As 2016 comes to close, we can conclude it’s been an interesting year (interesting, in the sense of the ancient Chinese proverb ‘May you live in interesting times.’).
And although many people think that ‘interesting’ times provide a lot of inspiration for cartoonists, a lot of cartoonists would have been very happy never drawing another Trump caricature ever again.
However, world events did inspire some amazing cartoons here on Cartoon Movement and in the spirit of the season we’ve made a top 10 of the cartoons that were particularly excellent (in our opinion) and resonated with our audience and beyond.
We can also conclude it’s been a good year for Cartoon Movement.
We’ve maintained our financial independence, sustaining the site by reselling cartoons to other media (although there’s also been media that did not bother with the tediousness of actually paying cartoonists) and by doing various comic and cartoon projects.
This means we’ll be continuing our mission in 2017: to publish great editorial cartoons that give different perspectives on world events, making you laugh, shocking you, provoking you and sometimes even making you angry.
But always with the intention of making you think about the world around you. For now, enjoy our best of 2016. We hope to see you in 2017!
1. Nowhere to Go
A very apt summary of the plight of many refugees, by Abdelghani Dahdouh. Published in January 2016.
2. Refuge
A cartoon by Brandan Reynolds that went viral. It perfectly captures the inequality in the world in a single image. Published in April 2016.
3. Cause & Effect
A lot of cartoons focused on refugees this year. This image by Naoufal Lahlali is one of the best, as it exposes the Western politics of intervention and billion-dollar arms industry as the core causes of the refugee crisis. All without needing a single word. Published in May 2016.
4. Fashion
A look at the fashion industry, by Payam Boromand.
5. Lessons from History?
We tend to be wary of Hitler-analogies in cartoons, as they tend to elicit such strong responses that any meaningful debate is impossible. This one by Dom Nelson, however, is just very good in our opinion (and our audience seemed to agree). It’s painfully funny and so cleverly executed that even mentioning Donald Trump is unnecessary. Published in June 2016.
6. Now What?
The aftermath of the Brexit referendum saw a lot of cartoons that used the Union Jack is some way (flags are always a popular subject with cartoonists). We like this one by Andrea Vitti, because it captures the confusion so well. Published in June 2016.
7. I Have a Nightmare
An eloquent response by Tomas to the very unexpected outcome of the US elections. Published in November 2016.
8. Nobody is Haiti
Another cartoon that went viral year is this cartoon by Elchicotriste, criticizing the lack of international response (no Facebook profile photo filters. no hashtags) after a hurricane took a heavy toll on Haiti. Published in October 2016.
9. Security Council
Osama Hajjaj with a visual analysis of the decision-making process UN Security Council. Published in September 2016.
10. France
Sadly, some of the most powerful cartoons this year were those expressing the horror and shock after a terrorist attack. This one by Fadi Abou Hassan was made after the attack in Nice. Published in July 2017.
