Skip to commentsPublished: September 27, 2026Updated: September 27, 20262 minutes0 comments
International Datelines: Kuwait, Australia, Belgium, Great Britain, Canada, Switzerland, and Chicago(??!!).
Newspaper Comic Strips Everywhere Around the World
Saira Abdul Rashid for the Kuwait Times asks, “Could comic [strips] make a comeback?”
“For generations of newspaper readers, comic strips were more than small illustrations tucked between advertisements and headlines. They offered humor, emotion and another way of understanding the world. But as audiences moved rapidly towards digital platforms, much of these comics disappeared from newspapers. Now, as readers face increasingly crowded and serious news environments, journalists, artists and readers are asking whether comics could make a comeback to Kuwait Times, not by simply returning to the traditional newspaper page, but by meeting audiences where they are today..”
2026 Rotary Cartoon Awards
Well The Daily Cartoonist announced the winners of the 2026 Rotary Cartoon Awards a couple weeks ago but now the Coffs Coast News of the Area is revealing Andrea Ferrari’s list.
“The competition, now in its 38th year, is open to cartoonists and illustrators, and run in conjunction with Rotary. It is supported and promoted by the Australian Cartoonists Association, the industry’s national body.
“In a strong show of support, nine well-known cartoonists from Australia’s East Coast, from Mackay in the north to Sydney in the south, all of whom had contributed entries, attended the event.”
“Longtime Townsville Bulletin cartoonist Harry Bruce has been recognised at the 2026 National Rotary Cartoon Awards in Coffs Harbour, taking runner-up honours in the caricature and political cartoon category.”
Aussie Rules, Mark Knight Drools
Cartoonist Mark Knight has been the artist for the Australia Football League championship posters for nearly 20 years but this year both teams had objections to their posters. The Brisbane Lions’ problem was minor and involved a quick fix, the Fremantle Dockers however necessitated an entire redraw.
“News Corp cartoonist Mark Knight claims that both Fremantle and Brisbane were very pedantic about how their clubs were represented in this year’s premiership posters.
“The AFL’s premiership poster has been a long tradition in the league, starting way back in 1954 when the legendary William Ellis Green — better known simply as WEG — created the first poster for the then called Melbourne Herald.
“WEG passed the baton to Knight after the 2008 grand final … and now Knight has spilled the beans on the difficulty of working with Fremantle this year.”
Aidan Cellani atZero Hanger quotes Knight as to problems The Dockers had with the art:
“So I went off and drew this big, bad wharfie. Running with this huge anchor and tats on him. The beautiful anchor tattoos. Looking at the camera.
“I sent it off, and the word came back, ‘yeah, nah’ from the club. They said it doesn’t fit with the direction the club is heading in. And they’re not celebrating uber masculinity, and the poster was too angry.”
Knight made a new poster that in turn he had to adjust to please the team’s people:
“I drew it. They said, ‘The hair is too brown. Can you make it blond?’ I’m thinking, this is a new experience for me. It sounded like I was working on a marketing campaign and not the premiership poster.”
LICAF Between The Lines #8
The Lakes International Comic Arts Festival (LICAF) for 2026 will run Oct. 2 – Oct. 4. and John Freeman at downthetubes previews the organization’s promotional magazine.
“American, Belgian, Russian and Poetry Comics all feature in the latest free edition of the Lakes International Comic Art Festival’s digital magazine, Between the Lines, #8, available now.”
Along with a history of Belgian comics and the Irish Conflict in comics and Poetry Comics Issue #8 includes a 3 page history of American comic strips among many other articles.
Staying with Belgian comics…
Paul Gravatt noted the homage to Tintin on the cover of the August 31 issue of The Spectator World.
The 2026 Geneva Töpffer Prize goes to Anna Sommer
Blue News reports: “The 2026 Geneva Töpffer Prize goes to comic book author Anna Sommer.”
“Anna Sommer has been awarded the 2026 Grand Prix Töpffer. With this award, the Canton and City of Geneva honor the life’s work of French-language comic artists or those whose work has been translated into French. This prestigious comic book award comes with a prize of 10,000 Swiss francs.”
“Since the 1990s, media outlets such as “NZZ Folio,” “Die Zeit,” “Libération,” “WoZ,” and “Strapazin” have also been publishing Sommer’s illustrations. Her work is published in German- and French-speaking regions. Collage portraits, short graphic stories, graphic novels: her colorful work is characterized by her distinctive line work, which dissects human and romantic relationships, longings and conflicts, roles and identities.
INK at the Toronto International Film Festival
“If the modern media landscape increasingly feels like a race to see who can shout the loudest, frighten the most people, or manufacture the most irresistible headline, Ink is an electrifying reminder that none of this happened overnight.
“In adapting James Graham’s acclaimed stage play, director Danny Boyle traces such sensationalism back to the smoke-filled offices and ink-stained machinery of Fleet Street in 1969, when Australian newspaper proprietor Rupert Murdoch (Guy Pearce) purchased the struggling The Sun and handed its reins to Yorkshire journalist Larry Lamb (Jack O’Connell). What follows is less a traditional newspaper drama than a heist movie in which circulation is the score, rival publications are the enemy, and journalistic decorum is the first casualty.”
The headline: “Danny Boyle makes the ugly birth of modern media dangerously entertaining”
The History of St. Catherines Through Editorial Cartoons
Victoria Nicolaou for The St. Catherines Standard talks to Arden Phair about the history of St,. Catherines (Ontario, Canada) through the use of editorial cartoons: “From mud puddles to mayors” (or here).
“For decades, a succession of editorial cartoonists at the St. Catharines Standard captured moments of controversy and celebration. But artists documenting the world around them goes back generations, to those with a front-row seat to some of the city’s most consequential events.
“Together, cartoons and earlier illustrations form a visual time capsule of what captured the attention of St. Catharines’ political class, newspaper readers and the artists themselves.”
Cartoonists noted include William Osborne, Joseph Thurston See, Josh Silburt, Rubin Kaell, Harold Marten, Charles Pratt, John Ednie, Harry Harley, andJohn Tiggeloven.
“It really underscores what power an editorial cartoon can wield in capturing public sentiment and influencing discussion.”
The Arts of Eddie Campbell, Comicker
Kickstarter: “The Arts of Eddie Campbell, Comicker is the first ever artbook devoted to Eddie Campbell. Mostly known for Bacchus, Alec and his work on ‘From Hell’ with Alan Moore. He is widely recognised as an artist and cartoonist whose work has shaped the evolution of modern graphic storytelling. His contributions to comics have earned him numerous industry awards, including the Eisner Award, the Harvey Award, the Ignatz Award, the Eagle Award, and the UK Comic Art Award.”
“Read as Eddie personally guides us through his life in comics and art in his own words. Featuring many new pieces of art and rarely seen pieces gathered together for the first time.”
A bit of a cheat here as Campbell is a Chicagoan now but was British born.
