Mickey Mouse at 80 - Brez Besed

This month, Mickey Mouse celebrated his 80th birthday. In the catalogue of the II. Mednarodni Bienale (Ljubljana, 1971) I found a Mickey Mouse cartoon, drawn by no one less than the great Ronald Searle. I think this cartoon is even more topical today than in 1971. "Brez Besed" is Slovenian and it means "without words" or "without comment". This picture isn't mentioned in Around the world in 80 Mickey Mice by The Guardian. Thus, I present the cartoon to you:

Mickey Mouse by Ronald Searle ... Brez besed

The 1971 organizing committee, under the patronage of the former President of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, wrote:
"We are meeting again in order to tell one another - without words, but with some laughing and a bit of moist in the eyes - a thousand stories. The cartoon has virtually no limitations, and a tiny bit of its freedom is caught in our present Biennale...
... It is not rewarding to heap up words about an exhibition WITH NO COMMENT. Let it be so that the words will be searched for and found by those who will visit the Biennale and, we hope, say: "It was pleasant to keep silent with them."

Catalogue cover (1971)

Browsing through this catalogue with excellent cartoons, I recognized the work of some other great cartoonists:

Claude Serre, France:

Miroslav Bartak, Czech Republic:

Oto Reisinger ,Slovenia:

and many other gag cartoons...

Learn more:
Around the world in 80 Mickey Mice (the Guardian)
Brez Besed cartoonbook file

Time to surf. My favourite cartoonblogs. And yours?

click here for national cartoon sites by country - cartoons around the world

(updated 5 Nov 2011)

Here are my personal favourites and other blogs that may be interesting for the cartoon lover.

If you know other interesting cartoon-related blogs or if you want to promote your cartoon blog, you can leave a link in the comment part of this article. Please write some information about the link.
I'll try to regularly update this article with other links and put a link to this article in the sidebar.
If you link to the blog of ECC Cartoonbooksclub, of course I'll link to your cartoon site or blog!

Cartoon newsletters : selection of best free cartoon newsletters

Mike Lynch Cartoons (USA, Mike Lynch)
Mike Lynch is a magazine cartoonist nd the National Cartoonists Society Representative.
Mike has a cartoon book collection and publishes daily on his blog. He's very kind and always willing to give an answer on a comment or question...
You'll find regurarly (vintage) cartoon book reviews on his blog. Most articles concern caption gag cartoons. Mike has 3 cats I believe, my family too...

Caricaturque (Turkey,Kemal Ozyurt)
Reference blog. News about caricaturists, cartoonists, catalogs, competitions, exhibitions, magazines, museums, news, websites & blogs

Drawn (Canada)
Drawn! is a multi-author blog devoted to illustration, art, cartooning and drawing. Its purpose is to inspire creativity by sharing links and resources. Albert Einstein said, “The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources,” but what the hell did he know anyway?

Humour Art (Korea,Oh Young-Sik)
Blog by Young-Sik Oh, president general of Humour Art Korea. I can't read Korean, I'll have to do it with the pictures and Google Translate.

Humorgrafe (Portugal, Osvaldo Macedo de Sousa )
Um Blog de Informação sobre Humor e Caricatura. Cartoon's news

Illustration Art (David Apatoff)
David Apatoff really likes great pictures. Celebrating great art in humble places: the glorious talents of the artists who illustrated stories, advertisements and comics in the 20th century.

Caricaturi Dum Dum (Romania, Paul Stoica)
Romanian cartoon news.


Other... (alphabetical)

Ben Heine Art - The Blog (Belgium, Ben Heine)
Ben Heine is a young Belgian cartoonist and journalist, studied Art and Communication. On his blog you'll find cartoons, caricatures, potraits, poems, articles, photos, political art.

Bodard Caricatures (France, Bodard Christophe, caricature)
Great caricatures! Just take a look...

Christian Jacot -(Belgium)
Christian Jacot, known as 'JACRI', was born 'with a pencil in his hand'. His disciplines range through comic strips, advertising, caricature illustrations and painting to establish his reputation as a cartoonist.

Cartunion (USA/Minnesota, Andrey Feldshteyn)
International Cartoonists' Club - Cartoon forum

Grietcartoons (Belgium, Griet Blockx, gag cartoons)
Young Belgian cartoon talent...

Jan Op De Beeck (Belgium, Jan Op de Beeck, caricature)
Sketching is fun! Jan is a world-top caricaturist. Enjoy some of his works.

Jean Barbaud Cartoons (France, Jean Barbaud)
Comics and airoplanes...

HeadsOnBoard in Joyville (Spain, Gabriel Corbera)
About vintage cartoon books, comics

Klaas Op De Beéck (Belgium, Caricature)

Klaas Op de Beéck (°1990) is a young caricaturist who loved to draw since he was a kid. In his father’s side of the family all familymembers are busy with art.

Nollet cartoons & creatie (Belgium, André Nollet, text cartoons, press cartoon)
André Nollet is a belgian cartoonist. He's a member of the ECC team in Kruishoutem.

S. Krüger - News and Events (Germany, Sebastian Krüger, caricature, portraits)
'The Official' Sebastian Krüger Blog.

thelitestuffcartoons.com (USA, Mark Doeffinger, cartoons)
cartoons created with an original point of view

The MAD Blog (USA, Tom Richmond, caricature/comics)
The blog of cartoonist and humorous illustrator Tom Richmond .

Toonzel - Avisek Cartoons (West-Bengal, India, Avisek Chowdhury)
Avisek is a part time cartoonist an shows a collection of his work.


Trianacartoons (Columbia, Camillo Andres Triana Cubillos, caricatures/graphic humor)
Illustrations, cartoons and caricatures ...

And other links...

Ferrom Cartoons (Costa Rika, Ferreol Murillo Fuentes)

World War 1 in Cartoons by cartoon historian Mark Bryant

World War I in Cartoons (UK,2006) by dr Mark Bryant:

Front cover: Kaiser WilhemII (1915)

In a previous article I wrote I found this book on a WWI book fair in Passchendaele.
This book by cartoon historian dr Mark Bryant deserves a prominent place on the bookshelf ,not only of the people interested in the Great War, but also of the cartoon collector because of its historical value and interesting point of view to approach history through the eyes of cartoonists and illustrators.
In the book are many cartoons of Bruce Bairnsfather, a cartoonist I didn't knew before (shame on me!). Visit the Bruce Bairnsfather site and you'll be convinced of his great talent.

"Well if you knows of a better 'ole, go to it!" (1915)
by Bruce Bairnsfather, one of the most famous cartoons
of the Great War

This is the book's summary I've read on the dust jacket:

In an age before TV and radio - and long before the coming of the internet and personal computers - the impact of cartoons and caricature was considerable,especially when the only sources of information and commentary were silent cinema newsreels, posters, newspapers and books - all largely black-and-white. So, not surprisingly, the Great War of 1914-1918 proved an extraordinarily fertile time for artists working in this field.To a news-hungry public, anxious about world affairs, it was the cartoon, with its immediacy and universal accessiblility -even to the barely literate- that could speak the message mere words could never convey. And in times of stress it is laughter that is often the best medicine

When Zeppelins blackened the sky,U-boats challenged the Royal Navy's supremacy at sea, and huge 'Big Bertha' guns shelled the muddy fields of Flanders, it was the antics of Captain Bruce Bairnsfather's immortal 'Old Bill' and the drawings of H.M. Bateman, Bert Thomas and others that kept up Britan's spirits and reassured the troops that all was well back home in dear old 'Blightly'. And who could take Kaiser Bill, Admiral Von Tirpitz, the Red Baron and all the mighty goose-stepping Prussians at all seriously when Allied cartoonists cocked a snook at all they held dear? The pages of Punch and its rivals in Britain, Europe, Russia, Japan and the USA made certain that, whatever was happening militarily, their reader's laughter guaranteed that is was never quiet for long on the Western Front.


The Central Powers also had a wealth of talent labouring to counteract the Allies' propaganda machine and prewar satirical journals such as Simplicissimus in Germany, ass well as others in Turkey, Bulgaria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, rose to the challenge.
But cartoons of this, or any other period, are not necessarily lighthearted and the Great War gave rise to many vicious and hate-filled drawing on both sides - indeed the gruesome anti-German cartoons by Louis Raemaekers were even deemed powerful enough to call Holland's neutrality into question.

World War I in Cartoons is divided into chapters covering the war year-by-year, each chapter prefaced with a concise introduction thad provides a historical framework for the cartoons of that year. Altogether more than 300 drawings from both sides of the conflict, in colour and black-and-white, have been skilfully blended to produce a unique visual history of the great war.

Learn more:
The official Bruce Bairnsfather site by Mark Warby - recommended!
Publisher Grubstreet.co.uk

Cartoonbook file

11th November, Armistice Day Passchendaele... the cartoon link

Passchendaele is only 15 km away from where I live. On Armistice Day last Tuesday I had a short visit to Tyne Cot Cemetary.

In Flanders fields...

Every time I visit this place, it gives me a captivating experience. "Where have all the flowers gone?" sang Pete Seger in 1961... "Where have all the soldiers gone", "where have all the graveyards gone..."... when will we ever learn...

After this visit I headed toward the WWI Book Fair in 'Passchendaele', only 2 km further, where hundreds of books of The Great War were exhibited.

Between all this books my eye fell on "World War I in cartoons" by cartoon historian Mark Bryant.

A cartoon book amongst all this serious war books? Yes, but this is a 'serious' cartoon book. It is a direct and truly authoritative history of the Great War, thoroughly researched and attractively presented. In a next article I will describe this magnificent book.

This is where the book fair was located...

Entry of the the fair...
this way please

Lots of military books...

At this book stall of "Tommies Guides -
The military book specialists" I discovered WW1 in Cartoons

Learn more:
The Battle of Passchendaele
Tommies Guides - the Military Book Specialist (Eastbourne, UK)

Review article World War 1 in Cartoons 

Matty Aslan

Paul Stoica from Romania sent us the cartoonbook file of 'Conice', a book of the Romanian cartoonist and animated film director Matty Aslan.


The geometric shapes have a rigorous structure which was not constructed as a joke.
But Matty is trying to prove us that a geometric shape can be changed into several satirical aspects.
For this experiment he chose the cone, which resembles, from a ludic perspective, with a pointed head, which expresses different life problems. The small volume of caricatures signed by Matty is called “Conice” (Conicals.) and contains 153 drawings.
And if the initial point of this comical transformation is the cone, each drawing represents a theme that has a prefix the cone (“con” in Romanian): con-flict, con-stellation, con-sult, con-fidant, con-fetti, con-trol etc.

Matty's autograph:

On the Romanian blog 'caricaturi-dum-dum' you find news and information about the cartoon art in Romania. This cartoon blog is an idea of Paul Stoica. Aside him stands a great cartoon caricaturist, Florian Doru Crihana, with drawings in some great museums of caricatures worldwide, with a consistent number of international prices, and with whom Paul shares the publication of this on-line magazine, to which they add also the support of some other caricaturists, depending on events.
Learn more:
Matty Aslan on Wikipedia
the Romanian cartoon blog: Caricaturi-dum-dum.blogspot.com
or if you don't understand Romanian, try this translated version:
Caricaturi-dum-dum in English

Cartoonbook file:

Nov. 1st - All Saint's Day: Requiem ? ... Honoréquiem!

All Saints' Day is a feast celebrated on November 1 in Western Christianity in honour of all the saints, known and unknown.
In terms of Western Christian theology, the feast commemorates all those who have attained the beatific vision in heaven. Specifically, in the Roman Catholic Church, the next day, All Souls' Day, commemorates the departed faithful.

Today is thus the best day to present to you an appropriate cartoon book "Honoréquiem" (1986)(*) by the French cartoonist Honoré Bonnet. It's a series of 35 brilliant churchyard gag cartoons. The book is sold out, but Honoré has some copies available:you can order a dedicated book here.


More about Honoré Bonnet and some other books he publised, you find on his site. Don't confuse him with Honoré Philippe who is another French cartoonist.





Thanks to mr Honoré Bonnet for his kind permission.

(*) The Requiem or Requiem Mass (informally, a funeral Mass),is a liturgical service of the Roman Catholic Church, Anglo-Catholic Anglicans, as well as certain Lutheran Churches in the United States.The common theme of requiems is prayer for the salvation of the soul(s) of the departed, and it is used both at services immediately preceding a burial, and on occasions of more general remembrance.

Learn more:
This book is available + other books of Honoré
Website of Honoré Bonnet
Bonnet Honoré on BDtheque
Honoré Bonnet's Blog (with recent work, publication etc.)

Cartoonbook file


René Magritte's "Manet's Balcony"... is it here some inspiration for the first cartoon above came from?

Jean Bosc (1924-1973) - part 1

"Alain, Michele, Gerald and Joelle DAMMAN, nephews and nieces of Jean-Maurice BOSC, are pleased to welcome you on its official website, and thank you for your interest in his work."

This is the welcome word of one of the most complete and interesting sites dedicated to a cartoonist: the official BOSC website. I had some contacts by mail with Alain Damman, and I think Alain asked himself why I didn't make an article about Bosc earlier. Bosc is one of the greatest cartoonists ever. Alain made it easy for me: all you should know about Bosc is on his website, so I just have to link to it.

Les Boscaves (1965)

You should take a look at the pictures part and the impressive bibliography, it's a pleasure for collectors. It has 3 parts: books of Bosc in French, Bosc in other languages and books of Bosc with other cartoonists. At least 210 books are published with one or more Bosc cartoons!
You'll find cover pictures, and some more information on every book. Some collectors will recognize books they already have or notice books they should have and some books they could only dream of to have... because they are very rare to find.

Alain, keep going on with your site and promoting the great Bosc.
Vive Bosc!

The site is in French, but with 'google translate', it's available in many languages.

Here's a short biography of Bosc. Other biographies are on the site.

Bosc Jean (1924-1973)

"Bosc is een French cartoonist, poster designer and animated cartoon director born in Nîmes, France, on December 30, 1924. After his military service in France and Indochina, Jean Bosc rejoined the weekly magazine Paris-Match in 1952 and contributed cartoons to other publications as well (Punch, Esquire, France-Observateur). Many of his drawings have been published in the albums Gloria Viktoria, Homo Sapiens, Mort au Tiran ("Death to the Tyrant"), Les Boscaves ("Bosc's Fools", 1965), Si De Gaulle était Petit ("If De Gaulle Was Short",1968) and La Fleur dan Tous Ses Etats ("Two Flowers", 1968).

All his cartoons show absurd and often cruel incongruity, portraiting look-alike, almost interchangeable long-nosed men and children who wait on long lines or walk in funeral corteges or interminable parades. Bosc's long stint in the army is probably responsible for the strong antimilitaristic slant in his work, with officers depicted as heartless fools, sometimes reduced to beribboned and bemedalled jacquets only, and privates seen as inoffensive, mechanical dunces forever performing menial and useless chores. Bosc also directed a few animated cartoons: Le Voyage en Boscavie ("Travels in Bosc Country"), which won the Emile Cohl Prize in 1959, and Le Chapeau ("The Hat").

Like Chavel, Bosc saw no escape from the absurdity of the human condition: in 1973, at 49, he killed himself in Antibes, on the French Riviera. That same year, the Wilhelm Busch Museum in Hanover, Germany, held a two-month exhibit of his work, along with that of Chaval and Sempé."(Source: The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons)

Bosc Gallery

Learn more:
The official Bosc Site - Biblioghaphy: 210 Bosc books Impressive!
The official Bosc Site - Bosc photo gallery
The official Bosc Site - Exposition
Article on Mike Lynch's blog: Cartoons by JM Bosc in "Cartoons the French Way" (1955)
I agree with Mike...

Morbid fun with cats and rabbits - Skip Morrow and Andy Riley

First of all I want to be clear and say I like cats.  Sometimes I like teasing them and I like cat cartoons.

our 3 cats...

For those who (dis)like cats there is Skip Morrow's "The Official I Hate Cats Book" (1980). I have a Dutch version and the cat cartoons in that book are very funny.

"Beware of people who dislike cats." - Irish proverb

You can see Skip Morrow's "I hate cats collection" on his site.

For our friends, the rabbit-lovers there is "The Book of Bunny Suicides" by Andy Riley (2003). You must be crazy to make a book of rabbits wanting to suicide, but the result is hilarious.

As above, I have a Dutch version "Het boek van de zelfmoordkonijntjes".

"The Book of Bunny Suicides: Little Fluffy Rabbits Who Just Don't Want To Live Any More (2003) is a collection of mostly one-image black comedy cartoons drawn by author Andy Riley. It was a bestseller.

Each cartoon shows one or more white rabbits in their creative attempts to end their lives using a variety of items. Revolving doors, a toaster, a cricket ball, a boomerang, a hand-grenade, the shining sun, a magnifying glass, smoking of several cigarettes and bowling balls are all featured as suicidal tools. The book also features a few cultural references, most notably a parody of a scene from The Wicker Man, where the rabbit is atop the burning figure. A reference to the Terminator movies is also included, as well as a reference to the scene from Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove where the captain of the bomber rides the atomic bomb as it drops and explodes. Noah's Ark is also featured. While all the other animals are boarding the ark, two bunnies stay behind suntanning on the beach.

The cartoons are often drawn in such a way that the bunny's exact method is not immediately obvious, leaving the reader to work out exactly how the bunnies plan to end their lives.

In 2004 a sequel was published, under the title Return of the Bunny Suicides

The book proved so popular that pirate scans started to circulate heavily online as "Bunnies Suicide" or "Bunny Suicide", facilitating DMCA notices of cease and desist [1]. Cartoonist Liu Gang was inspired by the book to create his Suicide Rabbit.

A special edition, The Bumper Book of Bunny Suicides, was released in the UK in 2007. It contains every bunny suicide ever.

This book has been withdrawn from bookshelves in Shanghai, China for fear of children imitating the scenes." (source: Wikipedia)

Cats and rabbits: some similarities...

Learn more:

Books by Skip Morrow

Skip Morrow search on eBay

Cattoonbook (by B. Kliban) is another cat cartoon book

Interview with Andy Riley on Stripelmagazine (Dutch)

Interview with Andy Riley (English, translated with Google Translate)

Andy Riley search on eBay

Cartoonbook files: