Cartoon critics Phil Witte and Rex Hesner look behind gags to debate what makes a cartoon tick. This week our intrepid critics examine cartoons about immigration. Phil: Immigration is the issue of the day, so let’s jump on that bandwagon. Rex: As long as it’s not a cartoon caravan. Phil: Well, our fine cartoonists have…
Continue Reading…
Recent Posts
Anatomy of a Cartoon: Immigration
“Square Wheels” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Here we have another drawing by Benjamin Schwartz. It shows a caveman proudly displaying his latest invention, a square-wheeled tricycle, to his neighbor. The tricycle needs round wheels. The invention of such wheels is credited, at least in cartoons, to cavemen. Initially, therefore, I came up with eight variations on a joke about a caveman…
Continue Reading…
“Baby Interrogation” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
The contest that ended last week featured a drawing by Benjamin Schwartz. Through a two-way mirror we see a baby in a police interrogation room—he’s sitting in a highchair—while outside this room a male cop says something to his female partner. In movies, cops who are frustrated in their efforts to get a suspect to…
Continue Reading…
Introducing: Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Like many of you, I have lost The New Yorker’s Cartoon Caption Contest hundreds of times. But I’ve won it more than anyone else, so Bob Mankoff thought I might have something useful to say about the contest he recently started running on this website. Each week I will write about the most recently concluded…
Continue Reading…