Matt Buck's Hack Cartoons

The Prime Minister's public willy-waving and incautious use of language (unprecedented threat*) is busy doing some of the terrorists work for them. Parliament is, clearly, in a right panic about a measure which many people* seem to think is currently unnecessary. Thus, we all move onwards towards hysteria junction again, via more unnecessary legislation.

* from rhetorically speaking. Ther is a very similar list at C4 News here too.

UPDATE: Government wins by 9 votes. Thanks to the Democratic Unionist party. Oh well, it will have to be thrown out by the Lords instead.


Matt Buck’s animated drawings

A predictably ugly result for Gordon Brown in the Crewe and Nantwich by-election. How he must enjoy being top man in the presidential style of politics which has been fashionable since late era Mrs Thatcher. (Apologies for the repost but it seems about where things are.)

Matt Buck’s animated drawings

Two stills from the full animation which you can see here. Or just click the picture.

Matt Buck’s animated drawings

Click the picture for the animation on five years since the invasion of Iraq - or click here.

Matt Buck’s animated drawings

There is detailed coverage of the five years since the invasion of Iraq at the Channel 4 News site. There is new content being added all week and an animated cartoon will be coming along as a part of that.

Matt Buck’s animated drawings

’Tis the season to draw daft ecards...mind you, I did get to do kazoos...one of which could even be desribed as flirtatious.
19th December 2007

Matt Buck’s animated drawings

...coming soon...

Matt Buck’s animated drawings

’Tis the time of year for the annual political cartoon awards, at which I traditionally win nowt. The idea is to offer an image for the year (2007) and hope it catches the jury's eye as the best single image entered.*

My entry for this year's Political Cartoon of the Year award

There is also the highly desirable cartoonist of the year award. This invariably goes to one of the daily newspaper cartoonists. The event is an excuse for lots of professional cartoonists to get together, smoke, drink and bitch about the lucky winners. It is also, as a result, unmissable and one of the drawing years’ absolutely fixed points. It also, bizarrely, always clashes with other social events you cannot easily avoid. Kudos to Dr Tim Benson of the Political Cartoon Society who organises and promotes the event which this year is being held at The Guardian newspaper's Newsroom. You can see Dave Brown of The Independent and his winning one-off image for last year here - scroll down a bit.

* Cynics say, and there are a few about, the key to victory is to have one's entry stationed strategically close to the drinks.

5th December 2007

Matt Buck’s animated drawings

One published animated news cartoon on the end of smoking in confined spaces - and Mr Blair.



UPDATE: There is also much activity today on the Tribune Political Cartoons blog where, Alex Hughes, Martin Rowson, John Jensen and I, are reacting to the new cabinet as fast as our pencils will let us...

There has been much coverage of Mr Blair's extended moan about the media - lots of people have quite rightly pointed out this is the pot calling the kettle black and so forth. It sent me off in search of an old drawing from 2004 when the rows over Iraq were fresh(ish) to the world and Tony could still dream of a nice legacy. Usually, I'm horribly embarrassed about old work but I still like this one - although, I'd never draw it that way now...

UPDATE
There's a more elegant summing up of what the PM said and why it was nonsense here. A hat tip to Adrian Monck for remembering and digging up a fine bit of written thinking.

I have two drawings published at the Channel 4 News website. They are for the channel's almost-the-end-of-the-Prime-Minister art gallery. I was commissioned for art which summed up the Prime Minister's time in power and of the three drawings that I sent, the two below made the final cut.

The Blair legacy.

I drew the original image way back in 2003, when the insurgency only existed on all the briefing papers which Tony Blair, George Bush and Dick Cheney failed to notice.

The Prime Ministerial character.

Here, I was trying to draw the man - and I think that after all the posturing and image-making he has undertaken over the years that perhaps there isn’t perhaps really much to him at all. What do you think?

There's also some very nice work from Morten Morland, Royston Robertson, Beau Bo'D’Or and The Spine.

If the rumours are to be believed, Anthony Charles Lynton Blair will step down as Prime Minister on May 9th - about five days after his party suffers a very bad set of results in the local elections.

And I am going on holiday for a week, which means I shall miss a lot of the multitude of supplements and memoirs of Tone which are heading our way right now.

The editorial drawing above is from 2003 - and I still think it sums up his legacy pretty well.

But if you would like further evidence about Blair, the government of the United States and Iraq, I offer several stories fom the past week;

1. Former war 'heroine' Jessica Lynch testifies to Congress about what exactly happened to her when she was captured by Iraqis during the 2003 invasion. My colleague Andy Buncombe (of The Independent) reported on this back in 2003 - sadly, precious little of his excellent work was followed up at the time. Still, better late than never.

2. One of our big tanks is broken

3. Getting us ready to leave in a hurry

4. The cost (conservatively estimated.) Try comparing it to the size of your nearest local market town)

The legacy of unfit for purpose. And we all know something else that could do with being split apart fast too.

It has been most entertaining watching the PM attempt to disassociate himself from his right hand (or Michael Levy as he's known to most).

Steve Bell put it elegantly in The Guardian this morning too.

Steve Bell

The PM has been interviewed for the second time about the loans for lordships affair. His own personal fundraiser, Lord Michael Levy, has been re-arrested about the matter. It's all very, very smelly.

Incidentally, the nation's prisons are full and overflowing again.

I wonder if anyone will be able to bring themselves to offer the former prime Minister Blair the traditional lordship after he has resigned?