Cagle World

Cartoons are still just coming in following the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, but the tragic death of the young pundit is clearly the focus of both readers and editors as the week ends.

Jeff Koterba’s cartoon showing the Statue of Liberty’s bloody torch of “civil discourse” is already one of our most-reprinted cartoons this week. R.J. Matson’s popular 9/11 cartoon highlighted the growing political divide that might have played a role in Kirk’s untimely death at the end of an assassin’s bullet.

Our most-reprinted cartoon wasn’t about a news topic at all – it was Rick McKee’s fun look at the return of football, which is as good a form of distraction as anything else these days… unless you’re a New York Jets fan.

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Rick McKee

#2. Dave Granlund

#3. Jeff Koterba

#4. R.J. Matson

#5. R.J. Matson

#6. Dave Granlund

#7. Rick McKee

#8. John Darkow

#9. Dave Whamond

#10. John Darkow

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

The first week of September proved to be a true hodgepodge of topics for our cartoonists, covering everything from Gavin Newsom’s heckling of Donald Trump to Powerball mania to soldiers occupying Washington, D.C. restaurants.

Our most-reprinted cartoon of the week was a funny toon about the return of football, drawn by Gary McCoy. But we also had a few popular cartoons about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his dismantling of our public health infrastructure, including a pointed barb by Michael de Adder showing Death giving RFK a piggyback ride.

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Gary McCoy

#2. Dave Whammond

#3. Rick McKee

#4. Gary McCoy

#5. Dave Whammond

#6. R.J. Matson

#7. John Darkow

#8. Harley Schwadron

#9. John Darkow

#10. Michael de Adder

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

Happy Labor Day to all the workers out there soon to be replaced by A.I.-powered robots.

A.I. is basically the new pumpkin spice, with companies rushing to push the unproven technology into all their products and services. So it’s not too far fetched before those hard-working robots get the day off, as John Darkow predicts in this week’s most-reprinted cartoon.

Though I shouldn’t say all human workers will be displayed by robots. As Harley Schwadron points out in his funny but depressing cartoon, they’ll still need to hire “a few token humans.”

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. John Darkow

#2. Dave Granlund

#3. Dave Whamond

#4. Dave Granlund

#5. Daryl Cagle

#6. Dave Granlund

#7. John Cole

#8. Dave Granlund

#9. Harley Schwadron

#10. Harley Schwadron

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

What do people want to read about in the waining days of summer? Gerrymandering.

In Texas, at the behest of Donald Trump, Republicans pushed through a controversial new election map expected to cost five Democrats in Congress their seats during next year’s midterm elections. Democrats in California responded by creating their own map that would flip five Republican congressional seats, a move which will be decided by voters during a special election in November.

This race to the bottom was the target of Monte Wolverton’s cartoon, our most-reprinted this week. I also liked Dave Whammond’s popular cartoon comparing new congressional maps to a Jackson Pollock painting.

With everything else going on, how much do American’s care? Are they even checked in? As Chris Weyant summed up well in his new back-to-school cartoon, the kids are happy “just to get a break from the news cycle.”

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Monte Wolverton

#2. John Darkow

#3. Dave Whamond

#4. Dave Granlund

#5. Dave Granlund

#6. Chris Weyant

#7. Taylor Jones

#8. John Cole

#9. Dave Whamond

#10. Dave Granlund

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

As August winds down, parents can finally see the light at the end of tunnel as their sun-drenched kids say goodbye to summer and head back to school.

Our most-reprinted cartoon this week comes from Bruce Plante, who channeled a kid texting what he did over the summer. I also liked John Darkow’s cartoon about kids returning to schools where their parents took RFK Jr.’s advice on vaccines.

The Trump administration’s favorite vaccine skeptic was also the target of Chris Weyant, who depicted the country’s top health official as a misguided magician looking to make vaccine protection disappear. Boy, this school year will sure be fun.

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Bruce Plante

#2. Dave Granlund

#3. Dave Granlund

#4. John Darkow

#5. Dave Whamond

#6. Chris Weyant

#7. Chris Weyant

#8. Jeff Koterba

#9. John Darkow

#10. John Darkow

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

Trump’s tariffs are back on, with dozens of key trading partners being slapped this week with so-called “reciprocal” tariffs Trump may or may not walk back.

I liked John Darkow’s cartoon, which mixed the furor of tariffs with wildfire smoke from Canada clouding our economic future. John Koterba also had a funny tariff cartoon involving a mom rushing to buy back to school supplies before prices go up.

But our most popular cartoon of the week, drawn by Chris Weyant, tackled the looming presence of AI by quoting philosopher René Descartes. I recall he also had another famous line about doubt being the origin of wisdom, something all these tech cheerleaders seem to be lacking.

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Chris Weyant

#2. John Darkow

#3. Jeff Koterba

#4. Jeff Koterba

#5. Jeff Koterba

#6. Bruce Plante

#7. John Darkow

#8. Gary McCoy

#9. John Darkow

#10. Margolis & Cox

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

While it’s never really quiet with Trump in office, the summer does provide some relief from the relentless pace of news.

Without politics in the forefront, two topics dominated our list of the most-reprinted cartoons this week – the continued expansion of AI and the overwhelming heat.

I enjoyed John Darkow’s popular cartoon about AI, which featured classic robots from Lost in Space and The Twilight Zone. John’s funny cartoon about the scorching temperatures also topped our list, focused on a man who asked about the heat one too many times.

But our most-reprinted cartoon of the week by far, drawn by Dave Granlund, focused on the increasing cost of health care in the U.S. Can’t we get AI to fix that?

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Dave Granlund

#2. John Darkow

#3. Bob Englehart

#4. John Darkow

#5.Dave Whamond

#6. Dave Granlund

#7. Dave Whamond

#8. Chris Weyant

#9. Dick Wright

#10. John Darkow

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

This was a busy week in the media world. Stephen Colbert was fired by CBS, Republicans defunded NPR and PBS, and the new Superman movie faced headwinds across the globe, which its director attributed to “anti-American sentiment around the world” due to Trump.

John Darkow’s cartoon about Superman being arrested by ICE was one of our most-reprinted cartoons of the week, as were two funny R.J. Matson cartoons on Colbert and Big Bird getting clipped. I also enjoyed Adam Zyglis’ cartoon on the public media cuts, which shows they were never about balancing the budget.

But our most-reprinted cartoon, drawn by Gary McCoy, was a riff on the cheating couple unfortunate to be hugging at the wrong time during a Coldplay concert. When in doubt, play the hits.

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Gary McCoy

#2. John Darkow

#3. R.J. Matson

#4. R.J. Matson

#5. Dave Granlund

#6. Dave Whamond

#7. Adam Zyglis

#8. Pat Byrnes

#9. Gary McCoy

#10. Chris Weyant

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

With everything going on in Washington these days, it’s hard to actually enjoy the summer.

Whether it’s aggressive ICE agents, cuts to public broadcasting, or Trump’s off-and-on tariffs, the beach isn’t enough of a distraction over the dysfunction and short-sightedness of our current government.

That’s the crux of Chris Weyant’s popular cartoon this week, which features a vacationing man whose angry red face is easily confused with sunburn. Dave Granlund’s summer cartoon shows an equally-angry family, but instead of being upset over politics they’re upset about lifeguard shortages and E. coli in the water. Gross.

I did chuckle at John Darkow’s cartoon, which shows ICE agents working in a field, replacing the migrant workers they callously forced out of the country. Enjoy the summer heat!

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Chris Weyant

#2. Jeff Koterba

#3. Dave Granund

#4. John Darkow

#5. Bob Englehart

#6. Dave Granlund

#7. Bruce Plante

#8. Chris Weyant

#9. R.J.Matson

#10. John Darkow

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com

At least 120 people are dead – including scores of kids – after devastating floods ravaged a central Texas county last week. That number will almost surely go up, and reports indicate Trump’s deep cuts to the National Weather Service may have played a role in limiting the response.

While a lot of Texas flooding cartoons were used by editors this week, their favorite was a simple yet sympathetic response to the tragedy drawn by Bob Englehart. Jeff Koterba’s flood cartoon, also popular with editors, was more pointed – it featured Elon Musk dancing on the roof of a flooded house waiving his government-slashing chainsaw.

Speaking of Musk, he also made an appearance in our most-reprinted cartoon of the week, a criticism of his new America Party drawn by Jonathan Brown. The bumper sticker on the car in the cartoon says it all: “Get us out of this mess.”

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Jonathan Brown

#2. Dave Whamond

#3. Bob Englehart

#4. Jeff Koterba

#5. Michael de Adder

#6. Dave Whamond

#7. Jonathan Brown

#8. John Darkow

#9. Margolis & Cox

#10. Adam Zyglis

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Daryl Cagle is the publisher of Cagle.com and owner of CagleCartoons.com, a syndicate that distributes editorial cartoons and columns to over 500 subscribing newspapers. See Daryl’s blog at DarylCagle.com and watch his video podcast about editorial cartoons at Caglecast.com