By Stella
Published by: Radical Cartoons
ISBN: 9781527271432
Cartoon compilations of any year make for an amusing and thoughtful read, but 2020 will have special significance for the rest of our lives. Stella has put together her year with a selection of bold political and social commentary cartoons that not only chart what was happening across the globe but what was happening to her personally too.
She was, until recently, an unpaid political cartoonist at the Morning Star, Britain’s only communist daily newspaper. As she describes it, ‘between 2015-2020 she churned out the type of cartoons they required: anti-monarchist, pro-trade unions, anti-EU, anti-austerity, etc. They described me in print as their “star” cartoonist. However, in February 2020 I dared to send them a feminist cartoon…’. This is covered in the book, and she’s done much to talk about it elsewhere too but, in fairness, there’s much more to the book than this falling out.
She takes aim at the Labour leadership, J.K. Rowling, the UK and US governments, and Covid, and each cartoon is accompanied by a small piece of commentary to give it historical and creative context. Whether or not every cartoon will chime with you will naturally depend on your own personal politics and world view, as with all cartoons of this nature. But what’s undeniable is that Stella is a gifted cartoonist with a distinctive, unapologetic voice. It’s a combination that makes the book compelling reading.
And if you liked that: Don’t forget CCGB members Mitch and Rich Nairn’s 2020 books
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