Cagle World

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

There’s been plenty of fireworks to go around recently, between Trump’s combative rhetoric and Congress passing a controversial budget that cuts taxes and Medicaid.

Thankfully this week we get fun fireworks added to the mix as we celebrate our country’s birthday, despite our founders believing we’d all be eating burgers and drinking beers on July 2.

While this week’s top ten list is dominated by the holiday, our most-reprinted cartoon mocks the hapless Democrats, where the fireworks are between the party’s young activists and old guard.

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

#1. Chris Weyant

#2. Gary McCoy

#3. Bruce Plante

#4. Jonathan Brown

#5. Bob Englehart

#6. Dave Whamond

#7. Dave Granlund

#8. R.J. Matson

#9. John Darkow

#10. R.J. Matson

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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

You again?

That was the punchline of Bruce Plante’s funny cartoon about our old advisory Iran being in the news again, thanks to President Trump’s unilateral decision to bomb nuclear sites within the country.

Our sudden and apparently short-lived conflict with Iran (on behalf of Israel) garnered a lot of interest from editors, as most of our top cartoons this week touched on the topic. “I hate sequels!” complained a woman in John Darkow’s cartoon about Iran, while Rick McKee had Trump painting a massive bomb with the message, “Now is the time for peace.”

While most of the focus was on Iran, our most-reprinted cartoon of the week came from out of left field, pun intended – a Dodgers-themed cartoon involving a baseball fan with an encyclopedic memory forgetting his wedding anniversary.

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

#1. Dave Whamond

#2. Bruce Plante

#3. Dave Granlund

#4. John Darkow

#5. R.J. Matson

#6. Rick McKee

#7. Chris Weyant

#8. Chris Weyant

#9. R.J.Matson

#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

Artificial intelligence continues to dominate the headlines, with the controversial technology being pushed more and more into our daily lives.

One new feature among our robot overlords might be embarrassment, according to Dave Whamond’s funny cartoon this week that was a hit among editors.

In addition to doing work, AI programs are also becoming more and more involved on the hiring process, as Jeff Koterba pointed out in this week’s second most-reprinted cartoon.

Here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week, none of which were drawn by a computer:

#1. Dave Whamond

#2. Jeff Koterba

#3. Jonathan Brown

#4. R.J. Matson

#5. Dave Whamond

#6. Dave Whamond

#7. Jonathan Brown

#8. Dave Granlund

#9. Jeff Koterba

#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

Beware of everything.

That was the warning in Chris Weyant’s widely-reprinted cartoon this week, which seemed to hit a nerve with readers thanks to its broad relevance. Beware Trump’s government, which has deployed troops into an American city. Beware facts after Robert F. Kennedy fired all the vaccine experts on an important CDC advisory panel. Beware stability as Trump’s tariff plans continue to bounce all over the place.

Pat Bagley underscored Weyant’s cartoon with a call to protest, comparing anti-Trump protesters hitting the streets across the country to demonstrators massacred in Tiananmen Square in China in 1989. I also enjoyed R.J. Matson’s cartoon about a future civilization visiting the ruins of American democracy, destroyed by Trump’s “big, beautiful” budget bill.

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

#1. Chris Weyant

#2. Pat Bagley

#3. Dave Granlund

#4. John Darkow

#5. Harley Schwadron

#6. R.J. Matson

#7. Dave Granlund

#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

Trying to keep up with news out of Trump’s White House is a Herculean task even the nation’s top cartoons have a hard time pulling off.

Chris Weyant touched on the madness in our most-reprinted cartoon this week, which features a dizzy trade representative nauseous over the administration’s ever-changing tariffs.

R.J. Matson’s cartoon about the national debt, appropriately represented by the Grand Canyon, hit Trump as he tries to push his “big, beautiful” budget bill through the Senate. His former billionaire buddy Elon Musk isn’t helping by calling the bill a “disgusting abomination,” in part because it’s projected to add trillions of dollars to the federal debt.

After their recent dust up, you’ll see plenty of Musk vs. Trump cartoons in the coming days. For now, here are our top ten most reprinted cartoons of the week:

#1. Chris Weyant

#2. R.J. Matson

#3. Gary McCoy

#4. Dave Granlund

#5. Monte Wolverton

#6. Dave Granlund

#7. Chris Weyant

#8. John Darkow

#9. Bruce Plante

#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

Economic uncertainty. Continued inflation. Medicaid cuts. Crackdowns on universities across the country. The internet being filled with AI slop.

Boy, the new seems grim and relentless. Which is why Monte Wolverton’s cartoon about the search for a glimmer of good news struck a chord with editors this week, topping our list of the most-reprinted cartoons.

Jeff Koterba also tapped into the unease over the economy in a cartoon about the death of the penny, which shockingly costs almost 4 cents per penny to make. Unfortunately, they will only increase the need for nickels, which run 14 cents each. Add that to the list of depressing news items.

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

#1. Monte Wolverton

#2. Jeff Koterba

#3. Dave Granlund

#4. Gary McCoy

#5. Rick McKee

#6. Dave Granlund

#7. Chris Weyant

#8. R.J. Matson

#9. Chris Weyant

#10. John Cole

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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