Based on the correspondence I receive from readers, editorial cartoons are divisive. Some of the e-mails convey criticism or offence. Others, praise for The Globe’s cartoonists, David Parkins and Michael de Adder. Others, I-don’t-get-the-joke bafflement.
Editorial cartoons can be as varied and complex as any other piece of journalistic commentary. And while they can and do sometimes evoke a chuckle, they aren’t always supposed to be funny.
“Editorial cartoonists are visual columnists,” said Opinion Editor Natasha Hassan in an e-mail. “Their cartoon (or ‘picture’) is literally worth 1,000 words. That is the role of the editorial cartoonist, to contribute in their way to the national dialogue and debate. An editorial cartoon can be more effective than words, often through the use of satire, in nailing the matter at hand succinctly and effectively.”
Like reporters, editorial cartoonists have journalistic ethics, Michael said. But the cartoonist “has a far, far bigger range and far more tools, like humour, to either subtly talk about what other people aren’t talking about, or talk about it flat-out.” In that way, he said, “I see the role of the cartoonist as the person that completes the news package.”
In April, Michael was awarded a 2024 National Newspaper Award – not his first – for his editorial cartoons in The Globe and the Chronicle Herald, including a scene of Justin Trudeau contemplating the threat of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s “negotiation tactics,” depicted as a Godfather-style horse’s head in the former PM’s bed, labelled “tariffs.”
David’s view of the cartoonist’s role is “light relief, mostly. Like court jesters, we are given licence to point at the emperor, draw attention to his nakedness, and giggle,” he told me by e-mail.
“Occasionally, of course, there are subjects that aren’t remotely funny. Then it’s like sharing the moment, almost an act of solidarity with the readers. Recently, the remains of two women found on that Manitoba landfill were identified as the murder victims they were looking for. Not funny – but after all the opposition to even making the search at all, it was a huge moment. I drew two red dresses floating into the sky over the landfill. Like souls released (well, that’s how I thought of it).”
Natasha‘s take is similar. “The cartoons’ styles and approach can range from LOL humour to sheer artistry, to deeply moving, to sombre serious. It depends on the cartoonist and their style and the subject,” she said.
Published since the 18th century, political cartoons, as they are also called, have never been far from controversy. A pre-Independence woodcut published in Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754 is widely credited as the first American political cartoon. It depicted the labelled segments of a snake with the caption “Join, or Die” symbolizing the need for a unified America.
In our own time, several political cartoonists around the world have been imprisoned or exiled for speaking out against corrupt regimes.
“Politicians are scared of us. Visual satire can cut through and dismantle a policy more efficiently than ten op-eds,” Michael said in a follow-up e-mail. “Take Trump, for example. He rants about journalists, columnists, editors, even sportswriters – but never the cartoonists. Why? Because he knows those jokes land harder than anything else. They stick.”
On process, David said: “My daily routine begins with a general trawl of the news to see what’s happening, what’s important, and what might work as a cartoon. From there, I draw three ideas in rough form. VERY rough form, usually – Natasha, my editor, often has to seek clarification on what it is, exactly, I have drawn. … I generally send three cartoon possibilities, of which one is chosen and goes on to be finished.”
From Natasha‘s perspective, “Editing editorial cartoons is like editing a column, but different. You sign off on a cartoon after considering accuracy (not whether Justin Trudeau literally drove off a cliff, but if ‘Trudeau’ was spelled correctly), taste (not too much blood, please), libel (speaks for itself), clarity of meaning (everybody reads a cartoon differently) and various sensitivities. It’s always better to punch up than down.” In other words, while it might be acceptable to skewer a prominent political figure whose bluster has gotten them into hot water, the travails of regular people are not gag material.
Cartoonists have to deal with time constraints, too. “I’m working the day before, so sometimes the readers will know things I didn’t,” David said. “On Monday this week, I had to do the cartoon for Tuesday. Monday was election day, of course. On Tuesday, the results were mostly in. But not on Monday. So I had to find a way of bringing in the election, which was THE important topic of the day, without guessing at the result. That’s why I went with a ‘new dawn’ election morning, but Trump‘s still there and he’s still Trump (or a frog – like in the fairy tale).”