Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists [Paperback]

Ted Rall (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2002 | Series: Attitude

TO HELL with those hackneyed mainstream political cartoons! Donkeys and elephants are history. Daily newspaper cartoons make lame jokes about the news while sucking up to the corporations that own them. Here's the NEXT generation of artists out to save the world: political cartoonists who run in your local weekly alternative paper, uncensored and in the raw! ATTITUDE includes cartoons and interviews with: Tom Tomorrow, Peter Kuper, Ruben Bolling, Lloyd Dangle, Andy Singer, Don Asmussen, Clay Butler, Jen Sorensen, Scott Bateman, Tim Eagan, Derf, Lalo Alcaraz, Joe Sharpnack, Eric Bezdek, William L. Brown, Ward Sutton, Stephanie McMillan, Mickey Siporin, Jim Siergey, Ted Rall, & Matt Wuerker.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Today's most provocative editorial cartooning isn't in daily newspapers; it is in alternative weeklies. Whereas old-school editorial cartoonists rely on timeworn traditions, topics, and techniques, the new breed tackles contemporary concerns, such as commercialism and environmentalism (invariably from the left), rather than electoral politics, and generally works in comic-strip, instead of single-panel, format. Rall, one of the most prominent newcomers, interviews 20 colleagues and presents generous samplings of their work. Some, such as Tom Tomorrow and Peter Kuper, are relatively familiar because of occasional appearances in mainstream publications like Time and Newsweek; others probably are known only by their local followings. Many don't draw that well; indeed, some can barely draw at all. Their drawings are usually subservient to their scripts, and both take a back seat to their attitude (as in chip-on-the-shoulder), which seems to be the essential ingredient for success in their milieu. The best of them possess so much lacerating wit and unswerving commitment that they fairly shame their hidebound mainstream counterparts into retirement. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Author

These artists work in the netherworld between facile categorizations. Because they're passionate and strident, they're too alternative for mainstream daily papers. But they're not always considered alternative by the artsy crowd because they're articulate and actually care about ordinary people's concerns. Perhaps because they defy easy labeling, they're creating the most interesting work in cartooning today. It's an honor to help present this new genre to the public.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 127 pages
• Publisher: NBM Publishing (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561633178
• ISBN-13: 978-1561633173
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,687,572 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ted Rall is one of the nation's most outspoken left-of-center pundits. Though best known as one of America's most controversial and widely syndicated political cartoonists, he is also an acclaimed columnist, author and war correspondent. Twice the winner of the RFK Journalism Award and a Pulitzer Prize finalist, Rall traveled to Afghanistan during the fall 2001 U.S. invasion, where he drew and wrote "To Afghanistan and Back," the first book of any kind about the war. He was also one of the first journalists to declare the war effort doomed, writing in The Village Voice in December 2001 that the occupation had already been lost.

Rall's latest book is a graphic novel memoir, "The Year of Loving Dangerously," wth Pablo G. Callejo, about his journey from Ivy League college student to homeless bed-hopper during the long hot summer of 1984 in New York City.

Inspired after meeting pop artist Keith Haring in a Manhattan subway station in 1986, Rall began posting his cartoons on New York City streets. He eventually picked up 12 small clients, including NY Weekly and a poetry review in Halifax, Nova Scotia, through self-syndication. In 1990, he returned to Columbia University to resume his studies, from which he graduated with a bachelor of arts with honors in history in 1991. (His honors thesis was about American plans to occupy France as an enemy power at the end of World War II.) Later that year, Rall's cartoons were signed for national syndication by San Francisco Chronicle Features, which is no longer in business. He moved to Universal Press Syndicate in 1996.

His cartoons now appear in more than 100 publications around the United States, including the Los Angeles Times, Tucson Weekly, SF Weekly, Pasadena Weekly, Toledo City Paper and MAD Magazine.

Rall considers himself a neo-traditionalist who uses a unique drawing style to revive the aggressive approach of Thomas Nast, who viewed editorial cartoons as a vehicle for change. His focus is on issues important to ordinary working people--he keeps a sign asking "What do actual people care about?" above his drafting table--such as un- and underemployment, the environment and popular culture, but also comments on political and social trends.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nice intro to some lesser known cartoonists, August 5, 2004

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jokah (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Attitude: The New Subversive Political Cartoonists (Paperback)

I had wished there were more cartoons and less interview text (3 1/2 stars?), but this collection was nonetheless a good introduction to some artists that you might not otherwise find in mainstream publications. The cartoons are not strictly limited to anti-Republican and anti-corporation themes but cover a range of topics including race relations, global warming, consumer culture, etc.

As a reader of the NY Times and Village Voice, I was familiar with the work of Ted Rall, Tom Tomorrow, and Ward Sutton. After finishing Attitude, I ordered a copy of Andy Singer's Cartoons, which is even smaller in size but excellent.