Glenn Marshall writes:
There was recently a joyous evening remembering Ed McLachlan’s life and cartoons at The Cartoon Museum hosted by Ed’s family, with Private Eye and The Oldie sponsoring. I’ve never seen an event at the museum so rammed full….it almost looked like one of Ed’s large drawings.
The evening was organised to mark a year on from Ed’s appointment with the Grim Reaper – a character frequently featured in McLachlan cartoons. This prompted cartoonists in the inner sanctum of the PCO members forum to post their personal favourites and there were some brilliant examples. The hedgehog crossing the road, featured on the invite above, is one of his most popular cartoons but there were many here I didn’t know all drawn with incredible draughtsmanship. I thought they were too good not to give a wider airing.
Rupert Besley (two of many Rupert shared):
I seem to have a large envelope crammed full of favourites snipped out over the years. The difficulty is in choosing which – they’re all to my mind brilliant beyond words. So much wit in the drawing as well as the gag.
Wilbur Dawbarn (on Ruperts choice above):
It’s is extraordinary, in that it’s a huge crowd scene and you have to look really carefully to find the joke.
I’ll go with this one. (below)
Dean Patterson:
Still think this is maybe the greatest cartoon I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. From the left of field humour, the beauty and brilliance of the drawing, the pure silliness and the fact that fact that who else could come up with a gag like this and make it work so well.
Masterful
Clive Goddard:
Just because it’s so Ed. Incredibly black humour but so beautifully done that you can’t help but laugh.
Royston Robertson:
Looking through the 2001 Methuen collection, I found there were too many to choose from. So I went with the cover because of the brilliant way it works on the front and back.
Guy Venables:
Whenever I think of a really dark idea I have a mental check in asking myself to visualise the gag as if McLachlan had drawn it. If it passes muster in his style then I go for it. Here’s a very early inky black cartoon from one of my first Penguin Private Eye books I used to pour over. He gets away with a lot by depicting his people as rather innocent absurdist rotund Beryl Cook style folk.
Glenn Marshall:
I love his huge, busy cartoons. I find the amount of work on this one bewildering- I can’t help thinking he would’ve got through so many bottles of ink drawing it that he would’ve inadvertently contributed to global plastic pollution.
There aren’t many cartoonists who’d get their drawings printed full page in Private Eye.
Any more suggestions?