political cartoons

Wednesday's attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo left twelve people dead, including nine of the magazine's journalists. Five of those journalists were cartoonists. Though the manner of Charlie Hebdo's satire was often of a quality and tone that many would find distasteful, there can be no argument, no pretense, that violence and murder were an appropriate response. Cartoonists, satirists, and commentators have the right to free expression, and should be held accountable for their views in ways that do not threaten their lives or safety. Cartooning has long been one of the most vibrant and incisive forms of public commentary, and that tradition should be celebrated. In that spirit, ComicsAlliance has compiled a collection of some of the responses to the Charlie Hebdo massacre by cartoonists and illustrators; cartoons that acknowledge the tragedy and represent defiance in the face of fear.

Sometimes we comics fans can get so bogged down in the minutiae of whether characters we like are being treated the way we think they should that we forget that some cartoonists actually risk their livelihoods -- and occasionally their lives -- to make comics. Trouble can arise even over seemingly innocuous points. Consider the case of Venezuelan cartoonist Rayma Suprani, who was fired from her job at the El Universal newspaper over a cartoon about health care.

Deals: Figure of the Day has launched, offering Groupon-like daily deals on action figures and toys. I may have to restrain myself... Political Cartoons: The University of New Mexico's The Daily Lobo apologized for running a satirical image of President Obama holding the severed head of Osama bin Laden in the fashion of The Lion King's Rafiki holding newborn Simba after protests by offended stud

For centuries the Editorial Cartoon has been considered a bastion of wit, sophistication and all that is profound in society, all in spite of the fact that they're often no more than the most painfully pedestrian observations or so esoteric that they defy comprehension...

If you haven't heard about "Tea Party Comix" -- a series of self-published comics purportedly made by a Tea Party supporter, filled with inflammatory racial imagery and bizarre superhero parodies -- then consider yourself lucky. But either way, the third and most recent issue will be its last, as the creator has announced that the series is coming to a close...