The Mind Creative
Today, political cartooning is a formidable weapon for the print
media. Historically, most political newspapers, by mid-19th century,
had started using cartoons and caricatures to underline political
news items. The remarkable impact of such cartoons can be best
shown by the works of Thomas Nast (who introduced realistic
German drawing techniques to the cartooning world) in New York.
He published 160 cartoons about the infamous “Tweed Ring” in
New York. Tweed was ultimately captured in Spain when he was
recognised from one of Nast’s cartoons.
From the series created by Thomas Nast about the infamous ‘Tweed Ring’ of NY
Political cartoons can be satirical, ironical and downright rude at
times and the subject can hardly ever retaliate; although there
have been many cases of defamation. Cartoons and caricatures
with an undercurrent of science, technology and sports are not
uncommon either. Cartoonists Sidney Harris and Gary Larson
have produced some excellent works in the science and
technology category.
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