That was the year: 2014 in topical cartoons

If you can take another "review of the year", it's time for my now traditional look back at the past 12 months of topical cartoons.

This was a year that saw quite a few household names in court ...

One person continued to surprise us ...

Technology dominated the headlines, as ever ...

... which meant new buzz phrases ...

... and more gadgets.

In 2014 we commemorated the centenary of the First World War ...

... which at times was maybe a bit much.

This was the year of the Scottish referendum, and the many promises that went with it ...

And like it or not, Nigel Farage and Ukip was the other big political story of 2014.

There was the Rochester by-election ...

... a depressing lack of a sense of humour in another by-election ...

... and a TV showdown.

Light relief was found at the cinema ...

... and with the return of some old friends.

What were the big trends of 2014? Well, we seemed to reach "Peak Beard" ...

... and there were a lot of selfies ...

... not to mention other narcissistic trends.

But as usual we ended the year basking in the warm glow of advertising sentimentality ...

Have a happy 2015, one and all!

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Christmas newspaper cartoons

Here are a couple more Christmas cartoons, both drawn to accompany articles in local papers. The subjects were the privatisation of Royal Mail, tying it in with the controversy over rising fuel bills, above, and Christmas gridlock, below.

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Political cartoon: The swivel eyes have it

The Kentish Gazette asked Nigel Farage, the UKIP leader, if the rumours were true that he is to run in Canterbury at the next election. His response: "There is always so much flying around about what I might or not be doing. My advice is don’t get too excited about it.”

The latter part struck me as a particularly appropriate UKIP election slogan ...

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Weather cartoon: You give me fever

"You're going to beat the hayfever but it may affect your all-over tan."

Unlikely though it sounds, we're having a heatwave in the UK. Hope you're enjoying it.

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Humorous illustration: Keep it down!

This illustration accompanied a newspaper article about irritation at rising noise levels. Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but I can relate to this. And talking of getting older, readers of a certain age may know that Noise Annoys is a Buzzcocks song.

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Cartoon illustration: Estuary airport

I was commissioned to draw a humorous illustration for a newpaper supplement on the proposed Estuary airport in Kent. The idea was to reflect the different arguments and points of view that residents are having to deal with.

Represented are: Boris Johnson, Mayor of London as the pro lobby (the plan has been dubbed Boris Island); the anti-airport Medway council leader; environmentalists' concerns about the threat to rare wildlife; and the slightly worrying close proximity of an old gas plant and a sunken ship full of explosives!

Whatever happens, we can only hope that the wishes of residents are not treated with contempt, as is so often the case. See You've Been Trumped, a highly recommended documentary, which I saw last week. Seek it out, but be warned: it will make you angry.

Topical cartoon: Horsing around

The horsemeat scandal doesn't seem to be going away any time soon. I drew this last week to accompany a newspaper story about testing for horsemeat in Kent schools. 

This is one of those subjects that seems to have caught people's imaginations as far as jokes are concerned, and there has been a plethora of horsemeat gags on Twitter. I wrote a piece on the rise of Twitter jokes, and how it means cartoonists are having to up their game, for the Procartoonists blog. You can read it here.

Cartoon advent calendar:Day 14. Winter wonderland

This is a recent cartoon drawn to illustrate a news story about a family that goes crazy for Christmas, decorating their house with £8,000 worth of lights, inflatables and all manner of festive sparkle. It's pretty much a variation on this old cartoon.

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Cartoon advent calendar:Day 3. Light humour

The Christmas lights and decorations in Canterbury and Herne Bay are, apparently, a bit rubbish, and lots of people have complained about them. I was asked to draw a cartoon about this to illustrate a local paper article. Bah and, indeed, humbug.

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Weather cartoon: Line and washout

Traders in the seaside towns here in East Kent are being hit hard by this summer's terrible weather. Recently I was asked to do a cartoon to accompany a newspaper article on that subject, above.

Another rain cartoon of mine (I seem to do a lot this days!) was lifted by Time magazine for this blog post. This shows that it's not just small sites that use cartoons without asking. Obviously I'm glad that they have credited me and written about the cartoon, but I prefer it if people ask first before reusing cartoons, as clearly stated under Cartoons for You in the right-hand column, as there may in some cases be a fee involved.

Diamond Jubilee cartoon: A lot of reign

I'm no weather forecaster, but when asked to draw a cartoon for an article on this summer's Diamond Jubilee celebrations, this was the image I came up with. It looks likely, after all.

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Topical cartoon: April fuel

OK, I know "Keep Calm" poster spoofs have been done to death, but it seemed appropriate for this cartoon about the UK's fuel "crisis" (read "panic") which appears in a local Kent newspaper this week.

I tried the gag first at Private Eye last week but they passed on it -- probably because they'd planned this Keep Calm cover spoof. You can't keep a good meme down.

Topical cartoons for newspapers

Here are some recent topical "pocket" cartoons drawn for local newspapers here in Kent. They are about the hosepipe ban in the South East ...

... the announcement of the route of the Olympic torch ...

... and the Government's controversial "workfare" scheme. In this case the cartoon was for a column, and it illustrated both a piece about workfare and a rant about being put on hold! All part of the cartooning service ...

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Newspaper cartoon: Court out

This was drawn for an article about a court replacing stenographers with a system where proceedings are digitally recorded and transcribed on computer later.

I liked the "Facebeak" joke, but I was concerned that some might not be familiar with the slang term "the beak" for a magistrate or judge (as in "up before the beak"). But I took a "you can't please all of the people" approach, and went with it.

The rush towards doing everything digitally does seem crazy. Just because we have the technology, does everything have to be digital? This move, inevitably, involved laying people off, and the paper couldn't find one person who thought it was a good idea, or that it would be a better way of doing things. It's "progress" for the sake of it. Add your "Luddite" and "old fart" comments below.

Cartoon advent calendar: Day 22. Turkey talk

This pocket cartoon was drawn this week, to accompany a local paper story about a woman who keeps a turkey as a pet -- a spot of seasonal silliness!

The glassy eyes of the turkey, to indicate cuteness, were the result of looking at my son's drawings. He draws them like that a lot, a trick picked up from watching Spongebob Squarepants and Pokémon cartoons.

It's not too late to buy Royston's cartoon book for Christmas (2012)

Cartoon advent calendar:Day 8. Arty Christmas

"It's my homage to Picasso."

Here's an art cartoon for day eight of the advent calendar. Drawn for a local paper last Christmas. That's three snowmen cartoon so far, and there's more to come.

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Strike cartoon: The home front

The kids are off school today because of the public sector strike, which makes this cartoon, which I drew today for a local paper, somewhat autobiographical.

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Weather cartoon: Forever autumn

Here's a cartoon I drew for a newspaper article about the unseasonably hot autumn weather we had recently. Normally these cartoons are black and white but sometimes it's nice to add  some colour, and those autumnal shades are rather nice, I think.

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Life imitating cartoons. Part 4

Here is another in my occasional "Life imitating cartoons" series. This was in a newspaper last week ...

Compare with this newspaper cartoon from the European elections of 2009 ...

"Something tells me they're expecting a low voter turnout."

More cartoony "predictions" here:
Life imitating cartoons. Part 1
Life imitating cartoons. Part 2
Life imitating cartoons. Part 3

Social-networking cartoon: Don't tweet and drive

Here's a cartoon drawn to illustrate a newspaper article about tweeting and driving. A very real problem, apparently, along with texting and Facebooking while driving.

It amazes me that anyone would use a mobile phone while driving. I sometimes find I can't even listen to the radio and concentrate on the road at the same time!

The first draft of this was slightly more graphic. I lifted this drawing from an earlier, unsold (probably not surprising) cartoon about using phones while driving.

Ouch! That's gotta hurt. The paper didn't go for it, of course.

While on the subject, you can follow me on Twitter, provided you are not driving, of course.