Magazine cartoon: Time and tide

"Sire, the risk-assessment people say, No way."

Here's a cartoon from the September issue of Saga magazine. The subject of risk assessments and health & safety regulations has been a rich seam for jokes for some time now.

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Another First World War cartoon

"Due to the inclement weather conditions, you are reminded to please take extra care ..."

Here's another cartoon about the First World War. It can be seen in the current issue of Prospect magazine. Unlike my recent war silhouette cartoon, this was not inspired by the centenary coverage of the war in the media, but by something far more mundane.

I was walking through a London Tube station after we had had what can only be described as a spot of light rain. The floor was slightly damp so they played the standard health and safety recorded message about "inclement weather conditions".

Like the middle-aged person I am, I thought, "And to think we won two world wars ..." From such nonsense are cartoon ideas spun ...

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First World War cartoons

"Sarge, you don't think we might be at a disadvantage by fighting this whole war in silhouette"

This is my first, and possibly last, cartoon drawn entirely in silhouette. It is in the current edition of Private Eye. This year marks 100 years since the outbreak of the First World War, of course, so we'll be seeing a lot more of this kind of imagery.

The war has been presented in such a way since day one, see the recruitment poster above left, and continues to be, as you can see from the War Horse poster. 

I thought the cartoon probably stood a good chance at Private Eye as Ian Hislop and Nick Newman of the magazine were responsible for the recent First World War drama The Wipers Times. That was all about keeping a sense of humour in the face of adversity and tragedy. My cartoon can hopefully be seen in the same way and no disrespect is intended.

Here's another First World War cartoon. This was drawn for the new edition of Isle, a local listings magazine, to accompany an article about the teaching of the war in schools.

"Looks like Sir is going over the top ..."

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History cartoons: Getting medieval

I seem to do a lot of history-based cartoons, often set in the Middle Ages/medieval period. I use these terms very loosely, please don't post, er, pedantic comments pointing out incorrect dress etc.

Sometimes this involves riffing on a specific theme, such as public executions ...
 

And, for some unknown reason, battering rams!

I think I first realised that this is a rich source of jokes when I provided cartoons for the BBC's short-lived Robin Hood Adventures magazine some years ago. There's more historical hilarity here, and here and here. 

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History cartoon: Scott of the Antarctic

"I'm just going outside ... you can follow me on Twitter."

It's exactly 100 years since Robert Falcon Scott led his men on their ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. It's a story of British heroism and bravery in the face of terrible odds, and subject matter for many flippant and disrespectful jokes ever since.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 15. Exchanging gifts

"I feel awful -- we only got them socks."

Back to the present for today's advent cartoon. This is in the new edition of Prospect.

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The visual joke: Battle is restaged

I often draw cartoons that have no caption, but it is rare that I do one that also has no words within it. It's good to do this kind of cartoon though, as they can work internationally. This one appears in the June issue of Prospect magazine.

After my post yesterday about revisiting the past, I should disclose that this cartoon is, if not a sequel, then at least a companion piece to the cartoon below, which was in the same magazine in April 2008.

"Oi, take it easy! This is an English Heritage site."

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History cartoon: The Normans

Every time I turn on the BBC these days they're talking about The Normans, the new history series, so here's "another chance to see", to adopt the current TV euphemism for repeat showings, a Normans cartoon which appeared in Private Eye earlier this year. Click the image to enlarge.

This is one I will almost certainly be showing at my aforementioned talk on cartooning. Have I aforementioned that enough yet?

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Museum cartoon: Hidden treasures

This was drawn to accompany an article about a museum which discovered lots of things in storage which they didn't know they had. Click to enlarge.

The lost autobiography by William Shakespeare makes me chuckle. I must admit to being a little pleased with myself when I decided to draw it like a modern celebrity memoir with the title "To Be! My Life Story". There are more than a few academics who would like to get their hands on that book.

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Shrewsbury Cartoon Festival 2010

"You wanna get some WD-40 on that, mate."

The Shrewsbury International Cartoon Festival takes place next month, and the theme this year is Magic, Myth and Mystery. This is one of the cartoons I submitted for exhibition.

The dates are April 22-25. I'll be there again this year, blogging and tweeting on behalf of the Professional Cartoonists Organisation for
The Bloghorn, as well as drawing a few cartoons, of course. In the run-up to the big event, we'll be posting Shrewsbury stuff on the blog every Friday. We got the ball rolling today.

This is the seventh festival, and the fifth time I've attended. Here's what I got up to last year, and in 2008, 2007 and 2006. Or click this link for all Shrewsbury-related posts.

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Not Yet Sold: Bouncy castle cartoon

"This was fine for your nephew's fifth, Sire, but I fear it is set for a sterner test."

I don't post many rejected cartoons on the blog, preferring instead to showcase the ones that have been hits. But I thought I might dig out a few for an occasional feature that I've just decided to call, with the eternal optimism of the gag cartoonist, Not Yet Sold.

Naturally, I'll be picking out ones that I was pleased with but which have been around the block with no success. This was one. I like to draw history cartoons. Feedback and constructive criticism on my Not Yet Sold cartoons would be welcome in the Comments below.

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History cartoon: 1066 and all that

I had fun doing this cartoon, it's nice to do drawings that are a bit different to regular gag cartoons from time to time. This appears in the new issue of Private Eye. Click to enlarge.

I've never seen the Bayeux Tapestry in real life. I'd love to. After all, it's the original comic strip. I love the way the strip along the bottom tells a parallel story – just like Fat Freddy's Cat in the Freak Bros. comics!

Pedants will know that the Bayeux Tapestry is not actually a tapestry at all, as it's embroidered by hand, not woven. But, of course, I wasn't going to let that get in the way of the joke. Here's the original, for reference. As you can see, I jigged things around a bit to make more room for the lettering and to upset historians.

In other news, my portfolio website is now back online at www.roystonrobertson.co.uk. Not that there's anything new there. Must get round to updating it sometime ...

History cartoons: How we used to laugh

Here's a cartoon that appears in the April issue of Prospect magazine. I'm no great history buff, but history cartoons are always fun to do.

Last year I illustrated a series of articles on life in medieval times ("How we used to fight ... eat ..." etc) which appeared in the BBC's Robin Hood Adventures magazine, a tie-in with the TV series. They were fun to do and I found that when the job finished I continued to think up gag cartoons on a medieval theme!

Here are a few of the cartoons from the "How we used to ..." series.





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History cartoon: Law unto itself

This gag appears in the new edition of Reader's Digest in the UK. It was in one of my sketchbooks for a long time before I got around to drawing it up, possibly more than a year. I simply didn't think it was that strong an idea, but that may have been because it was just sketched vaguely, with the characters in indistinct "olde worlde" garb. It was only when I started to develop it visually, using pics of the Magna Carta signing as reference (thank you Google Image Search), that I could see it was beginning to work. It's always bizarre how cartoons come together. Sometimes the complete opposite happens, the cartoon forms visually in your head at the same time as the gag.

I only drew it up to make up the numbers in a batch of cartoons, but of course it was the only one that the Digest bought. This happens a lot, as any cartoonist will tell you.