Final Bow

There are powers that be, and there are the powerful, and there is Power! Raw, Energetic Power of the Mind. Cox and Forkum have been that latter catagory for as long as I can remember being attracted to blogs. Today, they cease publishing their "Cox and Forkum" website, and the world of politics will be poorer for that.

With mixed emotions I announce: John and I will no longer be producing editorial cartoons. John will continue posting his work at his blog, John Cox Art, and he and I will continue working together on various projects, but there will be no more regularly scheduled editorial cartoons. The Web site will remain running indefinitely, as a means to market our books and as an archive of our work.

This decision is primarily mine. I will go into a little more detail below for those interested, but I want to first call attention to some closing matters:

1) The image above is the cover illustration for our final book collection. Black & White World IV will contain over 200 cartoons and caricatures. A special section will showcase the development of a few cartoons, from my rough, to John's pencial sketch, to the final product. As with our last book, signed copies are being offered for a limited time. Just click here to place your preorder. The book is slated to ship out by the end of October.

2) Signed, original art for many our editorial cartoons will soon be available for purchase. I hope to create a special Web page for the art eventually. In the meantime, if there's a cartoon you're interested in, send an inquiry to me at "contact -- at -- coxandforkum.com", and I'll let you know if it is available and at what price. Prices range from $250 to $500. Some cartoons are already gone or not for sale.

3) Be sure to visit John Cox Art daily. John has posted loads of excellent work since we launched his site in May. He's been painting, illustrating and cartooning for over 20 years. Currently you can see a page from a comic-book project he's working on. He'll be posting his Newsmaker Caricatures there too. Contact him at "johncee10 -- at -- hotmail.com" to inquire about commissions.

Let me start by saying that quitting editorial cartooning has been one of my toughest decisions. Having such a creative outlet for expressing my opinions is immensely satisfying. It's an art form I've admired for decades, so I do not take lightly having the opportunity to work in the medium and to have that work seen by others. One of my proudest moments came soon after 9/11 when I held in my hands our first published cartoon. It was easy to feel useless, even helpless, in the weeks and months following the attacks. But to be able to fight in the battle of ideas was empowering.[read the whole thing]

Farewell friends, but not goodbye!