Cartoon_Museum_Exhibition_bring_me_laughter © Jonathan Cusick @ procartoonists.org
© Jonathan Cusick @ procartoonists.org

Kasia Kowalska writes:

Bring Me Laughter‘ opens at the Cartoon Museum on 7th January celebrating comedy through cartoons and caricatures.

But even though ♫ ‘there should be more happiness’ ♫ here’s some accompanying controversy to bring in the new year!

The president of Fifa, Sepp Blatter, won a global injunction against the publication of book of cartoons after Danish cartoonist and former pro footballer Olé Andersen caused a stink with it.

The Swiss courts may not be not the only ones getting involved in censorship as a report on president Putin’s new Literary Assembly in Russia explains. Spare a thought for the Russian cartoonists following in the footsteps of someone such as Mikhail Zlatovsky, displayed below.

© Mikhail Zlatovsky @ procartoonists.org
© Mikhail Zlatovsky @ procartoonists.org

A fitting antidote might be the publication of a book by a French-based group Reporters Without Borders and Cartooning for Peace. This is the first time Reporters Without Borders have published a book of cartoons instead of a book of photographs.

The South African cartoonist John Curtis reflected the life and achievements of Nelson Mandela with a fine collection of cartoons. And also noting the great drawing board in the sky was comic artist JAKe who paid a tribute to the actor Peter O’Toole.

Neill Cameron for The Story Museum @ procartoonists.org
© Neill Cameron for The Story Museum @ procartoonists.org

Working at scale was Neill Cameron, who was commissioned to write a gigantic comic strip telling the story of… The Story Museum which is scheduled to open in Oxford this spring. In an interview with Matt Badham, he talked of his ambition is to see an entire town filled with massive comics. This is something that Seoul, the capital of South Korea, has gone some length to achieving by dedicating an entire street to cartoons.

Equally epic is Ari Folman, director of ‘Waltz with Bashir’, who announced his next animated feature will be Anne Frank’s diaries. It should be going into production in 2014. You don’t have to wait for the magic of the ‘Annual’ even if it is Useleus.

Happy New Year to us all.

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