Have you received an forwarded e-mail or chain letter from a friend or political adversary that showcases political cartoons from a conservative perspective preceded by this declaration:

AUSTRALIAN CARTOONS…NOT SEEN IN AMERICA

BELIEVE IT OR NOT –
THESE CARTOONS ARE FROM OUR FRIENDS
“DOWN UNDER”.
WHY DO WE NEVER SEE SIMILAR IN USA PAPERS??

Unfortunately, nearly all of the cartoons contained within the e-mail (and its variations) originate from the same U.S. “liberal media” the e-mail lambastes.

Here are some examples:

This cartoon was drawn by Steve Kelly, the staff cartoonist at The New Orleans Times-Picayune (view more of his cartoons here).

While this cartoon was drawn by Michael Ramirez, the 2-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist for Investors Business Daily (view more of his cartoons here).

And Chuck Asay, the former staffer at The Colorado Springs Gazette who now syndicates his work, drew this cartoon about Fox News (view more of his cartoons here).

Steve Benson, the cartoonist for the Arizona Republic (view his cartoons here), has received the same list from several right-wingers. While some will listen to him when he explains that most of the cartoons originate from the United States, there are those who refuse to accept it.

“One nut job wrote me back that he was a U.S. Marine, declaring, ‘IN GOD WE TRUST!’” said Benson. “I replied that he needs to pick a more informed God, since the one he was trusting didn’t know anything about cartoon authorship.”

If you’d like to check out some Austrailian cartoonists, here are some links: Peter Broelman; Bill Leak; Peter Lewis; Moir; Vince O’Farrell; Nik Scott; Paul Zanetti

New Orleans Times-Picayune cartoonist Steve Kelley (left) alleged his former paper, the San Diego Union-Tribune, pressured current cartoonist Steve Breen not to work with him on a new comic strip.

A lawsuit by former San Diego Union-Tribune cartoonist Steve Kelley alleging the paper intimidated his successor, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Steve Breen, to not collaborate on a joint comic strip has been thrown out by a San Diego Superior Court.

[ View the ruling here ]

According to The Voice of San Diego, Kelley, now the cartoonist at the New Orleans Times-Picayune, alleged that the newspaper’s leadership “applied undue pressure and coercion” on Breen, telling him that Kelly was “not loyal” and “not a team player.” Breen eventually canceled the partnership on their joint strip “Dustin.”

However, the judge noted that Breen testified “that while he ’sensed’ defendants were not crazy about him working with (Kelley), he quit working on the comic strip for reasons other than pressure from defendants. He testified he quit because he did not see the ‘magic’ in the strip, because of his workload and because he did not want to upset his employer.”

The ruling also notes that he was never told he could not work on the comic strip, and the concerns expressed by his employer related to whether he was taking on too much work.

Kelley was fired from the Union-Tribune back in 2001 over an incident involving a cartoon that poked fun at teens in low-riding jeans by showing their butt cracks. At the time, Kelley told various television stations and the American Journalism Review that the paper accused him of trying to sneak the rejected cartoon into the paper.

Kelley’s attorney indicated he plans to ask the judge to reconsider his ruling, and that an appeal is possible.

Kelley told The Voice of San Diego that the comic strip “Dustin” will be launched by King Features Syndicate in January.

Twenty years ago, on November 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall was toppled, signaling the end of four decades of Cold War between the United States and The Soviet Union.

Cartoonists from different political spectrum have weighed in with their thoughts, and here are five great political cartoons with their own opinion of this historic achievement, and what it means in the context of current events.

Vote below which cartoonist you think did the best job rendering this event, and as always, your comments are welcome.

By Mike Lester - Rome News-Tribune

By Mike Ramirez - Investors Business Daily

By John Sherffius - Boulder Daily Camera

By Rob Rogers - The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Stephane Peray, The Nation (Thailand)

Bruce Plante, the staff cartoonist at the Tulsa World (view more of his cartoons here), speaks to a group about some of his political cartoons at The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.

The presentation was part of the Ray and Mary Giles Symposium on Citizenship and Public Service, and gave Bruce the chance to showcase some of his best work from the Tulsa World and his previous job at the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

 
One of the loudest laughs came at the explanation of this cartoon, commenting on the dirty Tulsa mayoral campaign between Tom Adelson and Dewey Bartlett. The cartoon features two paper bags that are on fire, labeled Adelson and Bartlett, and a voter nervously ready to stomp the fires out.

“If you don’t know what this cartoon means, give me your address,” Plante said.

[h/t - Mike Lynch]

Iranian cartoonist Hadi Heidari with his daughter.

Egyptian cartoonist Tamer Youssef has contacted me to confirm that Hadi Heidari, the Iranian cartoonist arrested in Tehran, has been released from prison.

Heidari was arrested on October 22 after participating in a religious ceremony in honor of political prisoners. He was later joined in prison by his wife, Negar Sayeh, who works for a variety of media outfits.

Cartoonists and artists from around the world have been following the news of Heidari’s arrest, and were excited to hear of his release.

“This is great news! Well done on an excellent awareness campaign,” John Curtis, a South African designer, posted on the Free Hadi Heidari NOW! Facebook page. “It’s great to see how cartoonists from all over the world have stood together against this kind of tyranny.”

I’m hoping to interview Hadi when things settle down. For now, I’ll provide more information as I receive it.

Cartoon by Pat Bagley - Salt Lake Tribune

In the current debate on health care reform, Republicans are often depicted as attempting to slow or delay the passage of meaningful reform.

Pat Bagley, the cartoonist for the Salt Lake Tribune, chose to illustrate this by showing a GOP elephant holding up a column of “health care reform” emergency vehicles, drawing from the famous image of a single student stopping a column of tanks during the Tiananmen Square protests.

However, one reader didn’t understand the use of Bagley’s visual metaphors:

Bagley has either made an about-face on health reform or has a poor grasp of history. The Tank Man is generally regarded as a hero because he stood down the Chinese army, which had been killing its own people. According to Bagley’s cartoon, I guess I’m to think of the Republican opponents to health reform in a similar light.

So what do you think. Are the GOP the heroes or the bad guys in this scenario?

When an event occurs that is as horrendous and heart-breaking as the recent shootings at Fort Hood, it’s often a newspaper’s editorial cartoonist who is best able to capture the pulse of a community’s feelings in a single, powerful image.

I’ll be posting cartoons about this tragic event as they come in from cartoonists throughout the country.

UPDATED Tuesday 11:20 a.m..

By Steve Sack - The Star-Tribune (Minnesota)

By Matt Bors

By Joe Heller - The Green Bay Press-Gazette

UPDATED Sunday 11:45 a.m.

By Eric Allie - Cagle Cartoons (Click to purchase)

UPDATED Sunday 10:15 a.m.

By Daryl Cagle - msnbc.com (Click to comment on this cartoon)

By R.J. Matson - The St. Louis Post-Dispatch

UPDATED Saturday 3:27 p.m.

By Rick McKee - The Augusta Chronicle

By Stephane Peray - The Nation (Thailand)

By Steve Benson - The Arizona Republic

By Clay Jones - The Free Lance-Star

UPDATED Saturday 10:40 a.m.

By Marshall Ramsey - The Clarion-Ledger

By Nate Beeler - Washington Examiner (Click to purchase)

By Mark Streeter - Savanna Morning News

UPDATED 5:59 p.m.

By Steven Breen - San Diego Union-Tribune

By Kirk Walters, The Toledo Blade

By Gary Varvel - Indianapolis Star

UPDATED 4:45 p.m.

By Mike Keefe - Denver Post (Click to purchase)

By Bruce Plante - Tulsa World

By J.D. Crowe - Press-Register (Alabama)

By John Sherffius - Boulder Camera

By Jimmy Margulies - The Record (New Jersey)

By Dave Granlund - PoliticalCartoons.com (Click to purchase)

By Jim McCloskey - The News Leader (Virginia)

By Randy Bish - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Click to purchase)

A cartoon war could be brewing after a Seattle cartoonist created waves in South Carolina for a cartoon that some claim stereotypes southern workers.

Cartoon by David Horsey of SeattlePi.com. (Click to enlarge)

“How many non-union South Carolinian workers does it take to attach a wing to a Boeing airplane?” SeattlePi.com cartoonist David Horsey asks in a recent cartoon as he shows several rednecks standing on top of one another in an attempt to repair an airplane with duct tape.

“Five … and a dog.”

Horsey’s cartoon is a reaction to Boeing choosing South Carolina for it’s second manufacturing line for the 787 Drealiner, but it’s the cartoonist inclusion of several elements, such rebel flag, a moonshine apparatus and a noose that have seemed to draw the most impact from readers.

“It’s sad that states have resorted to child-like insults because of a certain or any company choosing one state over another,” Kelly Duncan, of Ellenboro, N.C., told Fox Carolina. “I don’t believe Seattle has lost as many jobs as we have, so quit complaining.”

Horsey told Fox he was obviously making a joke and playing on regional rivalries in the cartoon.

“I’m sure that workers in South Carolina will do a fine job,” Horsey said.

A cartoon reaction by South Carolinian Mike Beckom. (Click to enlarge)

Mike Beckon, a cartoonist from Greenwood, South Carolina, sent us in a reactionary cartoon featuring a southern worker on the phone after fixing an airplane.

“Yep, I got her purrin’ like a kitten. Just’ hadda take out them whiney, unionized know-it-all yankees…” the worker says.

“I think escalating games of cross-regional cartoon dozens would be a fine way to bring some heat back to the editorial page, and I think it’s great that Horsey went knives out on this one,” wrote prominent comics blogger Tom Spurgeon.

“The only argument I can see against it is that going with the regional insults might obscure the non-union point rather than buttress it.”

UPDATE: The Palmetto Scoop has posted some news accounts of the “Battle of Boeing Cartoons” between SeattlePi.com cartoonist David Horsey, and the Scoop’s cartoonist Mike Beckon.

Jason Dubrowski artwork in defense of accused murderer Scott Roeder (top) bears a striking resemblance to the work of syndicated cartoonist Gary McCoy.(Click to enlarge)

eBay has made the decision to remove an auction created by supporters of Scott Roeder, who is charged with the murder of abortion doctor George Tiller.

Officials from eBay said they would “not allow listings that promote or glorify violence, hate, racial or religious intolerance, or items that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity.”

One of the pieces of artwork supplied by Jason Dubrowski, friend and fellow inmate of Roeder, is strikingly similar to a political cartoon by cartoonist Gary McCoy, who is syndicated by Cagle Cartoons.

The piece in question features a scene full of graves labeled ‘aborted baby’ with a newspaper that has blown in with the headline, ‘Late-term abortion doctor killed. Pres. Obama “shocked and outraged.”‘

It is also signed by Roeder.

In a note on one of the eBay listings, Roeder seems to admit that Dubrowski stole the idea for the drawing:

“His name is Jason Dubrowski and is one of the best artists I’ve seen in here… The drawing of the field of babies tombstones with the newspaper headline comments of Obama was done after a Christian newsletter printed this illustration which a lady in Valley Center sent to me.”

Regina Dinwiddie, the organizer of the Roeder auction, was surprised by eBay’s decision to remove it.

“Actually I thought [eBay] was the last bastion of free enterprise in America, where normal people could put things up for sale,” she told Talking Points Memo. “I see they do have a political agenda.”

I guess it’s also American to steal someone’s artwork and make a profit from it.

Talking Points Memo has a collection of the various pieces of art that were being auctioned off.

UPDATE: Lindsey Roeder, the ex-wife of Scott Roeder, sent an email to artist Gary McCoy about the situation:

“My son and I have received 2 copies of the June 2, 2009 political cartoon that you drew. Scott
sent me a copy of the cartoon and then a few weeks later sent my son another copy of it. Perhaps they had your permission to use it and this is all moot. However, if you did not give them permission to use it then they plagiarized your work.

Sincerely,
Lindsey Roeder”

Gary did not give them permission to use his work, and says he would never be an advocate of such violence, saying that “any legitimate pro-lifer condemns the killing of abortion doctors just as we do that of innocent unborn babies.”

Drew Litton will be re-united in Chicago with former Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, who was the butt of the joke in many of the artist's cartoons.

The Chicago Tribune suddenly has a taste for cartoons.

After stealing former Birmingham News cartoonist Scott Stantis for their op-ed page, Drew Litton, the former sports cartoonist at the non-defunct Rocky Mountain News, has been picked up to provide local sports cartoons as part of their retooled sports section named ‘Chicago Sports.’

“I’m so honored to be given a chance to appear in one of the nations greatest newspapers,” Litton said. “I signed my name tonight with Chicago Tribune next to it. I still can’t believe it. Please. I beg you, do not wake me up.”

Litton’s first Chicago cartoon, which will be called “The Main Event,” appears on Saturday, Oct. 31.

Here’s the full Q&A:

Q. How did you end up doing comics for The Tribune?

A. I sent out some e-mails back in August to a few select Sports Editors around the country and pitched them the idea of doing a locally themed sports cartoon for their section,  like the ones I had done for the Rocky Mountain News for over 25 years. The Tribune showed interest.

Q. What will the focus of the cartoon be?

A. Local sports like the Cubs, White Sox and the Bulls and Blackhawks. I think maybe Bears stuff too but I’m not sure. I’ll also do college stuff like Illinois, Northwestern and Notre Dame. I really think local sports cartoons connect with readers in an amazing way.  I’ve done cartoons in Denver that people will talk to me about years later. One as far back as 1984. I can’t remember what I had for breakfast.

Q. Is there a set format your cartoons will appear in?

A. Yeah. It’s going to be in a square frame with great flexibility to do a lot within the space. It’s on page two of a new Saturday section. The cartoon will also be on their website every Saturday. I’ll put it up on mine probably on Sundays.

Q. What will the frequency of the cartoon be? Any indication that it could lead to more work or possibly a staff job?

A. Once a week for now. But a guy can dream can’t he? The Tribune would be the dream job for a sports cartoonist. Chicago is a fantastic sports town.

Q. Will The Tribune be using your work for the newspaper exclusively, or will you be doing any work for their Web site (blogging, animation, etc) as well?

A. For now just the one a week on Saturdays in print and on their Web site. But I’ll be ready to do anything they want me to do. Like would you like a bagel with your coffee? I’d love to do some animation for their site. That would be cool.

Q. What interests you most about the opportunity to draw Chicago sports?

A. Oh it’s it rabid sports town with great teams with, like really good mascots. Mascots are very important to a sports cartoonists. You know Da Bears, Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks. Those are like the greatest mascots of all time. Good manly type mascots.

Q. Since you’re based in Denver, how do you feel about being reunited with former Bronco’s quarterback Jay Cutler?

A. Reunited and it feels so good.  I took a few parting shots as he left Denver. I dunno. It’s kind of like what an editorial cartoonist would feel like to have Nixon back in the White House.

Q. With The Tribune simultaneously making a deal with you and hiring Scott Stantis, what do you think this says about the industry?

Well I want to be clear about this. Scott Stantis is The Tribune’s staff Editorial Cartoonist who is going to win billions of Pulitzers. Right now I’m a freelance cartoonist doing one cartoon a week and hopefully more down the road. But I think hiring Scott Stantis was terrific and sends a message to other publishers that cartoonists sell papers. I’m hoping I can sell a few for them.

View more of Drew’s cartoons here.