CARTOON NEWS...news & views Compiled by Kerala Cartoon Academy.. cartoonacademy@gmail.com

CPI(M) CARTOON CONTEST ARENA !!!

2012-01-30T06:35:00.002+05:30

In connection with CPIM 20th Party Congress at Kozhikkode, itsCultural sub Committee is organizing a Cartoon Competition. Cartoons alreadypublished will not be considered.

Award : Rs. 5,000/-

Topic : Any Current Affairs Topic

Deadline : March 15, 2012

Address to which your entries are to be forwarded : Convener,Cultural Committee, Organizing Committee Office of 20th Party Congress, BankRoad, Kozhikode 1

KERALA KAUMUDI 's CARTOON CONTEST !

2012-01-30T06:34:00.001+05:30

CARTOON CONTEST HELD IN CONNECTION WITH THE CENTENARY OF MALAYALAM'S LEADING NEWSPAPER, KERALA KAUMUDI

TOPIC : BEYOND THE LIMIT ( പരിധിക്ക് പുറത്ത് )

ON ANY SOCIAL / POLITICAL ISSUE

LAST DATE : 8TH FEBRUARY 2012

AGE LIMIT : NO BAR

Address to which your entries are to be forwarded :

Kaumudi Toon Car,

Kerala Kaumudi,

Pettah, Trivandrum - 24

or by e-mail to tooncar@kaumudi,com

Turkish comics magazine apologizes for anti-religious joke

2011-02-15T08:20:00.002+05:30

Writing on the wall of a mosque reads 'There is no Allah - Religion is a lie' on a caricature in the Penguen magazine
ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News
Popular weekly satirical Turkish comic magazine Penguen has apologized for a caricature featuring what many called irreverently anti-religious content after reactions from Muslims.
In the graphic panel in question, a member of the crowd praying at a mosque calls God from his cell phone and asks if he can leave early because he has an errand to run, while the rest of the crowd looks at him in shock. A sign on the mosque’s wall reads, “There is no Allah – Religion is a Lie.”
The caricature was scanned and shared on the Internet on Sunday night by thousands of people on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, raising a lot of criticism and anger. The magazine released an explanation Monday afternoon apologizing for the work. The explanation stated the work was not the cover caricature, the only caricature that reflects the consensus of the publication. The statement noted that artists are free to write or draw anything on their own pages: “We may or may not like a single caricature, but it is important to preserve this area of freedom in general. We are respectful toward the criticism, too. We are sorry about the reactions to this caricature. We apologize to those people who perceived [the caricature] as disrespectful.”
Speaking to the website of the daily Radikal, cartoonist Bahadır Baruter said he was fully responsible for the cartoon.
“I saw that there was a hate campaign in the cyberworld about the cartoon. I did not feel any need to consult anybody about the strip, which is published on my page of the magazine. The idea and drawing is completely mine. Just as my colleagues at Penguen said in their statement, my page does not reflect the consensus of the publication, and is a area of complete liberty.”

Editorial cartoonist Shin passes away

2011-02-14T22:22:00.001+05:30

Shin Kyung-moo

Shin Kyung-moo, 55, the editorial cartoonist for the Chosun Ilbo, one of the largest newspapers in Korea, passed away due to leukemia, Saturday.

Shin was diagnosed with leukemia in December 2009 and had been fighting against the disease for more than a year. He returned to the newspaper in early January as he felt better, but took a turn for the worse some 20 days later and took further sick leave.

However, he passed away due to an acute infection last week. His last cartoon was in Jan. 29’s paper, titled “People worse than Kim Jong-il.”

He started to submit satirical cartoons in letters to the editor sections around the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games and entered the Busan Economy in 1992. He moved to the Chosun Ilbo in 1996, providing editorial cartoons for 15 years.

Cartoonist Bob Monks dies

2011-02-14T22:21:00.001+05:30

Last Updated: Wednesday, February 9, 2011 | 10:34 AM ET

CBC News

Humourist, and cartoonist, Bob Monks has died at the age of 83.(CBC News)Popular media personality and former CBCer Bob Monks died on Monday.

Monks was a cartoonist for the Windsor Star and a humourist on channel nine television for many years. Arguably the most famous piece he did was called 'Wander with Wansy', where Monks and former Windsor mayor Frank Wansborough canoed along the Grand Marais ditch.

He also taught high school art in his younger years.

His unique sense of humour was most recently put to use to pen Bob Monks History of Windsor. This past November he was in the CBC Radio studios to talk about it.

Bob Monks was famous for his caricatures of Windsor personalities, like this one of CBC reporter Allison Johnson.(Steven Bull, CBC News)"Anyone who has been in this town for any length of time, knows who Bob Monks was," said Bob Steele, host of CBC's The Bridge. "A fixture, iconic, a history of television, very funny guy. I don't think you were anybody in this town until Bob Monks did a caricature of you. And I know there are plenty of people around this office who have caricatures of themselves up on their walls, done by Bob Monks."

"He didn't take anything seriously. That was the whole deal about him, it wasn't a joke and he took the work seriously, but he never took himself seriously, and that's what was great about him," said long-time CBC journalist Tom Taylor.

Monks was 83 years old.

Honoured in the House

Windsor West Member of Parliament Brian Masse will deliver a statement in the House of Commons in his memory on Wednesday. It will air on CPAC around 2 p.m.

Stamford cartoonist drawn to his fans New website: TheCartoonistStudio.com links artists to readers

2011-02-14T22:11:00.002+05:30

Stamford cartoonist Ray Billingsley is entering into the 21st century with more than 20 other cartoonists across the country through a new website called TheCartoonistStudio.com that allows cartoonists to interact online with fans.

"This gets us in touch with people who read comics, which is always nice because, like writing, cartooning is such a solitary business," said Billingsley, whose comic strip "Curtis," has appeared in 250 newspapers worldwide since 1988. "I've heard back from readers in places where I didn't know the comic strip was available, such as Milan and Johannesberg," he said, referring to the cities in Italy and South Africa.

The Cartoonist Studio's intent is to give cartoonists a venue to bring their craft into the realm of social media through Facebook and e-mail, said Peter Guren, the chairman, who recently launched the site with Tony Leonardi, owner of pet products company Two Bit Dog in Winston, N.C.

"We're dragging and kicking the cartoonist into the 21st century," said Guren, who creates his syndicated cartoon "Ask Shagg" from his home in Cleveland, Ohio. "What's cool about this is that there are website with cartoons, but they don't have cartoonists like this one does."

The website also allows fellow cartoonists to share ideas on how to work with the Internet and social media to further their craft, said Billingsley, whose first comic strip, "Lookin' Fine," appeared from 1980 to 1982.

"When I was asked to join The Cartoon Studio, I jumped on it because they (fellow comics) are my friends and it's like a little club," Billingsley said. There's a strong bond between cartoonists."

An iPhone application is also being developed so that the website can be accessed from mobile devices.

The website also has an area called "Amateur Cubicle" where aspiring cartoonists can upload their own work as well as enter into a contest by Feb. 28 to win a development contract with Creators Syndicate.

"It gives the unknowns out there a chance," said Billingsley, who remembers spending 10 years trying to get a book published. "This level the playing field."

Well-known cartoonists that have joined The Cartoonist Studio include Family Circus creator Jeff Keane and Tank McNamara cartoonist Bill Hinds.

news from;http://www.ctpost.com/business/article/Stamford-cartoonist-drawn-to-his-fans-1004101.php

Psychology of Cartoons – Part 1: Scooby-Doo

2011-02-14T22:09:00.002+05:30

By Curtis Silver

February 14, 2011

9:30 am

Categories: Toys and Technology

The Mystery Inc. Gang

Cartoons are an ingrained part of our culture. We grew up on cartoons, and the lessons found therein. Cartoons have exponentially changed over the past 30 years, in that they have morphed into basic insanity. There are still cartoons that present certain lessons to take away, but nothing compared to the cartoons of our youth in the 1980’s. Clearly I represent a particular generation, and those older than me might not share the same sentiment, while those younger have probably already lost interest and are chasing the sunlight coming in through the window.

Aside from the lessons learned, there was a bond we shared with the characters in these cartoons. We felt like heroes alongside G.I. Joe as they fought Cobra Commander and his less than capable fighting force. We sympathized with the daily struggle of Prince Adam as he faced ridicule that He-Man wasn’t subject to. Probably that had to do more with his princely man skirt though. We laughed along with the irreverent behavior of the Hanna-Barbera characters as they raced or exited stage left. And for the purpose of this article, we felt the tension of the Scooby-Doo gang as they searched for answers as to who was haunting the amusement park.

As I got older, and the cartoons seemed more like cartoons than reality I started to notice the inherent humanity presented in the characters. They weren’t boilerplate, they were designed a certain way, with certain problems that we – as children – may have absorbed into our subconscious. As we had a habit of dressing up or behaving like our favorite characters, if the influence was great enough, some of us may have taken away more from their behavior than we may realize. While this may sound a little bit nutty, and I’m sure the oncoming onslaught from the fanboy trolls will show, pointing out the psychological problems in cartoon characters is more than obsessive geekiness, it’s ridiculous. Which is why it’s been entertaining the hell out of me for all these years.

As cartoons evolve and now our kids are watching them, I think this line of thinking is important. So in this multi-part series I’m going to look at some of the most influential and popular cartoons over the past 30 years, and do a little psychological profile on the characters. This might help us to explain to our children just why the behavior their favorite cartoon character is exhibiting is whacked. I’ll be sticking to human or humanoid characters, as kids can pretty much tell someone like Spongebob is not only not real, but a complete freaking nutcase. That being said, and as indicated by the title, this week I’m going to start withScooby-Doo.

Fred Jones (Diagnosis: Classic Narcissism)

Fred is a consummate professional, from the way he handles dealings with the clients of the gang, to the final reveal of the villain. Every activity is paced out and deliberately performed. Not only is Fred’s behavior self-centered, but he clearly has issues with his vanity – that is, he’s really vain. Hell, the dude wears an ascot to solve mysteries. You can’t get any more vain than that.

Further diagnosis shows that Fred does not like criticism, especially about his appearance but generally about his decisions. He is continuously intolerant of the opinions and decisions of others, only considering them when there is no other alternative, but in the end makes it seem like not only was it his decision but he is in clear control. He delegates assignments, but then is quick to blame when there is a screw-up. His constant disapproval of the way Shaggy & Scooby behave is another clear indicator of narcissism. Not to mention his posture, which is commanding and seeks to make everyone around him feel smaller. He also runs really, really weird. I’m guessing this had to do more with the animation style than Fred himself.

The thing is about Fred, no matter how self centered he is – he gets the job done with the help of his team. You’ll notice that of course about the whole Mystery Inc. gang. While each of them suffers from some sort of mental disorder that would cause problems for them in most social situations, the social situation of solving crazy mysteries at amusement parks is the perfect environment for their combined issues.

Daphne Blake (Diagnosis: Dependent Personality Disorder)

Being “the pretty one” Daphne comes from a wealthy background. She is accident prone and almost nearly finds herself being kidnapped or accidentally breaking something, therefore remaining the center of attention, which similar to narcissism, was based more on dependence. She always needed to be rescued from said kidnappings, and usually it was Fred to her rescue. Clearly his affection and appreciation for her personal well being and presence kept her disorder fueled. She was the classic “damsel in distress.”

The interesting thing about Daphne though, in relation to being dependent is that she got better. While she started off as a poor model for young girls confidence (look pretty and the big strong man will come rushing to your rescue) she turned into a very independent woman. She learned martial arts, she learned how to pick locks and while never as intelligent as Velma or Fred, still developed useful problem solving skills. This complete change from being a helpless pretty girl to a self sufficient woman changed the character of Daphne and hopefully inspired many self centered “princesses” to do the same.

Velma Dinkley (Diagnosis: Obsessive–Compulsive Personality Disorder)

Not to be confused with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which is a high anxiety disorder that causes bad thoughts & compulsions and what not. No, OCPD is when everything needs to be just so. It has to with order, rules and expectations and this causes anxiety when things are out of a certain expected order. This doesn’t mean that Velma expects everything to be in a straight line, just that she expects things to be how she expects them to be. Out of all the gang though, having OCPD and choosing to solve mysteries for a living isn’t actually a bad thing.

You see, while it is a disorder, Velma shows that having a certain order to things in life helps you understand what is out of place and is able to provide her with a keen view of the unseen clues. Velma is very adept at solving puzzles and putting together the pieces, due to her expectations of the order of things, and her constant anxiety that something is amiss. Along with Fred, Velma is the primary case solver and leads the Mystery Inc. gang in being the one to pull the “great reveal” at the end of each episode. Her behavior clearly teaches to have a greater understanding of the world though having a less than flexible attitude towards it. It’s an interesting conundrum, but if you think about it long enough it makes sense.

Norville “Shaggy” Rogers (Diagnosis: Cowardly Pothead with Hints of Paranoia)

While Shaggy shows hints of true Paranoid personality disorder, it’s clearly not full blown as he generally trusts the rest of the Mystery Inc. gang, though not fully. He always feels like they are dragging him into a situation he doesn’t want to be in, and expresses this through incessant whining supported by his sidekick, Scooby. However, at the root Shaggy doesn’t suffer from any clear mental disorder. Instead, he’s just a paranoid pothead who is about as brave as a wet paper bag. He has extreme cowardice, which is not a side effect of the implied drug use. If anything, Shaggy is a lesson against drug use. His constant craving for “Scooby Snacks” and other weird snack foods (because his first toy as a child was the garbage disposal) paired with his constant fear of the world around him makes him the least effective of the gang. It’s clear they keep him around for comic relief, and to keep the rest of them on their toes.

Whether they would admit it or not, Shaggy’s paranoid behavior enables the rest of the team to function properly. Most of his paranoia is inadvertently aimed at what we later find out to be the bad guy, or the reason the old boarded up possibly haunted house is shut down. Through this constant craving for running away and snacks, Shaggy and Scooby often stumble upon a key in solving the case, further enabling the others to do their jobs. Unfortunately, Shaggy is generally too stupid (due to loss of memory because of drug use) to solve the case himself. While we can only assume the drug of choice is marijuana (hence the snacking,) the oft performed feats of great agility (superhuman running and what not) would imply something stronger is at use. The lesson here is that drugs are bad, but when you are really scared they can help you run on water. If you are a cartoon character.

Scooby-Doo (Diagnosis: Dissociative Identity Disorder)

First off, Scooby thinks he’s people. Not only does he occassionally walk upright and eats the same kind of strange concoctions that Shaggy consumes, but he talks. Scooby has a broken English speech pattern that every one can understand. “Ruh-roh, Raggy” is easily translated and muttered every episode. Aside from thinking he is people, which is clear dissociative behavior, he also behaves as his nature sometimes, that of a dog. Walking on four legs, eating food intended for animals and not wearing clothes. Because when he’s acting like people, he sometimes is known to don a disguise and walk upright.

The thing that really set Scooby solid in the loony bin in my mind is his extended family of nutty dogs that all think they are people. This shows a clear lack of proper parenting and probably some inconsistencies in the DNA. Something, somewhere is messed up with the Doo family. There are highly intelligent dogs, to southern ones to clowns and even a lion who thinks he’s a dog who thinks he is people. While not all of them are cowards like Scooby, all of them generally display the inability to cope with their chosen and set reality, and none of them lead a standard “dogs life.”

As an aside, the most frequently seen member of the Doo family was Scooby’s nephew Scrappy-Doo. Scrappy is the complete opposite of Scooby, and even has a clear speech pattern. What he’s not, is a coward. He is brave and vigilant, to the point of showing signs of having a Napolean (inferiority) complex, over compensating for his short stature with irrationally brave behavior, constantly challenging the opinions and fortitude of others in his presence. His over compensation for his height and the cowardice of his uncle usually results in him dangling upside down, being held by a larger foe. This clearly teaches a lesson in trying to use brute force & impetuously rushing into battle without thinking just to show how tough you are is not always the best idea. But Scrappy was never one to heed the patient advice of others.

The biggest lesson that this ragtag gang of socially, mentally and reality disabled kids taught us was that teamwork was important. Not only teamwork, but the combination of different personalities within a similar situation. At least, that kind of behavior helped them solve mysteries that usually involved some hunched over old guy wearing a glowing mask trying to make a profit or prohibit some land from being sold. When it came to cartoons, this was one of the most important lessons learned, and none of them did teamwork better than the Mystery Inc. crew.

Images: Copyright Hanna-Barbera Productions

News From:http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/02/psychology-of-cartoons-part-1-scooby-doo/

Amitabh Bachchan to figure in 3D cartoon soon

2010-10-05T20:42:00.001+05:30

By Priyanka Banerjee
Now Amitabh Bachchan is all set to appear in a 90-minute 3D animation film as a cartoon character. After playing double, triple role in a number of films, Big B this time, is playing twin roles in a 3D animation movie.
A joint venture of ABCL and Toonz Animation, a Kerala-based animation firm, is going to launch the 3D animation movie titled ‘Twinergy’, which is basically twin energy casting Amitabh Bachchan in a double role.
“We have seen Big B in many avatars. For the first time the super star is being casted in a 3D animation movie. We have high expectation from this movie as the script of the movie has already received good critical review from the industry experts,” said P Jayakumar, CEO, Chief Executive officer, Toonz Animation.
In ‘Twinergy’ Bachchan is playing twin roles - young warriors Dhruva and Vajra. He has been designed based on the 70s roles by Amitabh Bachchan which is expected to impress the viewers.
“Famous director Priyadarshan is directing the entire movie, making few changes in the script. Now we are in the pre-production stage of the film. Our artists are working on Big B’s first cartoon avatar,” said Jayakumar.
The budget of this animation movie is around 200 million rupees, he said. It will take another one year to finish the entire project.
They are planning to release it by Diwali next year.
The company's first joint venture with a Latin American Production house produced a 3D animation movie ‘Gaturro’ which has topped the box office in Argentina.
“We are also expecting Twinergy will be a big hit in the box office,” said Jayakumar.
Toonz is all set to compete with global players once 'Twinergy' is ready

Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Paul Conrad dies at 86

2010-10-02T08:19:00.001+05:30

Associated Press Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Paul Conrad, the political cartoonist who won three Pulitzer Prizes and used his pencil to poke at politicians for more than 50 years, has died. He was 86.
David Conrad says his father died Saturday of natural causes at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. Conrad took on U.S. presidents from Harry S. Truman to George W. Bush with his stark, aggressive visual style.
View an online exhibit of Conrad's work.
His favorite target was President Richard Nixon. At the time of the president's resignation, Conrad drew Nixon's helicopter leaving the White House with the caption: "One flew over the cuckoo's nest." David Conrad said his father considered appearing on Nixon's enemies list to be his proudest achievement.
Conrad worked at the Los Angeles Times for 30 years and helped the newspaper raise its national profile.

Malaysian cartoonist faces sedition charges

2010-09-28T07:35:00.001+05:30

Bangkok, September 27, 2010--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest of Malaysian cartoonist Zulkifli Awar Ulhaque, also known as Zunar, a contributor to the popular news site Malaysiakini and author of a new collection of political cartoons.
Police raided Zunar's Kuala Lumpur office and arrested him under the Sedition Act on Friday, just before the scheduled release of his new book, "Cartoon-O-Phobia." He was released on bail on Saturday, according to local news reports.
Zunar told Agence France-Presse that authorities did not identify the cartoons they considered seditious. Sedition charges in Malaysia are often used to suppress press criticism and carry possible three-year jail terms for first-time offenders, according to CPJ research.
Zunar's drawings often tackle sensitive issues, including the ongoing sodomy trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and the perceived influence of Prime Minister Najib Razak's wife over his decision-making. Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the arrest was related to cartoons that touched on the legal system and religion, the state news agency Bernama reported.
"We call on Malaysian authorities to stop harassing political cartoonist Zunar and to drop all charges against him," said Shawn W. Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. "The arrest of a cartoonist is inconsistent with Prime Minister Najib's vow on taking office that he would uphold, not suppress, press freedom."
Most of the cartoons in Zunar's new book had already been published on Malaysiakini; the book is being printed by the news group's publishing arm, Kinibook. According to the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ), a Kuala Lumpur press freedom group, three of Zunar's previous volumes of cartoons were banned by the Home Ministry in June under the country's repressive Printing Presses and Publications Act. CPJ research shows successive Malaysian administrations have used the law to censor criticism of the government.
Zunar's arrest comes amid a crackdown on satrical commentary. Earlier this month, Malaysian authorities filed a criminal "intent to hurt" charge against blogger Irwan Abdul Rahman for a posting a blog piece that poked fun at Malaysia's state-run power company Tenaga.
Zunar's wife, Fazlinah Rosley, presided over the scheduled book launch on Friday amid a notable police presence, according to CIJ. In a speech, she related that Zunar had sent a text message while in custody saying, that "authorities could imprison his body, but not his mind."

http://cpj.org/2010/09/malaysian-cartoonist-faces-sedition-charges.php

Malaysian cartoonist arrested over comic book (AFP)

2010-09-25T20:29:00.001+05:30

KUALA LUMPUR — A Malaysian political cartoonist said Friday he had been arrested under the Sedition Act and his offices raided by police over his new book, just hours before its planned launch.
Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque -- better known as Zunar -- uses cartoons to highlight contentious issues such as the sodomy trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim and police shootings.
Zunar said police seized 70 copies of his latest book, called "Cartoon-O-Phobia", at his home and held him ahead of its scheduled launch Friday evening.
"Police came and raided my office in the afternoon... now they said I am arrested under the Sedition Act," he told AFP by telephone while in custody at a police station.
"They say my new book is seditious. Certainly this is intimidation of cartoonists," he said, adding that police had not told him which cartoon in the book was considered seditious.
Police officials could not be immediately reached for comment.
In July, Zunar launched a legal battle against the government in a bid to lift a ban on two earlier comic books which authorities said threatened public order.
"The raid at his office and his arrest only go to prove that the authorities are cartoon-phobic," said Steven Gan, chief editor of online news portal Malaysiakini, the publisher of "Cartoon-O-Phobia" and some of Zunar's earlier books.
"This is an attack on freedom of expression, it again shows that the authorities have no sense of humour," he told AFP.
Gan said the 80-page book had a caricature of Prime Minister Najib Razak's wife on the front cover and contained cartoons that touched on numerous controversial issues.
Najib, who took office in the mainly Muslim country in April last year, had promised to promote openness and transparency but has since faced accusations that his administration is trying to silence critics.
Major newspapers and broadcasters are closely linked with the ruling coalition, so the Internet has become a lively forum for dissent and debate.
Unlike the mainstream press, the web and online media in Malaysia have remained relatively free, despite occasional raids, bans and government criticism.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iVsiH9hjLAdj8eml43rkvnP2921A

RK Laxman undergoes minor surgery

2010-08-31T07:42:00.003+05:30

R K Laxman, 88, drew a sketch from the hospital bed and gestured that all was well with him. (TOI)
PUNE: Ill health could not stop his pen. On Monday morning, cartoonist R K Laxman drew a sketch while lying on a bed at Pune's Command Hospital to convey all was well with him.
Laxman, 88, was admitted to the hospital on Friday. He underwent a minor operation the next day. "For the last three months, he was being fed through a nasal tube. He felt uncomfortable with it and was losing weight," said Major General S K Nema, MG (medicine), Southern Command. So, doctors decided to remove the nasal tube and instead insert a tube directly into the stomach. "A minor operation, percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy (PEG), using an endoscope was performed on him on Saturday," said Nema.
Colonel V K Gupta, senior adviser (medicine and gastroenterology), operated on Laxman. "He has been making satisfactory progress. He is likely to be discharged in a day or two. Thereafter, he will be given physiotherapy as well as speech therapy," said Major General S S Panwar, commandant, Command Hospital.
Laxman had suffered three minor strokes in Pune on June 17. He was then taken to Mumbai by an air ambulance and treated at Breach Candy.
Read more: RK Laxman undergoes minor surgery - India - The Times of India

Thommy's Cartoon Wins International Prize :

2010-08-13T22:32:00.002+05:30

Indian born Scientist cum Cartoonist, Dr. Thomas Kodenkandath's (Thommy) cartoon tilted “Chemistry is Life and... Everything” has been selected as one of the winners of the International Contest titled “Everything is Chemistry” conducted by European Chemical Society to celebrate 2011 as the International Year of Chemistry and sponsored by UNESCO & IUPAC, (International union of Pure and Applied Chemistry). The award citation from German Chemical Society announced that the award ceremony will be held in Germany on Sept. 1 at the European Chemical Society Congress.

UTHRADAPPACHIL

2010-08-11T07:31:00.001+05:30

Kerala Cartoon Academy proudly presents Super Speedy Cartoonist SAJJIVE BALAKRISHNAN from Kerala before you !The FAT cartoonist, as he calls himself will be making 1001 Caricatures in a non-stop effort to get into the RECORD on the Uthradam Day, i.e. the 22nd of August at Thrikkakara Thiruvonam Auditorium, adjacent to Thrikkakara Temple.The Kerala Cartoon Academy is extremely proud and happy to invite YOU to Thrikkakkara on August 22nd to witness this once in a lifetime and truly hilarious event and celebrate your ONAM festive days by being one of the lucky 1001.

Protest against cartoonist’s disappearance

2010-08-11T07:08:00.003+05:30

Media rights activists hold up posters bearing the image of missing Sri Lankan cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda during a protest rally in Colombo yesterday. Eknaligoda, who also wrote for the Lankaenews.com website, disappeared two days before the January 26th presidential poll. His whereabouts are not known and family and friends have blamed the government for his disappearance

Cartoon Network's 'Hero-Up' initiative to fight environmental villians

2010-07-14T16:09:00.003+05:30

India Infoline News Service
The grand winner was Anshul Sagar who created ‘Wolsbon’, a super-hero who uses a computerized flying board complete with control panels to defeat the evil villains. As the grand prize, Anshul (He's from Kerala-Kollam)will get to see Wolsbon brought to life on Cartoon Network.

Cartoon Network’s Hero-Up Challenge showed that Indian kids across the country share a growing concern for the environment with over 40,000 brand new super hero ideas and graphics submitted to the channel to help save the world.
Over the five week campaign, the Cartoon Network Hero-Up Challenge invited kids to dream up a brand new hero that possessed super powers to combat evil villains determined to unleash environmental damage. Key issues highlighted included saving wildlife and trees, water conservation and saving electricity. Five weekly winners and one grand winner were chosen as the ultimate hero of the challenge. The grand winner was Anshul Sagar who created ‘Wolsbon’, a super-hero who uses a computerized flying board complete with control panels to defeat the evil villains. As the grand prize, Anshul will get to see Wolsbon brought to life on Cartoon Network.
One of the most popular environmental topics during the Hero Up campaign was ‘saving trees and wildlife’. For this weekly challenge, Cartoon Network invited special guest judge, India’s most iconic and famous children’s author, Mr. Ruskin Bond to discover the best new environmental hero for the job.
Thirteen year old Danson David’s creation, ‘Drago’ took the honor, catching Mr. Bond’s attention for its fire breathing, lasershooting powers. For his efforts, Danson won an exciting Cartoon Network prize pack featuring Ben 10: Alien Force figurines, spyware set, sports watch, roller skate set and a remote controlled car.
Sharing his views on the Hero Up initiative, Mr. Ruskin Bond said, “It is a great idea that kids are given an opportunity to create their own super hero who will help save our environment. The future of the environment needs to be looked into and the kids of today now need to strike that balance that we created for them. Young people these days are conscious of saving the world around us and I’m quite happy to see their concern for the environment. My best wishes to these kids and to the Cartoon Network team.”
Danson David likes to paint and read comics and hails from a beautiful place called Kollam in Kerala. Danson said, “I am very excited to win the Cartoon Network Hero-Up weekly challenge and have also told my friends in school about it.”

Cartoonists Freedom of Expression Petition

2010-07-10T12:12:00.001+05:30

NEWS FROM THE NCS
Cartoonists Freedom of Expression Petition
June 15th, 2010
The Cartoonists Rights Network International has posted an online petition supporting the freedom of expression of cartoonists (and others). The petition was originally conceived after threats were made against the creators of South Park after the show satirized Muhammad. Signed by Pulitzer Prize winning editorial cartoonists, it has now become a more generalized statement of support for Freedom of Expression. It’s also now available for everyone to sign, cartoonists and the general public alike.

‘Sunday Funnies’ Comic Strips Get Stamp of Approval

2010-07-10T12:04:00.002+05:30

What:

First-Day-of-Issue dedication ceremony of the Sunday Funnies 44-cent Commemorative First-Class stamps. The event is free and open to the public.

When:
10:30 a.m., Friday, July 16, 2010

Where:
The Ohio State University
Performance Hall at the Ohio Union
1739 High Street
Columbus, OH 43210-1393

Who:

Ohio State University President E. Gordon Gee
Curator and professor The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Lucy Shelton Caswell
USPS President, Mailing and Shipping Services Robert F. Bernstock
Honored guests available for interviews:

Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker
Garfield creator Jim Davis
Dennis the Menace artists Marcus Hamilton and Ron Ferdinand
Archie Comics newspaper strip writer Craig Goldman
Calvin and Hobbes Editor Lee Salem
Background:

The Sunday Funnies pane of 20 stamps honors five of the nation’s most beloved comic strips: Archie, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Garfield and Calvin and Hobbes. The strips, as well as their characters, may have changed over the years, yet each nevertheless remains an enduring classic.

Offering an idealized portrait of American adolescence, Archie existed only in comic-book form before debuting in newspapers in 1946. A typical small-town teenager with a knack for goofing things up, 17-year-old Archie Andrews is often torn between haughty brunette Veronica Lodge and sweet, blonde Betty Cooper.

A military strip with universal appeal, Beetle Bailey first appeared in September 1950. Possibly the laziest man in the army, Private Beetle Bailey is an expert at sleeping and avoiding work. His chronic indolence antagonizes Sergeant Orville P. Snorkel, who is tough on his men but calls them “my boys.”

Dennis the Menace follows the antics of Dennis Mitchell, a good-hearted but mischievous little boy who is perpetually “five-ana-half” years old. His curiosity tests the patience of his loving parents and neighbors, guaranteeing that their lives are anything but dull. The comic debuted in March 1951 as a single-panel gag.

Garfield first waddled onto the comics page in June 1978. Self-centered and cynical, the crabby tabby hates Mondays and loves lasagna. He lives with Jon Arbuckle, a bumbling bachelor with a fatally flawed fashion sense, and Odie, a dopey-but-devoted dog.

Calvin and Hobbes explores the fantasy life of six-year-old Calvin and his tiger pal, Hobbes. The inseparable friends ponder the mysteries of the world and test the fortitude of Calvin’s parents, who never know where their son’s imagination will take him. The strip ran from November 1985 to December 1995.

‘Being a cartoonist requires knowledge, culture’ says Memecan

2010-07-02T08:41:00.002+05:30

Salih Memecan, a well-known cartoonist with the Sabah daily, gave a speech on Wednesday at the +1T Design Days being held by the Zaman daily, Today’s Zaman sister paper, and said being a cartoonist requires knowledge and culture.

Still criticized by some for acquiring a doctorate degree, Memecan said postgraduate education is not only for people who want to become architects, underlining that people should be well equipped to be able to draw caricatures.

Memecan, the president of the newly founded Media Association, was a guest speaker on the third day of the +1T Design Days, which feature a series of talks, seminars, workshops, documentary screenings and exhibitions.

The caricaturist made mention of Daniel Pink’s book “A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future” during his speech. “In general, left-brainers are rationalists. They prefer becoming engineers, software developers or mathematicians. However, right-brainers are romantic and sensitive people. Therefore, they are artists. An engineer cannot reduce a shirt’s price; however, if a designer does a good job with a shirt generally sold for $5, the shirt may sell for $30. Furthermore, a student who graduates from Harvard University, one of the top schools in the US, could easily find an excellent and well-paid job in years past. However, it is a fact that a person in India can easily do the job of the student graduating from Harvard University because these kinds of professions are technical. However, design is different, so a designer cannot easily substitute another designer,” Memecan said.

Memecan also spoke about how he was discovered. “I attended a high school in the US on an AFS scholarship. I stammered back then and my English was not very good. My teacher and schoolmates often mentioned a ‘term paper’ but I did not know what that meant. One day I asked one of my friends what ‘term paper’ meant. When I found out what it meant, it was already too late to prepare my term paper, which was supposed to be on ‘perception.’ What I did in the end was this: I drew 10 cartoons as part of my term paper and titled them ‘A Turkish student’s perception of the US.’ The teacher gave me an A, the highest grade, and showed my cartoons everywhere. Then students from the school’s newspaper interviewed me about the cartoons. I believe that was the day I was discovered,” Memecan said. When asked by a young designer participating in the +1T Design Days why he prefers to draw political cartoons, Memecan said he does not like politics but that many cartoonists drew political caricatures in their early days. Zaman’s +1T Design Days, which aim to provide newspaper design with an original perspective and fresh energy, will conclude on July 5.

The famed cartoonist said becoming a cartoonist is not related to talent and advised enthusiastic young designers to draw whatever they see. Memecan added that design is an important profession and that it will become more valuable in Turkey in the years to come.

02 July 2010, Friday

TODAY’S ZAMAN İSTANBUL

non fiction bolti lakeerain

2010-06-29T10:38:00.001+05:30

Einstein had a clue that images appeal to a certain side of the brain that induces creativity; hence he often used mental images in his work in order to communicate ideas.

In a curiously economic way, cartoons juxtapose ideas to provoke new ones, help escape from a particular mental block and jump to a new plane of thought while being funny and having strong recall value among readers.

Cartoons have become as mundane to our routine as breakfast and we probably overlook their artistic value. After glancing at the headlines, scanning the horoscope, we hurriedly seek our favourite comic strips in the morning paper to start the day with a chuckle, or to endorse our political opinions.

Cathy, Garfield, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, Gogi or a daily expression by Feica set the pace for our day.

Little squares or strips of funnies get emailed to friends, taped to walls, stuck on to fridge doors with magnets and posted on message boards. We get attached to their familiar style, love the characters, and become hooked to each cartoonist’s particular eccentricity and sense of humour.

The power of cartoons inspired Sharad Sharma and Nida Shams to compile Bolti Lakeerain, a collection of comic strips created by amateurs from Kakapeer to Kashmir.

The World Comics Network was introduced in Pakistan in 2006, and workshops were held in urban and rural areas throughout the country in which participants from a cross section of society were asked to express themselves through line drawings on A4 size sheets.

The result was lively and genuine art that may lack the finesse of a professional artist but nevertheless presents a simple and frank depiction of people’s thoughts and ideas about the everyday issues they confront in their lives. The issues range from health, women’s education, gender harassment, terrorism, power and water shortages to cases of karo kari.

This thought-provoking and entertaining compilation proves the maxim that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words’ and that complex stories can be told with a single still image that is easily understood and quickly absorbed by the reader.

— Fouzia Nasir Ahmad

Bolti Lakeerain
(Comics)
By Sharad Sharma and Nida Shams
World Comics Network,
Karachi
100pp. Price not listed

Local cartoon heroes likely to get reservation on television

2010-06-25T13:55:00.002+05:30

Ashish Sinha/THE INDIAN EXPRESS

Move over Popeye, Pokemon and Ninja-Hatori. Arjun, Chhota Bheem and Lava-Kusa may soon take your place on the telly. With the flood of foreign content drowning out Indian animation on television, the government may ask broadcasters to keep 10-30 per cent of their animation airtime for local movies and serials.

The move, which may kick off with state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan, follows a recent request to the Information & Broadcasting Ministry from local animation firms and studios seeking protection. Domestic animation production houses — which mostly create content based on Indian culture and mythology — complain that lack of sufficient airtime is leading to growing industry losses.
“Currently, children’s channels in India beam imported animation content, most of them 5-10 years old. It’s similar to dumping Chinese toys in Indian markets. Outdated animation content is dumped on Indian networks, while home-grown content has few takers in the country. This is wrong,” says a senior executive from a leading media consultancy firm.

The I&B Ministry headed by Ambika Soni is likely to take cues from China, Australia, the UK, Canada and Germany, where 30-60 per cent of TV animation content is locally produced. According to sources, the Ministry could amend licensing norms for all categories of channels—especially children’s channels—to make telecast of local animated content mandatory.
“Ambika Soni is a former Culture Minister. She understands the importance of Indian mythology and culture and their beneficial impact on children through animation films.

“We are confident she will take corrective measures to protect animation companies,” a senior official with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) told FE. FICCI recently submitted a road map on helping the Indian animation, gaming and visual effects industry to the I&B Ministry. It has an active animation division represented by all leading animation firms.

The animation industry led by FICCI has urged the I&B Ministry to explore co-production treaties with US, Canada, France, Singapore, Malaysia and Korea, as the financial benefits could be availed of by Indian animators strong in production. “These countries are weak in production, but strong in pre- and post-production aspects of animation projects. A co-production treaty with such countries will help our animators in a big way,” said Ashish Kulkarni, CEO of Big Animation, a Reliance ADAG company.

The Rs 2,300-crore domestic animation industry has struggled to find takers for short serials and full-length feature films all through last year and the current year. As many as a dozen animation films including the animated version of Karan Johar’s Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Arjun: The Warrior Prince, Rajnikanth’s Sultan: The Warrior, Twinergy, a 90-minute animated film and Chandamama are complete, but could not be released due to various reasons.
“For animation films, there are only two windows for a theatre release —summer vacations and Christmas. Because of IPL, we haven’t been able to release films in April-May in the last three years. In December, there are always big film releases, which have an adverse impact on animation films,” says Kulkarni.

FICCI’s animation division has asked the government to provide 50 per cent reimbursable market development assistance for home-grown animation firms to help them attend events abroad. It has also requested a 10-year entertainment tax exemption for all children’s movies and animation feature films. According to FICCI, entertainment taxes are extremely low in Asia —nil in Hong Kong, 3 per cent in Japan and Singapore, and 7 per cent in Thailand.

Malaysia bans political cartoons critical of gov't

2010-06-25T13:53:00.000+05:30

By JULIA ZAPPEI The Associated Press

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia banned three works of political cartoons that criticize the government, but one of the artists said Friday he was obligated to highlight issues other cartoonists would not.

The government said the cartoons in two books and a magazine posed a security threat.

Malaysia has banned dozens of publications in recent years, but usually because of sexual content or alleged misrepresentation of Islam, its official religion. But the latest ban is certain to spark complaints that the government is disallowing critical views.

"All three publications have been banned for their contents that can influence the people to revolt against the leaders and government policies," said a statement by Home Ministry Secretary General Mahmood Adam on the official news agency Bernama. "The contents are not suitable and detrimental to public order," he said without elaborating.

The works are mainly collections of comics by Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque, known as Zunar, and other local cartoonists, questioning current events, such as police shootings and the sodomy trial of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.

The books, titled "Perak, Land of Cartoons" in Malay and "1 Funny Malaysia," were published late last year. The magazine, "Issues in Cartoons" in Malay, with a circulation of 15,000 copies, was launched in February with three volumes coming out since then, Zunar said.

Independent online news portal Malaysiakini, which publishes "1 Funny Malaysia," said it would file a court case to challenge the ban of its book. Its chief executive officer, Premesh Chandran, said the book was a compilation of cartoons already published on Malaysiakini's website.

"It's peculiar that the book is banned ... as so far there is no evidence of public disturbance stemming from these cartoons," he told The Associated Press.

Cartoonist Zunar, who has published the other two works, told the AP he was still waiting for an official letter from the ministry but vowed not to stop drawing.

"In Malaysia the government is like this. They won't allow alternative views. You can do cartoons, you can do whatever art work you want, but it must be in line with the government (view)," said the 47-year-old, who has been a professional cartoonist for more than 20 years.

"Drawing cartoons it's my social obligation ... I will highlight the issues that Malaysian cartoonist have failed to highlight so far," he said. "They can ban my books, they can ban my publications, but they can't ban my mind."

He said hundreds of copies of his publications had been seized by authorities for inspections from vendors throughout Malaysia. Another magazine he began publishing was also banned last year after the first volume.

He estimated the latest ban may cost him up to 70,000 ringgit ($22,000) as distributors were likely to return his publications. Printing, distributing or possessing prohibited material is punishable by up to three years in jail.

Activists and opposition leaders have frequently accused the government of disallowing dissent.

Last month, Malaysian authorities seized more than 6,000 copies of a pro-opposition newspaper, saying it did not have a printing permit. The publisher insisted otherwise.

All Malaysian publications require government-approved licenses that must be renewed annually.

In hospital bed, the 'cartoonist' overcomes the 'patient'

2010-06-25T13:37:00.000+05:30

Mumbai, Jun 25 (PTI) Bedridden in a city hospital after suffering a series of strokes, India's best known cartoonist wants to get back to what he does best.

"All he wants is a paper and pen to sketch. He is trying to put signature on paper. I gave him his drawing pad and said this is for you to sketch," R K Laxman's daughter-in-law Usha told PTI this morning.

"He is feeling much better. He is stable now," Usha said.

The eminent cartoonist suffered three mild strokes and was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Breach Candy hospital here on Sunday after being transported by an air ambulance from Pune, where he has been living for the past few years.

RK Laxman: Master strokes every morning

2010-06-24T12:21:00.003+05:30

Priyanka Kakodkar, NDTV

Mumbai: As India's greatest cartoonist, the man who touched the Common Man recovers in hospital. The nation watches for news on R K Laxman's condition.

The 86-year old was hospitalised after three mild stokes. He is being treated for a lung and kidney infection.

"The Prime Minister has sent a message wishing him a speedy recovery," said S M Krishna, External Affairs Minister.

Laxman's work which spans over six decades, chronicled the fortunes and foibles of Independent India.

He is best known for his fearless lampooning of politicians, Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi, even during the repressive days of the Emergency to Vajpayee and other leaders of the NDA regime.

"There is another enduring image that he is associated with, the ubiquitous crow. His crows are so animated, they represent to me the moods of the city," said Shyam Benegal, Director.

Laxman was born in 1924 in Mysore in a Tamil family, his big career break came in Mumbai first with the Blitz magazine and then at the Free Press journal where he worked alongside another cartoonist...Bal Thackeray who went on to found the Shiv Sena.

Laxman finally joined the Times of India where his front page cartoon became a legend.

"I begin my day with a look at what the common man is upto," said Gurusharan Kaur, Manmohan Singh's wife.

Through his career, Laxman won many prestigious awards including the Magsaysay and state awards like the Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan. Yet he remained fiercely critical of the political class.

Probably, R K Laxman had rightly said, "I wouldn't say politicians represent the country. I don't think they do. They have forgotten the comman man, they think the common man belongs to them, to serve them."

Laxman's condition stable

2010-06-22T17:31:00.000+05:30

Mumbai, Jun 22 (PTI) The condition of eminent cartoonist R K Laxman, who is being treated for lung infection and kidney problem at a hospital here, is critical but stable.

86-year-old Laxman, who was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital on Sunday after suffering three mild strokes, is responding to medicines and is stable but the next two days are crucial, doctors attending on him said today.

Laxman is being treated for lung infection and kidney problem besides being treated for stroke, the doctors said.

Laxman's daughter-in-law Usha Srinivas, who visited the cartoonist in the morning, said, "There is slight improvement in his health but he is not in a position to talk."

The next two days will be crucial, she said quoting doctors. He is being treated by a team of doctors headed by Dr Hemant Thacker.

R K Laxman hospitalized after 3 strokes, stable

2010-06-21T07:52:00.001+05:30

MUMBAI: Eminent cartoonist R K Laxman was admitted to Breach Candy Hospital on Sunday evening after being transported by an air ambulance from Pune, the city where he has been living for the past few years. His family members told TOI that the 86-year-old, who suffered three mini-strokes between Thursday and Sunday in Pune, was stable.

"He suffered a stroke six years ago but has been fine since then. But after these mild strokes over the past four days, we felt he should be brought to Mumbai, as most of his family members are here," said his daughter-in-law Usha. The family’s friends arranged for the air ambulance to bring Laxman to Mumbai early on Sunday. He was then admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit, and is undergoing a series of investigations. A senior doctor told TOI that he was "stable". Senior neurologist Dr B S Singhal, who was in charge of Laxman’s treatment six years ago, will take charge again.

Laxman, creator of the iconic Common Man, is unarguably India’s best-known cartoonist, whose work has brought a smile to millions of faces for the past 62 years. His art has brought him not only innumerable fans including many politicians he mercilessly lampooned but several accolades and honours as well, from the prestigious Ramon Magsayay award in 1984 to the Padma Vibhshan in 2005. He was also honoured with honorary doctorates by the universities of Marathwada and Mysore.

Homer Simpson Clinches The Title For Best Cartoon Character In Past 20 Years

2010-06-07T10:20:00.001+05:30

Homer Simpson's face is known the world around for being the fun-loving, beer-guzzling, donut-eating cartoon character imprinted upon the minds of American youths for almost a quarter of a century. Recently, Homer Simpson was honored by Entertainment Weekly as the greatest character in American pop culture for the past twenty years. According to a poll done by the BBC, British residents thought that Homer Simpson symbolized America more than Abraham Lincoln or Martin Luther King Jr. DOH!
"People can relate to Homer Simpson because we're all secretly propelled by desires we can't admit to," Groening was quoted as telling Entertainment Weekly.

"Homer Simpson is launching himself head-first into every single impulsive thought that occurs to him. His love of whatever...is a joy to witness."

The Simpsons is the longest running show on prime time television, and in 90 countries world wide in syndication. So, audiences around the world will be hearing Homer Simpson's crave for donuts for at least another generation.

News From:http://dimewars.com/Blog/Homer-Simpson-Clinches-The-Title-For-Best-Cartoon-Character-In-Past-20-Years.aspx?BlogID=918ccaf9-936a-47df-8734-bd32acc61133

Jesus cartoon plan upsets religious groups

2010-06-07T10:17:00.000+05:30

A coalition of religious conservatives has formed in opposition to a proposed Comedy Central cartoon about Jesus Christ.

The newly formed Citizens Against Religious Bigotry intends to appeal to Comedy Central advertisers urging a boycott of the TV cartoon, tentatively titled JC.

Comedy Central announced the series last month, saying it would depict Christ as a "regular guy" who moves to New York to "escape his father's enormous shadow," with the father shown as more involved with video games than the real world.

Citizens Against Religious Bigotry says it believes the cartoon will be offensive, citing Comedy Central's previous record of mocking Christianity.

It accuses the network of a double standard, pointing out that a South Park episode showing the Prophet Muhammad was not aired for fear of offending Muslims.

"Why does Comedy Central give such deference to Islam while mocking Christianity?" Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council, asked Thursday. "Is it because they confuse the civility of Christianity with weakness?"

The coalition of conservative and religious groups includes watchdog group Media Research Center, the American Alliance of Jews and Christianity, the Catholic League, the Parents Television Council and talk-show host Michael Medved.

In a teleconference with media representatives, Medved raised the issue of internet threats Comedy Central faced over the South Park episode depicting Mohammad. Many Muslims believe depictions of the Prophet are forbidden by their faith and such depictions in Western media have drawn death threats.

"Does that indicate that Christians then are punished because they aren't crazy? That they get punished because their religion does not encourage threats of violence?" he asked.

The group said it had begun a letter campaign to encourage Comedy Central advertisers to boycott the show.

Network spokesman Tony Fox noted that JC is nothing more than an idea now and may never make it to air. No one knows what will be in the show, as there is not even a completed script, he said.

Apple bans Pulitzer Prize political cartoons from iPhone

2010-05-10T08:48:00.000+05:30

This week, a California political cartoonist was awarded the prestigious Pulitzer Prize. Last December, Apple's App Store police barred his work from its hallowed online halls.As reported Thursday by Harvard University's Nieman Journalism Lab, Pulitzer Prize–winning cartoonist Mark Fiore submitted his cartoon app NewsToons to the App Store Police, only to have it rejected.Fiore's sin: violation of the sacred section 3.3.14 of the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement, which reads:Applications must not contain any obscene, pornographic, offensive or defamatory content or materials of any kind (text, graphics, images, photographs, etc.), or other content or materials that in Apple's reasonable judgment may be found objectionable by iPhone or iPod touch users.We'll gloss over that risible "reasonable judgement" bit and instead pose a simple question: Keeping in mind that Fiore is a political cartoonist, might that "offensive or defamatory" judgment be solely in the eyes of the beholder?

Meaning, are the App Store police censoring commentary based upon their own tastes? Well, of course they are.

After all, who might find Fiore's cartoons to be offensive? Homophobes? Drug dealers?Mexican wrestlers? The POTUS himself? Maybe so - but one thing is certain: Apple does.

Sure, we all laugh at the stupidity of fart apps (447 and counting) and pointless "Ka-Ching!" buttons and their ilk, but the App Store police's censorship of political ideas is truly worrisome. Should Apple succeed, as it clearly wishes to, in turning the iPad into a vehicle for printed matter, will the App Store bluenoses succeed in determining what large numbers of people can read?

To be sure, Apple doesn't censor pass-through apps such as those from The New York Times, the BBC, or USA Today, which exist to be containers for news and commentary produced by their parent entities. But the App Store police - as in Fiore's case - find it well within their power to shut controversy out of Apple's handhelds when it appears in standalone apps.

And if you'd like to don your favorite tinfoil hat for a moment, note that the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement doesn't explicitly state that content displayed through a pass-through app is immune from the "offensive or defamatory content" prohibition.

The spreading stink over Fiore's rejection may change Apple's mind, however. Last November, the App Store police banned an app that included a cartoon of a Nancy Pelosi bobblehead. It relented and approved the app, but only after considerable public pressure - and not a small amount of ridicule.

Perhaps the outcry over Fiore's banning will lead to a similar turnabout by Apple - after all, winning a Pulitzer Prize is no small achievement, and one that should earn Apple a fresh round of derision.

But that won't change the iPhone Developer Program License Agreement. Remember, it still allows Apple to "reject [an app] for any reason, even if Your Application meets the Documentation and Program Requirements."

To gain admission into the iTunes App Store, a political commentator shouldn't have to win a Pulitzer Prize.

News from:http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/04/15/mark_fiore_rejected_from_app_store/

Staff cartoonist sketches his own opinions

2010-05-10T08:43:00.000+05:30

Who decides what the newspaper's editorial cartoonist can draw - and who decides what cartoons get printed?

An e-mail from a reader who didn't give a name asked, "Does The Blade cartoonist have the right to refuse to draw a cartoon illustrating an editorial position he disagrees with?"

This reader added, "I'm assuming he does because the cartoon accompanying The Blade's anti-Arizona editorial came from Newsday," whose cartoons come via wire service.

Actually, that particular question was moot, since Kirk Walters was on temporary leave at the time Arizona's controversial new anti-illegal immigrant policy was passed. But what about the bigger issue?

I asked Editor David Kushma, who is in charge of The Blade's pages of opinion.

"Actually, Kirk's role as staff cartoonist is closer to that of a staff columnist than an editorial writer," Mr. Kushma explained.

"He expresses his own opinions in his cartoons, rather than merely illustrating The Blade's institutional positions," the editor said.

In his capacity as editor, Mr. Kushma has the right not to run a staff cartoon, just as he has that right for a column.

"But I haven't done that, and I can't imagine I would simply because I disagreed with its viewpoint," he said.

"When cartoons create problems, usually it's because of taste issues, or pushing the envelope a little too far."

Another reader who signs himself only "Benthere59" is indignant that The Blade continues to suppress a major story - the "fact" that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed "to hear arguments concerning Barack Obama's eligibility to serve as President."

Benthere59 provided me with a huge mass of information showing that the President received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia and was "born in Kenya and there is no record of him applying for U.S. citizenship."

"This is looking pretty grim," he added.

According to Mr. Benthere, a group called Americans for Freedom of Information released transcripts proving Mr. Obama was not a U.S. citizen at the time he was attending Occidental College in Los Angeles.

So, Benthere59 wants to know why The Blade isn't telling its readers about all this?

That's a good question, and there's only one answer: Because not a word of it is true.

Extensive research by the investigatory Web site snopes.com shows that all of these claims were based on a forged Associated Press article from a year ago.

"It's a hoax, whose elements are all demonstrably false," Snopes found. Yes, there was a lawsuit filed by one Leo Donofrio that claimed the President wasn't legitimately qualified. But it was denied even a hearing by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Not a single justice on the U.S. Supreme Court has ever shown the slightest interest in this matter. That's because it has clearly been established beyond any reasonable doubt that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii to a mother who is an American citizen.

There's also no such group as "Americans for Freedom of Information."

However, there is such a thing as April Fool's Day.

And if Benthere59 had bothered to notice, that was the date on the Associated Press story he sent me to "prove" his claims.

Dick Eastop is puzzled that The Blade continues to mention that the University of Toledo Medical Center was formerly known as the Medical College of Ohio. "It has been almost five years since the [two institutions merged.] Don't you think … it insults the intelligence of your readers?" he asks.

Dealing with last things first, unless someone is involved with medical issues or those two institutions, they may well not know that they have merged. In the last several months, I have talked to readers who did not know, say, of the Chrysler-Fiat alliance.

The Medical College of Ohio was a highly respected and regionally famous institution. Even if the reference was totally redundant, there would be nothing ethically wrong with reminding readers of the medical center's origins.

Incidentally, I read a story in a national newspaper last week that referred to Ho Chi Minh City as "formerly Saigon, the capital of the former South Vietnam." South Vietnam was even better known than MCO - and it has been out of business since 1975.

Anyone who has a concern about fairness or accuracy in The Blade is invited to write me, c/o The Blade, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660, or at my Detroit office, 563 Manoogian Hall, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202; call me at 1-888-746-8610, or e-mail me at OMBLADE@aol.com. I cannot promise to address every question in the newspaper, but I do promise that everyone who contacts me with a serious question will get a personal reply. Reminder, however: If you don't leave me an e-mail address or a phone number, I have no way to get in touch with you.

Jack Lessenberry is a member of the journalism faculty at Wayne State University in Detroit and a former national editor of The Blade.

news from:http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100509/COLUMNIST17/5090318

Mississippi Cartoonists Share Creative Ideas

2010-05-10T08:39:00.001+05:30

Mississippi Cartoonists Share Creative Ideas

at Meridian's Crossfire Comics

Cartoonists from all over the state of Mississippi were in Meridian Saturday at Crossfire Comics on Highway 19 North. They gathered at the comic store to draw and sketch for store customers.

news from:http://www.wtok.com/news/mississippiheadlines/93209049.html

Yudhvir Award for Subhani, Cartoon Editor, Deccan Chronicle,

2010-05-04T21:22:00.001+05:30

By M Roushan Ali

Hyderabad, April 30: Information and Public Relation Minister J Geeta Reddy on Friday said cartoon editors can play an important role in shaping society by educating people to eliminate social evils through their work and not confining their talent to drawing political cartoons.
Addressing a meeting after presenting the prestigious Yudhvir Memorial Award 2010 to Shaikh Subhani, Cartoon Editor with Deccan Chronicle, for his outstanding contribution to cartoon journalism. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000, memento and a citation.
Subhani is the 19th person to receive the annual Yudhvir award and joins the extraordinary league of the likes of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former PM IK Gujral, former Vice-President of India Krishan Kant, Khushwant Singh and Shyam Banegal among others who were bestowed with this honour earlier.
Showering praises on versatility of Mr Subhani in his profession, Minister J Geetha Reddy said "all these years I have been looking at the cartoons drawn by Subhani and published in Deccan Chronicle. Not a day passes for us Hyderabadis and Secunderabadis without reading Deccan Chronicle and looking at cartoon in the paper. I always used to think who is this Subhani. Today I am sharing the dais with him and I think it is given opportunity," she said and congratulated Subhani.
The minister said the media was crossing "lakshman rekha" in its race for TRP ratings. Media should not allow itself to be regulated by government by crossing its limits. "Media has to draw its own line and play a responsible role,” she said.
Subhani said he saw this award as a recognition for the role of cartoonists in society. Despite too many channels and newspapers with too many issues reducing the attention span of the readers and viewers, cartoons are continuing to draw the attention of readers and viewers.
"A cartoonist, therefore can play a greater contributory and effective role in drawing the attention of public on important but less discussed issues, shape opinions and trigger debates," he said.
Yudhvir Foundation chairman Narendra Luther, secretary Vinay Vir, and trustees Mr Zahid Ali Khan, Dr Muralidhar Gupta and Dr Bajrang Lal participated in the award presentation programme.

Toronto Comic Arts Festival 2010: Jose Villarrubia

2010-05-02T20:31:00.002+05:30

The 2010 edition of the Toronto Comic Arts Festival -- TCAF for short -- takes place May 8 and 9 at the Toronto Reference Library. This year's line-up of cartoonists, artists, writers, graphic novelists, and other sorts is fantastic, and in the lead-up to TCAF The Afterword would like to introduce you to some of the talent attending this year's festival. Just like like year, we've devised a fun little questionnaire so they can speak for themselves.

Who are you? Why are you coming to TCAF?

Jose Villarrubia, comic book colorist and photographer. TCAF is my favorite comics festival!

Have you been before? If so, what's your fondest TCAF memory?

I've been to everyone. My favorite memory is singing “Endless Love” as a duet with Erik Kim in a Korean Karaoke .

Do you make a living from comics? If not, what's your day job?

Yes, but I am also the incoming Chair of the Illustration Department of the Maryland Institute College of Art.

If you could have dinner with one other artist attending this year's festival, who would it be and why?

Maurice Vellekoop. 'Cause he's fabulous.

What's the best comic you've read this year? The worst?

Best: The Book of Genesis Illustrated, worst: Le Pape Terrible

Who's the most under-appreciated comic artist working today?

Andy Clarke, or maybe Das Pastoras

What's your most anticipated comic of the year?

Asterios Polyp

What's one piece of advice you'd give to an aspiring cartoonist?

Learn to draw, learn to write, go to school…

Tell me about your dream comic: who would write it, who would draw it, who would do the cover?

Ha, ha! Let's See, Alan Moore would write, Richard Corben would illustrate and do the cover.

What's your earliest memory of comics, reading them or encountering them?

Provably Spanish children comics anthologies like TBO or Zipi y Zape…

Would you recommend your work to someone who'd never read a comic book before? Why or why not?

Yes. Cause I not only do comics.

Who'd play you on the big screen in an adaptation of your life?

Lady Gaga for early childhood. Madonna would play the older me.

We asked this last year and we'll ask it again: which cartoonist appearing at this year's TCAF do you suspect may in fact be an alien?

Antoine Dodé

If you had to spend a Saturday with any of the following golden age characters - Superman, Dagwood Bumstead, Popeye, Betty Boop or Flash Gordon which would it be, and how would you spend the day?

Flash Gordon as drawn by Alex Raymond. I rather not go into specifics.

What potential does the iPad hold for comic creators and readers?

Lots. Or not much if it turns out to be a fad. I cannot tell the future. If I could I would be very rich and powerful. Or maybe very miserable.

News from :http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/afterword/archive/2010/05/02/toronto-comic-arts-festival-2010-jose-villarrubia.aspx

Creators of 'Everybody Draw Muhammad Day' drop gag after everybody gets angry

2010-04-27T08:00:00.002+05:30

"Everybody Draw Muhammad Day?"
As South Park's Sheila Broflovski would say: "What, What, WHAT?"The outcry from Comedy Central's decision to censor an episode of South Park with depictions of Muhammad last week led a cartoonist and a Facebook user to fight back. That is until they realized it might be controversial, apparently.
In declaring May 20th to be "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day," Seattle artist Molly Norris created a poster-like cartoon showing many objects -- from a cup of coffee to a box of pasta to a tomato -- all claiming to be the likeness of Muhammad.
Such depictions are radioactive as many Muslims believe that Islamic teachings forbid showing images of Muhammad."I am Mohammed and I taste good," says the pasta box in the cartoon. On top of the cartoon images (but no longer on her website) was an announcement explaining the rationale behind the event.
"In light of the recent veiled (ha!) threats aimed at the creators of the....

...television show South Park (for depicting Mohammed in a bear suit) by bloggers on Revolution Muslim's website, we hereby deemed May 20, 2010 as the first annual "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day," the original artwork reads.On Friday, Norris told a radio talk show host in Seattle that she came up with the idea because "as a cartoonist, I just felt so much passion about what had happened..." noting that "it's a cartoonist's job to be non-PC."
That passion, it appears, has lessened. And fast.
Her stark website today reads: ""I am NOT involved in "Everybody Draw Mohammd [sic] Day!""I made a cartoon that went viral and I am not going with it. Many other folks have used my cartoon to start sites, etc. Please go to them as I am a private person who draws stuff," she writes.It went viral, however, because she was the one who passed it around. Sending it to people like Dan Savage, a popular Seattle-based blogger and nationally syndicated sex advice columnist.Once it became a national story she reeled back, asking Savage -- in an email he provided to The Ticket -- if he would "be kind enough to switch out my poster" with another one -- a much tamer version which has no images attributed to Muhammad."I am sort of freaked out about my name/image being all over the place," her e-mail reads.He didn't change it, nor did he post the tamer version. Besides, after Savage posted it, many other sites picked it up including The Atlantic and Reason.
When asked about her change of heart, Norris told The Ticket that she didn't intend for the cartoon "to go viral."
Then why did she send the cartoon to the media in the first place? "Because I'm an idiot," Norris replied.
"This particular cartoon of a 'poster' seems to have struck a gigantic nerve, something I was totally unprepared for," she said.She doesn't appear to be alone. The creator of a Facebook page dedicated to the day has bowed out as well. Jon Wellington told the Washington Post (before abandoning ship) that he created the page because he "loved [Norris's] creative approach to the whole thing -- whimsical and nonjudgmental." While he was still associated with his own event he said: "To me, this is all about freedom of expression and tolerance of other viewpoints, so I hope you'll help make this a sandbox that anyone can play in, if they want. I don't think it'd be right under the circumstances for me (or anyone) to censor inflammatory posts *ahem*, but let's be welcoming and inclusive, mmkay?"Apparently the posts weren't "welcoming" enough, as on Sunday morning he announced his departure from the cause. "I am aghast that so many people are posting deeply offensive pictures of the Prophet," he writes. "Y'all go ahead if that's your bag, but count me out."Did he think people were going to post flattering images?That's what Facebook user Douglas Armstrong wondered too. "You created an event inviting people to submit pictures of Mohammed," Armstrong wrote. "And apparently you're so new to the Internet that you didn't foresee what would happen?"Although Wellington had abandoned his cause, he apparently was sticking around to answer questions. To Armstrong's question, Wellington responded: "I guess I had more faith in human nature than was warranted."
Another user, Paul St. George, had little patience for Wellington. "If you're not going to attend your own event then take it down dumbass and quit boring us."
Related items:
Muslim group warns 'South Park' creators after Muhammad scene
Jon Stewart says Comedy Central censors South Park for 'safety reasons'
Muslim threats to 'South Park': Did Comedy Central cave in to knucklehead extremists?
-- Jimmy Orr

Saudi Gazette’s cartoonist up for journalism prize

2010-04-27T07:56:00.001+05:30

JEDDAH – Saudi Gazette cartoonist Al-Shafea Muhamad Sadik has been nominated for the Best Caricature prize at the Arab Journalism Awards.Al-Shafea’s name was announced as the Dubai Press Club revealed the first three nominees for each of the awards’ 12 categories.

The awards ceremony, which will see the presentation of a further two awards for Best Journalism Column and Journalist of the Year, will be held on May 13 under the auspices of UAE Vice President and Dubai Governor Mohammad Bin Rashed Al-Maktoum. Muna Bosamra, Deputy Director of the Arab Journalism Award, said that more than 3,500 entrants had competed for the award this year.“This is the ninth competition we’ve held with entries coming from across the Arab World, and it has seen a 13 percent increase in participants on last year,” Bosamra said.

“The Young Journalist category has seen the most entries, making up 22 percent of the total.” Bosamra added that the awards ceremony is expected to see a high attendance, coming as it will straight after the end of the Arab Media Forum held over May 12 and 13 and which some 800 Arab journalists are scheduled to attend. Al-Shafea’s works are published every day on the front and opinion pages of Saudi Gazette and regularly appear in its sister publication Okaz.

By Saleh Shabraq

International Political Cartoon Competition 2010

2010-04-21T19:02:00.001+05:30

MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND- GLOBALISATION, FINANCIAL MELTDOWN, FAIR-TRADE AND ECONOMIC JUSTICE
The competition is open to cartoonists from all the nations
A first prize of £700, a second prize of £500 and a third prize of £300 as well as an 'emerging artist' prize of £150 (for 16-22 yeas olds) will be awarded for cartoons which, in the opinion of the judges, best express the above theme. The judges’ decision wll be final. The jury, made up of leading cartoonists and well-known personalities, will be looking for clarity of message, cartooning skill and satirical humour.
In the first instance, the cartoon may be submitted in any form (originals, faxes, photocopies or electronically in at least 300 dpi resolution), although an original would be preferred. Those artists whose cartoons are short listed for exhibition and a prize will be notified by the organisers, after which they must submit the original.
Cartoons with text and/or captions not in English should (if possible) be accompanied by a translation. It would also be useful to have some idea of the situation being addressed by the cartoon if it refers to a specific social or political event/situation which may not be universally understood.
Each entry must be signed by the artist and accompanied by an address and contact details.
Entries to reach the organisers by May 1st 2010.
The results of the competition will be announced on June 1st 2010.
An exhibition of the best of the submissions will be organised in London and at the Appledore Visual Arts Festival and the prize-winning cartoons will be published in the Morning Star newspaper and other interested journals.
Unless the submitting cartoonist stipulates otherwise, the original cartoons and/or prints of the cartoons, after publication/exhibition, will be offered for sale. Any proceeds, less a small commission and transfer fees, will be paid to the originating artist.
The organisers retain the right to publish or exhibit any of the cartoons submitted, but undertake to give due credit to the artists and ensure they receive any royalties/payments that may accrue as a result.
The first ten cartoons will be displayed on our website at: www.kenspraguefund.org for a period of 12 months and later will become part of the page’s competition archive, accessible to visitors.
Artists submitting cartoons will automatically agree to abide by the above rules.
Sponsored by the Ken Sprague Fund together with the Appledore Visual Arts Festival and the Morning Star.
Address to send submissions:Ken Sprague Fund Cartoon Competition 201011 Dorset Road, Ealing London W5 4HUUnited KingdomEmail: comp2010@kenspraguefund.org

K S PILLAI Memorial Freelance cartoonist Award 2009 goes to Mr. E P Peter

2010-03-15T08:54:00.000+05:30

K S PILLAI Memorial Freelance cartoonist Award 2009 goes to Mr. E P Peter of Dinamalar Daily, Chennai for his lifelong contributions in cartooning.

The award will be presented to him on 17th April,2010 at a function to be held at Chennai with the support of All India Malayali Association.

Mr. Peter, a native of Kottayam, started cartooning in 1975 through Shankar’s Weekly and is completing 34th year of his cartooning career with Dinamalar. He regularly contributes cartoons to Malayalam Magazines also.

This award is instituted by Cartoonist Sri. Sukumar in memory of his Guru Cartoonist K.S. Pillai.

News from http://cartoonacademy.blogspot.com/2010/03/k-s-pillai-memorial-freelance.html

Sweden urged to act against reprinting of caricature

2010-03-15T08:50:00.000+05:30

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has requested the Swedish government to take action against three newspapers in Sweden for publishing and reprinting a caricature of Prophet Muhammad.

Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman said Malaysia strongly denounced the reprinting of the caricature on Wednesday.

“Malaysia is concerned that such despicable acts disregard the sensitivities of the Muslim world in the name of freedom of expression.

“Such irresponsible acts are provocative and offensive in nature and hence, are totally unacceptable,” he said in a statement issued here yesterday.

He urged the Swedish government to take measures against the publications to prevent the recurrence of such irresponsible acts in the future.

The caricature, depicting Prophet Muhammad’s head on a dog’s body, is a creation of Swedish artist Lars Vilks, 63, and was submitted to be displayed as an exhibit at a Swedish cultural heritage centre.

However, it was rejected on security reasons.

A Swedish newspaper printed the drawing in 2007, with an editorial defending freedom of expression, leading to protests by Muslim countries and death threats against Vilks.

Meanwhile, PAS Youth is gathering more than one million Muslims to march to the Swedish Embassy here after Friday prayers in protest of the caricatures.

Its chief Nasrudin Hassan Tantawi said they would hand over a memorandum to the embassy.

“Whether the authorities give us a permit or not, we will march to the embassy as we must defend the sanctity of the religion. We do not need consent from human beings in authority to do so.

“But we will apply for a permit, anyway,” he told reporters after chairing the monthly Youth central committee meeting yesterday.

Nasrudin said non-Muslim brothers were also welcome to march along, as were Umno Youth members.

News from http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/3/14/nation/5861791&sec=nation

US woman freed over 'plot to kill' Swedish cartoonist

2010-03-15T08:44:00.000+05:30

Police in the Irish Republic have released a fourth person, an American woman, who was detained over an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist.

The woman, who has not been officially named, was among seven people arrested. Three were freed without charge on Friday. Three men are still being held.

They were suspected of planning to kill Lars Vilks over a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad's head on the body of a dog.

It was used in a 2007 Swedish newspaper editorial on freedom of expression.

Those originally detained included nationals from Algeria, Libya, the Palestinian territories, Croatia and the US.

'Insecure'

The American woman arrested in the Irish Republic has been named by US media as Jamie Paulin-Ramirez.

Christine Mott, from Colorado, identified Mrs Paulin-Ramirez as her daughter, whom she described as a "very insecure, unhappy person that just was looking for something to hang on to".

Irish police have refused to confirm whether Mrs Paulin-Ramirez is the woman involved, and have declined to release the identities of any of those arrested.

The woman, a 31-year-old mother, is the second American woman linked to the alleged plot.

US officials said on Tuesday that they had charged Colleen LaRose, a Philadelphia woman, with plotting to kill an unnamed Swedish man and using the internet to enlist co-conspirators.

Ms LaRose - who described herself online as "Jihad Jane" - was detained last October in Philadelphia.

Unconfirmed reports say she travelled to Ireland in September and met some of the seven suspects arrested there on Tuesday.

Mrs Mott said she believed her daughter was recruited by Ms LaRose, who introduced her to an Algerian man she married after moving to Ireland in September.

In 2007, a group linked to al-Qaeda in Iraq offered a $100,000 (£66,000) reward for killing Mr Vilks, and a 50% bonus if he was "slaughtered like a lamb" by having his throat cut.

The Vilks cartoon was published about a year-and-a-half after a series of depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten paper caused protests by Muslims around the world.

News from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8566921.stm

International Smiling Cat Cartoon Web Contest 2010

2010-03-13T20:52:00.002+05:30

REGULATIONS:

Contest: Open to all cartoonists
THEME: 1) Free 2) Animal and People
Deadline: 1 April 2010
ENTRIES: Max. 2 cartoons

TECHNICAL INFO:
A4 size max. 200 dpi, format (JPEG).
Max one entry in each section: black & white or colored, any style,
any technique will be accepted. Name, address, tel and e-mail.
At the end of competition there will be an exhibition on
internet from the selected cartoons.

The participant must send their photo along with their autobiography.

All cartoonists can participate through their own e-mail
by submitting your cartoons to:
blackcat.dq@gmail.com

PRIZES:

Grand Cat Prize: Trophy+ CD catalogue +Diploma
Golden Cat Prize: Trophy+Diploma
Silver Cat Prize: Trophy+Diploma
Bronze Cat Prize: Trophy+Diploma
Honorable Mentions ( 2 ) Certificate

The results will on 30 April, 2010

right after the international juries' evaluation.
Jury: Cartoon Committee Members
Address:

E-mail: blackcat.dq@gmail.com

www.donquichotte.at

news from http://www.irancartoon.com

link http://www.irancartoon.com/2010/contest/smailingcat.htm

Family fears for missing Sri Lankan cartoonist

2010-03-13T20:38:00.002+05:30

COLOMBO — Six weeks ago Sri Lankan political writer and cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda went missing, and his fate has raised further concerns about the island's culture of violence against the media.

Eknaligoda, who contributed to the pro-opposition Lankaenews.com website, did not return home after work on January 24, two days before the island's presidential elections.

A police probe into his whereabouts has drawn a blank, and his family and friends believe he was abducted by government authorities who act against critics.

Eknaligoda was briefly detained, roughed up and freed by unknown assailants in August.

The family allege his current situation is linked to his support for defeated opposition presidential candidate General Sarath Fonseka.

"I believe high-ranking people within the government have abducted my husband for his writings and cartoons criticising President Mahinda Rajapakse," Sandhya Eknaligoda, 47, told AFP.

The government has denied the allegations, though the police admit there were problems in investigating Eknaligoda's disappearance as they were busy monitoring the presidential polls.

"There were some delays on our part to record the family's statements, but we are investigating his disappearance. We don't know where he is," police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said.

For Eknaligoda's family of two teenage boys, the greatest fear is that the 50-year-old journalist has been killed.

"I first thought that he'll be released in a day like the last time," said Eknaligoda's 16-year-old son Harith at the family home in Kottawa, a suburb of Colombo.

"Then we thought he would come home after the election. But it's over a month. I worry whether he is alive."

Eknaligoda was preparing an exhibition of his work this year and his sons proudly showed off dozens of framed cartoons, some of which lampoon ruling party politicians including President Rajapakse.

A few cartoons depict thugs wearing shawls similar to the trade-mark attire of Rajapakse, while one recent article Eknaligoda wrote about an unidentified minister's sexual misconduct is also thought to have contributed to his plight.

Sandhya says her husband actively campaigned for media freedom, taking part in public protests.

Having received verbal death threats and warnings that his telephone was tapped in the run-up to the elections, Prageeth appears to have been a marked man.

"He wrote and drew without fear. He is a multi-talented journalist. I pray he is safe, he is alive and he will be released soon," Sandaruwan Senadheera, editor of the Lankaenews.com website, told AFP.

Media and human rights groups have appealed for Eknaligoda's release and have criticised the government for persecuting journalists who are critical.

"Any government that subjects its independent news media to violent and arbitrary actions has no right to call itself democratic," said Commonwealth Journalists Association president Hassan Shahriar.

The Austrian-based International Press Institute (IPI) said Sri Lanka was one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists to work with 17 killed in 10 years.

Two were killed in 2009. No one has been brought to justice in connection with the killings, IPI said.

news from http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hUHHv3JdPYHkvugGPe7T9wJdIa5Q

Swedish Artist: No Regrets Over Muhammad Caricature

2010-03-13T20:31:00.002+05:30

STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Swedish artist who drew a caricature depicting Muhammad as a dog says he did it to show that artistic freedom allows mockery of all religions, including Islam.

Lars Vilks -- the target of an alleged murder plot involving an American woman who dubbed herself "Jihad Jane" -- says he has no regrets about the drawing, which offended many Muslims.

Vilks told the Associated Press that he was "not interested in offending the prophet -- the point is actually to show that you can."

Vilks said he believes, "There is nothing so holy you can't offend it."

Vilks made his rough sketch showing Muhammad's head on a dog's body more than a year after 12 Danish newspaper cartoons of Muhammad sparked furious protests in Muslim countries in 2006.

news from http://www.wsbt.com

link http://www.wsbt.com/entertainment/headlines/87340237.html

MKM awards for excellence in cartooning 2009.

2010-02-17T19:02:00.003+05:30

Cartoonist Thomson (India) passes away

2010-01-20T15:07:00.005+05:30

Noted Cartoonist Thomson (India) passed away at a hospital at kollam on 19/01/2010 evening. Cremation will be held at 5 pm on 20/01/2010at CSI Cathedral, Kadappakada, Near Dhanya Theatre ,Kollam, Kerala.

The recluse, soft-spoken dear Thomon sir leaves behind his wife, Smt. Usha Mary and son, Aneesh Thomson who followinghis father's footsteps, works as animator at Keltron Animation.The Kerala Cartoon Academyjoins them in their grief as it did in Thomson sir's happy times.

Indian editor defends KKK cartoon

2010-01-09T22:59:00.001+05:30

BRENDAN TREMBATH: The editor of an Indian newspaper has defended publishing a cartoon depicting Australian police as Ku Klux Klan members.
The editor of Mail Today, Bharat Bhushan is pleased about the strong reaction to the cartoon in Australia.
He's warning that anti-Australian sentiment will continue in India until the violence against Indians ends.
South Asia correspondent Sally Sara reports from New Delhi.
SALLY SARA: The cartoon of an Australian police officer wearing the hood and cloak of the KKK didn't hit the headlines when it was published in India on Tuesday.
The editor of Mail Today newspaper Bharat Bhushan says Australians have over reacted.Mr Bhushan has defended the cartoonist R. Prasad who created the piece.
BHARAT BHUSHAN: I think the reaction is hysterical. A couple of days ago we had Australian political leaders saying that India was getting hysterical but when your children die in racist attacks hysteria can be understood. It's natural. But a cartoonist, what he does is he exaggerates things. He forces people to look at a particular point of view which we had thought in a mature society like Australia would lead to introspection rather than it has led to hysteria.
SALLY SARA: Hysteria has become the buzzword of the debate. Some Indian media outlets and commentators reacted angrily to reports earlier in the week that Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Crean had labelled the Indian response to the student attacks as hysteria.But Mr Crean never used that word. He was paraphrased by several Australian newspapers and by the time the story reached India it had somehow become a quote.Amid all the heat and emotion the Indian media had reacted to a quote that had never been spoken.The editor of the Mail Today Bharat Bhusan says he's surprised that some Australians have been so offended by the India media's coverage, especially the Ku Klux Klan cartoon.
BHARAT BHUSHAN: Absolutely and I am also quite pleased in a way. The day racist attacks stop, the day these criminals are brought to justice you will not find any newspaper in India calling Australians racist.
SALLY SARA: But there have been many moderate voices too.Manish Tiwari is a Congress Party member of the Indian Parliament. He is calling for rational debate.
MANISH TIWARI: Nobody is saying that Australia is a racial society. Nobody is saying that Australia is a racist country. But if there is a problem you know there is a need to recognise that problem and deal with it. And that is essentially what we have been telling the Australian Government.
SALLY SARA: The president of the Federation of Foreign Education Consultants in India, Nishidhar Reddy says some sections of the media have over reacted.
NISHIDHAR REDDY: The Indian media did not do their homework very well, you know some things, the way things were interpreted in the wrong way, which is creating a lot of confusion among the students here and their parents.
SALLY SARA: The body of 21-year-old Nitin Garg who was stabbed to death in Melbourne last Saturday is expected to arrive in India later today. His relatives are preparing for his funeral tomorrow.
This is Sally Sara in New Delhi for Saturday AM.

Australia slams Indian newspaper's 'Ku Klux Klan' cartoon

2010-01-08T16:29:00.003+05:30

Cartoon By R Prasad (Mail Today)

By Madeleine Coorey (AFP)
SYDNEY — Australia on Friday angrily condemned an Indian newspaper cartoon likening its police to the Ku Klux Klan over their investigations into the murder of a young Indian man.
New Delhi's Mail Today ran the cartoon showing a figure with an Australian police badge wearing a pointed white hood, following the stabbing murder of 21-year-old Indian national Nitin Garg in Melbourne last weekend.
"Any suggestion of that kind is deeply, deeply offensive to the police officers involved and I would absolutely condemn the making of a comment like that," said Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
The murder of 21-year-old accounting graduate Garg has ignited tensions which have been simmering for 18 months against the backdrop of a series of attacks in Victoria state against Indians.
Indian media accused Australian police of not doing enough to protect foreign students who have fuelled a lucrative overseas education industry.
But Australian authorities have insisted there are no indications as yet that Garg, who was stabbed in the abdomen as he walked to work at a hamburger restaurant late on December 2, was the victim of a race-hate crime.
The cartoon, in which the hooded figure is saying: "We are yet to ascertain the nature of the crime", was also condemned by Victoria Police Minister Bob Cameron.
"Victoria Police is a very tolerant organisation and Victoria is a very tolerant state and to suggest that Victoria Police is racist is just plain wrong," Cameron said.
The police union representing the state's officers said the drawing was based on nothing but "a slow news day in Delhi".
"Cartoons in Australia are normally done by people who are either clever or witty and this one's neither," the secretary of Victoria's Police Association, Greg Davies, told reporters.
Davies said it was "incredibly offensive and wrong" to suggest police were not investigating the murder, and that it was too early to categorise Garg's death as a race-hate crime.
Garg's killing has prompted India to issue a travel warning to its students in Australia, and threatens to damage diplomatic ties as well as Australia's 15.4 billion US dollar education export industry.
The Federation of Indian Students in Australia said it was "too early to rule in or rule out any cause for the death of Mr Nitin Garg."
But spokesman Gautam Gupta urged police to provide statistics on the number of crimes committed by and against Indians and whether criminals have been caught and trialled in previous cases of assaults against Indians.
"Silence on the facts and figures are not going to help the situation," he said, adding that there was a rising level of cynicism amongst the Indian diaspora.
In June, police said that 1,447 people of Indian origin were victims of crime against the person -- such as robberies and assaults -- in Victoria between June 2008 and July 2009, an increase from 1,082 the previous year.
Gupta said the Australian government's response to the latest murder was seen as "merely diplomatic and an exercise in public relations and image damage control".
"The community feels alienated from the police and the legal system, and crises like these don't help at all," he said.
Indian students number 119,000 in Australia and make up 19 percent of foreign enrolments in universities and colleges which actively target the country's growing middle class.

Danish cartoonist attacked

2010-01-07T10:14:00.000+05:30

http://www.theworld.org/2010/01/05/danish-cartoonist-attacked/comment-page-1/
A Somali man, armed with an axe, broke into the house of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard — one of the artists involved in the controversy over cartoon depictions of the Prophet Mohammed four years ago. Anchor Marco Werman has details.
Read the TranscriptThis text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.
MARCO WERMAN: It was a little more than four years ago that a Danish newspaper published cartoon depictions of the prophet Muhammad. It was four days ago that the artist who drew the most controversial one was attacked in his home. A Somali man, armed with an ax, broke into the house of Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard. Today, Westergaard is living in a safe house. Now, Mr. Westergaard, we’ve heard some versions of what happened to you last Friday, but recount for us briefly what transpired. As I understand it, there was one slim door between you and this man with the ax.
KURT WESTERGAARD: Yes. My grandchild and I were in the house, and then suddenly the glass was broken in our garden door and this man rushed in. There were only seconds to decide what to do. I would have no chance against this intruder. I am 74. It would have been a bloodbath, just in front of my little grandchildren. I would have no chance. So I rushed back to the safe room and then looked the door, and started to get connection with the police, so that they could come and help us. And I did that when this man, he was pounding on the door with his big ax.
WERMAN: Right, and very fortunately, the police came very quickly, and you and your granddaughter were saved. Tell me about this safe room, your bathroom. You created this safe room in the event that an attacker would come into your house, is that right? And you have an alarm?
WESTERGAARD: Yes. You know, it was a challenge situation. It was some of the worst minutes of my life, of course. Of course, I was scared and afraid that something should happen to my grandchild. But in the same time, I was sure that I have taken the right decision.
WERMAN: Right. And prior to this intruder with the ax, did you feel pretty secure in your home?
WESTERGAARD: No, no, I didn’t.
WERMAN: You didn’t.
WESTERGAARD: Because there was surveillance from the police. There were several patrol cars cruising in the neighborhood all around the clock. This guy, he was lucky. He came at a time where there was no patrol car in sight.
WERMAN: Mr. Westergaard, when you first drew this cartoon of Muhammad four years ago, did you feel that it was, at the time, a dangerous act, one that could actually endanger your life?
WESTERGAARD: No, I didn’t. For me, I remember this day when I made this cartoon. And well, it was just another day at the office.
WERMAN: Had you ever depicted other religions with a satirical point of view prior to that cartoon of Muhammad with an atomic bomb in his turban?
WESTERGAARD: Yes, yes.
WERMAN: You had?
WESTERGAARD: I have made all the cartoons or illustrations, which Christians, for example, have considered to be blasphemous. I remember once I drew an illustration to a story about Christianity and capitalism. I drew Jesus. He was walking away from the cross. He was dressed in an Armani suit and little briefcase. And on the empty cross, you could read on a poster, “Service hours, Sundays 10-11 am and 14-15 pm.”
WERMAN: Well that cartoon didn’t drive you to a kind of Salman Rushdie quality of life. Are you resigned to the notion of living in tight security the rest of your days?
WESTERGAARD: That’s what I have to do. I am soon 75. Of course, my future is limited, but I can be like that. I know that.
WERMAN: How do you see Islam today?
WESTERGAARD: Well, here in Denmark, we have 200,000 Muslims and of course, the vast majority of them, they are law-abiding citizens who want to live according to our democratic traditions, and we have no problems with them. But we have some problems with the extremists, small extremist Muslim groups.
WERMAN: Danish cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, good look. Be safe, and thank you for your time, sir.
WESTERGAARD: Yes, thank you.

New Year Gift To Dr Manmohan Singh from KCA

2010-01-03T20:23:00.001+05:30

Kerala Cartoon Academy Chairman Presannan Anikkad presents “123 Dr Manmohan Singh By 123 Cartoonists’ to the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Dr MANMOHAN SINGH on 3rd January,2010 at Raj Bhavan Thiruvananthapuram, flanked by Cartoonists Sukumar, PV Krishnan, Biju Chandran, Devaprakash and Dwijith.
The unique New Year Gift to Dr Manmohan Singh from the Kerala Cartoon Academy

It was a high profile morning today for those lucky 10 cartoonists from the Kerala Cartoon Academy when the our learned, smooth-talking Premier Dr Manmohan Singh gracefully accepted the heavyweight memento of a coffee-table tome ‘ 123 Dr Manmohan Singh- by 123 Cartoonists’ at the simple function held at Raj Bhavan Thiruvananthapuram on 3rd January, 2010. The cartoonists' delegation headed by KCA Chairman Presannan Anikkad and Vice Chairman Sathyadev comprised of senior cartoonists S/Shri Sukumar , PV Krishnan, KCA executive Members Adv Biju Chandran and Dwijith, G Hari,Harikumar and Devaprakash. The colourful compendiu of 123 caricatures drawn by cartoonists worldwide was compiled by Shri Sudheernath, Secretary, Kerala Cartoon Academy.

These cartoons had a common factor – Dr Manmohan Singh : as protagonist, antagonist or even as a victim. This bunch of 123 cartoons and caricatures is a chronicle in its own right, of an atypical PM’s political awakening. Dr.Singh is the central character – his personality, responses, attitude and above all his politics come alive here in a series of signature styles, from the sharp and unsparing to the funny and evocative.
63 cartoons, a little over half, in this collection are from Kerala-based cartoonists who are members of the Academy, the rest are from other states. A couple of NRI cartoonists and two woman cartoonists complete the lot.
From the emeritus cartoonist Kutty to the youngest in the business, this collection presents a broad spectrum of Indian cartooning. No claim that we are showcasing the real cross-section though. The academy has to be a lot more organized before it can undertake such ambitious endeavors. Yet it is a unique look at a major Indian politician by some of the sharpest visual and political minds around. A freewheeling documentation of the unsaid. Particularly so because its central figure, the non-demonstrative Dr. Singh, is no cartoonist’s delight. It took nuclear energy to draw him out. Literally. His turban, which became the nuclear orbit in many cartoons here, his square face, thick eyebrows, thin beard, spectacles, pullover, white kurtha and pajama – finally a vivid enough picture emerged of the man who is our Prime Minister.

This book may not lead you to a considered view on the nuke deal or its consequences (both have become passe as per media response!) , though individual cartoonists have freely expressed their views. It is a capture of a significant phase of Indian history even as it is unfolding. Some day when you choose to look back, this won’t give you all the facts or weighty insights. But one thing is certain. This won’t bore you. You’ll get a laugh or two at the expense of the man who is receiving this volume as a gift.

It is a great moment of pride for Kerala Cartoon Academy to present this unique collection of 123 cartoons to Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the one who figures on every page of this book. That too at a function held in Kerala, the den of cartoonists !

Somali charged over attack on Danish cartoonist

2010-01-02T19:57:00.003+05:30

A Somali man has been charged with trying to kill a Danish artist whose caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed sparked riots around the world.
The suspect, who was shot by police outside cartoonist Kurt Westergaard's home in the city of Aarhus on Friday, was carried into court on a stretcher.
Police say he broke into the house armed with an axe and a knife.
The suspect, who denies the charge, was remanded in custody. Police say he has links with Somali Islamist militants.
The man, who cannot be named for Danish legal reasons, was charged with attempted murder.

The BBC's Julian Isherwood in Copenhagen says he was wearing bandages on his arm and leg and a cloth over his head to conceal his identity as he was carried into court for a remand hearing in Aarhus.
Police say he broke into Mr Westergaard's home and shouted in broken English that he wanted to kill him. He is also alleged to have attacked police with an axe when they arrived at the scene.

The 74-year-old cartoonist, who was in the house with his five-year-old granddaughter, raised the alarm from a specially designed panic room.
The accused denied the charges, but reportedly did admit to being at the scene.
The judge remanded him in custody for four weeks, two of which are to be spent in isolation.
Earlier, police said the suspect, who had a permit to stay in Denmark, had been shot in the knee and the shoulder.
And Jakob Scharf, who heads the Danish intelligence service Pet, said the alleged attack was "terror related".
The suspected assailant had close contacts to a radical Somali insurgent group, al-Shabab, he said.
He had been under surveillance for activities unrelated to Mr Westergaard.

The shaken cartoonist told Danish news agency Ritzau: "I locked myself in our safe room and alerted the police. He tried to smash the entrance door with an axe, but he didn't manage.
"He used insults, I don't remember which, but it was bad language. He spoke poor Danish and he wound up saying he'd be back."
Mr Westergaard also told the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten, where the cartoon was originally published, that he had been taken to a safe location, but defiantly added he would be back.

Chronicle of a PM sketched out - in 123 dimensions

2010-01-01T15:56:00.001+05:30

By T.G. Biju
New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS) It took the 1-2-3 agreement "to draw him out", and quite fittingly the Kerala Cartoon Academy has prepared a coffee table book with caricatures from 123 cartoonists, ranging from Raj Thackeray to R.K. Laxman, for the usually reticent Prime Minister Manmohan Singh when he comes visiting over the weekend.
The unique New Year gift weighs five kilograms and will be presented to the prime minister on Jan 3 at the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram by the Kerala Cartoon Academy, an association of more than 100 cartoonists that is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Amongst those who have contributed to the tome are E.P. Unny, Ravi Shankar, Ajit Ninan as well as politicos like Raj Thackeray, chief of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, Communist Party of India-Marxist's M.M. Monayee and Muslim League leader M.K. Muneer.

"These cartoons had a common factor - Dr. Manmohan Singh; as protagonist, antagonist or even as a victim," said a Kerala Cartoon Academy statement. Academy secretary Sudheernath added that the "non-demonstrative Dr. Singh was no cartoonist's delight". But the signing of Indo-US civil nuclear deal, which prompted the Left parties to withdraw its support to the first United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, changed all that.

"It took the 1-2-3 Agreement and nuclear energy to draw him out. Literally," Sudheernath told IANS. "His turban, which became the nuclear orbit in many cartoons here, his square face, thick eyebrows, thin beard, spectacles, pullover, white kurta and pajama - finally a vivid enough picture emerged of the man who is our prime minister," said Sudheernath, a Delhi-based cartoonist.

The Kerala Cartoon Academy, in collaboration with the Indian Cartoonists' Association and the Press Club of India, had organised an exhibition of 123 caricatures of Manmohan Singh at the Club premises here in February last year. "This bunch of 123 cartoons and caricatures is a chronicle in its own right, of an atypical PM's political awakening," said the Academy. Manmohan Singh's personality, responses, attitude and above all his politics come alive here, said Sudheernath. He said the Kerala cartoonists "brainstormed" about the appropriate gift to be presented to the prime minister when they invited him as the chief guest for the valedictory function of the academy's silver jubilee celebrations.

"First we thought of giving 25 cartoons to the PM. When we sent word to brother cartoonists, the response was overwhelming. To the nuclear PM no less than 123," he said. Sudheernath said 63 cartoons in the book were from Kerala-based cartoonists who were members of the Academy and the rest from other states; there were a few from overseas as well. A couple of NRI cartoonists and two woman cartoonists complete the lot. Manmohan Singh, who begins his two-day Kerala visit Saturday, will be inaugurating the 97th Indian Science Congress.

IIC - Caricature result - Soniya Gandhi

2009-12-30T13:20:00.002+05:30

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONALMANMOHAN SINGH – SONIA GANDHI CARICATURE CONTEST
Indian Institute of Cartoonists is pleased to announce the results of the National & International Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi Caricature contest organised recently in collaboration with Sri.V.R. Deshpande Memorial Trust.
We are overwhelmed by the amazing and encouraging response from cartoonist’s world over. We had received a total of 625 entries for the contest, which is beyond our expectation. We thank all the participants for making the contest all the success.The Jury members had a very tough time to evaluate the best caricatures for the prizes.
They have selected the following six best caricatures from each section
WINNERS OF THE CONTEST
1st Prize (Rs.1,00,000/-) Mr.B.N. Biswal, Nagpur, INDIA
2nd Prize (Rs.50,000/-) Mr. Satish Sringeri, Bangalore, INDIA.
3rd Prize (Rs.10,000/-) Mr. Valentin Georgien, BULGARIA
3 Consolation Prizes (Rs.5000/- each)
Mr. Ravi Pujari, Bangalore,
Mr. Rituparno Maity, Howrah, West Bengal, INDIA
Mr. Shankar Pamarthy, Hyderabad, INDIA.

IIC - Caricature result -Manmohan Singh

2009-12-30T13:18:00.001+05:30

WINNERS OF THE CONTEST
Manmohan Singh Caricature Contest
1st Prize (Rs.1,00,000/-) - Mr. Vahid Jafari, Tehran City, IRAN.
2nd Prize (Rs.50,000/-) Mr. Salam Mohammadi, Kurdistan Province, IRAN
3rd Prize (Rs.10,000/-) Mr. Sandeep Adhwaryu, Outlook, New Delhi, INDIA.
3 Consolation Prizes (Rs.5000/- each)
Mr. Alan Souto Maior, BRAZIL.
Mr. Junior Lopes,
Mr. Prasant Nair, Bangalore, INDIA.

A Chat Show with Innocent and Cartoonists in Kairali TV on 25th December 5.30 PM

2009-12-20T22:31:00.003+05:30

Dear friends,

There is something funnily, happily special to announce!The encounter some of us had with noted film actor Shri INNOCENT days back at the actor’s residence at Irinjalakkuda is finally going to be telecast at 5.30 P.M. on Christmas (25.12.2009) as a Special 1 hour programme under the title

VARACHA VARAYIL INNOCENT

(വരച്ച വരയില്‍ ഇന്നസെന്റ് ) !

The confirmation to this effect from Kairali TV is understood to have just reached some of the participants. This is, perhaps, the first Caricaturists’ TV Show in Indian TV itself, let alone Malayalam TV.

The Cartoonists' army consisted of Presannan Anikkad, Sudheer Nath, Peter E P, Mohandas, Sajjive, Kavita Balakrishnan, Madoos, Santhosh T S, Dinraj, Anoop R, Rethish K R, Karthika Kattanam, Dwijith and Surendran Varachal.The actual encounter lasted for 4 hours. The barrage of questions shot by the cartoonists while they were not drawing was coolly fended off by Innachan with the help of a quotation team hired by the actor, which included the Sathyan Anthikkad,Municipal Chairman, an Ex-MP, sitting MLA and some very very old retired teachers.

Please don’t forget to watch KAIRALI TV at 5.30 PMon 25.12.2009, CHRISTMAS DAY !!
warmly, happily,

Sajjiv B
A SMILE is a short curve that sets many things straight !

cartoon exhibition at Indian Cartoon Gallery

2009-11-29T12:25:00.003+05:30

Dear Sir/Madam/Friends,
We cordially invite you to attend our cartoon exhibition at Indian Cartoon Gallery, M G Road, Bangalore on 2nd December 2009, 11.30am.
Thanks&Regards,
Yathish & Yogish L Shettigar

Cartoon Crisis

2009-11-26T08:20:00.002+05:30

Cartoonists and editorial illustrators find themselves out of work as newspapers struggle to survive
By Kevin Uhrich
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/

To borrow liberally from a line once uttered by legendary newspaperman William Randolph Hearst, if readers had to choose between looking at a picture of a beautiful woman, a pretty baby, an adorable dog or a clever illustration or cartoon, the ’toon would win every time.
Why, then, are editorial cartoons — which, political or otherwise, have so much appeal and contribute so much value to the overall product for all of $10 to $50 per offering — always the first thing to go when corporate bean-counters start cutting budgets?
For that matter, why are some editorial illustrators and cartoonists apparently no longer even welcome at a table that they’ve been largely responsible for setting for otherwise successful daily and weekly papers, a development that led “Red Meat’s” Max Cannon to proclaim earlier this year that editorial cartooning as we know it is on the brink of “apocalypse?”
“It used to be that editors would lie and claim that they didn’t have room in their newspaper. That was kind of the standard rejection. Now it’s true,” says longtime nationally syndicated cartoonist and author Ted Rall, creator of “Left Coast,” appearing each week in this newspaper.
In either a reflection of economic conditions, or another sign that newspapers really are disappearing from the media landscape, or a combination of both, the Pasadena Weekly is presently the only newspaper — alternative or otherwise — in Southern California to carry Rall, “This Modern World,” by Tom Tomorrow (aka Dan Perkins), and “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, who for years penned “Life in Hell” (now called “Life is Swell”) for the LA Weekly, but no longer does.
Rall, Perkins and Groening were once the darlings of the alternative newspaper world, but no longer, apparently. Not since February, when Village Voice Media, owners of New York’s Village Voice, the LA Weekly and a dozen other weeklies in the industry’s top markets imposed a suspension on all cartoons.
“They really don’t have a lot of pages,” says Rall, past president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, speaking from his home in New York.
The number of papers carrying the politically left-leaning Rall’s work over the years — as many as 140 at one point nearly a decade ago — has dropped to just 72. “But they don’t have a lot of pages, because they don’t have enough advertising to support the pages. That’s what’s really going on,” Rall explains.
Veteran daily political cartoonist Steve Greenberg knows all too well that weeklies aren’t alone in squeezing out illustrators and cartoonists when times get tough.
“The daily market is as bad as the alt market,” says Greenberg, who started out in 1978 with the Daily News of Los Angeles. From there, he went to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for 14 years, then to the San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Examiner before landing at the Ventura County Star, where he worked for six years before being laid off last November. Now that he’s been forced to shop his work, the freelance pickings are slim.
“The whole Village Voice conglomerate has just shut down as far as taking on cartooning,” Greenberg notes with genuine alarm. “They just aren’t doing it.”

1984 Remembered: Cartoonist draws on 25 Years of Impunity after Sikh Massacre

2009-11-24T22:55:00.002+05:30

By Jaisal Noor
November 24, 2009 Posted in IndyBlog , Jaisal Noor

In commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the the 1984 anti-Sikh pogroms in Northern India, Sikh-American cartoonist Vishavjit Singh has created an exhibit titled, “When A Big Tree Falls”. The exhibit consists of 23 cartoons, including 19 that have never before been displayed. Singh is the founder of the popular political cartoon website www.sikhtoons.com.
It is commonly known that the October 1984 assassination of Prime Minster Indira Gandhi came at the hands of her own Sikh bodyguards. The exhibition deals with the less well known aftermath: Gandhi’s assassination sparked four days of ethnic cleansing in northern India, with Sikhs and their turbans and long hair making them easy targets for retaliation. That my family survived the retaliatory massacre of Sikhs is the likely the only reason I am aware they took place. Amnesty International calls the episode, “A national disgrace,” referring to the Indian Police who orchestrated much of the killings and authorities who did nothing to stop them.
At least 3,000 were massacred in Delhi alone, with countless of thousands more injured and raped. The assassination of the Prime Minister came admist alleged human rights abuses and violence between separatist Sikh movements and the Indian Army. In June of that year, “Operation Bluestar”, was launched on Sikh’s most important religious site the Golden Temple. Thousands, including many civilians were slaughtered.
Its personal for Singh too. His family had made Delhi their home, and were saved by a combination of courageous intervention on the part of friendly Hindu neighbors and his family living in a government-owned housing complex. Through drawings and text, his cartoons weave a powerful narrative of the massacre, a rigged Indian justice system and a silent and complicit Indian media. Not even the appointment of the first Sikh Prime Minster is enough to turn the wheels of justice. As the exhibit caricatures, after offering an official apology to the Sikh community, the current Prime Minister Manmohan Singh told a Sikh audience its time for the Sikh community to “Move on.”
The artist titled the exhibit, “When A Big Tree Falls,” after the first half of quote spoken by Rajiv Gandhi, in the immediate aftermath of the massacre. Rajiv was Indira’s son and was sworn in as Prime Minister after his mother’s death The quote continues, “The Earth shakes a little.” And despite the killings, Rajiv’s Congress Party won a record-setting landslide victory in elections held in the same year.
So far, the Indian government has launched ten investigations, resulting in only 25 convictions. Human Rights Watch notes that, “No senior government officials or politicians have been prosecuted despite evidence of their roles in the atrocities.” The events and aftermath are inseparable from my identify. However for most Americans, and perhaps many in the Sikh Diaspora, the only death of note in 1984 in India was that of Indira Gandhi’s. Singh offers an insightful and creative way to remember those who were not as fortunate as our families were.
Sikhtoons exhibit runs through Nov 28th at New Century Artists Gallery at 530 West 25th St (between 10th and 11th ave.) For details visit http://www.sikhtoons.com/nycexhibit.html

LAWf away @ Kerala High Court on 20th November,2009

2009-11-19T08:49:00.003+05:30

Kerala Cartoon Academy in Association with the Kerala High Court Advocates Association conducting live caricature show at Kerala High Court Bar Association Hall on 20-11-09 from 10 AM to 4 PM in connection with the High Court Day Celebrations 2009.Members of Kerala Cartoon Academy will participate in the live caricatures of Chief Justice of Kerala ,High Court Judges, Advocates, Staff and Advocates Clerk, which will be exhibited till November 21.

MANMOHAN-SONIA COMPETITION. DATE EXTENDED !!!

2009-11-15T01:44:00.007+05:30

The biggest caricature competition in the Country till date in terms of Prize Money - caricaturing Dr. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi - will keep on enticing cartoonists for a fortnight more ! As per the latest communication received from the Organisers, the Indian Institute of Cartoonists, entries can be now sent till 30.11.2009 as against 15.11.2009 !

Thus, the news given earlier HERE may please be suitably reread.

Bangladesh Mohammed cartoonist given jail sentence

2009-11-13T09:07:00.002+05:30

(AFP)
DHAKA — A court in southwestern Bangladesh on Thursday found a cartoonist guilty of "hurting the religious feelings of the Muslim community" and sentenced him to two months of hard labour, a judge said.
Arifur Rahman, 25, was tried in absence over the drawing, which sparked street clashes and riots in the capital Dhaka when it appeared in a satirical magazine two years ago.
Rahman, who was arrested but later bailed, told AFP that he was unaware of the trial.
The cartoon, which showed a small boy suggesting that all cats should be named Mohammed, appeared in Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo's weekly and now defunct magazine "Alpin".
"He has been given a two-month, hard labour jail sentence and a 500-taka (7.40 dollars) fine," said magistrate Kaisarul Islam, who presided over the case in the city of Jessore.
"I am not on the run and have not been told about the case," Rahman said in Dhaka. "I will speak to my lawyers."
Bangladesh, the fourth-largest Muslim-majority country in the world, was under a state of emergency and ruled by an army-backed regime when the cartoon was published.
Thousands of people defied a ban on protests to march against the cartoon, forcing the newspaper's editor to publicly apologise and sack Rahman.

Cartoonist Arif jailed for two months

2009-11-12T22:55:00.006+05:30

Jessore, Nov 12 (bdnews24.com)–A Jessore court has handed down two months of rigorous imprisonment to cartoonist Arifur Rahman of satire magazine Alpin, a weekly publication of the daily Prothom Alo.

Judge Kaisarul Islam of the Judicial Magistrate's Court of Jessore in the ruling on Thursday said Arif will also have to pay Tk 500 in fine or another seven days in prison. The verdict was given in the case regarding publication of sacrilegious cartoon in the magazine in Sep 2007.

"Arif is at large. The verdict was given in his absence," his lawyer Alamgir Siddiqi told bdnews24.com.

However, Arif told bdnews24.com that he knew nothing about this case. He said treason and blasphemy cases against him have been dismissed in court. The case was filed by ATM Shoaib, the imam of the Jessore Collectorate Mosque, at the Executive Magistrate's Court on Oct 23, 2007.

The case alleged that the irreverent cartoon on prophet Hazrat Muhammad had hurt religious feelings. Prothom Alo publisher Mahfuz Anam, editor Motiur Rahman and Arif were accused in the case. Later, the court issued arrest warrant only against Arif. Security officials arrested Arif on Sep 18, 2007 after hard-line Islamic groups protested against one of his cartoons. Authorities charged the young cartoonist with "hurting the religious sentiments of the people" and ordered 30 days' detention. Arif's detention was later extended by three months. The government confiscated all copies of the now-defunct satire magazine in which the cartoon was printed. Amid a protest by Islamic groups, Prothom Alo's editor and publisher apologised for printing the cartoon, and fired the cartoonist.

On Feb 4, the High Court ruled Arif's detention illegal and ordered his immediate release. He was freed on Mar 20 this year. The cartoonist's arrest and detention also earned criticism from local and international rights groups. In January, human-rights watchdog Amnesty International demanded Arif's release, terming him "a prisoner of conscience".

May 27, 2008
Arif is free, is he?
— Omi Rahman Pial

The twist of fate came with an advertisement in a fun magazine. In 2004 the magazine asked its readers to send cartoons, Arif did so. This was the first time he drew a comic and it was selected. He was on cloud nine. A boy from a village had his cartoon on a National daily! Arif fall for the fame. He started drawing cartoons and sending them to all the funmags he knew. But still there were mouths to feed since the cartoons weren’t earning him money. Arif started working in a grocery shop owned by his cousin in Dhaka.
He was satisfied with the shelter assuring him food and some pocket money. He drew cartoons in the lunch break. In his tiny room, the cartoonist was again on the job till he slept. There was no looking back from then on since they were being published in the famous magazines like ‘Ummad’ and ‘Bicchhu’. Arif sent them to Alpin too, the one of the Daily Prothom-Alo. But the supplement editor had his reservations since Arif was drawing for every other publication. He was advised to draw exclusively for them in order to get them in print. Arif agreed after co-incidently winning the pin-hunt competition prize in two catagories. Recognition followed when he won the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) cartoon contest and another jointly arranged by the Daily Star and Anti Corruption Commission. Famous cartoonist like Rafiq-un-Nabi (Ranabi) and Shishir Bhattacharya praised Arif and were surprised to know that he hadn’t any formal training on drawing. Only a month later recieving the famous prize, he faced the other side of the coin. In one of his cartoons published in Alpin (17th September, 2007 issue), an old man was asking the name of a child with a cat in his lap. The boy answered and was scolded for not putting Mohammad before his name, as he was Muslim. Then the man asked about the animal and the scared boy put the holy prophet’s name before the cat as suggested by the elder. Things turned bad the moment it hit the stands. The furious mullahs were on rampage and Arif was suddenly the enemy of the state! His story really starts from here:

So what was the idea behind the cartoon? Why did you draw it?
Well, i never thought this was going to be such a big issue. The joke I used is a common one in our locality, infact in that zone.

I heard it when as a kid and even when I grew up. My idea was to highlight the faulty religious teachings by some of our elders where they advise to put the name of our holy Prophet before every name, when they should also clarify where it shouldn’t be used. What surprised me, I learnt after my release that the same joke was used in a publication of Islami Chatra Shibir name Kishorekantha (November, 1998 Issue).
Did you see it?
Yes, I did.
What happened next?
I draw it on 5th September last year and it was published in Alpin on 17th September. That day a fellow contributer called me and said my cartoon has enraged some people. He couldn’t elaborate and I was worried. I called the supplement editor Sumanta Aslam and he said not to worry but to keep my phone open. I had a restless night. Next morning I told my cousin about what I heard and he said I should go hiding. Then a call came from reporter Tipu Sultan. He said that the CID (Criminal Investigative Department) wants to talk to me and they would like to meet me, I better co-operate.
Where were you then?
At the shop. Then the CID called and asked for my location. I gave it to them. Hours later a police jeep stopped nearby. I was standing outside. An officer came in and asked for me. I said- I’m Arif. He told me to accompany him to the CID office for some questioning. On the wireless he told some superior, ‘we have him sir’. I rode the Jeep and asked him if I was arrested. He said I was being taken to the safe custody. I tried to make a call from my cell phone but he confiscated it. He returned it though after a while. I then sent a text message to Sumanta Vai, but he didn’t respond.
Did the CID interrogate you? Were you harassed or beaten?
No, nothing likes that. The officer who arrested me took me to his superior who promised to reward him, maybe for arresting a criminal like me (laughs). And then I was told to go to the ground floor. There some officers asked me about the idea of the cartoon.
What idea?
They wanted to know who gave me the idea for the cartoon. If it was Matiur Rahman (Editor, Prothom-alo) or Mahfuz Anam (Editor, Daily Star) or anybody else. I said it was my idea. At the same time I begged mercy for others, cause no one else was involved in it. Fortunately, there were other officers who spoke for me. One of them showed a print-out image of mine taking the TIB cartoon competition prize. Another praised me as a promising cartoonist who some day would be famous.
No incident there?
Nothing scary, rather an interesting one. I was ordered to be sent to the Tejgaon Police station. Before leaving, one of the officers took me to his room. He requested to draw a cartoon as a souvenir. I was embarrassed. I told him about my state of mind- with all the tensions surrounding. But he insisted, so I drew one. It was not a cartoon but a sketch, where a young man was sitting with a gloomy face and another talking to him. It was practically the scene of the room. The officer liked it. I had to sign it.
By this time, no one called?
Not while in the CID office. When I started again towards Tejgaon my cousin and an uncle called and said not to worry. They said they would try their best to bail me out. Then came another call from another Prothom-alo reporter. He said the National Security Intelligence (NSI) would call me and I should gently co-operate.
So the CID was a relief?
Yes it was. The people were good there. One, who took me to the police station said that he felt sorry for me cause I was framed- a pawn in the situation. Maybe my rustic outlook made them believe I was innocent. These guys work with the criminals all the time, they can tell.
What happened in the Police Station?
The CID officer escorted me there and handed over to the Officer in Charge. Before leaving he returned just to console me. He said some encouraging words and requested others to take care of me. I was really touched. Then the OC asked the same questions again, why I drew that cartoon. He then said the Government wanted to keep me in safe custody because my life was in danger.
He told me to fill up the necessary forms for the custody. It was near the lockup and then the harassment began. A Sub-inspector started calling me all the names in the book and some constables joined him.
Did they hurt you?
No, they didn’t touch me, but scolded for defaming the religion. At the same time the NSI called. An officer asked me the same questions over and again- who was behind the idea, why I drew it? With people (some police) shouting at me I had to keep my voice as normal as possible and answer them. Then in middle of the conversation the Sub-inspector snatched my phone and put it in his pocket. I was put in the lock-up, had my Iftari (Arif was fasting, it was the Ramazan) with others. Then I was put in a separate cell all alone.
Did you meet the media?
No. I heard they were there in the police station and that’s why I was put in a single cell to show them I was in safe custody, which changed later.
What change?
When I was sent to the Court and then in Jail, I learnt that the OC of Tejgaon filed a case of profanity and sedition against me and I was on trial for that.
An enemy of the state?
You can say that.
One fill in the gap question; the NSI, was they offended in the sudden hamper in your conversation? Did they contact you after that?
I don’t know. It was not my fault though. But they didn’t contact me after that.
What happened in the jail? I mean what was your experience?
Apart from two attacks, it was not all that bad in terms of experience. I was sad though. I had to stay away two Eids from my mom. It was painful.
What attack?
When I was in, they put me in the Amdani ward, which was for the newcomers. There some people attacked me. On the first attack they beat me with bamboo pole and some beat me with bare fists. Then again after a few hours I was attacked. One of them took a stick, put it in the toilet and then brushed it in my mouth. I was fasting then.
No one stopped them! Who were these guys?
Not at the start. But after some while others intervened. They were the JMB (Jamatul Mujahedin Bangladesh).
How could you be so sure that they were JMB?
I asked others and later I talked to some of them. Everyone knows that they are the JMB.
You talked to them!
See, I was always followed by them. They constantly kept me on watch. Some of them tried to be friendly too. They offered me to join them. And I said I would (laughs).
You would!
Well, just to get rid of them I had to tell something.
Only two attacks and then nothing?
Well after the attacks, I was switched to Manihar ward; there they came again after me. Then I was put in the ‘Choy Cell’ (a six room cell). There I had Arafat Rahman Koko (son of ex-premier Khaleda Zia), Professor Anwar Hossain, Abdul Awal Mintoo as cellmates. Because of the security reasons, I missed the Eid Ul Fitr Jamat, which I had in my room. Then in the Eid ul Azha, I attended the Jamat with others.
So many VIP’s. Any incident there?
Nothing you can call incident. All of them were good to me. Arafat Bhai used to recite the Hadith and advised me not to draw cartoons anymore since they are haram for Muslims. Anwar Sir used to take good care of me, he even gave me pen and paper to draw whatever I like. Abdul Awal sir gave me a radio to listen to the news. All of them were good. Later I was sent to the ‘Nobbui Cell’ (ninety room cell). I was there till my release.
Did you have any visitor? How did you know about your legal proceedings?
Barrister Sara Hossain came to visit me on the eve of Eid Ul Fitr. She told me not to worry. I didn’t have any visitor till the last days of my sentence. They used to take me to the Court; it was like going and coming from there. I had no chance to talk to anybody, not even my legal advisors.
Then how things turned?
After the resignation of Barrister Mainul Hosein from the Caretaker Government, things changed abruptly. I was sent a mercy petition application from the Prothom-Alo which I signed and then suddenly my case moved real fast. And at last I was pardoned for all my offences or dismissed from all the charges against me.
So you mean to say Barrister Mainul Hosein was behind this?
No, I didn’t mean that. All I said was the timeframe from when my case paced. It can be a co-incidence, but I don’t blame or accuse anybody. See even Sumanta Bhai is working in the Ittefaq (owned by Mainul Hosein) now. I went there to meet him. He wished me luck.
So what’s the situation now? You draw cartoons?
Of course I do. I practice because I want to keep it up. But I don’t send them anywhere. No one will publish them I think. But someday they will, I want to show them all that what you did was wrong to me. But still I feel sorry if I hurt anyone’s feelings. My aim is to be famous someday, so that all the people of Bangladesh can take pride in me.
Are you safe? Do you feel the JMB are done with you?
That’s the thing still haunt me even in my dreams. I usually keep a low profile; never in anywhere have I introduced myself as Arif. But still I don’t feel safe; they can be anywhere and even kill me if they want. I don’t even work in the shop where I used to.
If I publish this interview, do you think there will be problem for you from any quarter?
I don’t think so. The government did not put an embargo on my words; they didn’t say that I couldn’t talk to anyone. It’s just that nobody before you wanted to know what happened. I want people to know that I didn’t mean to harm anybody or their feelings. Maybe someday I can compensate them and my country by doing something great. All I’m afraid is of the JMB guys, I don’t know what they will do. When I was in Jail, one of them said he who will kill me will be guaranteed heaven. They can do anything for a place in heaven.
So, that was the mystery of the scared eyes. Our conversation ended there. Arif was jobless, but not entirely. The Election Commission called Arif and he was illustrating the publications for the forthcoming election. The money would be good he was promised. Good for Arif, who is waiting for the sunshine.

India briefed on Headley case: U.S.

2009-11-09T08:09:00.000+05:30

The videos seized contained speeches by Osama bin Laden and other terrorists
Man who bombed the Danish embassy in Islamabad was featured in a video.
WASHINGTON: The United States has briefed the Indian government about the case involving David Headley Coleman, arrested by the FBI in the U.S. last month for plotting a terror attack in India at the Lashkar-e-Taiba’s behest, and continues to follow it up.
“I know that our Ambassador [Tim Roemer] has briefed the government of India, and we continue to follow the case,” State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters on Saturday.
Headley, 49, was arrested at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as he prepared to board a flight to Philadelphia on his way to Pakistan. The FBI also arrested Tahawwur Hussain Rana, 48, a Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin.
Mr. Kelly refused to divulge further information. “I’m not at liberty to divulge the details of the interrogation. It’s an ongoing legal case, and it really is up to the Department of Justice...”
FBI sleuths have recovered from Rana’s house two inflammatory al-Qaeda videos containing speeches by Osama bin Laden and other terrorists.
Produced by As Sahab Media, acknowledged to be al-Qaeda’s media wing, one of the videos is titled ‘Bombing of Denmark Embassy.’ The videos were recovered from the living room of Rana, who has been staying in Chicago for nearly a decade.
In a supporting affidavit submitted to a Chicago court on Friday, federal prosecutors informed judge Nan R. Nolan about the videos. The video on Denmark, where a newspaper published cartoons of Prophet Mohammad, is 54 minutes long. “That video was on a DVD recovered from the living room of Rana’s home on October 18, 2009,” prosecutors said. “The video is narrated by Abu Yahya al-Libi, an al-Qaeda spokesman who escaped from American custody in Afghanistan.” “Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, the third ranking al-Qaeda member, also appears on the video,” the new affidavit said.
The video focuses on the controversy sparked by the cartoons published in Jyllands-Posten. The footage of the then Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, who defended the caricatures as freedom of expression, are featured prominently. Strong comments then follow from the narrators, condemning the U.S., Denmark and Jews.
According to the affidavit, the DVD also prominently features the video of the man who carried out a suicide car bombing of the Danish embassy in Islamabad on June 2, 2008.
The second video “…begins with a speech by Osama bin Laden and profiles the lives and deaths of four men described as having died in the fight on behalf of Islam. The video also included remarks by Mustafa Abu al Yazid, who appeared on the Denmark video,” says the affidavit.

Strong Museum celebrates comic book heroes

2009-10-19T08:51:00.001+05:30

The epic battle of good vs. evil brings comic book heroes to Strong exhibit
WANG! ZAP! KAWUNNGG!
Superman, Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk are sweating bullets at Strong National Museum of Play.
Can they protect Rochester against malevolent mutants and scaly-skinned slimeballs? The fate of local family entertainment hangs in the balance.
"American Comic Book Heroes," Strong's latest exhibit, explores superheroes' 70-year crusade against unspeakable forces of evil. And wouldn't you know? One of their first creators was a Rochester cartoonist who learned his craft at Franklin High School.
But before hearing his incredible tale, let's have a brief word from our sponsor. Strong developed this exhibit to show how comic book characters influence children's play activities. It also reveals the historical forces that shaped superheroes' battle against world dominators.
"These characters leap from the pages of comic books into kids' imaginations," says Jon-Paul Dyson, Strong's vice president for exhibit research and development. "Kids go from reading to becoming these superheroes in their play. They can also explore concepts of good and evil in a very safe way."
The exhibit draws from Strong's collection of vintage comic books and associated products.
A glum-looking Superman doll brandishes fists like sledgehammers. A video game shows Captain America enjoying his special brand of vengeance — kick-boxing his enemies, then shooting them full of arrows.
That feisty attitude was fostered by powerful historical forces. Superman and Captain America emerged in the late 1930s and early 1940s, as America fought its way out of the Great Depression, only to confront a growing threat of fascism in Europe and Asia.
"Before we even entered World War II, one comic book shows Captain America slugging Hitler in the jaw," Dyson says. Captain America's inventor was Rochester native Joe Simon, now a 96-year-old Manhattanite. He started out as art director for Franklin High's school newspaper and later freelanced for a New York City magazine. There he met Jack Kirby, a young Jewish cartoonist. They formed a long creative partnership that produced Captain America, The Fly and the new genre of romance comics.
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Captain America was precisely the ultra-patriotic cheerleader needed in wartime, earning his inventors lucrative contracts. But their collaboration ended after 1954, when the comic book industry imposed a censorship code on its members.
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"In every instance, good shall triumph over evil," the Comics Code dictated. Since the McCarthy era, the Code's influence has steadily waned. The 1960s saw a new breed of tormented superheroes with dark secrets.
"Spider-Man is plagued by self-doubt," says Dyson. "The Incredible Hulk is overpowered by rage."
The morally pure Captain America, however, lives on in a stirring portrait that Simon drew for this exhibit.
Visitors who prefer family fun to superhero sociology should head straight for the interactive displays.
Try to lift a giant canister of glowing green goo (maybe Kryptonite?). It won't budge until you push a button. A sudden whoosh of gamma rays lets you pick it up with ease.
Ride a jiggly surfboard while chasing Dr. Dread and his flying nuclear bandits on a video screen. It's not for the faint of stomach.
Compared to early comic books, today's pulp heroism is largely apolitical. No one zaps Osama bin Laden with a digital laser gun. And Rush Limbaugh never challenges Al Gore for global supremacy.
Still, the exhibit engagingly revives an era when ideological choices were simpler — and when Rochester invented heroes that the rest of the nation eagerly followed.
SLOW@DemocratandChronicle.com
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/

« Kim’s Story Page 2 Online Book Review: Your Career in the Comics by Lee Nordling

2009-10-19T08:41:00.002+05:30

Published by Andrews and McMeel out of Kansas City, Nordling, a cartoonist, has compiled a comprehensive look at the world of cartooning as a profession with details described by the greats: Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson, Cathy Guisewite, Lynn Johnston…the list goes on and on, including staff of the comics publishing houses.
The great thing about the book, besides the quotes about how to best handle your property, is the collection of appendixes in which you get Syndicate Guidelines and Format Guides for color indication and Sunday strips.
With a discussion about the cartoonists’ role in the syndicate world, whether an independent representative or the newspaper, you learn more about what your position is in the field of cartooning and why the syndicate is your friend, submitting your strips to the newspapers around the world.
You learn about the creative freedom you may, or may not, have with your feature strip, including everything from the process, submission, development, and contract with the syndicate.
To quote the book, “Talent is what you can use, abuse or overcome.” I learned through this in depth look at the world of comic strips the ‘behind the scenes’ that you always wonder about but never knew to ask: Do I need an attorney when I get the contract? Do I own my characters, or the syndicate; what allows me more money? Can I do other features and sell them to the papers through a separate syndicate?
For hardly any money spent, you will finally get the education you need for selling your comic strip. Now, I need to get busy working on my submission package.
You can buy Your Career in the Comics here. ISBN# 0-8362-0748-3 $9.95

Muslim cartoonist tackles social and political issues

2009-10-17T22:57:00.003+05:30

By Electa Draper
The Denver Post

Nigar Nazar is a Muslim cartoonist — perhaps the only woman cartoonist in Pakistan — whose work tackles social and political issues via the life of a pixie-faced woman who represents the educated, self-confident urban Pakistani (Joe Amon, The Denver Post)

COLORADO SPRINGS — Pakistan can be difficult terrain for a female Muslim cartoonist whose alter ego, Gogi, has comments in the bubble above her head on everything from male chauvinism to suicide bombers.
Gogi is a long-lashed, short-coiffed, polka dot-wearing, pixie-faced modern Pakistani woman. She is a bit like "Blondie" and a bit like Oprah — except devoutly Muslim.
Gogi creator Nigar Nazar, the first and, as far as she knows, "only woman cartoonist of Pakistan and very likely the entire Muslim world," says Gogi represents the educated and self-confident urban Pakistani.

Gogi is mostly "on the receiving end of the joke that is life," Nazar says. She deflects the onslaught with womanly humor.

"Gogi is that ray of hope in a male-dominated country where she has to brave it . . . with a tough exterior while not losing her feminine grace, charm and intelligence," Nazar said.
Based in Islamabad, Nazar is lecturing at Colorado College through Oct. 24 with the Fulbright Visiting Specialist program. She hopes to help Americans deepen what she suspects is a typically one-dimensional perception of Islamic society and culture.
An exhibit of Nazar's work is at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center through Wednesday.
Nazar, whose father worked in the foreign service, spent several years in America as a young girl.
"It was long enough to get me hooked on comics," she said.
Gogi began as a daily comic strip in a Pakistan newspaper called The Sun in 1970, when Nazar was 22. She also animated a cartoon for Karachi Television about that time.
Nazar later freelanced for The Herald monthly before publishing books of Gogi cartoons, the first in 1975.
Gogi's style is usually gentle. She points out in one strip that the traditional headscarf, the chaddar, actually has advantages, such as hiding one from creditors.
Gogi and friend once remarked on the disparate

reaction to male births and female births. When a son is born, the father passes out cigars. When a daughter is born, a father simply passes out. "That was my first meaningful cartoon," Nazar said.
Newspaper editors in Pakistan are not always receptive to Gogi as a mouthpiece for modern urban women, she said.
"I don't do political cartoons until I get very, very angry," Nazar said. "And then they don't get published. Now I can put them on my website" — gogicomics.com.
However, Nazar draws the line at parodies of Islam.
"I would never dream of doing anything disrespectful to Islam," she said. "I wouldn't make a cartoon about the prophet. I wouldn't do one of Jesus Christ, either."
On most other topics, Gogi rarely is silenced for long. Nazar's social messages on everything from sexual harassment to equal education opportunities eventually began appearing on the sides of buses in Islamabad and Lahore.
"I took it out of the newspapers and onto the streets," Nazar said. "With the illiteracy rates in Pakistan, cartoons are a good way to get messages across."
Through Gogi, Nazar has tackled topics such as AIDs, arranged marriages, domestic violence, government corruption and sectarian strife.
Nazar, along with characters other than Gogi, also has helped with health and hygiene illustrations for UNICEF. She's written and drawn children's storybooks on the environment, such as "The Garbage Monster." She's painted hospital murals and illustrated comic books to help children avoid recruitment as suicide bombers.
"There are problems," Nazar said. "It's how you approach them, in a creative way."
She recently held a workshop on cartooning at a retreat for girls in Pakistan's Swat Valley, where the Taliban had blown up some schools and threatened female students. The Taliban there surrendered to Pakistani troops in mid-September.

Caricature Competition

2009-10-17T02:03:00.005+05:30

Dear CARTOONISTS,
The Indian Institute of Cartonists, Bangalore
is conducting caricature competition

SUBJECTS TO CARICATURISE...

SRI MANMOHAN SINGH &

SMT. SONIA GANDHI

PRIZES : Rs. 1,00,000/-, Rs. 50,000/-, Rs. 10,000/- & Rs. 5,000/-

ENTRIES CAN BE SENT EITHER AS PAPER DRAWING OR BY E-MAIL

DEADLINE : 15.11.2009

Please participate…

Watford Observer cartoonist Terry Challis has died

2009-10-08T08:40:00.001+05:30

Warm tributes have been paid to Watford Observer cartoonist Terry Challis, who has died aged 74.
Terry’s cartoons were an established part of this newspaper’s coverage of events on and off the pitch at Watford FC for more than 30 years, and his work will be known to and remembered affectionately by thousands of Hornets fans.
Former Watford Observer sports editor and Watford FC communications manager Andrew French has been among those to pay tribute to his former colleague, who passed away on Thursday, describing him as a “wonderful bloke”.
“Some people are lucky enough to be born with one God-given talent – Terry was blessed with two: he was an incredible artist and a naturally funny man,” Andrew said. “Watford supporters were able to enjoy both those skills through his famous cartoons, the like of which were – and still are - unrivalled. He had the knack of empathising with fans, sharing their highs and lows.
“It was a privilege – not to mention great fun – to work alongside him during my time at both the Watford Observer and Watford FC. I cannot think of anyone who made me laugh harder.
“Quite simply, Terry Challis was a wonderful bloke.”
Terry’s funeral will be held at 3pm on Wednesday, October 21 at West Herts Crematorium. No flowers are requested.
A selection of Terry’s cartoons will be featured in a tribute to him in this Friday’s Watford Observer.

Visual extravaganza

2009-10-07T08:41:00.002+05:30

RK LAXMAN — The Uncommon Man:

Collection of Works from 1948-2008:

Dharmendra Bhandari;

Copies can be had from author,

B-44, Malviya Nagar, Jaipur-302017.
Rs. 1500.

By CHITRAPU UDAY BHASKAR @ The Hindu
India’s best known and most revered political cartoonist, Rasipuram Krishnaswamy Laxman (b. 1924), better known by his alter ego — the silent ‘common man,’ who has been appearing daily in The Times of India for over 50 years, will be all of 85 years on October 24 and the book under review is an appropriate tribute to this extraordinary and very ‘uncommon man.’
Compiled by Dharmendra Bhandari, a family friend of long standing, the book traces the evolution of R.K. Laxman — brother of the celebrated author of Malgudi fame, R.K. Narayan, in a brief introduction of 16 pages. The rest of this sumptuous book is a veritable visual extravaganza of Laxman’s nimble quill and the incisive imagery that he so deftly created, and still creates, on a daily basis. An illustrious son of Mysore, the young Laxman fits the description of being a born artist and, as he recalls in his autobiography, “I do not remember wanting to do anything else [in life] except draw. I do not remember a day when I have not sketched, whether it was time to prepare for examinations or lying in bed recovering from a bout of fever.”
The book is broadly divided into four visual sections that focus on different facets of Laxman’s vast oeuvre: art, caricature, humour, and political cartoons; the last section alone has about 190 pages. As the text reveals, Laxman began his career as an illustrator for the Mysore University magazine and then graduated to The Hindu, where he provided the visuals for the short stories of his brother Narayan. Later the artist visited Madras and Delhi to make his career as an illustrator and cartoonist but with little luck. It was more by chance that he stopped in Bombay before going back to his hometown and he related to the great metropolis with an empathy that is as vibrant after more than half-a-century.
Earlier, Laxman had sought admission to the JJ School of Art — but was rejected for he “lacked the kind of talent” the institution was looking for! This rejection seems to have been a blessing in more ways than one because he then pursued his journalistic career with great determination and never looked back. After a brief stint at the Blitz and the Free Press Journal (where his fellow cartoonist was Bal Thackeray), the little-known Laxman began to embellish the pages of The Times of India. By 1954, the bespectacled common man with the bulbous nose and checked coat — now universally recognised as the face of the average Indian, the aam aadmi — became Laxman’s signature.
For 55 years now, his daily cartoon has appeared consistently (barring the Emergency period) and in a pithy single column of a mere two inches, the artist makes an incisive socio-political comment with his rich visual complemented by a caption of a few words. And the little man in the funny coat is a silent spectator — as he has been for decades — exploited, harassed, deceived, but still stoic. Cartoonist apart, Laxman is also an author of three books and has tried his hand at films.
Among the nuggets strewn in the text is the little known detail that famous film star Shah Rukh Khan got his break via a Laxman TV serial — ‘Wagle ki Duniya’.Affectionate tribute
Laxman warrants a more detailed comment but this book is an affectionate tribute and will hopefully spur others to make a critical assessment of the vast body of work created by this gifted man. Paradoxically, while politics and politicians have been his bread and butter for decades, he avers that the role of the cartoonist is now over — for the Indian politician has now become so brazen, that the skill of the cartoon is no longer required to expose the turpitude of the ‘neta’ and the torment of the ‘common man.’ Laxman’s many fans will pray that he does not take his own pronouncements too seriously!

Here is your chance to doodle for Google!

2009-10-01T19:25:00.003+05:30

Your design could feature on the Google homepage for millions to see.
Are fond of doodling? Your simple designs might just have a chance to grace the homepage of one of the world most frequented search engine- www.google.com. Every now and then, on a few special days, visitors to the Google homepage sometimes see something different -- creative, catchy, artistic variations of the regular Google logo. These "doodles" appear on some special days, to commemorate scientific and artistic achievements, historic or seasonal events, and other local occasions. Their eye-catching designs also often teach you something new about a day, event or occasion whenever you happen to stumble upon them.Google is hosting the Doodle 4 Google contest, which is the first ever 'doodling' competition in India. This will give any school student in India a chance to draw on the most exciting canvas in the world, by creating a doodle for the Google India homepage, to be seen by millions of Google users!!

The theme of the competition is "My India", and students will be asked to create a doodle by giving a pictorial depiction of what India means to them. The winning doodle will be displayed on the google home page, on Children’s Day, November 14, 2009. The final winner will also win a laptop, and a technology grant of Rs.1,00,000 for his/her school.Announcing the launch of the Doodle 4 Google competition, Arvind Desikan, Head of Consumer Marketing from Google said, "Creativity, innovation, and a sense of fun are at the heart of Google's culture and beliefs. Through Doodle 4 Google, we hope to celebrate the immense creative talent and richness of ideas of students across the country. We are delighted to be able to give school students across India the opportunity to doodle for Google."

Doodles will be judged on artistic merit, creativity and the communication of the "My India" theme. The judging panel will include faculty and students of the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, the Doodle 4 Google partner institute. Renowned cartoonist N. Ponnappa, and young emerging Indian artist Raghava K.K. will also be judging the winning entry.Pradyumna Vyas, Director of the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad said: "NID's mission is to foster world-class design education and promote design awareness and excellence while rooted to the cultural ethos and traditions of our country. At the same time, we want to make design education relevant to today's context, and demonstrate the social and economic benefits of design, especially the pivotal role it plays in social development. We are happy to collaborate with Google's Doodle 4 Google initiative, and we are certain that it will encourage the creative art and design talent of young students all across India, many of whom may be the finest design minds of the future."According to Ponnappa, "A culturally diverse, vibrant emerging superpower that India is, this Doodle 4 Google competition is bound to open the eyes of the world to the immense creativity and talent that young Indians have to offer. I look forward with great anticipation to seeing the spontaneity, simplicity and surprise in the artwork.""Doodle 4 Google will unleash our young creative potential. Cartoons make people laugh and think -- I am confident that our kids, the storehouses of Indian creativity, will give Google a doodle to remember," remarks Raghava K.K.

From among all the entries received, 45 of the best doodles will be chosen by the judges and displayed on the Doodle 4 Google website, where people can vote for their favourite doodle in each of the three age-categories, based on the class in which a participant is studying. The final winner will be decided by Google's original doodler and webmaster, Dennis Hwang, who created Google's first doodles in 2000, and continues to create them even today!Participating in the competition is simple. Here are a few more details for participants:The 'Doodle 4 Google- My India' competition is open to all students between the 1st and the 10th standards, studying in any school in IndiaStudents can register online at www.google.co.in/doodle4google, where they will also find all the information needed to take part in the contest.Entries will be judged in 3 categories: (a) 1st-3rd standards (b) 4th - 6th standards, and (c) 7th - 10th standards

Rebooting Your PC (Weenies)Krishna M Sadasivam

2009-09-30T09:21:00.002+05:30

By Wolfen Moondaughter
http://www.sequentialtart.com
I had the pleasure of meeting Krishna at this year's MegaCon, where I found him amongst the members of Nightgig Studios, in the Artist's Alley. His work is eye-catching and quite funny, and Krishna himself is a charming fellow. When he told me recently that he's releasing a collection of one of his webcomics, PC Weenies, I figured it was high time for an interview ....
Sequential Tart: What's your artistic background?
Krishna M Sadasivam: My education has largely been self-taught. I received formal training in my late 20s at the Savannah College of Art and Design, fulfilling a life long dream to study animation. Currently, I teach as a full-time instructor in the Media Arts and Animation department at the Art Institute of Tampa. When I'm not teaching (or making my webcomics), I freelance as a cartoonist/illustrator.
ST: What got you into doing comics?
KMS: I've always been fascinated with comics and cartoons from a very early age. Initially, what drew me in were the Warner Bros. cartoons (specifically, the Road Runner/Coyote cartoons). I discovered comics when I was around four or five, when my parents bought me my first three-pack of Gold Key comics. For a number of years, I read Gold Key and Whitman books. Later, in high school, I developed a strong interest in super-hero books. And in college, I discovered the fascinating world of independent comics. Seeing the sophistication and variety in subject matter of these independent books got me to seriously dip my toes into getting serious about the craft.I've been making comics since the eighth grade. On the web, I've been making and publishing comics since 1998........
Pls log on to...
http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=1495

Google homepage logos

2009-09-30T09:05:00.003+05:30

This very basic logo is from 1999 when Google was still operating as a Beta site.
In March 2002, this logo celebrated French artist Piet Mondrian's birthday.

In May 2002 cartoonist Scott Adams was commissioned to draw a series of 'Google Doodles', this is the logo he came up with.

Leonardo da Vinci's birthday is celebrated with this logo from 2005.

It's artist Edvard Munch's turn in December 2006.

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! - March 2, 2009

In Jan 2008 it's Lego's 50th anniversary.

Naperville to honor 'Dick Tracy' cartoonist

2009-09-30T08:54:00.003+05:30

By Susan Dibble Daily Herald Staff
Dick Locher never had drawn an editorial cartoon in his life when his late friend and mentor, Chester Gould, told him the Chicago Tribune had an opening for an editorial cartoonist.
Gould suggested Locher head to the Trib the next day with 12 samples of his work.
Locher stayed up all night and managed to come up with seven cartoons. He got the job and the Naperville resident became a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist at the Tribune - a post he still holds 39 years later.
What Locher didn't know was that he also would one day take over producing the Dick Tracy comic strip Gould created in 1931. Locher, who served as Gould's assistant from 1957-61, became the strip's artist in 1983. He drew the strip until earlier this year and continues as its writer.
His work on Dick Tracy has been garnering him recent recognition in his hometown. He is one of the artists depicted in the "World's Greatest Artists" mural painted on the wall of the Naperville Art League's gallery this summer.
An even bigger tribute is coming this fall with the dedication of a larger-than-life sculpture of Dick Tracy in downtown Naperville as the 35th piece of artwork commissioned by the nonprofit Century Walk Corp.
The 9-foot brass sculpture will depict the squared-jawed police detective talking into his two-way wrist radio. He'll be wearing his signature yellow coat and a red tie.
Locher, who does bronze work as a hobby, drew the design and made a model for the sculpture.
"I think he (Gould) would like the statute," Locher said. "He (Dick Tracy) is known all over the world."
Working with the Century Walk Corp., Locher chose the location for the sculpture - on the south side of DuPage River at the end of the covered bridge near the offices of Naperville Township.
The prominent location, where it can be seen from both sides of the river, is fitting for the fictitious detective who has an international reputation, said Brand Bobosky, president of Century Walk Corp.
"It's going to be our signature piece," he said.
Bobosky said Century Walk is looking into producing scale replicas of the statute that it will sell on its Web site.
"We believe they will be of interest to law enforcement around the world," he said.
Passing time's test
Only a handful of running comic strips are older than Dick Tracy, Locher said. Jim Brozman has taken over the drawing, but Locher still provides pencils sketches and writes the story line.
The strip has shrunk from its original size to the four short panels published today, but Locher said he doesn't think Dick Tracy will ever go out of style. The strip has 12.5 million readers a day.
"As long as man has a criminal mind, there will always be a Dick Tracy," he said.
The strip has changed with the times, Locher said. Gould's detective dealt with thugs and underground figures. Today, Dick Tracy fights white collar crime, kidnappings, assault, forgery and terrorism.
An array of hard-to-forget characters - people like Flattop Jones, Mumbles and Pruneface - have carried the comic strip through the years, Locher said.
Gould let him create some of the characters in the four years they worked together.
"He was a stickler; detail was required," he said. "We thought alike. It was one of those sparks that jump from generation to generation."
A native of Iowa, Locher left his position as Gould's assistant to be with his ill father and started his own advertising company before returning to the Tribune as an editorial cartoonist. After Gould passed on, Locher remained in touch with the older man's family.
Gould's daughter, Jean Gould O'Connell, and grandchildren will be at the statute's dedication. Originally set for Oct. 4, the 78th anniversary of the comic strip's debut, the dedication has been postponed at least three weeks until the sculpture is completed.
O'Connell said Locher became a personal friend to her family and wrote the forward to a book she wrote about her father, "Chester Gould: a daughter's biography of the creator of Dick Tracy."
Locher has approached the comic strip differently than her father, but the two men shared similar beliefs, she said.
"They were both great optimists. They loved to be together," she said. "He (Gould) would be very proud to see the Dick Tracy statute."
Locher said he expects 200 to 250 people to attend the dedication.
"It's big," he said.
Editorial cartoonist
Dick Tracy isn't all that occupies Locher's days, however. He still works full-time from his Naperville home turning out five editorial cartoons a week. He gets up at 4:30 a.m. to listen to the news and pick out his subject for the day.
"What dictates an editorial cartoon is the contemporary news story," he said.
Five or six sketches later, he e-mails the finished piece to meet his noon deadline.
Locher said he is one of only about 80 full-time editorial cartoonists in the country and the envy of his colleagues elsewhere.
"Illinois is a great place for a cartoonist to work. Fertile ground," he said.
The ideas and political philosophy expressed in his cartoons are his own, Locher said. Many of his recent cartoons reflect the confusion and anxiety the public has over President Obama's health care plan. In one, an elderly woman sitting in front of a TV declares, "If the new health care proposal messes with my hospital soaps, Pow! Right in the kisser!"
His political outlook is right of center, but he's an equal opportunity offender, Locher said. He's received a few death threats during his career, a good indication he's on the right track as a cartoonist, he said.
"Good letters are fine. Scary ones, you know you've done your job well," he said.
Locher has met every president since he started as an editorial cartoonist 39 years ago except Nixon, who didn't like journalists, and Obama.
His favorite was Ronald Reagan. Reagan invited Locher to lunch at the White House and the two spent four hours together. When Locher's son, John, died at age 21, Reagan sent a condolence letter.
"He was so erudite; so fluent," Locher said.
But Locher didn't overlook his favorite president's missteps. His cartoon of Reagan in a Superman costume falling out of a phone booth as a comment on the president's handling of an arms shipment to Venezuela helped Locher win the Pulitzer Prize in 1983.
Amid the celebration in the newsroom, an editor whispered a humbling thought in his ear, Locher recalled.
"Dick, today's Pulitzer wraps tomorrow's fish."
Locher said he can't say for sure editorial cartoons change anyone's mind, but he hopes they shed light on the subjects they depict.
"I like to have the reader say, I never thought of it that way before," he said.
A good cartoon must be well-drawn, accurate, contain a history lesson and make its point quickly, he said.
"We make it funny because the news is so dreadful," he said. "Being an editorial cartoonist is like being the blind javelin thrower in the Olympics. We don't win many awards, but we keep the crowd alert."
Locher keeps himself occupied as well. He lives with his wife, Mary, in the same Naperville neighborhood they moved to 40 years ago. Over the years, he has served as a trustee at Benedictine University in Lisle, headed United Way and helped with local fundraisers.
When he retires, he would like to spend more time with his other hobby, oil painting. But for now, the paintbrushes aren't getting much of a workout.
"Not yet," he said. "I'm having too much fun."

He's not your typical cartoon rat

2009-09-30T08:46:00.003+05:30

By: Kasmin Fernandes
Sarkozy puts the burqa behind bars. Indian deities are credited with inventing multi-tasking, and lab rats talk on cell phones in Caricatures. Veteran cartoonist Hemant Morparia's exhibition at the Alliance FranÃ§aise gallery displays 20 cartoons that brim with the same fresh wit that he started off with 20 years ago.

Hemant Morparia. Pic/ Rane Ashish
Caricatures is a precursor to Morparia's show in France. He has been invited to stay, show and draw in port town La Rochelle, where he will exhibit with renowned French satirist Georges Wolinski. Known as the most provocative cartoonist in France, the 75 year-old has been given the rank of Chevalier in France's Legion d'Honneur, originally established by Napoleon Bonaparte to honour civilian and military achievements. Wolinski was in India last year and had sketched his observations of our country. "His work on India, and my Indian work will be up together in early 2010. It will be called India's Revenge," chuckles Morparia. Morparia will also display some sculptures and three-dimensional caricatures of prominent politicians and personalities including the mysterious guru Osho. "Humour is the link that reconciles our mortality with spiritual aspirations," according to Morparia. It makes sense when you consider the following lines Osho once uttered: "The purpose of the joke is not the joke. The purpose is the laughter that follows, because in that laughter your thinking stops. In that laughter, you are no more mind. And after that laughter, just a very small gap and I can reach to the deepest core of your being."

First Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi caricature contest

2009-09-30T08:43:00.001+05:30

The first national and international ''Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi caricature contest'' for professional and amateur cartoonists will be staged at an eight-day exhibtion here from January 15 next year.
"Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi have been chosen for the contest, the first of kind in the country, as they are the most popular and successful leaders", V G Narendra, President of Indian Institute of Cartoonists, which is holding the contest, told a press conference here."We are expecting over 500 entries from both national and international cartoonists", he said.Sponsored by the V R Deshpande Memorial Trust, the contest will have separate prizes of Rs one lakh each for the best caricatures. Second prize of Rs 50,000 each, third prize of Rs 10,000 each and three consolation prizes of Rs 5,000 each will also be given away.A four-member jury, headed by Justice M N Venkatachalaiah will select the best caricatures. Jnanpitha awardee Dr U R Ananthamurthy, noted artist V G Andani and well-known cartoonist Keshav are the other jury members."The Trust is sponsoring the event to encourage art and artists", its Chairman and KPCC President R V Deshpande said.

First Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi caricature contest

2009-09-30T08:43:00.000+05:30

A Magical Tale of Two Cartoons

2009-09-28T13:07:00.004+05:30

An example of a gallery at the new museum. (Contributed Photo)
The Morning Call's Bud Tamblyn and Walt Disney shared talent, spirit and imagination. So it's fitting that one of Tamblyn's special works was chosen to hang in the Walt Disney Family Museum.
By John J. Moser Of The Morning Call
In many ways, Walt Disney and longtime former Morning Call cartoonist William R. ''Bud'' Tamblyn were kindred souls.
Born five years apart after the turn of the century, both took an interest in drawing and did sketches for their high school newspapers, then entered the workforce as the Depression hit. Acquaintances say both were fun and imaginative.
Disney studied nights at Chicago Academy of Fine Arts and hoped to become a newspaper cartoonist. Tamblyn became one.
So it's no surprise that Tamblyn was an admirer of Disney's work, and was so touched when Disney died that he did one of his best-remembered cartoons. The Dec. 15, 1966 panel shows Mickey Mouse sitting under a tree crying, Disney's Magic Kingdom in the distant background.
And it's fair to say the Disney family was an admirer of Tamblyn as well -- a copy of the memorial cartoon hung in the Disney organization's administrative offices in Anaheim, Calif.
And now, when the new Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco opens Thursday, the cartoon will be among its displays. It is hung on a wall with 33 other editorial cartoons, sympathy telegrams from notable personalities and quotes from newspapers around the world in response to Disney's death, says Elaine Mellis, the museum's director of communications.
Tamblyn worked for The Morning Call 37 years, starting as a photographer before becoming a full-time cartoonist. Tamblyn's cartoons were held in such esteem that local dignitaries of the day aspired to be in them. His work ran in some national publications.
After retiring in 1974, he continued part time for several years, drawing a ''News of the Week in Review'' cartoon and doing other special projects.
The Morning Call published a 160-page book of his work in 1985.
More than a hundred people stood in line at Hess's Department Store for an autographed copy. Tamblyn died in 1989 at age 83.
The inclusion of Tamblyn's cartoon in the Disney collection comes as The Morning Call has begun occasionally republishing Tamblyn cartoons as part of our new ''Toons to Talk About'' feature on the Town Square page. The first one, a cartoon on one of his favorite topics, the Allentown Fair, appeared Aug. 31.
Longtime Allentown Mayor Joseph Daddona had a large collection of Tamblyn originals framed and on display in his City Hall office. Former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover reportedly was so pleased with a Tamblyn cartoon about a big gambling raid in Reading in 1962 that it hung in the agency's Washington headquarters.
And a Tamblyn drawing that depicted President Nixon as a little boy, sitting with his legs straight out in a huge chair in the Oval Office, was displayed in an international exhibit of political cartoons at the grounds of Expo 67 in Montreal, Canada.
A large number of Tamblyn's cartoons were, after his death, donated to Lehigh County Historical Society.
But having one of his cartoons displayed in a Disney museum would have been a particular source of pride for Tamblyn, says his niece, Joyce Caliga of Dallas. Texas. Tamblyn's closest living relative, Caliga has many of his drawings displayed in her home, as well as ''a suitcase full.''
''I think he would be delighted, and I know his wife would be delighted,'' Caliga, 83, says in a telephone interview. Caliga grew up in Virginia, but visited the Tamblyns in Allentown ''all the time. Aunt Grace [Tamblyn's wife] was my favorite, and we spent as much time together as we possibly could.
''Caliga says Tamblyn was ''a joy to be around.'' He not only photographed Caliga's wedding, but would draw ''remarkable, big cartoons to celebrate'' family birthdays.While Tamblyn had his cartoons signed by two presidents -- Johnson and Kennedy -- Caliga says she doesn't know whether Tamblyn ever had contact with Disney.''But of course, he admired his work,'' she says. ''He wouldn't have put so much of himself into that cartoon unless he had felt deeply about Walt Disney.
''The Disney Family Museum is the world's only museum dedicated to the life of Walt Disney, exploring his roles as creator of Mickey Mouse, as the man who raised animation to an art, designed futuristic theme parks and, ultimately, helped define 20th century American culture.
It occupies 700,000 square feet in The Presidio of San Francisco, a park in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area that in the 1700s was a Spanish military center that passed to the United States in 1847 and closed in 1994. The museum reuses a former barracks building, gymnasium and storage building with a 20,000-square-foot, glass-and-steel pavilion addition, all with views of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Chitrakala Award 2009 - Search for excellence in illustration

2009-09-25T17:05:00.003+05:30

The Katha Chitrakala Award recognizes exemplary children's book illustrations and concepts that are fresh, powerful and unique, and have the potential to keep young readers interested and turn them towards life-long reading. This competition is open to everyone around the world.

Grand Prize: Rs 51,000 and a citation and publication by Katha
Runner-up Prize: Rs 31,000, a medal and publication by Katha
Notable mentions: Medal and possible publication by Katha

Katha stories handpicked for this competition can be found on www.katha.org/chitrakala/stories.Writers who wish to illustrate a story of their own are also welcome.
Last date for the submission of entries: November 1, 2009.

Selected entries will be announced on our website on December 1, 2009. All selected artists will be invited to submit their complete artworks, story and layout to Katha by March 1, 2010. Winners will be awarded at a grand ceremony in Delhi.

SELECTION CRITERIA
The competition is open to all children's book enthusiasts interested in reaching out to children.
Each work will be considered for its: appeal and relevance to children belonging to diverse socio-economic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
The work should appeal to children between 2-8 years.
Illustrate your own story or download a Katha story for illustration purposes from our website www.katha.org/chitrakala/stories. Katha holds the copyright to these.
All entries will be judged on an equal basis. No special preference will be given to Katha stories.
Eminent artists have been handpicked to serve as the jury for the Katha Chitrakala Award.
The process is eclectic and rigorous and rests only on the quality of the work and its ability to attract the child reader to the joy of reading.
The decision of the jury will be final and binding.

REGISTRATION FEE
There is no entry fee for teams residing within Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The entry fee for applicants living in Australia, Canada, Europe and USA is USD 35. Please send your registration forms along with a demand draft made in favour of Katha.

THE CHITRAKALA COLLECTION
Chosen works from among the entries will be released as books in 2010. The originals will be displayed in a special exhibition at the Chitrakala Award ceremony in Delhi.

CONDITIONS OF ENTRY
Works submitted should be original and should not have been published in any form previously.
Each participant or team can submit a maximum of two entries.
The book should be a stand-alone work of art without being dependent on other media for its enjoyment.
Each entry should comprise the full story and three or more illustrations for it.
The illustrations should be suitable for a book of 11" x 8.5" size.
Entries should not violate any existing copyright norms.
Entries should be submitted: (i) in the form of original work on paper and (ii) on CD-ROM.
Entries without filled-out registration forms will be considered invalid.

RETURN OF ENTRIES
All works will be returned to their owners after the awards in April 2010. Artworks for the winning entries will be returned after the books are published. Please enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE) of suitable size. Katha will not take responsibility for the return of artwork not so accompanied.

Cartoonist Chan Lowe hit the nail on the head with Bush, Obama cartoon

2009-09-24T20:54:00.000+05:30

Chan Lowe's cartoon depicting President Obama on one side, urging children to remain in school, be diligent and accomplished, and former President Bush on the other, with the caption: "Get born into the right family. Skate through life. Start unnecessary wars," was right on the money. That's exactly the right comparison. Barack Obama stayed in school, worked hard and achieved much. George W. Bush was born into a wealthy, elitist family, was a legacy student in one of the most difficult colleges in America to get into and "achieved" the presidency based on his appeal to his self-described base, "the haves and the have more." He started a needless war with a country that didn't attack us, while ignoring the Taliban in the country that did. That's why we are now engaged in two wars. The one in the country that harbored the Taliban is, eight years later, almost twice as long as World War II and is still a source of danger to America. Congratulations, Mr. Lowe. You hit the nail on the head.

What in the world is so funny? Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Joel Pett talks politics at Whitman

2009-09-24T20:52:00.002+05:30

Featured - News / By Eric Nickeson-Mendheim / September 22, 2009
Credit: Gold
Cartoonist Joel Pett knows his job is unconventional.

“Once a day I have to figure out something I’m angry about, and then I make fun of it,” said the Pulitzer Prize winning political cartoonist.
Pett spoke on campus Tuesday as an O’Donnell visiting professor. His lecture, “What in the world is so funny?” took on global issues from a more humorous standpoint.
“Joel Pett brings a creative approach,” said Associate Professor of Politics Shampa Biswas. “He’s a cartoonist, and he comes at these issues from a creative perspective. His contributions are quite different from those of other speakers we bring to campus and I think he’s generated a lot of of interest from different groups at the college.”
Students who attended the lecture were impressed by Pett.
“I liked that he was so blatant about the issues,” said sophomore Khoa Nguyen. “He didn’t overanalyze the problems and he wasn’t moralizing. He was realistic about things and that was really refreshing.”
In his lecture, Pett emphasized the importance of taking an a role to make a difference. He also stressed the importance of population control and the role of government.
“I really appreciated that he didn’t care what people thought about him,” said sophomore Katie Lei. “He does that cartoon to make a point, but doesn’t want to preach to the choir. It wasn’t politically correct and I liked that.”
The lecture was presented alongside Pett’s political cartoons, which featured everything from caricatures of presidents to pieces on torture at Guantanamo Bay and child labor in China.
“He covers a range of issues in the news,” said Biswas. “I think political cartoonists usually do a good job of stirring people up and making them think critically about things otherwise taken for granted. I want people to walk away from his presentations with the same passion for global affairs that he has for his work. I want students to think about global issues and about how cartooning can help portray them.”
“I definitely felt that he didn’t try to overanalyze the problems,” said Nguyen. “He just wanted to let us see them for what they were.”
The lecture was funded by the the Global Studies Steering Committee in conjunction with the program of O’Donnell Visiting Educators. The O’Donnel lectures were created to bring practitioners with international experience. The lectures’ purpose is to enlighten students about international affairs through a medium other than the typical news or online blog sources. Joel Pett seemed an ideal candidate.
“The point of these lectures is to bring practitioners, not academics, on global affairs,” said Biswas.
In the future, the O’Donnell lectures will involve an even wider variety of speakers, including a merchant marine officer, a lawyer dealing with energy issues and a former world bank economist.
“It’s going to be the whole spectrum.” said Biswas.

Cartoonist Mario's Cartoons @ Indian Cartoon Gallery

2009-09-24T18:50:00.001+05:30

Cartoon Library and Museum @ Ohio State University

2009-09-24T08:58:00.000+05:30

By Sean Lehosit
In 1843, Punch Magazine published drawings by the English caricaturist John Leech, which parodied the political and social aspects of society. It was with Leech's work that the term "cartoon" was first used to describe a satirical drawing, and since then, modern cartoons have been greatly adopted into popular culture. Before this time, the term was mainly used toward frescos and tapestry, but with the expansion of a cartoon's definition, a new venue for the public voice opened up. This evolution has become a popular tool for artists and commentators and can range from editorial cartoons that poke fun at current events and political criticisms, to comic strips and comic books that have the main goal to simply bring some amusement into everyday life.
"Cartoons are just like movies now," says art student Nate Snow. "There are kinds for everyone in wide range. From things like "Family Circus" that show everyday family life we can all relate to, and classics like "Peanuts" that we all remember. Cartoons can put things in perspective and create a way to express any feelings we have. Its amazing on one full page of a paper like The Washington Post you can have a variety of feelings in a collective art form."
Throughout the years, different names have been assigned to the art produced by cartoonists. Cartoon strips commonly found in newspapers worldwide have been referred to as comics and the funnies. This stems from the traditional comedic approach early cartoonist used as cartoons were used to make fun of public figures, government, and community issues. Upon the birth of comic books, however, the cartoon evolved, once again, into an outlet for stories of adventure, horror, and drama as the art form grew into the telling of fictional figures within monthly serials and graphic novels.
The growing embrace that society has on cartoons is visible just by how it still, to this day, is a primary inspiration to all other creative grounds. The material produced within both comic strips and comic books has been converted into film, books, theatre and even dance. That being said, many could argue that the dawn of comic strips created a new pillar for creative thought and social commentary, creating candid documentation on the values, moral code, and community expectations that existed within the time period the cartoons were illustrated. Evidence of this can be seen as recently as this past January, when Marvel Comics published a special Inauguration Day edition of The Amazing Spider-Man, where not only did a President-elect Barack Obama appear within the issue, but was used as the main figure on the cover. Within the issue, a plot to disrupt Inauguration Day is created by the villain Chameleon. Obama warns Spider-Man to steer clear and not interfere with government business, however when the scheme is smothered by the heroic efforts of Spider-Man, the President-elect concedes, "OK, I was wrong, Spider-Man. This is definitely your department."
Since cartoons give a historical insight into time periods, they've become another way to conduct paper research and other studies. Whether it's from an academic need or simply for hobbyists, The Ohio State University has an extensive collection of iconic cartoons within its Cartoon Library and Museum.
"I had no idea that OSU had a Cartoon Library and Museum," said student Sammi Fluck. "I think that it's awesome that they include comics in the library,"
The library boasts more than 2.5 million comic strip clippings and tear sheets, 36,000 books, and 450,000 original cartoons. The Cartoon Library and Museum, which was established in 1977 started out as a gift that came from the Milton Caniff Collection. Caniff was a well-known cartoonist that became famous for his "Terry and the Pirates" comic strips. A founder of the National Cartoonists Society and a native to Ohio, he actually graduated from The Ohio State University in 1930 before landing a job with The Columbus Dispatch, where he put to use his Journalism degree, before losing his position during the Great Depression.
Caniff is but one of many Ohio-born cartoonists that can be found in the Cartoon Library and Museum, a fact that has confused many visitors.
"There is no definitive answer to this," answers the library website. "It may be a combination of the political importance of the state, its history of strong newspapers, and its Midwestern sensibilities."
According to its website, the Cartoon Library and Museum has become the largest and most comprehensive research facility, thanks to donations and gifts-in-kind. Its vast collection of both widely known and original works can be accessed through the libraries online catalog - a searchable database - and through personal tours of the facilities. In fact, not only does the library offer personal guidance by appointment, but it also offers tours of the stacks for classroom trips, once a request is put in one month in advance. However, no items may be borrowed. The library also has a reading room, which displays exhibits from various artists. These exhibits can be visited, without appointment, during the library's hours of operation. The current exhibition, which will run through December 31, 2009, is Winsor McCay: Legendary Cartoonist.
"When the American comic strip was in its infancy, McCay became the first master of the form with two unsurpassed works of genius, 'Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend' ... and 'Little Nemo in Slumberland,'" says his biographer, John Canemaker.
Collections from Ohio-bred cartoonists are not the only items visitors will find in the library. The library's stacks are also the home to international works, artist biographies, underground comic books, magna (a Japanese form of comics) and professional records. With the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection, acquired in 1998, the Cartoon Library and Museum officially became the largest collection of tear sheets and comic strip clippings in the world, proving the Cartoon Library and Museum as an invaluable resource for students and staff.
Regular programs and events are also sponsored by the Cartoon Library and Museum, in shared efforts between the Wexner Center For The Arts. These programs range from the exhibition of artist's work, such as Billy Ireland, to hosting speakers, seminars, and workshops. Also, the Triennial Festival of Cartoon Art has been a main attraction since 1983. This two-day event brings visitors from near and far to hear guest speakers, view artist's works, and discuss issues within this area of studies. The next Festival of Cartoon Art will be held on October 15-16, 2010 and early registration is recommended, since the festival is limited to 275 participants.
The Ohio State University Cartoon Library and Museum is located at 37 West 17th Avenue Mall and is connected to the Wexner Center For The Arts. It is run administratively through The Ohio State University. Their hours run between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and they're closed on the weekends and holidays. Tours of the museum can be made by appointment. Prospective visitors may reach the Cartoon Library and Museum at (614) 292-0538.

Sudheernath's Web Site

2009-09-22T08:59:00.001+05:30

Hon’le Minister,Government Of India, Prof K V Thomas launching Kerala Cartoon Academy Secretary,Cartoonist Sudheernath's Web site http://www.sudheernath.com at his residence on 21st September.

Cartoonists open Melville exhibit

2009-09-22T08:54:00.002+05:30

More than 100 fans and friends of "The Berndt Toast Gang," Long Island Members of the National Cartoonist Society, flocked to the Huntington Arts Council’s Art-trium Gallery for the opening reception Thursday of “Laugh Lines,” an exhibit featuring the likes of Archie, Violet, Smitty, The Lockhorns and more. Fans from ages 2 to 92 discussed Betty and Veronica, the best of Mad Magazine and how the humor displayed on the walls is timeless. Pianist Anne Stevens and singer Kevin Kaye had guests dancing and singing along.The Art-trium Gallery is at 25 Melville Park Road, Melville. The exhibit runs through November 30; gallery hours are Mon.-Fri., 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. More information, including the list of artists represented at the exhibit, is available at www.huntingtonarts.org or by calling 631-271-8423.Dianne Matus handles public relations for the arts council. Photo by Bill Menzel

Body found on mountain confirmed as cartoonist Usui

2009-09-22T08:42:00.004+05:30

A prefectural police helicopter hovers over rescuers trying to retrieve a body found on Mount Arafune, northwest of Tokyo, on Sunday Sept. 20. The body was confirmed by police as that of Yoshihito Usui, a popular cartoonist who's been missing since Friday Sept. 11, Japanese media said. (AP)

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A famous Japanese animation artist, best known for the cartoon series “Crayon Shin-chan,” was found dead after going missing while walking in the mountains, the Yomiuri newspaper said today, citing local police.

Yoshito Usui, 51, went missing on Sept. 11 after telling his family he was planning to climb a mountain in Gunnma prefecture, north of Tokyo, the Yomiuri said in its report. Usui may have fallen from a cliff after being found with wounds to his chest, the Yomiuri report said.

The cartoonist became popular in the 1990s with Crayon Shin-chan, a comedy that features a five-year-old boy’s life with his family and friends at a kindergarten.

The series has sold about 50 million comic books since 1990 and was made into an animation film in 1992, the newspaper said.

Kerala Cartoon Academy express deep sorrow and condolence for great cartoonist Yoshito Usui who demise.

Body found on Mount Arafune may be missing cartoonist Usui

2009-09-19T20:31:00.003+05:30

MAEBASHI, Gunma Pref. (Kyodo) A body thought to be that of missing cartoonist Yoshito Usui, the creator of "Crayon Shinchan," was found on a mountain straddling Gunma and Nagano prefectures Saturday morning, police said.

The body, which was found by a climber at the base of a steep cliff on Mount Arafune, will be recovered Sunday to determine if it is that of the 51-year-old cartoonist, who went missing Sept. 11, the police said.

Usui told his family he was going hiking on Mount Arafune that morning and would return to his home in Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture, by evening, the police said. His family reported him missing the next day.

The Saitama, Gunma and Nagano prefectural police forces have been conducting a joint search for him ever since.

Usui started drawing "Crayon Shinchan," the story of feisty kindergartner Shinnosuke Nohara and his family in Kasukabe, in a comic book published by Futabasha Publishers Ltd. in 1990. The popular cartoon series was adapted for both television and film.

The city of Kasukabe issued a special residence card to the Nohara family to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the municipality, and has also been using Shinchan as a mascot for its child-rearing campaign since April.

The Japan Times
Article 9 of 12 in National news

Popular Japanese cartoonist missing: police

2009-09-17T20:25:00.007+05:30

AFP
TOKYO, JAPAN - Popular Japanese cartoonist Yoshito Usui, whose manga and animation series 'Crayon Shin-chan' has attracted a worldwide fan base, has gone missing on a hiking trip, police said Wednesday.
Usui, 51, left his home north of Tokyo last Friday for a day-trip to mountains in nearby Gunma, a prefectural police official said.
But he has since been unaccounted for with calls to his mobile phone left unanswered, the official said. 'We are searching for him in the mountains.'

Usui made his debut as a manga author in 1987 and gained popularity in the 1990s with 'Crayon Shin-chan' featuring the daily life of Shinnosuke, a mischievous five-year-old boy.
'We are seriously worried,' said a spokesman for publisher Futabasha Publishers Ltd., which has released some of his comics.

On September 12, 2009, Usui's family reported him missing from his hometown of Kasukabe when Usui did not return from hiking in nearby Gunma Prefecture. Saitama Prefecture Police began searching for him at the family's request on September 15 and expanded their search to nearby prefectures.

(Yoshito Usui was born in Shizuoka, in the prefecture of Giappone. He began his career in mangas in the mid-1980s, and was a collaborator of the magazine Action. His most famous serial is 'Crayon Shin-chan'. Initially published in Action from 1987, the first issue of the 'Crayon Shin-chan' comic book sold 25 million copies. The character is also featured in a large merchandise line. Other creations by Usui include 'Mix Connection', 'Scrambled Egg', 'Super Mix' and 'Unbalance Zone'.)

Brazilian contest awards Iranian cartoonist

2009-09-17T20:23:00.001+05:30

http://www.presstv.ir

Iranian cartoonist Vahid Jafari has been awarded at the first International Humor Graphic contest BH-Humour 2009, held in Brazil. Jafari won the third award of the event's caricature section for his depiction of The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson. Brazilian artists Rafael Natal and Dalcio Machado received the first and second awards of the caricature section respectively. Cartoonists also competed for BH-Humour 2009 awards on the theme of 'trash' and Rodrigo Rosa (Brazil), Michael Kountoris (Greece) and Jean Galvao (Brazil) became first to third. The selected works of the BH-Humour 2009 have been displayed in an exhibition in the House Casa do Baile, one of Oscar Niemeyer's architectural landmarks in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais capital. The exhibition will run until Oct. 18, 2009 with conferences, discussion sessions and workshops held on its sidelines.

The Realities of War in a Cartoonist’s Work

2009-09-17T20:16:00.002+05:30

By Joel Weickgenant

AMSTERDAM Navigating through Amsterdam’s pantheon of world-class museums, it’s easy to overlook some of the city’s smaller venues– for instance, the Verzetsmuseum, the Dutch Resistance Museum, where the mission is mostly educational. One current exhibit, though — centering around the work of the cartoonist Fritz Behrendt — is well worth a visit for aesthetic reasons as well.
Behrendt, who was born in Germany and spent most of his life there and in the Netherlands, drew caricatures and cartoons in the years before, during and after the Nazi occupation of his adopted country, and continued to address war-related themes in the following decades.
As befits a gifted political cartoonist, Behrendt’s dramatic contrasts of thick, inky black and paper white, of crooked spines and straight lines, and his subjects’ caricatured features form strong themes of good versus evil, of outrage and justice.
His scenes etch the desperate and subtle realities of war. The artist, who died in 2008, was a teenager when war broke out, but had a clear-eyed view of how the war machine worked. In a work titled “The Bureaucrats Behind the Soldiers,” a pair of brutish soldiers lumber across a battlefield. One leers over his shoulder at a pair of desk workers with stacks of paper and grotesquely elongated features.
Behrendt’s work was provocative. He expressed his frustration with the naïveté of Dutch authorities in works like “Stop! We Are Neutral.” He condemns the business class in “War Profit Maker,” a portrait of a stretched-faced, cigar-toking maniac against a blood-red background. And the brute cruelty of the occupiers comes through in “Cold Breakfast or a Hot Meal,” an expressionist drawing of a German soldier deciding whether to execute a victim with a gun shot or a beating.
But Behrendt also knew how to inject humor and hope into his drawings — and the scenes drawn after the war’s conclusion will lift your spirits.

The International Tribute Exhibition for Michael Jackson

2009-09-11T11:08:00.002+05:30

The International Tribute Exhibition for Michael Jackson was an international project which included 38 artists from 17 countries and from all continents. It was organised by Nicoleta Ionescu and Alexandru Ifrim, two young illustrators from Romania.
Thus, gathering around 50 works (portraits and caricatures) the exhibition draws together artistic visions from all continents, in a multicultural stylistic event, unique in the artistic world, nonetheless in tributary events for The King of Pop.
The diversity of the works exhibited comes from the different cultural background of the artists and techniques used, some go for the traditional methods, other go the digital way. The styles vary from watercolors, oil painting to digital, vectors and even manga versions of Michael.
The exhibition was complete with the help Dan Ionescu (architect) and Bogdan Lavric, who put together an interactive video projection.
The initiative has aroused the interest of the spanish website http://mjexhibition.blogspot.com/! This is the first sign that the exhibition may cross romanian borders!
For more infrormations, please visit the official blog of the exhibition: http://www.mjexhibition.blogspot.com/
Thank you,
Nicoleta Ionescu

Book Review-Years of Laughter — Reminiscences of a Cartoonist: Kutty

2009-09-08T10:39:00.001+05:30

Years of Laughter — Reminiscences of a Cartoonist: Kutty, Pub.by Thema, 46, Satish Mukerjee Road, Kolkata-700026. Rs. 500.
One of India’s foremost cartoonists, ‘Kutty’ (P.K.S. Kutty) has been witness to a fascinating and rich tapestry of India’s social and political history since the final phase of colonial rule, and he has chronicled the major events and epoch-making changes of that period in the form of cartoons he drew for the newspapers he worked for during his professional career that began in 1940.
Among the newspapers he served as a regular political cartoonist are: National Herald (from where he started), Free Press Journal, Hindustan Standard, and Ananda Bazar Patrika.
In this book of reminiscences, ‘Kutty’ re-lives his growing up in Kerala, his first stint as a cartoonist in Delhi and Lucknow, his encounters with renowned journalists of the time and the political personages who shaped post-colonial India, and his days in Madras (now Chennai), Bombay (now Mumbai), Delhi, and Calcutta (now Kolkata). All this is said with a sharp insight and in a characteristically unpretentious way. ‘
‘Kutty’ takes pride in acknowledging cartoonist Shankar as his master — “...by God’s will I got to become an understudy of the great cartoonist Shankar…” he says in the Prologue. In the words of Himanish Goswami, he had a “keen, perceptive, analytical mind” and there are not “too many like Kutty.”

THE HINDU

Cartooning is a serious business and a great art form’: Keshav

2009-09-08T10:35:00.001+05:30

“Cartooning is a serious business and a great art form that evokes collective realization, a discovery of the unknown and a representation of the truth as the lay public feels and maybe this will be a reason to laugh out loud,” said cartoonist Keshav at the inauguration of the ‘Laugh out Loudly’ of his works at the Indian Cartoon Gallery on Saturday 5th September. His works will be on display till the 19th of September.Justice N Santhosh Hegde, Lokayukta, State of Karnataka inaugurated the cartoon exhibition of Keshav. Speaking on the occasion, Justice Santhosh Hegde said that, “Cartoons speak more than a thousand words and are the main essence of Newspapers which target the truth of the society. He also expressed his gratitude towards Ashok Kheny for setting up IIC which is one of its kinds in India. Cartoon is the heart of Newspapers and IIC is one of its kind in India which is encouraging young talent.”

Keshav is a Chennai based cartoonist and illustrator, who is currently the cartoonist with The Hindu newspaper. He has sketched over 15,000 political cartoons and over 10,000 illustrations. He draws inspiration from renowned cartoonists such as David Lowe, RK Laxman, OV Vijiyan and the more contemporary Mario. With sketching having been a passion since childhood, he started his career in cartooning with the Tamil weekly Ananda Vikatan. Leaning mostly towards the genre of political cartoons, Keshav also has several awards to his credit. According to him, “Cartoon is the most powerful art as it echoes a layman’s thoughts and makes a lasting impact on people who come across it.”The exhibition will be on for public viewing till 19th September 2009 at
The Indian Cartoon Gallery No 1 Midford Gardens, Behind Big Kids Kemp,M.G RoadBangalore-560001Phone: 080-4175 8540

Cartoonist Paul John Launches "Fort Knox" At The Cartoon Art ...

2009-09-08T10:34:00.000+05:30

Join cartoonist Paul Jon at the Cartoon Art Museum on Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 7pm for a detailed presentation on what it took to get his Fort Knox feature signed and launched with the Washington Post Writers Group (hint: lots of blood, sweat and groveling). The strip launches nationwide on Monday, October 5, 2009. Paul Jon, an Army brat, grew up all over the country and will tell you how he survived the multiple moves, merciless bullies and chronic asthma. He later managed to stuff his experiences in his comic creation, Fort Knox - the first syndicated comic strip centering on a military family. As a special treat, Paul Jon will have his long-suffering parents at the event. Feel free to give them your condolences.
This special event is free and open to the public.
About the comic strip: Fort Knox chronicles the life of a military family: Dad, Major Joe Knox; Mom, Jane Knox; and their two boys, Donald and Wesley. The family has picked up and moved — again — thousands of miles from family and friends to take up residence at Joe's new assignment at Fort Lincoln. Donald and Wesley have moved before, but that doesn't make it any easier on them. They must face down new bullies, master a new school system and new teachers, and navigate a new community. Added to these pressures is the distance the move puts between them and their beloved grandmother, who's a known troublemaker if not a known felon (yet). On top of all that, there's the strain that military life puts on their parents' otherwise happy marriage.
About the artist: Fort Knox: Cartoonist Paul Jon is, of course, a military brat himself. "The downside was that every time we moved, I gained a new bully. Eventually, I had to give them numbers to keep track," he jokes. "In many ways, they were like terrifying personal trainers. Thanks to all the running away I did, I was able to overcome my childhood asthma."
"Since 2005, Paul Jon has been developing Fort Knox and tapping the well of his childhood experiences — the frustrations and embarrassments and angst," says Washington Post Writers Group Comics Editor Amy Lago. "Four years of cartooning no doubt has been cheaper for Paul Jon than four years of therapy. The Writers Group is pleased that the cartooning, at least, is beginning to pay off." Fort Knox will be distributed by the Writers Group starting Oct. 5.
Cartoonist Paul Jon is the son of an Army colonel whose tours of duty included Fort Leavenworth, Fort Jackson and Fort Knox, and who, every morning, liked to say to his fellow soldiers, "It's a great day to be in the Army." Paul Jon understands his dad's attitude, and feels that being a military brat "made me understand the sacrifices that military families make for our country, and also made me a better person for having to deal with new people all the time." Luckily for Paul Jon, he had an eccentric red-haired brother and his trusty inhaler to keep him company through each change in location.
In addition to his daily and Sunday Fort Knox duties, Paul Jon runs the creative services department of a Bay Area software company, and his artwork has appeared in newspapers, magazines and online publications across the country. He earned his B.A. in journalism from the University of South Carolina.
To view samples of the upcoming comic strip, please visit: http://www.postwritersgroup.com/comics/fortknox/samples1.htm

Cartoonist recognised at awards

2009-09-08T10:33:00.000+05:30

DAILY Examiner and Coffs Coast Advocate cartoonist Jules Faber has come up trumps in Australia's largest cartoon competition.
Six pieces by Jules were included in the shortlist for the 21st Rotary Cartoon Awards in Coffs Harbour.
With none of his cartoons selected last year, Jules considered his inclusion a 'big step up'.
He was then blown away at the awards night on Saturday when the judge announced his MiBraine cartoon had come second in the cartoon strip category.
“It was actually quite a surprise because I've never won anything before,” Jules said.
“But I did have a good feeling about that one particular joke.”
Jules has dedicated himself to a full-time career in cartooning since 2004.
His work includes daily cartoons for The Examiner and Coffs Coast Advocate, drawing caricatures at the weekly Harbourside Markets and working on his MiBraine strip, which has been picked up by four regional papers.
Jules credits his success this year in part to his work with The Daily Examiner.
“It's been quite helpful because it's helped me focus a bit more,” he said.
He also said his partner Becc and daughter Mary were very supportive and their jokes were much funnier than his.
Jules is the president of the Australian Cartoonists' Association, with more than 200 members.
For information on cartooning visit www.cartoonists.org.au.

Caught up in a cartoon controversy

2009-08-23T12:15:00.001+05:30

Jytte Klausen, who has been at Brandeis University for 17 years, argued against Yale’s decision to cut the cartoons from her book. (Michele Mcdonald for The Boston Globe)

WALTHAM - When Yale University Press publishes “The Cartoons that Shook the World’’ by Brandeis University political scientist Jytte Klausen in November, the book will be missing a key element: The cartoons that shook the world.
Four years after the publication of 12 cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed triggered boycotts and deadly violence, Yale’s decision to cut them from Klausen’s book has set off a second wave of arguments.
At the center of the controversy is a scholarly, footnoted manuscript by a respected academic who set out to explain how the original publication of the cartoons in a Danish newspaper in 2005 led to unrest that took more than 200 lives.
Klausen argued against Yale’s decision, but in the end grudgingly acquiesced, in the face of Yale’s insistence that more bloodshed would be likely to follow republication of the cartoons.
But she did not agree when Yale went further, editing out historical artworks showing the seventh-century Prophet. Many Muslims object to any depiction of Mohammed.
The book will appear with an author’s note from Klausen, who says Yale’s decision is a violation of academic freedom and a case of “anticipatory fear on the part of the university of consequences that it only dimly perceives.’’
“The metaphor I use is the monster in the woods: You can’t see it at night but you know it’s there, and if you provoke the monster, it’s your responsibility,’’ she said in an interview this week in her Brandeis office.
Klausen, a native of Denmark who has been at Brandeis for 17 years and is a specialist on Muslim communities in Europe, seemed the ideal author to unravel how and why the original publication of the cartoons in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper resulted, several months later, in boycotts, protests, and violence thousands of miles away.
Now she finds herself entangled in debates that sometimes seem reduced to posturing on the Internet, stripped of nuance, not unlike the original cartoon conflict.
Some scholars and conservative bloggers are accusing Yale of cowardice, arguing that academic freedom should not be surrendered to a handful of extremists. And an Arab political website in Cairo is railing about the Danish professor from a Jewish university trying to publish cartoons to insult the Prophet, hardly the case by any measure.
Yale insists it had no responsible alternative. Yale University Press director John Donatich said the university polled two dozen security and counterterrorism officials and academics who study Islam, and the majority of the security experts agreed that reprinting the images involved a risk of deadly violence.
“The turning point for me was when I was able to see it less as an issue of censorship because we are not suppressing original material,’’ Donatich said. “We are just not reprinting what was available elsewhere. . . . At that point, it became a security issue and not a censorship issue.’’

Thackeray cartoon retro opens in Bombay

2009-08-23T12:10:00.001+05:30

MUMBAI: Bal Keshav Thackeray dipped his sable brush in acid while drawing caricatures for Marmik. The Marathi cartoon which turned 50 last week, is considered by many as a milestone in Marathi journalism. "Marmik crystallised the angst and aspirations of Marathis and functioned as a preamble to the Shiv Sena,'' said Uddhav Thackeray, Balasaheb's son and political heir. A retrospective of Balasaheb's cartoons was inaugurated at the Ravindra Natya Mandir at Prabhadevi on Friday to commemorate the golden jubilee of Marmik. For over three decades, Balasaheb's cartoons spiced up the political theatre in Maharashtra with satirical swipes that spared no one. Starting out a cartoonist at the Free Press Journal, he loved to pour ridicule on netas-especially Messrs Morarji Desai, S K Patil and the non-Marathi Congress barons from Mumbai whose politics were popularly seen as anti-Marathi. Sharp lines and crisp comment were the hallmark of Balasaheb's cartoons. Within weeks of its August 1960 launch, Marmik was a hit, and stories abounded of how Marathis would queue up in front of Thackeray's Shivaji Park residence to snap up a copy before continuing their rounds of shakhas across Mumbai. Ravivaarchi Jatra (The Sunday Fair) was Marmik's centre spread which showcased Balasaheb's consummate skills as caricaturist. A perplexed old man with a quizzical look in his old eyes and a tiny cap on his bald pate never failed to pop into the frame. (The exhibition will be on till August 24 from 11.00 am to 8.00 pm)

Rome News-Tribune Cartoonist Arrested

2009-08-23T08:46:00.001+05:30

Mike Lester, the popular, yet controversial cartoonist, with the Rome News-Tribune, was arrested last Thursday and charged with battery in violation of the Family Violence Act and interfering with a 911 call. Police reports said that Lester pushed a woman into a wall and broke the glass to a door causing a cut to her elbow.
The report added that when the woman tried to dial 911 he grabbed the phone from her.
He was released on bond.

Explore The World of Animation B.C.

2009-05-07T07:51:00.000+05:30

Pittsburgh, The ToonSeum and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh present Animation B.C. (Before Computers!
Animation B.C. features a century of animation art and artifacts, including a rare production sketch of Gertie the Dinosaur created circa 1914, heralded as the first animated character.
The show includes original storyboards, background paintings, production cels and sketches from some of the most popular 2d animated characters in film, television and commercials. Characters old and new are featured, from Mickey to Spongebob!
Animation B.C. gives a glimpse into the hand crafted artistry and process behind these classic characters.
The exhibit is much more than drawings and cels, rare sheet music from the Road Runner give an insight into the important role music plays in animation. Artifacts on display include a desk from Disney’s Hyperion Studio. The desk was used by Fantasia director Paul Satterfield on projects including Bambi, Fantasia, and the Ugly Duckling.
While there are many great characters and pieces in this show, Gertie is the real star. Winsor McCay, an early innovator in the field of animation, was no doubt inspired by the dinosaur mania that swept the country in the early 1900’s. This fascination with dinosaurs was fueled primarily by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and their discovery of the diplodocus. Gertie, herself a diplodocus, toured the vaudeville circuit in 1914 along with creator Winsor McCay in a unique show combining a live on stage performance and animation in a show that wowed audiences, and left them bewildered at what was dubbed one of the great wonders! Now almost 100 years later Gertie returns to Pittsburgh.
"This exhibit is the first collaboration between the Art Institute of Pittsburgh and the ToonSeum. It really presents a learning opportunity for both the students and general public to explore the art of animation and gain a new appreciation for animation before computers." Said ToonSeum Executive Director and Exhibit Curator, Joe Wos.
Animation B.C. is produced for the Art Institute by the ToonSeum, Pittsburgh’s Museum of Cartoon Art and Curated by Joe Wos.
Animation BC: Before Computers
Exhibition Dates: May 6 through June 30, 2009 Opening Reception: Wednesday, May 13
GALLERY HOURS: (admission is free and open to the public) Monday through Thursday: 9 a.m. To 7 p.m.
Friday: 9 a.m. To 5 p.m
Saturday: 9 a.m. To 4 p.m.
Closed Sunday

Years Of Laughter-Reminiscences Of A Cartoonistst

2009-05-02T16:24:00.003+05:30

Cartoonist P.K.S.Kutty's Autobiography YEARS OF LAUGHTER -Reminiscences of a Cartoonist was released in Kokata by the publishers Thema Books. P.K.Sankaran Kutty (b.1921) is the oldest living cartoonist in India .Presently he is settled in USA with his son and daughter. P K S Kutty ,one of India's foremost cartoonist has been witness to a rich history of social and political change from the final phase of colonial rule in India to the immediate present, which he has chronicled over the years in his cartoons in some of the major dailies of the country. In his reminiscences he re-lives his growing up in Kerala his first stint as a cartoonist in Lucknow and Delhi,his encounters with the great journalists of the time and the political figures who shaped post colonial India ,his later career in Madras, Bombay Delhi and Calcutta,with his sharp insights into personalities,all with his charecteristic wit and humour. His text and cartoons together offer ahighly original reading of the history of modern India.

P.K.S Kutty ,born 4 September 1921, in Ottappalam ,Kerala,is one of India's leading cartoonist.Starting on his professional career in 1940 he has served as a regular political cartoonist on some of the country's major dailies including National Herald, Free Press Journal, Hindustan Standard, Anandbazar Patrika and Aajkal. Kutty takes pride in acknowledging the cartoonist Shankar as his master,and was a regular contributor to Shankar's Weekly, the cartoon periodical, that the legendary Shankar edited.

It is a 295 page book with 52 chapters .It has cartoons, caricatures and some drawings of Kutty. It is priced at Rs.500 in India, $ 55 .

For Book pl contact-

THEMA Books, 46, Satish Mukherjee Road, Kolkata-700 026.

Phone- 00-91-33-24667794, 65457160

themabooks@yahoo.com

www.themabooks.com.

Cartoon Exhibition By KCA member Girish Vengara

2009-04-18T09:03:00.000+05:30

NATIONAL CARTOONISTS CONFERENCE - MAY 18TH 2009, BANGALORE

2009-04-16T19:25:00.002+05:30

Indian Insntitute of Cartoonists is organizing a national cartoonists conference on 18th May 2009 at Bangalore. More than 100 cartoonists are expected to participate at the conference. The Institute will felicitate 7 (seven) leading cartoonists from all over India with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. The awardees are Sri. Unny, Chief Political Cartoonist, The Indian Express,Sri. Kaak, Gaziabad, UP, Sri. Vasant Sarvate, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Sri.T. Venkatarao, Vijayawada, AP; Sri. Prabhakar Raobail, Dharwar, Karnataka, Sri. Thomas (Toms), Kottayam, Kerala; Sri. Madhan, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Maya Kamath Memorial Awards for Excellence in Cartooning-2008
will be given away to the winners of the Competition at the
Inaugural function. A cartoon workshop for budding cartoonists will also be oganised at the same time. An exhibition of the works of 7 leading cartoonists will be arranged at the Cartoon Gallery.

Special Honours

IIC will felicitate the Honourary Chairman and M.D, NICE Sri. Ashok Kheny with special honours for his great service to the field of cartooning by establishing Indian Cartoon Gallery, a first of its kind in India and for his continued patronage of the activities of the Institute.

WINNERS OF MAYA KAMATH MEMORIAL AWARD COMPETITION

1st Prize (Rs.25,000.00) - Sandeep Adhwaryu Cartoonist,
Outlook, New Delhi.

2nd Prize (Rs.15000.00) - Ramadhyani, Cartoonist,
Navika daily, Shimoga, Karantaka.

3rd Prize (Rs.5000.00) - Shankar, Cartoonist,
Sakshi, Telugu daily, Hyderabad.

Special Zury Award - Muhammad Zahoor, Cartoonist,
Daily Times, Peshawar, Pakistan.

Best Budding Cartoonist - Mujeeb Patla, Bangalore.(Rs.10,000.00)

http://electioncartoons09.blogspot.com/

2009-03-25T11:44:00.005+05:30

New Election Cartoon Blog by KCA ( Kerala Cartoon Academy) was formally inagurated by the Oscar Award winner Resul Pookutty today (25.3.2009) in Delhi. KCA secretary Sudheer Nath , KUWJ state committee member M.R. Pradeepkumar nearby.

More than 50 cartoonists………..
Ajit Ninan ,Anuraj ,Badusha ,Baiju Poulose ,Balu,Bava Tanur ,Biju Chandran ,Chander,Dwijith ,Fr Jos Punamadam,Girish Vengara,Gopikrishnan ,Hari G,,Harikumar,Jairaj,Jayaraj Vellur ,Jayaram ,Kaak ,Karthika Kattanam ,Keshav ,Khan Pothankodu ,Krishnan P V ,Kutty Edakkazhiyoor ,Madusudanan ,Manoj Chopra ,Methil Venugopal ,Naushad P U ,Nishanth ,Panduranga Rao ,Prasad R ,Prasannan Anikkad ,Prashanth Kulkarni,Prashob ,Prshanth A V ,Rajinderpuri ,Rejeendra Kumar ,Rohnit Phore ,Sajith Kumar P P,Sathyadev,Satish Acharya ,Shugufta Khalidi ,Sudheernath ,Sujith ,T V G Menon,Thomas Antony ,Thommy ,Triampak Sharma ,Unnikrishnan ,Unny E P ,Venu,Vinoj K G,Yathi Siddakatte ,Yesudasan…….
More than 250 Election Cartoons…..
Minimum 20 New cartoons daily….
Must log on to….KCA new blog…..
http://electioncartoons09.blogspot.com/