In Carolita Johnson’s cartoon, two women are sitting on a couch and having tea. Behind the woman who’s speaking is a barefoot man squatting on the back of the couch as if he were a frog. The drawing immediately calls to mind the Brothers Grimm’s “The Frog Prince,” or later versions like Disney’s “The Princess…
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Recent Posts
We’ve Got a Cartoon for That: The Sequel
Dear Cartoonistas, Now, where were we? I’m self-isolating here in Briarcliff Manor, New York, image courtesy of Google Earth and Photoshop. Last time I wrote to you, I challenged you to stump the archive. There’s nothing we don’t have a cartoon for. Do we have a cartoon for Google Earth? Yep. Photoshop? Roger. Like I…
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“Sirens” Caption Contest Commentary with Lawrence Wood
Ellis Rosen has drawn three of those dangerous mythological creatures who bewitched unsuspecting sailors with enchanting music and lured them to their deaths on rocky coasts. Only one of Ellis’s sirens, however, is making music. The other two are using computers, and the one who’s speaking is holding a laptop screen toward an approaching ship….
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There’s a Cartoon for That
I remember when “There’s an app for that” was an iPhone commercial tagline that spawned a million memes: and a slew of app-propriate cartoons, like those I’ve included here. Cartoons are like memes. Taking familiar situations and tweaking them to fit new events: new wine in an old bottle, so to speak. Nowhere is this…
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Anatomy of a Cartoon: Sayonara to the Handshake
Cartoon critics Phil Witte and Rex Hesner look behind gags to debate what makes a cartoon tick. This week our intrepid critics take a look at the changing landscape of handshakes. The coronavirus has ushered in a new era of human interaction. The easy familiarities with friends and strangers are memories now, replaced with masks…
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