The New PCO Website Launched

The sharp-eyed of you (or even the very blurry eyed) will have noticed our shiny new PCO website. The team have been working on the project for over a year. Steve ‘Jonesy’ Jones oversaw the rebrand, aided by Clive ‘The Chair’ Goddard. We are also very fortunate to have Andrew Fraser as a member: Andrew’s […]

The PCO Cartoon Review of the Year 2021

Cartoon by © Brian Adcock To quote the great Benny Andersson ‘Mamma mia, here we go again’ with another PCO members ‘Cartoon Review of The Year’.  For the most part it’s been another %¢º€@$ one (Google Translate it) but once more cartoonists injected some humour into it….apart from the odd cartoonist injecting humour refusenik. The […]

New Yorker, New Yorker, it’s a wonderful ‘toon

‘I can explain the meaning of life, but not the meaning of New Yorker cartoons.’ Cartoon © Nick Newman Why do cartoonists struggle to break America? by Nick Newman and courtesy of The Spectator.  Cartoons are like gossamer and one doesn’t dissect gossamer.’ So says Mr Elinoff, the fictional cartoon editor of the New Yorkerin […]

Can cartoons be both funny – and diverse?

Cartoon © Nick Newman By Nick Newman and courtesy of The Spectator.  Of the many challenges cartoonists face — rejection, money, drink, or lack of — one of the trickiest is the growing pressure to depict diversity. Nowadays readers often write to publications complaining about the dearth of ethnic minorities in our drawings and demand […]

A Peer at Herne Bay Cartoon Festival 2021

A carousel of cartoonists. Photo by © Ray Covey Apologies for the late running of our usual photo gallery of the Herne Bay Cartoon Festival but pictures were delayed by the HGV lorry driver shortage…so blame Brexit/Covid. Join me now as we take a not-so virtual tour up the pier… Photo by © Jason Hollingsworth The […]

Eaten Fish nets Norwegian award

Cartoon by © Eaten Fish Honorary Overseas PCO member Eaten Fish, also known as Ali Durani, has received the prestigious Fritt Ord Foundation award. This scholarship is given to nine cartoonists living in Norway who use the medium of visual satire.   Fritt Ord aim to strengthen the position of satire drawing in Norway, because […]

Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival exhibition comes to the High Street

Poster illustration by © Jonathan Cusick Festival Organising team member Sarah Knapp writes: Delayed by lockdowns, and consequently without it’s usual live events,  Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival exhibition is going ahead this year represented by two exhibitions at the Bear Steps Gallery, Shrewsbury from 6th to 18th September. The show goes up. Our theme is ‘The High […]

Herne Bay Cartoon Festival Sets Sail Again

Herne Bay Cartoon Festival is back this year. We weren’t able to gather in 2020 for obvious reasons, and when we meet again this summer we will sadly be missing some friends including festival co-organiser Steve Coombes who passed away last December. His tireless enthusiasm and joi de vivre will be missed so much at the […]

#threefingers for Myanmar campaign

The Surreal McCoy writes: In collaboration with artists and creatives in Myanmar (formerly Burma), PCO are running #threefingers a social campaign in support of local cartoonists and artists, and in recognition of the deteriorating situation there. A landslide election for the National League for Democracy party was overthrown by a brutal military coup on February […]