Editorial cartoons can usually be found on the editorial page of most newspapers, although a few, like Garry Trudeau's Doonesbury are sometimes found on the regular comics page. Recently, many radical or minority issue editorial cartoonists who would previously have been obscure have found large audiences on the internet. While not carrying the same legitimacy as corporate newspaper cartoonists, self-editing online cartoonists who do not find themselves subject to the conservative constraints of the newspaper industry have often produced challenging, incisive and acerbic work with great visual innovation. Political cartoons are sometimes published in books.

Editorial cartoons can be very diverse, but there is a certain established style among most of them. Most use visual metaphors and caricatures to explain complicated political situations, and thus sum up a current event with a humorous or emotional picture. In modern political cartooning two styles have begun to emerge. The traditional style, involving visual metaphors is described as the 'nasti' style (named after Thomas Nast), and the more text heavy 'alti' style that tells a linear story, usually in comic strip format. Although their style, technique or viewpoints may differ, editorial cartoonists draw attention to important social and political issues.

Although most western editorial cartoonists by necessity occupy the middle political ground, this is by no means true of all cartoonists and there is a spectrum of political commentary in cartoons which runs from the extreme right through the centre to the extreme left. Diverse religious and cultural ideologies and reactions to them are also represented and can produce work that effects the reader.

In modern print media, a cartoon is a piece of art, usually humorous in intent. This usage dates from 1843 when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in its pages, particularly sketches by John Leech. The first of these parodied the preparatory cartoons for grand historical frescoes in the then-new Palace of Westminster. The original title for these drawings was Mr Punch's pencillings and the new title "cartoon" was intended to be ironic, a reference to the self-aggrandising posturing of Westminster politicians.

Modern gag cartoons, found in magazines and newspapers, generally consist of a single drawing with a caption immediately beneath or (less often) a speech balloon. Many consider New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno the father of the modern gag cartoon (as did Arno himself). Gag cartoonists of note include Charles Addams, Gary Larson, Charles Barsotti, Chon Day and Mel Calman.

Editorial cartoons are a type of gag cartoon found almost exclusively in news publications. Although they also employ humor, they are more serious in tone, commonly using irony or satire. The art usually acts as a visual metaphor to illustrate a point of view on current social and/or political topics. Editorial cartoons often include speech balloons and, sometimes, multiple panels. Editorial cartoonists of note include Herblock, Mike Peters, David Low and Gerald Scarfe.

Comic strips, also known as "strip cartoons" in the United Kingdom, are found daily in newspapers worldwide, and are usually a short series of cartoon illustrations in sequence. In the United States they are not as commonly called "cartoons" themselves, but rather "comics" or "funnies". Nonetheless, the creators of comic strips—as well as comic books and graphic novels—are referred to as "cartoonists". Although humor is the most prevalent subject matter, adventure and drama are also represented in this medium. Noteworthy cartoonists in this sense include Charles Schulz, Bill Watterson, Scott Adams, Mort Walker, Steve Bell.

Notable cartoonists

Notable cartoonists include:

* Pete Abrams, Sluggy Freelance
* Charles Addams, macabre cartoons featured in The New Yorker and elsewhere
* Murray Ball, Footrot Flats
* Manik, Cartoonist and illustrator of Daily newspaper Prothom Alo
* Ratan, Cartoonist and illustrator of Daily newspaper Prothom Alo
* Darrin Bell, Candorville and Rudy Park
* Oscar Berger, Aesop's Foibles (1947); active 1920s - 1960s
* Mark Beyer, Amy and Jordan, Agony
* Ed Brubaker
* Max Cannon, Red Meat Contemporary American
* Chester Commodore, African American political cartoonist
* Robert Crumb, Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat, Keep on Truckin
* Jack Davis
* Abner Dean
* Will Eisner, The Spirit
* Lyonel Feininger, rare fine artist who did strips, Kin-der Kids and Wee Willie Winkie's World
* Steve Fiorilla
* André François
* André Franquin, Spirou et Fantasio, Gaston Lagaffe
* Yuliy Abramovich Ganf, Soviet Russian
* John Glashan, Genius
* Sid Glenar
* Rube Goldberg, Cartoons of complex and convoluted machines doing very simple tasks.
* Larry Gonick, The Cartoon History of the Universe series, Kokopelli & Company
* Matt Groening, Life in Hell, The Simpsons, Futurama
* Martin Handford, Where's Wally?
* Henfil, Brazilian cartoonist
* Hergé, Tintin
* George Herriman, Krazy Kat
* Bill Holbrook, "On the Fastrack", "Safe Havens" and "Kevin & Kell"
* Geoff "Jeff" Hook, Australian
* Edgar P. Jacobs, "Blake and Mortimer"
* Mike Judge, "Beavis and Butt-Head", "King Of The Hill"
* Heinrich Kley
* B. Kliban
* Rick Law, Beyond the Veil
* John Leech, 19th century 'Punch' cartoonist.
* Michael Leunig, Australian
* R K Laxman, Cartoonist for The Times of India, India.
* Loriot
* Jay Lynch
* Scott McCloud, Zot, Understanding Comics
* Seth MacFarlane, Family Guy", American Dad
* Shigeru Mizuki, Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro, - Master of horror of Japanese manga
* Morris, Lucky Luke
* Paul Palnik, The God of Cartoons American Jewish cartoon prophet.
* Virgil Partch, known as "VIP," he was a leading American gag cartoonist from the 1940s to the 1980s
* Bob Penuelas, Wilbur Kookmeyer
* Bruce Petty
* Peyo, The Smurfs, Steven Strong, Johan and Peewit
* Ziraldo Alves Pinto; Brazilian cartoonist, creator of Menino Maluquinho
* Hugo Pratt, Corto Maltese
* Quino (Joaquín Salvador Lavado), Mafalda Often regarded as the foremost Latin-American cartoonist and a fierce social satirist.
* W. Heath Robinson, British satirist famous for drawings of convoluted machines, similar to Rube Goldberg
* Jonathan Rosenberg, Goats
* Ronald Searle, St Trinians, Molesworth, The Rake's Progress, editorial work and more
* Elzie Crisler Segar, Popeye
* Sempé
* Dan Shive, El Goonish Shive
* Posy Simmonds, The Silent Three of St Botolph's, Gemma Bovery
* Siné
* Art Spiegelman, author of Maus, co-editor of RAW (magazine)
* Ralph Steadman, editorial cartoonist and book illustrator
* Uli Stein, Mice
* Saul Steinberg
* Howard Tayler, pioneered web-cartooning as a profession.
* Les Tanner-Political cartoonist (1927-2001)
* Osamu Tezuka, Astro Boy, Phoenix - Known as the "god" of Japanese manga, who practically defined modern Japanese cartooning
* Albert Uderzo, Asterix
* Willy Vandersteen, Spike and Suzy, De Rode Ridder
* Ben Wicks, well known Canadian cartoonist and illustrator. Strips include The Outsider, Wicks

* Prriya Raj - Management Cartoonist and author
* Tex Avery
* Art Babbitt
* Frederic Back
* Ralph Bakshi
* Joseph Barbera
* Don Bluth
* Tim Burton
* Bob Clampett
* Les Clark
* Gabor Csupo
* Shamus Culhane
* Arthur Davis
* Marc Davis
* Gene Deitch
* Andreas Deja
* Walt Disney
* Ed Emshwiller
* Norm Ferguson
* Friz Freleng
* Eric Goldberg
* Dave Hand
* William Hanna
* Rudolf Ising
* Wilfred Jackson
* Ollie Johnston
* Chuck Jones
* Milt Kahl
* Glen Keane
* Ward Kimball
* John Kricfalusi
* Kutty
* Eric Larson
* John Lasseter
* John Lounsbery
* Ham Luske
* Winsor McCay
* Robert McKimson
* Fred Moore
* Joe Murray
* Grim Natwick
* Bill Plympton
* Wolfgang "Woolie" Reitherman
* Herbert "Herbie" Ryman
* Ben Sharpsteen
* Tom Sito
* Frank Tashlin
* Richard Taylor Green Springs Cartoons
* Frank Thomas
* Bill Tytla
* Richard Williams

[edit] Cartoonists of comic strips

* Scott Adams, Dilbert
* Bill Amend, Fox Trot
* John Backderf, aka Derf, Derf City
* George Baker, Sad Sack
* Darrin Bell, Candorville, Rudy Park
* Jack Berrill, Gil Thorp
* Berke Breathed, Bloom County (1980's American social-polticial), Outland, Opus
* David Breger, G.I. Joe
* Dik Browne, Hi and Lois, Hagar the Horrible
* Ernie Bushmiller, Nancy
* Milt Caniff, Terry and the Pirates, Steve Canyon
* Al Capp, Lil Abner
* Dave Coverly, Speed Bump
* Stan Cross, The Potts and Wally and the Major
* Jim Davis, Garfield
* Bud Fisher, Mutt and Jeff
* Ham Fisher, Joe Palooka
* J.D. Frazer, User Friendly
* Chester Gould, Dick Tracy
* Bill Griffith, Zippy the Pinhead
* Cathy Guisewite, Cathy
* Nicholas Gurewitch, Perry Bible Fellowship
* Tove and Lars Jansson, The Moomins
* Lynn Johnston, For Better or For Worse
* Eric Jolliffe, Andy
* Walt Kelly, Pogo
* Kemsley, Ginger Meggs
* Hank Ketcham, Dennis the Menace
* Frank King, Gasoline Alley
* Keith Knight, The K Kronicles
* Fred Lasswell, Barney Google
* Winsor McCay, Little Nemo
* Patrick McDonnell, Mutts
* George McManus, Bringing up Father
* Dale Messick, Brenda Starr
* Steve Nease, Pud
* Fred Negro, Pub Strip
* Charles Peattie and Russell Taylor, Alex
* Stan Pitt, Larry Flynn, Detective
* Warren Sattler, Grubby, Billy the Kid, Yang, Fightin' Army, Fightin' Marines and Swamp Brats as well as contributing artist for Barnaby daily, The Jackson Twins, Bringing Up Father, Comics for Kids and Hi and Lois.
* Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts
* Caroll Spinney, Harvey
* Garry Trudeau, Doonesbury
* Gustave Verbeek, The Upside Downs, The Terrors of the Tiny Tads
* Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes
* Monty Wedd, The Scorpion, Bert and Ned, Tod Trail, Kirk Raven, Ned Kelly, Sword and Sabre, Captain Justice, Ben Hall and The Making of a Nation
* Jeff Wilson, The Avridge Farm
* KC Green, Droop, Anger Pauly, and Horribleville

[edit] Cartoonists of single panel cartoons (gag cartoons)

* Prriya Raj (Management Cartoonist)
* Charles Addams
* Ivan Brunetti
* John Callahan, Callahan
* Irwin Caplan
* Dick Cavalli
* Patrick Chappatte (Chappatte)
* Roz Chast
* Doug Davis
* Chon Day
* John Dempsey
* Mort Drucker
* Carl Giles (Giles)
* Grea
* Bill Harrison
* Ray Helle
* Tom Henderson
* Ned Hilton
* Judy Horacek
* Stan Hunt
* Al Johns
* Jeff Keate
* Hank Ketcham
* Ted Key
* Bill King
* Nick D. Kim (Nick)
* Vlad Kolarov
* Gary Larson
* Mel Lazarus
* Bill O'Malley
* Larry Miller III
* Frank Owen
* Larry Reynolds
* Salo
* Vahan Shirvanian
* Chris Slane
* Ton Smits
* Syverson
* James Thurber
* Don Tobin
* Walt Wetterberg
* Herb Williams
* Gahan Wilson
* George Wolfe
* Kevin Woodcock
* Zero

[edit] Political cartoonists

* Aislin, cartoonist for the Montreal Gazette
* Naji al-Ali, Palestinian cartoonist assassinated in 1987
* Dean Alston, Australian
* Darrin Bell, American political cartoonist and comic strip cartoonist
* E. P. Unni, Indian.
* Steve Bell, contemporary British political cartoonist
* Ruben Bolling, Tom the Dancing Bug Contemporary American political
* Bordalo Pinheiro, Rafael - (1846-1905), Portuguese, creator of Zé Povinho
* Paco Calderón Mexican
* William Charles (1776–1820), American (Scottish immigrant who also worked in London)
* Peter Clark, British political cartoonist for The Guardian.
* Paul Conrad, political cartoons
* Patrick Cook, Australian
* Predrag Koraksic Corax, contemporary Serbian political cartoonist.
* Stan Cross, Australian
* Jay Norwood Darling, editorial cartoonist (two time Pulitzer Prize winner), also designed the first Federal Duck Stamp
* David Ditchburn, Australian
* Andy Donato, Canadian political cartoonist, works for the [Sun] newspaper chain.
* Mark Fiore, American political cartoonist
* William Ellis Green - Australian
* Ben Heine - Belgian
* Herblock, full name Herbert Block, longtime American cartoonist for the Washington Post, 3 times Pulitzer Prize winner
* William Hogarth, 18th century British political cartoonist
* Geoff "Jeff" Hook, Australian
* Arthur Horner - Australian political cartoonist
* John Kent - Varoomshka, New Zealand
* Bill Leak - Australian
* Michael Leunig - Australian
* David Low, political cartoonist in Britain between the World Wars, characters included Colonel Blimp.
* Bill Mauldin, Pulitzer Prize winner, gained fame as "soldiers' cartoonist" in World War 2 with his "dogfaces" Willie and Joe
* Stewart McCrae - Australian political cartoonist
* Alan Moir - Australian political cartoonist
* George Molnar - Australian political cartoonist
* Thomas Nast, first drew Republican elephant and Democratic donkey, Tammany Hall tiger, set the pattern for the modern Santa Claus
* Peter Nicholson (1946- ) - Australian political cartoonist
* Pat Oliphant, Pulitzer Prize winner, longtime contemporary American cartoonist originally from Australia
* Ward O'Neill, Australian
* Paul Palnik American, Jewish, Kabbalistic Spiritual Cartoons.
* Bruce Petty, Australian
* Geoff Pryor - Australian
* Ted Rall, contemporary American political cartoonist.
* Paul Rigby - Australian, principally associated with News Corporation newpapers
* Dan Russell
* Jim Russell
* SanjeevKD, Caricaturist, Cartoonist, Illustrator from Delhi, India
* Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel), Was a political and advertising cartoonist before and during World War II before becoming a children's author
* John Spooner - Australian
* Tom Tomorrow, This Modern World Contemporary American political cartoonist.
* Clive Uptton (1911-2006) - British
* Vicky, full name Victor Weisz (1913-66) British Socialist cartoonist, born in Berlin, of Hungarian Jewish extraction. Originated Supermac sobriquet applied to Harold Macmillan.
* Cathy Wilcox - Australian political cartoonist and illustrator
* J. Winburn - American satirical cartoonist of alternative humor & social commentary

[edit] Cartoonists of comic books

* Sergio Aragones, MAD, also the creator of GROO.
* Ben Caldwell, famous creator of the Dare Detectives.
* Dan DeCarlo, Archie, Josie and the Pussycats, Sabrina the Teenage Witch
* Kim Deitch creator of Waldo The Cat and comic novels
* Bill Elder, MAD comics, Little Annie Fanny in Playboy
* Harvey Kurtzman, first editor of MAD, one of the most influential comic artists of all time
* Pran Kumar Sharma, Chacha Chaudhary
* Jhonen Vasquez, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Squee!, I Feel Sick, Everything can be Beaten, Fillerbunny, Bad art Collection, Happy Noodle Boy
* Wally Wood, MAD, both comics and magazine
* Vince Deporter, DC Comics; Nickelodeon, Spirou (Belgium)...

[edit] Cartoonists of action/superhero comic books

* Kyle Baker, creator of Why I Hate Saturn
* Elito V. Circa, Pantabangan Folk Artist
* Jack Cole, creator of Plastic Man, later set the style for cartoons in Playboy Magazine
* Alan Davis, creator of ClanDestine
* Steve Ditko, creator of many Marvel Comics, including Spider-Man and Doctor Strange with editor Stan Lee
* Will Eisner, creator of The Spirit, teacher, publisher, one of the first to popularize the term graphic novel, in his book A Contract with God
* Bob Kane, creator of The Batman with writer Bill Finger
* Jack Kirby, creator of Captain America with his partner Joe Simon, many other comics through the years
* Mike Mignola, creator of Hellboy
* Frank Miller, creator of Sin City
* Paul Palnik, creator of The God of Cartoons
* James O'Barr - creator of The Crow
* Jeff Smith, creator of Bone

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