURED IN ONE PLACE

To understand talent, sometimes you need to look beyond the obvious; to go deeper and have a good rummage beneath the bonnet.

With a book on the scale of Martin Rowson’s As I Please, with 470 odd pages of his writings and drawings over the past 38 years, this could feel like a daunting task, and you could take one look and think that you’ll have that rummage another day. Don’t!

Admittedly, due to it’s length, this is not a book you just pick up and read over a weekend.

This chunk of a bible is a place you dip into, drawing you in to that moment in time. Whether you agree or disagree with the opinions or passion on display at that time isn’t relevant.

The writing grabs you instantly, and you can happily abandon whatever else you’re supposed to be doing and let it carry you off.

WRITINGS Spanning two decades, Rowson ponders everything—the ideological battles inside Labour, the psychopathology of the Tory Party, London Zoo, the British class system, Doctor Who, terrorism—and anything else that comes to mind a day or so before the deadline. This book is a collection of these columns alongside Rowson’s other textual journalism, from tiny underground magazines in the US to contributions to the Guardian, the Independent, and many other mainstream publications, on a range of subjects ranging from the Charlie Hebdo massacre to Karl Marx.

It’s not all heavyweight themes however, and much of the writing feels deeply personal and accessible. I loved the very moving Waitemata, written in the wake of Rowson’s father’s death, and Let’s kill Uncle, where the 11 year old Rowson begins to understand that horror “can, and often should be, played for laughs”, through the book by June Skinner he picks up at a secondhand bookstall. That he connects with the elderly writer, who’s daughter loved the piece, in 2024, and receives a personalized book from her, calling him her ‘perfect reader’, made me cry. You’ll also enjoy the incredible complexities of the fantastic artwork. An opening tale of the ‘Elephant in the Room’ takes you on a quite wonderful journey before you even get to the foreword by Kevin Maguire. It’s simply wonderful.

AS I PLEASE AND OTHER WRITINGS £13.60 Seagull Books

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BUY HERE

Described when I asked Martin Rowson as “oh just a few doodles” these astonishing images feel a lot more personal and maybe a bit

GET DRAWN TO THE PROMISED LAND

A CARTOON HISTORY OF BRITAIN, PALESTINE AND THE JEWS: 1917 - 1949 BY TIM BENSON As very recent history shows, navigating the troubles in the Middle East as a cartoonist can be a treacherous one.

A new book ‘Drawn to the Promised Land’ charts the history of Palestine from the Balfour Declaration to the creation of the state of Israel. Through the sharp wit of leading political cartoonists from Britain, the United States and other countries, this book shows how Britain’s policies changed repeatedly after it captured

DAVID LOW Evening Standard 23/3/49

Palestine from the Ottomans in 1917. From the Arab riots through to the Nazi persecution of European Jews and the unspeakable horrors of the Holocaust, cartoonists captured every painful twist and agonising turn of events.

A fascinating look through the archives ranging from hilariously biting satire to poignantly moving responses to the darkest chapters of twentieth century history.

BOB RODGER Daily Record - 16/6/36

HERBERT BLOCK Washington Post 08/7/46

DRAWN TO THE PROMISED LAND Halban Publishers £14:99

BUY HERE

UNDERSTAND THE MAGIC OF CARTOONS

A TRIBUTE TO A UNIQUE ART FORM: THE POWERFUL AND SIMPLE SINGLE-PANEL GAG CARTOON. Although The Funny Stuff by Phil Witte (apt name! :) and Rex Hesner professes not to be a how-to book per se, if you’re a beginner cartoonist wanting to come at the art with some background knowledge, this is a very comprehensive guide to the sort of things you’d probably want to know.

It looks not only at the unique form of the single-panel gag cartoon itself, but the context in which this type of humour (see humor, this is an American book) sits. Fairly analytical in some of its’ chapters, it goes as far as to break down types of humour, with sub-groups including satirical, observational, dark, whimsical etc, and offers a detailed examination of the creative process itself.

Interestingly, it looks at how the cartoonist’s style of humour often relates to their own culture and lived experiences, and explores themes such as the perspective of women, diversity and the many forms that takes, and talks extensively about individual cartoonists, with examples of their work. It’s not all American cartoonists however - our own Sarah Akinterinwa

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is mentioned, amongst others, and is universal enough for an aspiring cartoonist to relate to.

And it has some great cartoons!

FUNNY STUFF Globe Pequot Press £16.70

BUY HERE

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46

THE YOUNG CARTOONIST AWARDS 2024

COMPETITION

CARTOON DISCOVERIES!

IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN AS THE BRITISH CARTOONISTS’ ASSOCIATION SEEKS NEW BLOOD The annual quest to find the best new cartoon talent is upon us as The British Cartoon Association and The Cartoon Museum invite applications for the Young Cartoonist Awards 2024.

The Young Cartoonist of the Year Award was originally founded as the Mel Calman Award in 1995, in memory of The Times cartoonist and Cartoon Art Trust founder. The competition is now run jointly by the Cartoon Art Trust and the British Cartoonists’ Association.

WINNERS These awards are not just a celebration of new art, but a chance to forge a new career path.

Previous winners have included the great Will McPhail in 2013, now of NewYorker fame and a friend of TNC. In 2017 the incredibly talented Ella Baron took a prize home and can now be found gracing the pages of the Guardian and The Times.

Fergus Boylan was a winner in 2020 and can be found in this magazine’s pages as well as Private Eye, The Spectator and The London Economic. Zoom Rockman was a runner up in 2023 and was until recently published regularly in Private Eye. In 2022 friend of TNC and regular contributor Ed Garcia was a runner up, and Under 18 winner Corb Calow Davies has been published in The Guardian.

In 2023 Jess Judge was a runner up, and as well as appearing in TNC now has cartoons published in Private Eye. So what are you waiting for!

Cartoon Awards thenewcartoonist.co.uk

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EXCLUSIVE AARDMAN SIGNED PRINT OFFER

We are very excited to have worked with Aardman Animations to create this exclusive to The Cartoon Museum limited edition /of 100 print which has been signed by Nick Park.

The image has been taken from one of Nick Park’s pencil sketches for the stop-motion animation film The Wrong Trousers (1993).

Size: A3 (unmounted and unframed) Printed on Somerset Photo Satin 300gsm paper in the UK by Mat Sant Studio.

Each print comes with a certificate of authenticity. Posted rolled in a cardboard tube and wrapped in acid free tissue paper

Price £150 but readers of

can get 10% off with the discount code:

NEWCARTOONIST10

!

G N INI

CARTOON MUSEUM

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W

FI

FE L A N

A M E R

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Join us for our fourth annual conference and learn how to survive and thrive as a comic artist and creator.

Learn from industry experts and specialists all under one roof for one day only!

Find inspiration. Learn to live as a pro cartoonist.

Meet other cartoonists and make connections.

Lunch included.

Speakers will include: Corinne Pearlman Corinne Pearlman is an independent freelance editor and designer of graphic novels, developing new stories from commission through editorial, design and production to publication. Formerly commissioning editor for the graphic novel list at Myriad, she has steered the First Graphic Novel competition since its inception, and is now director of the 2025 award in partnership with the Cartoon Museum and graphic novel publisher SelfMadeHero. Corinne will be talking about the importance of awards in expanding opportunities and networks for comics creators and de-mystifying the publishing process.

Society of Authors - gain 20% off membership with conference attendance!

Emma Firth and Ross Cathcart on working with cartoonists in the commercial world Clive Goddard and Guy Venables on creating The Great British Colouring Book 50

EVENTS & ADS

Shane Melisse “I tell stories through illustrations or sequential art, my stories have varied over the years, from parody horror comedies to slice of life diary comics.

Recently I’ve been creating an urban fantasy London, which I call Road Knight, combining street wear and armour. My intention here is to highlight city life with a fantasy aesthetic.” - Illustrators’ Fair interview 2024. Shane’s talk will be about how he came up with the concept Road Knight exploring London life within a fantasy aesthetic.

David Shenton David Shenton, a Queer Cartoonist since the 1970s, appearing persistently in Gay News, Capital Gay, Boys, The Guardian, Solicitors’ Journal, Building Design, and yes.. the Optician, with 7 books under his belt, the latest: Forty Lies shortlisted for the Polari Prize, is here to talk about the happy accidents, political pitfalls, and financial disasters that brought him from scribbling in the back bedroom on an upside-down tea tray, to making a seriously decent living as a cartoonist, and gaining the recognition he so rightly deserves, 50 years later, in his twilight years...

9.30 am Doors open for registration 10.00 am Start 6.00 pm - Close 6.00 - 8pm Networking at a local pub (details will be sent out nearer the time)

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CARTOON MUSEUM

Readers can get 10% off with the discount code: NEWCARTOONIST10 51

EVENTS & ADS

A marketing newsletter for cartoonists and gagwriters.

Write for a free sample copy:

www.gagrecap.colemantoons.com AVAILABLE NOW! Exclusive signed prints of Chicane’s original cover art from the Sep/Oct issue of The New Cartoonist

Special Event: 6th March - The Cartoon Museum Fundraiser The Trustees of The Cartoon Museum are hosting a champagne reception at The Fitzrovia Chapel to raise funds to support the Museum and we would be delighted if you would like to join us.

Time: 6.30pm - 8.30pm Location: The Fitzrovia Chapel, 2, Pearson Square, W1T 3BF Champagne, Canapes and Auction Tickets £75

There is an additional 4.2% booking fee. If you do not want to pay the booking fee use the discount code fundraiser-discount for 5% off.

CONTACT MARK FOR MORE DETAILS

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BOOK HERE NOW!

CALL FOR CARTOONS

PM ACROSS THE CHANNEL A NEW EXHIBITION IN 2025 AT ST JUST IN FRANCE WILL ASK THE QUESTION; QUI EST KEIR? My name is Olivier Auvray.

“Qui est Keir ?” (Who is Keir) is the title of an upcoming exhibition I am working on for the next Salon International de la Caricature, du Dessin de Presse et d’Humour that will take place in Saint-Just-le-Martel, near Limoges, in France next September (see Des Buckley’s article about this Salon in the New Cartoonist #2).

I already have great British or London-based cartoonists on board, first of all my very good friend Steve Bell, but also Dave Brown, Nicola Jennings, Pete Songi, Graeme Bandeira and British kiwi Mark Winter as well as Tayo Fatunya and Samuel Ojo. If you’re interested in joining in, please do contact me through Pete Songi at “The New Cartoonist” below.

POURQUOI? In France, when asked the question: “Who is the British Prime Minister?”, most people you would bump into wouldn’t know his name and, consequently, would know very little about him.

People who are interested in politics would know who he is but, still, would have very little to say about him. How come? How can you explain that?

Funningly enough, his name could be part of the answer. His first name is so uncommon that even in the House of Commons, it was apparently spelt incorrectly on his mail box: “Kier” instead of “Keir”!

Another reason could also be that he seems to be the antithesis of a former British Prime Minister called Boris Johnson… Does that mean he lacks charisma? Is he boring? Well, you probably know more than I do.

So, any cartoon expressing your point of view on this matter and/or on your PM would be very welcome.

Thank you..

QUI EST KEIR EXHIBITION

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KEEP ‘THE LAUGHS’ COMING IN 2025 SUBSCRIBE TODAY AND SAVE 10%

FIND OUT MORE HERE

or email: editor@thenewcartoonist.co.uk for more details

CARTOON SUBMISSION DEADLINES FOR THE MAR/APR ’25 ISSUE CARTOONS FOR CENTRAL SPREAD THEME OF ‘GROWTH’: FEBRUARY 20TH GENERAL GAG CARTOONS: FEBRUARY 29TH POLITICAL CARTOONS: MARCH 4TH

email cartoons to: editor@thenewcartoonist.co.uk 56

ANIMATION

AN ANIMATED SUCCESS ‘MEMOIR OF A SNAIL’ WINS TOP AWARD AT THE 68TH BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL MARK WINTER out and about The festival jury, led by Alexandre O. Philippe, awarded Best Feature Film at last year’s BFI London Film Festival to ‘Memoir of a Snail’..

This marks the first time a stop motion animated film was given the top prize at the Festival. In 2007 Marjane Satrapi’s 2D animated feature ‘Persepolis’ also won the grand prize.

Written, produced and directed by Aussie animation auteur and Oscar winner Adam Elliot and featuring the voice of ‘Succession’ star Sarah Snook, the jury praised ‘Memoir of a Snail’ as “a singular achievement in filmmaking, emotionally resonant and constantly surprising,” adding that it “tackles pertinent issues such as bullying, loneliness and grief head on, creating a crucial and unusual dialogue in a way that only animation can.

The jury is delighted to recognise an animated film alongside its live action peers”.

The film had its world premiere in competition at Annecy International Animation Festival in June, winning the top prize and went on to open the Melbourne Film Festival and win awards at festivals in Sitges and Ottawa.

‘Memoir of a Snail’ is Adam’s second animated feature and took eight years to complete. It’s described as a dark, whimsical, emotional, hopeful and brooding stop motion tragicomedy with adult themes and universal appeal. It follows the bittersweet memoir of Grace Pudel, traumatised by the early death of her mother and separation from her beloved twin brother Gilbert as she navigates the many challenges that emerge in her life. She’s a hoarder of ornamental snails, guinea pigs and an avid reader of romance novels.

The film explores how it can be difficult to find your way in life, particularly when you’re different.

Adam has the ability to effortlessly touch on many complex topics through a mixture of humour and emotion. His works present tortured individuals – outsiders, misfits and oddballs – living in dark suburban worlds. His 2003 animation short ‘Harvie Krumpet’ about a Polish Australian man “born upside down and back to front whose life is plagued by bad luck, but who always remains optimistic” won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 76th Academy Awards.

While claymation is generally viewed as a medium aimed at young audiences, ‘Memoir of a Snail’ tells a wholly unique adult story. “Why does everything have to be Disney?” asked Adam in his interview with The Guardian. Adam noted that stop

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motion seems to be experiencing a renaissance, with Guillermo Del Toro’s ‘Pinocchio’ (2022), Phil Tippett’s ‘Mad God’ (2021), Henry Selick’s ‘Wendell & Wild’ (2022) and Chris Butler’s ‘Missing Link’ (2019).

The film maintains a strong sense of materiality as evidenced by fingerprints left on the clay and brush strokes on painted backgrounds. His world is created in-camera with no digital effects. Water, for example, was created using cellophane while droplets were painstakingly animated with blobs of glycerine one frame at a time.

Adam has a hereditary, physical tremor in his hand that creates imperfections which he incorporates into his aesthetic. Every bump and lump are celebrated. His studio includes a sign reading ‘chunky wonky’ as a reminder to animators that every character set and prop must look flawed and asymmetrical, as if made in a hurry.

It was great to catch up with Adam at the sold out festival screening and Q&A at the BFI. “Memoir of a Snail’ will have its UK theatrical release on 14 February 2025.

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EVENTS

AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A CAD

A NEW PLAY BROUGHT TO LIFE AT THE WATERMILL THEATRE BY IAN HISLOP AND NICK NEWMAN

In 1938 the memoirs of a British politician were published that were so explosive that Hitler’s Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels cited them as a reason why Germany should invade Britain, to save the nation from such degenerate plutocrats.

Edward Fox-Ingleby’s warts-and-all account of his life was unapologetic, self-serving and totally lacking in self-awareness. Unbeknownst to the Nazi Reich Minister, it was also totally fictitious.

‘The Autobiogaphy of a Cad’ by AG Macdonell all but disappeared without trace on publication, perhaps because the public had no appetite for reading about political corruption on the eve of war. The late journalist and broadcaster Simon Hoggart described it as ‘wonderfully sharp, clever, funny and cutting .’ Now, my co-writer Ian Hislop and I have brought Fox-Ingleby to life in our new play at the Watermill Theatre near Newbury. ‘The Autobiography of a Cad’ traces Fox-Ingleby’s career from Eton to Parliament via Oxford, by lying, cheating and sleeping his way to the top.

It’s as topical today as it was 87 years ago.

The Autobiography of a Cad February 7th – March 22nd ‘The Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, Newbury RG20 8AE

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BOOK HERE!

image: The Watermill Theatre

NICK NEWMAN the cad lives

ORIGINALS

A LEUNIG IN THE KITCHEN THE NEW CARTOONIST VISITS THE VERY HAPPY OWNER OF AN AUSTRALIAN MASTERPIECE Not everyone can look at a prize piece of cartoon history every morning over a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of tea.

One person who is that lucky is Lesley Hodson, an Australian at heart but a long term resident of the UK and true blue Michael Leunig fan.

“I just love it, every morning I wake up and that cartoon puts a big smile on my face, I love the colour, the style I just love it!” says Lesley.

LEUNIG Leunig was born in east Melbourne in June 1945.

He said his political consciousness intensified when he received a notice for military conscription in 1965 during the Vietnam war. He was rejected for service due to being deaf in one ear.

Leunig began drawing cartoons for the Age in 1969. The newspaper ended his contract in August this year, after 55 years.

In 1999 Leunig was declared a national living treasure by the National Trust for his contributions to Australian culture.

Michael Leunig sadly died aged 79 in Dec 2024.

MICHAEL LEUNIG 1945-2024

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

MICHAEL LEUNIG

MINES A CUPPA! Lesley Hodson - huge Leunig fan

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CHINESE NEW YEAR OF THE SNAKE

SSSSO THIS IS THE YEAR 2025 Long ago, in China, the Jade Emperor decided there should be a way of measuring time.

On his birthday he told the animals that there was to be a swimming race. The first twelve animals across the fast flowing river would be the winners and they would each have a year of the zodiac named after them.

And so another franchise moment was born.

Personally I was born in the year of the Rat which made made sure it won the race. The wily rodent used its cunning to navigate the water by persuading the kindly ox to let it sit on its head as it crossed. Rather than say thank you on the other side, the rat made a dash for the finish with the ox not far behind. Sums me up perfectly!

Anyway, TNC asked cartoonists to also get a bit slippery. Thesssssse are their stories...

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THE DIRECTORY

ANDREW BIRCH CONTACT HERE

VRONI HOLZMANN CONTACT HERE

MARK WINTER CONTACT HERE

ALLAN MCDONALD CONTACT HERE

PHIL JOHNSON CONTACT HERE

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JESS JUDGE CONTACT HERE

IAN BAKER CONTACT HERE

MEL DIXON CONTACT HERE

DAVID REY CONTACT HERE

ROGER PENWILL CONTACT HERE

A LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

ERIC TRUANT

FERGUS BOYLAN

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

AIDAN COONEY

DEREK SCOTT

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

DES FONDANT CONTACT HERE

DEAN PATTERSON CONTACT HERE

MICK OHARA CONTACT HERE

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

ACHAZ VON HARDENBERG CONTACT HERE

MIKE STOKOE CONTACT HERE

KATO TARATINO CONTACT HERE

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THE DIRECTORY

PETE DREDGE CONTACT HERE

VIKTOR G KHOURY CONTACT HERE

ED NAYLOR CONTACT HERE

FIRUZ KUTAL CONTACT HERE

STEVE LILLIE CONTACT HERE

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NICK NEWMAN CONTACT HERE

ROYSTON ROBERTSON CONTACT HERE

JOHN DALY CONTACT HERE

CHRIS ‘DINK’ WILLIAMS CONTACT HERE

THE SURREAL MCCOY CONTACT HERE

A LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

KERINA STREVENS CONTACT HERE

BOB ECKSTEIN

CONTACT HERE

JOE DATOR

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

JAMES MELLOR

SAMUEL OJO

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

STEPHEN DEAN

KEVIN WELLS

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

GLENN MARSHALL CONTACT HERE

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ROY NIXON

LEWIS MARSDEN CONTACT HERE

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THE DIRECTORY

DANIEL HODSON CONTACT HERE

VILNISSIMO CONTACT HERE

DAWN MOCKLER CONTACT HERE

SAM SKORONSKI CONTACT HERE

DES BUCKLEY CONTACT HERE

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NICOLA JENNINGS CONTACT HERE

ANDY BUNDAY CONTACT HERE

GRAHAM CORCORAN CONTACT HERE

MIKE SEDDON CONTACT HERE

ELIOT LORD CONTACT HERE

A LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS

VISH CONTACT HERE

STEVE BELL

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PETE SONGI CONTACT HERE

BEN CHILTON

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

DAVE BROWN

RUPERT BESLEY

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

MARTIN ROWSON

ROS ASQUITH

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

HARRIET MERRY

SARAH BOYCE

CONTACT HERE

CONTACT HERE

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CAPTION COMPETITION!

WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? Can you match the cartoonist?

Winner!

Opposite is a caption from a finished cartoon.

Send us your suggestions. The winner will be published alongside the original cartoon in the next issue and win this fantastic TNC mug.

Mike King

Email jpg entries by 20th February 2025 to editor@thenewcartoonist.co.uk or hit the link below!

The winner will be selected purely on humour and originality, open to all skill sets!....

Get Drawing... & Good Luck!

CAPTION COMPETTION

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WIN ME!

WE SPOIL THOSE HENS

CONGRATULATIONS! Mike wins a TNC mug for matching up against Ian Baker from the last issue!

Prophetical Mildred

HOROSCOPES Sagittarius

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

22 November – 21 December You will attempt to draw erotic art.

After posting it on the internet under a sneaky alias you will be squarely mocked and eventually begin receiving emails from various public health initiatives wanting to recruit you to help develop a new kind of contraceptive.

Aries

21 March – 19 April An editor of a popular magazine will publish a cartoon that you believe to be absolute shite. In retaliation you will fill every single pair of shoes that he owns with half cooked spaghetti and spicy tomato sauce. The spicy part will really rile up his bunions.

Incidentally, it’s your cartoon.

Capricorn

22 December – 19 January

Taurus

20 April – 20 May You will have reason to move that really heavy piece of furniture and find 17 of your best pens behind it. You will retrieve them with glee, however the powers that be had thought they were offerings to the gods of cartooning and once you’ve removed them you won’t be able to draw ears any more.

Gemini

21 May – 21 June A talented foe will draw a derogatory caricature of you. You will find this very funny, however they will then proceed to upload this sketch to a fetish dating site and you will become a sex symbol within the community.

Cancer

22 June – 22 July You will start a side business designing tattoos.

This will be when you discover that you were hypnotised as a child to include a symbol of the occult in every drawing you do. Upon tattooing these people will become your disciples.

Leo

23 July – 22 August You will attempt to take public transport however it will be cancelled due to “a pofdiufosdi ov dkthe hsg”. The message is garbled over the tannoy, however you will be 100% sure you heard “the service is cancelled due to a porcupine on the tracks”. You will

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abandon your day’s plans to hunt down this porcupine as you have always fancied having one of those quills in your drawing arsenal.

Virgo

23 August – 22 September A friend will shave off their beard and immediately realise what a terrible mistake they have made. You will be required to render artistic follicles on their chin every morning until the real thing grows back.

Libra

23 September – 23 October You will meet an alien who will claim to be the alien who taught the ancient Egyptians how to make pyramids. You have a pressing cartoon deadline to meet so you tell the lying little braggart to promptly piss off

Scorpio

24 October – 21 November You will create a series of artistic brushes using your underarm hair and attempt to sell them at craft fairs. You will be banned from many craft fairs and your true genius will only be appreciated 53 years after your death when a plucky historical cartoon researcher realises those brushes are the absolute perfect tool for depicting scorn. There’s no scientific reason why it should work that way, it just does.

You will spill some Indian ink and then fall asleep at your desk in a haze of cartooning glory. When you awaken you will realise the ink has stained a perfect Hitler moustache onto your face. Realising that people in a decent society won’t take too kindly to this apparent hairy homage you will either have to buy a bowler hat and pretend to be a Charlie Chaplin fanatic, or use the remaining ink to paint an even bigger, more extravagant fake moustache on your face until the skin sheds off.

Aquarius

20 January – 18 February A print ad in a magazine will go viral for all the wrong reasons, but you’ll be able to see the corner of one of your cartoons in the photo shared across the internet. You will bask in the reflected glory of nebulous infamy and talk the ear off anyone nearby about how that’s the corner of your cartoon until they beat you with a stick for being so boring.

Pisces

19 February – 20 March A friend will punch you in the face. It’s ok, you had it coming. However the bruise will display the most wonderful colour blends and become a muse to you, elevating your current cartoon work above anything else you’ve done in the last 15 years. You will become an insufferable prick to everyone around you to ensure the continuing presence of more inspiring bruises.

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PARTING SHOT

SATURDAY NIGHT’S ALL RIGHT FOR DECORATING

A COOKING CHALLENGE, A BI-MONTHLY CHORE OF JUST A PLAIN OLD RECIPE FOR DISASTER? DYANA SONGI alright on the night Upon moving into a down-trodden student house (see squat) in my early 20s, I was informed by the bossiest comrade that it was incumbent upon all the inhabitants to take a turn to make dinner for their housemates on a Saturday night.

If the cost was probihitive, I must simply let the others know, and contributions would be made, but the opportunity to cook would be mine and mine alone. Everyone would take a turn at this, so it was very fair, and there were 8 of us in total, so a bi-monthly commitment; not a huge ask. I nodded and beamed enthusiastically. What I should have done is immediately mention that I’d yet to make a meal for one beyond beans on toast for my entire existence thus far. Could I just wash up every night? I’m really good at washing up! But as that would have been very embarrassing, I said nothing.

A friend I confided in laughed and lent me a simple recipe for a chicken casserole. None of my housemates were vegetarians, and it would be very affordable. It’ll be fine, she trilled reassuringly. You’re very organized when you want to be, and you need to play to your strengths. You just need to prepare everything ahead. Take your time, and remember to season it. You’ll enjoy it!

Her attempts to embolden didn’t land however. I shared none of her culinary confidence, and was petrified. My mother hated cooking, and did it out of sheer necessity when she absolutely had to. My father tried a bit, but burnt everything. Her mother had never had a full-time job, and what fun they’d had in the kitchen together with their matching pinnies and wooden spoons. Having grown up in a household where mealtimes were an opportunity for everyone to join in the row, all I’d learnt was exactly how far to jump to dodge that wooden spoon, and to avoid the kitchen as much as was humanly possible. Cooking for me still equals stress on a massive scale.

On ‘my’ Saturday, I shopped very carefully for all the ingredients. I had checked my list twice, cleaned the kitchen thoroughly (quite a task in

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itself), checked I had matches for the gas oven, that there was a casserole dish of an adequate size, and had laid everything out methodically.

It was going much better than I’d expected, and by the time I’d chopped it all up and poured the stock over the top, there was a brief smidgeon of satisfaction on my part. Double-checking everything, to my horror, I hadn’t seen that the recipe required cornflour. My bottom lip wobbled. On the off-chance that there would be some in the cupboard, I opened it to see to my great relief a little blue and yellow box with white powder in it. (I know what you’re thinking – but no). I popped a big tablespoon of it in the dish, stirred it round, and popped it in the oven, smiling to myself. I can do this, I thought.

Only after around 5 minutes, as I finished washing up, did it hit me that the chances of there being cornflour in a squat full of grungy students were infinitesimally small. I grabbed the box. It was Pollyfilla. I threw open the oven door.

It had already started to set. I began to sob.

I grabbed the dish and put it on the hob, and threw a tea-towel over the top, hoping no-one would wander in and take a look. I legged it down the fire escape and into the nearby phone box to call the friend. Don’t panic, she soothed.

Buy chips! Everyone loves chips. And why didn’t you just use wheat flour?

I ran back to the house. Think! You need to play to your strengths. What strengths? You’re hopeless. What on earth are you good at?

Washing-up! I’m really great at washing-up! I threw all the ingredients into the sink, gave them a good rinse, washed the casserole dish, bunged the ingredients back in it, poured some more stock on top and put it back in the oven.

At dinner, everyone complimented me on my efforts. It’s got a lovely texture, said one of them.

What is that?

I smiled. wheat flour, I said.

DYANA SONGI

2024 WINNER BEST CARICATURE

THE END PORTRAIT BY: KEVIN WELLS

KEVIN WELLS

thenewcartoonist.co.uk

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