The post-Christmas Round-up
December 28, 2012 in General, Links, News
© Robert Thompson @Procartoonists.org
The gifts may have been exchanged and the turkey polished off, but there’s still time for a few festive treats of the cartooning variety that may have escaped your attention over the Christmas period.
You can enjoy every installment of Peattie and Taylor‘s 15-part seasonal Alex tale, It’s A Wonderful Crisis, as it unfolds over at the Telegraph site.
Quentin Blake becomes a Sir in the new Year’s Honours. The BBC describes him as an illustrator*.
Procartoonists.org member Royston Robertson has put together a cartoon advent calendar again this year, with a different gag posted to his blog each day in the run-up to Christmas. Take a look at Royston’s festive goodies here. Elsewhere, The Telegraph’s Matt Pritchett provides a topical – but far less appealing – advent calendar of his own.
Ben Jennings brings a Dickensian feel to proceedings over at The Guardian, while Martin Rowson riffs on the Slaughter of the Innocents for the same paper. At The Telegraph, Christian Adams has his own take on Plebgate.
For The Independent, Dave Brown cautions against festive overeating and Peter Schrank brings a topical slant to the Christmas sales. Finally, Stephen Collins takes the PM on a merry chase for The Spectator.
* Please feel to discuss ‘what’ he is in the comments should you be so minded.
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by Blog Team
Shortsighted Observer found wanting
February 22, 2010 in Comment
The UK’s Observer newspaper relaunched with a “new look” yesterday, and to ensure publicity it grabbed the headlines with a story about the alleged workplace bullying of the Prime Minister. But the revamp also brought with it another controversy: it ditched cartoons.
Gone are the funny and colourful spot cartoons by Robert Thompson, which were once scattered throughout the paper. Gone too is Andy Riley‘s funny strip Roasted, which had been poking fun at the foibles of modern life in the Observer Magazine since 2002.
In addition to editorial survivor Chris Riddell, the paper will each week feature a cartoon drawn for another newspaper from somewhere else in the world. Bloghorn suspects this art will be sourced from an agency which means lower costs for the impoverished newspaper. We think it’s both cheaper and cheerless.
Bloghorn believes this is not good news for British cartoonists, or the readership of The Observer.
People like a laugh, it’s a given, particularly for a Sunday title published on a day that’s supposed to be about putting your feet up and forgetting the woes of the week for a few moments.
Dropping cartoons is undoubtedly a quick cost-cutting measure for a newspaper that was recently staring closure in the face. But Bloghorn believes it is confused thinking.
Other newspapers understand the power of cartoons: The Telegraph knows it needs Matt and The Daily Mail made sure they got a replacement sharpish when Ken Mahood retired recently.
Why has the Observer been so short-sighted? Please dive in and tell us in the comments below.
Tags: Andy Riley, best British cartoonists, Bloghorn, Chris Riddell, newspapers, print redesigns, professional cartoonists, Robert Thompson, The Observer 9 Comments »