© Noel Ford

Kasia Kowalska and Royston Robertson write:

Cartoonists including the PCO members Bill Stott and Noel Ford, above, are involved in the first Southport Festival of Art. More on that here.

An exhibition of Tony Husband’s Private Eye cartoons is on display at The Swan in Dobcross as part of the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival until the end of July.

What a week for Marvel, which hit the headlines by showing that it is not afraid of change, announcing future comics in which Thor becomes a woman (but don’t dare call her Thora!) and Captain America will be black. 

The Guardian reports on the response to the conflict in Gaza by cartoonists in the Arab nations, in particular on the lack of action to from their governments.

A death sentence has been pronounced via Twitter for the Kuwati-born comic-book artist Naif Al-Mutawa by the Islamist militant group Isis. Meanwhile, in the UK, a former Islamist extremist has created a series of cartoons aimed at young British Muslims, titled Abdullah-X, writes Jack Simpson in The Independent.

In the US, Bob Mankoff talks about his cartoon editing role at The New Yorker and why it may just be the best job in the world in this interview with Survey Monkey. Garry Trudeau talks to the LA Times about how working on his Doonesbury strip helped him to prepare for his new TV series Alpha House.

© Bob Moran

Bob Moran has an exhibition of cartoons drawn for the Telegraph in his hometown of Petersfield, Hampshire (details above). “This exhibition is generating a lot of hype,” he says on Twitter, “with local people describing it as ‘happening’ and ‘something to do’.”

Dozens of insightful musings about making comics and cartoons have been published by Michael Cavna of The Washington Post in celebration of the 6th birthday of his Comic Riffs column. The art of cartooning is no laughing matter,  according to this article about a new exhibition on Martha’s Vineyard in the US.

This week also marks the 81st anniversary of the first film appearance of Popeye. Greg Belfrage provides insight (and several episodes) here. Meawhile, remembering Mel Blanc, who died 25 years ago this month, the Express offers  up “Top 10 facts about cartoons”.

Finally, these are very clever and great fun: 15 household objects transformed Into cartoon characters by the French artist Gilbert Legrand.