The Cartoon Museum is currently showcasing a special exhibition titled “Oluwasegun Babatunde: Birth of a Universe.” Babatunde’s creation stands apart from the typical Black narrative depicted by White creators in a Western context. Instead, he presents a Black narrative from the perspective of a Black creator – a tale featuring a Black superhero. His narrative isn’t about seeking validation within the Western framework or condemning racism. In Babatunde’s view, the focus is on the myriad struggles people face: socioeconomic disparities, oppression, poverty, and also rich cultural heritage and ..read more

Robbie, now 86, was born just before World War II and still remembers that as a child she always had her little Rupert Bear soft toy by her side wherever she went. When the German air raids on major British cities became more intense, she was evacuated to the countryside at the tender age of two. During this upheaval, her Rupert soft toy was the only item she could bring along… Since its debut as “The Little Lost Bear” in the Daily Express on November 8, 1920, the tale of Rupert Bear has been illustrated by several artists for over a century, becoming a British national treasure, and earning l ..read more

Welcome to 2024! We’ve started the week with heavy rain, lots of people coming to look at Wallace and Gromit, and the looming prospect of further tube strikes. As you were, then. It’s been a little while since my last Director’s blog, and in the time that has passed we have won a Museums and Heritage award for our autism-focused programming, opened some great exhibitions, said goodbye to our Curator, Emma, and Collections Manager, Kate, and opened a brilliant Wallace and Gromit exhibition telling the story of Britain’s favourite animated duo. Which is still on till April – come and visit! Pet ..read more

by Ella Baron As a newspaper cartoonist, I’m used to my drawings having a shelf-life of days, if not hours. So after 3 years, I’d given up on finding a platform for the graphic short story that I’d drawn in South Sudan on commission for Medicines sans Frontiers (MSF, aka Doctors Without Borders). I’d started this project just before the first lockdown, but by the time I’d finished it MSF were pre-occupied with their pandemic response, the newspapers were a litany of r-numbers and all the galleries were closed.  There was only one place for the pages that me and the women I’d met in South ..read more

We are delighted to announce the winners of the second annual Alison Brown Young Comics Maestro award, recognizing the most exciting comic strip talents from the UK under the age of 18 years old. The 2023 winners are: Sofia Deen, age 9 (winner) Eric Caseras-Ros, age 11 (runner-up) Zack Bennett, age 9 & Asta Haldane, age 8 (runners-up) Entrants submitted an original comic strip of up to three pages long (or a three-page section of a story). Each of the winners receives prize money and a certificate. The winner and runners-up, along with entries by a selection of artists receiving a Judges ..read more

In our latest blog, Jadore Nicholas of JK Cartoon Studios tells us how he has been working with the museum as our Young Cartoonist in Residence. In December 2021 I attended an interview with the Cartoon Museum for work experience, and they were so impressed with my characters – ‘The Jadoodles’ (which come in all shapes and sizes, showing us feelings and emotions, reminding us to make time for them all) and illustrations that they offered me a residency. While the details were sparse at the time, I was excited for the new year! The residency started in February and it has been designed by Amba ..read more

by Lydia Newton August Edouart was a French artist known for his silhouette artworks.. Extremely prolific in his day, given the niche nature of Edouart’s art he escapes mainstream popularity today. This piece aims to provide an entry into his world of profiles and focuses on several aspects of his portraiture that parallel key features of cartoons. Born in Dunkirk, France, in 1789 – a period of extreme political turbulence – Edouart was one of sixteen children. At 19 years old, he fought in the Napoleonic wars and in 1814, he married Emilie Laurence Vital and travelled to London where he remai ..read more

By Monica Ann Walker Vadillo This blog was originally published in 2016 as part of the Museum’s Comic Creators project. We are reposting it as part of our From the Vaults series to celebrate our exhibition about the history of the series, open until 2 October. Introduction The Comic Creators Project at the Cartoon Museum in London has original artwork from The Adventures of Luther Arkwright, a  limited series comic written and drawn by Bryan Talbot between 1978 and 1989. It was followed by a sequel called Heart of Empire: The Legacy of Luther Arkwright in 1995, which ..read more

Our new blog is with award winning cartoonist Tony Husband, who has been using his artistic skills and personal experience of dementia to connect to carers and those living with this life changing disease. by Claire Madge Tony Husband To begin our conversation I asked Tony how he got started drawing cartoons. “I wanted to go to art college but my Dad wouldn’t let me, he told me I had to get a ‘proper job’. I’d been in advertising, a window dresser and a jeweller but my ambition was to be a cartoonist. At night I was always drawing cartoons sending them out to various newspapers and magazines t ..read more

We are delighted to announce the winners of the inaugural Alison Brown Young Comics Maestro Award 2022! We received 60 wonderful 3-page comic strips from budding comic creators under 18 years old. A winner and two runners-up was chosen by a panel of expert judges including Laura Howell and Mike Stirling from The Beano, Tom Fickling from The Phoenix, cartoonists Hannah Berry, Martin Rowson and Mark Stafford, and Steve Marchant, Kate Owens and Joe Sullivan from The Cartoon Museum. Your 2022 winner is Damien Arriola, aged 10! Damien’s comic about a bear protecting a group of bears from hunters wa ..read more