The Cartoon Web was founded by Cartoonists
& Writers Syndicate (CWS), a division of CartoonArts International.
CWS was founded in 1978 by Jerry Robinson, prize-winning cartoonist, comics
historian and pioneer Batman artist who created the archvillian the Joker.
During the 1950s and 60s Jerry toured
with other cartoonists entertaining American troops in Japan, Korea, France,
Germany, Italy, Spain and Morocco. During and after his presidencies of
the National Cartoonists Society (NCS) and the Association of American
Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), Jerry served on the juries of many international
cartoon competitions.
Jerry's travels enabled him to meet
many of the world's greatest cartoonists who he later included in his book,
The 70's: Best Political Cartoons of the Decade (McGraw Hill).
Its success led to the founding of CWS, dedicated to bringing great creators
never seen in the U.S. or syndicated beyond their own borders to the world
press. (See CartoonWeb WebGallery for Robinson bio.)
Today, CartoonArts International is
devoted to the promotion, syndication, publication, licensing, exhibition
and sale of the work of the world's great cartoonists and graphic artists.
The company maintains the world's most extensive international cartoon
archive and the represents over 350 leading cartoonists from more than
fifty countries worldwide. U.S. artists include the award-winning political
cartoonist Kal (Kevin Kallaugher) of the Baltimore Sun, Economist
magazine and International Herald Tribune; R.J. Matson of the
New York Observer, Roll Call and The Nation; Mickey Siporin, creator of "America Outta Line," as well as many noted New Yorker, Mad
and Playboy cartoonists.
The work of CWS creators appears in
over twenty syndicated features including: WorldView, WorldWit, Caricatures,
BizWit, WitWomen, Symbolics, and Ecotoon. (See CartoonWeb Lobby for descriptions.)
CWS also syndicates the political/social satire Dry Bones by Ya'akov Kirschen,
Israel's most widely read cartoonist; and Our Roots by Tayo Fatunla of
Nigeria and London, featuring achievers of African heritage. The CartoonWeb Archive, the largest
cartoon & graphics archive available to the media, fulfills requests
for political and humor cartoons, caricatures, and illustrations on any
subject. Selections can be sent by fax or e-mail the same day.
CWS maintains a service of traveling
exhibitions of CWS artists. The exhibitions include theme shows on the
environment, overpopulation and human rights which were produced for the
United Nations conferences in Rio de Janeiro, Cairo and Vienna. (See CartoonWeb
Exhibitions for descriptions of six current shows on tour and booking information.)
CWS also produces books, catalogs and
calendars. (See the CartoonShelf, below, for details
(See CWS Syndicated Features (below)
for fuller description of CWS features and services.)
The CartoonWeb Archive is the
most extensive archive in the world available to the media, consisting
of hundreds of thousands of cartoons and graphics-political, humor, illustration
and caricature--by over 350 of the world's great creators. Noted cartoonists
from the United States and over fifty other countries are represented.
The CartoonWeb Archive provides an
invaluable service for newspapers, magazines, book publishers, advertising
agencies, corporations and electronic media. Requests for cartoons and
graphics on virtually any subject or issue are fulfilled the same day.
The CartoonWeb Archive provides a limited
selection of cartoons for viewing online. 212/CARTOON is the number to
phone to obtain permission to reprint any of these cartoons, request other
selections by topic, purchase original art or commission art by CWS creators.
CWS Syndicated Features
Views of the World, the flagship of
the unique Views series, is the weekly roundup of global events and issues
as seen by the leading political cartoonists on the major journals throughout
the world. Each cartoon carries the credit of the creator, the originating
publication, city and country. Readers are given a succinct and invaluable
window on world opinion.
WorldView, the political cartoon of
the day, sent by fax or e-mail, brings subscribers the best timely cartoons
on major issues from the world press, often within hours of the a breaking
story. It also appears on the homepage of the Cartoon Web as Cartoon of
the Day.
Others in the Views series include:
ViewsAmerica, ViewsEurope, ViewsAsia, ViewsAfrica, ViewsLatinAmerica, ViewsCIS
(the former Soviet Union), ViewsMidEast and BusinessViews. These selections
focus on issues of interest for specialized newspapers and journals throughout
the world.
Arguably the
finest international cartoonist, Kal (Kevin Kallaugher) is the cartoonist of the Sun (Baltimore), the Economist (London) and International Herald Tribune (Paris)
and appears regularly in Mediaweek. Kal is a past president
of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and is syndicated
throughout the U.S. and abroad.
Symbolics is a weekly selection of
op-ed type art by many of the world's finest graphic artists. Symbolics
adds a dramatic visual dimension to news, editorial and feature pages.
The timely Symbolics images may be banked for later retrieval. Subscribers
also have access to the extensive Symbolics archive.
Caricatures of the World provides a
monthly portfolio of personalities in the news by the world's top caricaturists.
Indexed for easy retrieval, the Caricatures archive of over a thousand
caricatures is available to subscribers and for reprint requests.
Ecotoon, a weekly panel of insightful,
witty ecological cartoons and graphics, is at once entertaining and educational.
Each striking image makes an important statement and contributes to awareness
of environmental issues. Ecotoon was the major exhibition at the United
Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The popular CWS humor features are
led by Wit of the World, a daily panel and Sunday page in color. Contributors
include a who's who of the world's great humor cartoonists; their work
appears in The New Yorker, Punch (England), Pasquim (Brazil),
Krokodil (Moscow) and other of the world's leading humor publications.
Specialized humor features features
include WitWomen, by many top women cartoonists as well as men, and BizWit,
humor on business and finance by many blue chip cartoonists. SportsWorld
aims its humor at major athletic events and seasonal sports in the news.
Dry Bones and Our Roots are features
that focus on Jewish and black themes respectively. Dry Bones, by Ya'akov
Kirschen, is Israel's must-read cartoon. Witty and satiric, it offers
profound commentary on world and Israeli affairs. Our Roots, by the London
artist Tayo Fatunla, depicts achievers of African heritage who have had
an impact on history-from little known Garrett Morgan, inventor of the
traffic light, to 20th century icon Malcolm X.
CartoonWeb Services 
The CartoonWeb WebGallery offers original
art by leading international cartoonists. For sale are brilliant caricatures,
prize-winning humor and political cartoons, limited edition prints, as
well as the originals of cartoons seen in CWS features in print and on
the Cartoon Web. The WebGallery provides a unique opportunity for collectors
and cartoon fans to obtain rare, original graphic art. The WebGallery
also arranges for commissioned work by CWS artists.
CartoonWeb Exhibitions, an international
exhibit touring service, currently includes "Cartoon '92" and "Cartoon
'96" (on Presidential elections); "Glasnost in Cartoons" (from the former
Soviet Union); "Views of the World" (political cartoons on major issues
of the past two decades); "Wit of the World" (classic humor cartoons);
and exhibitions produced for the United Nations: "Ecotoon"; "Human Rights";
and "Inhabiting the Earth." Venues for CWS Exhibitions include museums,
galleries and universities throughout the United States and abroad. The
shows have been co-sponsored by the United Nations, U.S. Information Agency,
Government of Austria, Freedom Forum and Amnesty International.
CWS Publications (the CartoonShelf
on the Cartoon Web site) include cartoon collections by CWS creators, comics
history calendars, and cartoon books on various topics.
For further information contact:
Cartoonists & Writers Syndicate
67 Riverside Drive, Suite 1D
New York, NY 10024.
telephone: 212-CARTOON
fax: 212-595-4218
e-mail: CWStoons@aol.com
