political cartoonists
Government forces break the hands of Syrian political cartoonist
Ali Ferzat after his attack (via the Washington Post/Facebook)
Look, I’m not even going to pretend to be familiar with the work of Ali Ferzat, a Syrian political cartoonist who has emerged as an outspoken critic of dictator Bashar al-Assad and his bloody crackdown against anti-government protestors over the past several months. But you can bet Assad and his regime know his work, and hate it, because their security forces abducted Ferzat, beat him, made a point of breaking his hands, and dumped him on the side of the road. This Washington Post article lays out the details as they are known right now, and included the terrifying Facebook picture above. The news comes via Tom Spurgeon of The Comics Reporter, generally your best source for information on the pressures faced by political cartoonists worldwide.
Though people like Mike Diana, Jesus Castillo, and Christopher Handley provide us with sad exceptions to this rule, in general, no one in America is subject to legal (or extralegal) punishment for the comics they draw, sell, or consume. We’re lucky. And while it’s impossible not to be gobsmacked by not just the brutality but the arrogance of a government that would punish a cartoonist critic in such an overtly symbolic manner, it’s just as impossible not to be awed by the bravery of an artist who knows he’s up against a government that would do a thing like that, but goes up against them anyway.
You can express your support for Ferzat at this Facebook page. And why not take your wallet out and donate to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund while you’re at it?
- August 25, 2011 @ 02:00 PM by Sean T. Collins
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
C2E2
Conventions | On the eve of the inaugural Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, the Chicago Reader examines the escalating competition between convention owner Reed Exhibitions and longtime Chicago Comic Con organizer Wizard Entertainment: “It’s but one battleground in a war the two powers are waging across the country — an epic struggle that some observers see as a contest between the forces of good and, well, not so good.”
Writer Deanna Isaacs touches upon the rise of Wizard’s Rosemont event to the second-largest comics convention in North America, and its more recent decline. She quotes a couple of local retailers who have become “disenchanted” with the show. But Wizard CEO Gareb Shamus shrugs off the complaints: “Everybody’s going to tell you this or that. You’re talking about one person. We have 1,000 vendors at our show in Chicago, and they make a lot of money.”
The Daily Herald interviews C2E2 show-runner Lance Fensterman, who says he expects between 35,000 and 40,000 attendees this weekend. The Chicago Tribune, meanwhile, offers its own preview, with eight “must-see” convention events, and brief Q&As with Alex Ross and Jeff Smith. [C2E2]
- April 15, 2010 @ 07:18 AM by Kevin Melrose
Tom the Dancing Bug dropped from Salon.com
Thrilling Tom the Dancing Bug Stories
Cartoonist Ruben Bolling took to his blog today to reveal that the online magazine Salon has canceled his long-running political/editorial comic strip Tom the Dancing Bug.
According to Bolling, the comic was canceled due to “severe budget constraints” rather than lack of traffic — indeed, as Bolling points out, Tom is frequently one of the site’s most-read features. He later added that Salon, which had hosted the strip since the site’s 1995 inception, seems unlikely to reverse the decision regardless of reader outcry.
I’m sure Tom Spurgeon will have further analysis, but even for someone with my casual dislike and distrust of all political cartooning, the cancellation seems notable for two reasons. First, Bolling is an obvious talent whose imaginative end-runs around the cliché-ridden visual vocabulary of your average political cartoonist made his comics that much more entertaining and his points that much more hard-hitting. Second, it’s almost creepy to think that editorial cartoonists may have just as hard a time making a go of things online as they do amid the staggering carcasses of America’s newspaper industry.
At least he’ll have an easier time getting health care.
(via Greg Pak)
- March 22, 2010 @ 01:33 PM by Sean T. Collins
Things to do: ‘Political Cartooning in NYC’ on Nov. 3
Bill Kartalopoulos emailed me to let everyone know about a panel he’ll be moderating tomorrow, Nov. 3, at the The New York Center for Independent Publishing, 20 W. 44th St., New York.
The panel will discuss the history and current challenges facing political cartoonists in The Big Apple and features Eric Drooker, Tom Hart, Tim Kreider and Peter Kuper.The full press release is below the jump.
- November 2, 2009 @ 09:30 AM by Chris Mautner
Straight for the art: Tomorrow’s ‘Back Spacer’
Tommorrow's art for 'Back Spacer'
The ever acerbic political cartoonist Tom Tomorrow was picked by Pearl Jam to create the cover for upcoming album, Back Spacer. To promote the release, the band is doing an “Internet Easter Egg hunt.” Find images from the album that have been scattered across the Net, and win a free downloadable mp3 of a track from the album.
Back Spacer hits stores on Sept. 20.
- August 3, 2009 @ 02:30 PM by Chris Mautner