Spectator cartoons

Here are a couple of recent cartoons from The Spectator. One on over-sensitive university students closing down debate (which is proving to be a rich seam for joke cartoonists ...)

And one about a recent high-profile crime ...

Click here to buy Royston's cartoon books

Cartoons about Lego

"I hope there's no product placement in this."

This cartoon about The Lego Movie can be seen in the current Private Eye. And here are a couple of older Lego cartoons. 

"I must say I'm not convinced by Lego Jenga."

I heard the Lego Jenga line on QI on BBC Two the other day, but I can assure you I didn't steal it from there. I stole it from my son. And talking of stealing, the one below never sold, which is a shame as I thought it was a nice visual gag.

Click here to buy Royston's cartoon book

Cartoon advent calendar: Day 23. Making a list

Today's advent cartoon is another from the Christmas Private Eye.

I did one similar to this a few years ago, which didn't sell, where he had three lists: Nice, Naughty and Misunderstood. But it seemed right to rework it this year in the light of the riots across England, after which people were searching for reasons for young people going on the rampage.

"Alienated" and "disaffected" were words used by Tony Blair in a post-riots speech.

Click here to buy Royston's cartoon book

Crime cartoon: A brush with the law

"You say, 'Comedy catchphrase', the law says, 'Bomb threat'."

A jokey or humorous comment can get you in trouble in these paranoid times, as this character is finding out. For international readers who don't know who he is, Wikipedia is your friend. This appears in the June issue of Reader's Digest.

Click here to buy Royston's cartoon book

Cartoon about woman who dialled 999 over snowman theft

You may have heard or read about the woman who called the emergency services over the theft of a snowman. It has provoked quite a few chuckles on Twitter and Facebook.

It happened here in Kent – in Chatham, innit? – so one of the newspapers for the area asked me to do a cartoon. As a subject for humour, it was a bit of a gift.

Royston's portfolio website

Books cartoon finds a home at last

Sometimes it takes a cartoon a while to find its rightful place in the world. This gag appears in The Oldie Review of Books, a supplement free with the current issue of The Oldie magazine.

They wrote to contributing cartoonists asking for gags on a books theme so I submitted some that I had on file. This one had been submitted to many magazines here and abroad – including The Oldie! – but had never sold. But it found a fitting home in a magazine about books.

This is why I like to refer to my files of unpublished cartoons not as rejections, but as gags that haven't sold yet...

Cartoons by Royston

Prospect magazine cartoon: The cautious approach

Here's a cartoon from the new issue of Prospect. I am one for leaving the radio and a light on when leaving the house. People laugh, but then I have been burgled twice, though admittedly both times were when I lived in a rough area of Sunderland as a student and they were within six months of each other! Still, can't be too careful. Top tip: leave BBC Radio Four on, it sounds like people talking ...

Website cartoons: Pop Idol for cartoonists

The cartoon section of the Reader's Digest (US) website appears to have been revamped, with lots of great cartoons added and even biographies of some of the regular contributors. It's good too see a magazine that values cartoons in this way.

One of my cartoons is on there, in the "Surprise Me!" category, and I was a bit taken aback to see that the gags are rated by the public. It's like a cartoon version of Pop Idol or The X-Factor! Still, four out of five ain't too shabby (click image to enlarge) ...

Reader's Digest cartoon: Spud-based mirth

I've got a cartoon in the May issue of Reader's Digest in the US:

This gag was initially sent out to several UK magazines, but was rejected. In those days, it looked like this:


I had to change the "British bobby", of course. I went for a more generic TV cop show style detective. I also thought that "assailant" seemed like a very British policespeak sort of word. They may well use it in the States but I thought I was on safer ground with "attacker". It's never straightforward sending gags to the US. You have to constantly think about whether certain words/concepts will be understood in the same way. As someone once said, we're two nations divided by a common language. And it goes way beyond lift and elevator.

(By the way, talking of British bobbies, if you've not seen Hot Fuzz yet: drop everything and go now. It's just hilarious.)

You'll notice also that as it was such a prestigious client I decided to do a bit more picture research on Mr Potatohead, to make him more accurate. It's not the first time said character has appeared in a cartoon of mine. This is from a few years ago:


Hey look: there's an interview with yours truly over at the excellent Chewing Pencils cartooning blog. Matt Glover, who runs the site, says: "This week’s feature artist surely has the coolest name any artist could hope for!" I must say, this is news to me, and seems a little unlikely, but I'll gladly accept the compliment. Thanks, Matt!

Cartoon book: International lampooning

Three of my cartoons feature in the new book Favorite Cartoons of the 21st Century, published by National Lampoon in the US. Here's one of them ...

Most of the cartoons in the book are of the "sick humour" school of cartooning. I had quite a few on file to choose from.

An ideal stocking filler! Amazon.co.uk has it