PCO Cartoon Review of the Year 2019
January 1, 2020 in General, News
Cartoon © Brian Adcock, The Independent
Glenn Marshall reporting from behind the paracetamol bottle:
Once more it is time to look back with the traditional (well, third year running) PCO ‘Cartoon Review of the Year’. It was always going to be a very hard task to not just fill it with cartoons about Trump and BORXIT® so in the end I just gave up and ran with it!
So to set the tone here’s a great drawing from © Chris Burke.
Martin Rowson sums up the plight of cartoonists facing a metaphor shortage in 2019.
I’m having to restock my Brex-mageddon bunker as most of my haul is now well past its sell-by date. I should’ve taken © Andrew Fraser’s Valentine’s Day advice in Private Eye and just bought tinned goods rather than Greggs vegan sausage rolls and doughnuts.
This © Colin Dukelow cartoon from Private Eye sums up what many felt about the ‘B’ word by the end of the year…probably by the beginning of the year too.
In March Brexit was taken off the menu for a few more months. Cartoon served up by © Mike Stokoe in The Spectator.
Moving on to April the heavily redacted Mueller report was released. Loved this cartoon by •••• in the •••••••• •••••
Illustration by © Steve Bright
In Sports News: May saw Liverpool ‘pipped’ (GERIT?) at the post for the Premiership title by the WONDROUS Manchester City. Eat that Klopp (the PCO strenuously denies any bias in their reporters) After coming so close I really can’t see Liverpool ever winning the Premiership! (Nosramarshall)
In June ‘stable genius’ Donald Trump visited the UK. © Royston Robertson shared this cartoon to mark the occasion. Really Royston could post this daily, or even hourly, and it would still be applicable.
In more Trump news: In July Trump told four Democrat congresswomen ‘go back to the places they came from’. This was Steve Jones’ lunar take on it tying in with the anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. (Private Eye)
I loved this Boris arse-faced Mona in The Guardian by Steve Bell. No idea what the story was, but I’m a Mona Lisa obsessive. I’m writing this review, so I’m putting it in.
A lovely drawing of the Time magazine ‘Person Of The Year’ (cue FUMING Donald) Greta Thunberg by © Andy Davey from The Evening Standard
© Wilbur Dawbarn’s Greta-inspired back to school clothing range, product placed in Private Eye.
Retail News: In October it was announced that, following a spate of high street closures, Debenhams was facing financial difficulty. © Sarah Boyce may have put her finger on why with this Private Eye cartoon.
Back to climate change: © Kathryn Lamb had this seasonally adjusted cartoon published in The Spectator….
… and this inflammable Private Eye cartoon by Clive Goddard. Sadly this could be a current scene from the Australian Met Office.
A cartoon by © The Surreal McCoy from Prospect which could virtually apply to any of 2019’s news stories.
Cartoon by © Nick Newman, The Sunday Times.
In November Prince Andrew pizza expressed his views on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal to Emily Maitlis. I suspect he’s someone else who may shy away from being interviewed by Andrew Neil in the future.
On that subject here was a rather prescient cartoon by © Kipper Williams actually from a June issue of The Spectator!
Also in November Boris visited flood-hit Yorkshire mostly to gargle his campaign message. Illustration by © Rebecca Hendin for The Guardian.
And still on matters aquatic (and to mention someone other than Bojo) here is Dave Brown’s cartoon for The Independent of Jezco and Joswin getting their campaign messages across…or not.
©Zoom Rockman in Private Eye visits the polling station.
As we head into the New Year here’s another excellent cartoon by •••• from the FT showing you can get new life out of a cartoon metaphor Mr Rowson.
© Brian Adcock, bookends the year with this offering from The Independent.
So what fresh horrors will 2020 have in store? I expect A LOT more about him, him, and more him!
Thanks to Procartoonist members for the use of their cartoons.
Happy New Year from the PCO.
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by Glenn Marshall
Noel Ford 1942-2019
September 30, 2019 in Comment, General, News
Noel with daughter Sara at Nottingham’s Big Grin Cartoon Festival 2003. Photo © Pete Dredge
Pete Dredge writes:
It’s a cruel irony that it is only when someone passes that the outpourings of love, praise and acknowledgement spill out from friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Such has been the response to the sudden and unexpected death of ace cartoonist and one of the founders of PCO, Noel Ford , who died on September 27th after a cruel return of the kidney cancer that was first diagnosed two years previously.
I suspect Noel would have been, on the one hand, hugely embarrassed, but on the other, quietly delighted by the tributes that have been pouring in on the forums and social media, not only for his cartooning skills but also to the nature of the man.
One of Noel’s many Punch covers.
Noel was a modest chap, never one to blow his own trumpet but was someone who would go about his business with the supreme confidence of knowing that he was, and had been for many years, on the top of his game. His game, of course, was cartooning, particularly gag cartooning and, at his peak, was producing double page spreads and covers for Punch magazine with audacious regularity.
Punch original from the recent ‘London Cartoon Show’ exhibition.
It’s pointless listing Noel’s professional credits, there are far too many to mention, but one of his many gifts was his ability to rally, organise and deliver cartooning projects. A professional cat herder, if ever there was one. I’ve seen Noel’s patient diplomacy, wisdom and common sense work effectively at close hand on many occasions when others’ egos, intransigence and misconceptions – no names! – would lock horns and all it would take was a few choice words from Noel to smooth over troubled waters. Such was the respect that his fellow professionals had for him. Take Noel out of the equation and many of these initiatives would never have seen the light of day.
A digital drawing for the PCO ‘GAGGED’ censorship exhibition currently on display at Saint-Just-le-Martel cartoon festival.
The Cartoonists’ Guild, College of Cartoon Art and, most successfully, the PCO had all benefitted hugely from Noel’s vision, perseverance and professionalism. Add to this his invaluable committee work on the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival and The cartoonists’ Club of Great Britain, Noel certainly put in much more than he took out from these extra-curricular calls of duty.
Clipping from ’80s magazine, either Weekend or Tit Bits (via Davey Jones)
Noel was born in Nuneaton on 22 December 1942 and apparently displayed early signs of his future calling, drawing cartoons in chalk on the pavement outside the front door of the Ford family house. After leaving school it was at the Birmingham College of Arts and Crafts where Noel received the oft repeated advice we have all probably received, to “forget about any ambitions of becoming a cartoonist. You’ll never make a living that way”. The rest is Noel Ford cartooning history. Sadly, today, that lazy, dismissive piece of advice is probably more pertinent that it would have been in the 1960’s and 70’s. More’s the pity that today the markets for showcasing Noel’s and other’s superb gag cartoon craft have all but disappeared.
Caricature of Noel by Bob Monkhouse and a picture of Bob drawing it (via Royston Robertson)
Noel was irritatingly multi-talented. Not only was he a superb draughtsman, he was also a gifted musician, writer and an early pioneer of the digital art platform as well as being a fine exponent of the Argentine Tango (check this.Ed).
Cartoon from the exhibition at the ‘Music’ themed Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival 2014.
It has to be said, Noel enjoyed the good things in life. Good food, fine wine, a good book, comradeship, country living, dogs and, above all, the love of his family and friends.
Noel demonstrating his equestrian skills at Herne Bay Cartoon Festival 2017. Photo © Karol Steele
I’ll miss his mischievous twinkle and Muttley-like chuckle when something, invariably, would tickle his proverbial fancy.
Noel at one of the Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival ukulele-thons. Photo ©The Surreal McCoy
With deepest sympathy to Margaret, Sara and family from all your friends at PCO.
Tags: cartoonist, cartoonists, Cartoonists' Club of Great Britain, CCGB, College of Cartoon Art, Herne Bay Cartoon Festival, Noel Ford, PCO, Pete Dredge, Procartoonists, Punch, Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival, Shrewsbury International Cartoon, The Cartoonists’ Guild 4 Comments »