Topical cartoons: A look back at 2013

Time for a look back at some topical cartoons of 2013. Game on ...

The year always starts with those oh-so-serious Oscar contenders ...

You heard that Margaret Thatcher died, right?

The "Onesie" was everywhere (but not on me, I should add!)

There was a high-profile job vacancy ...

Mainstream media struggled to keep up with social-media ...

But many found themselves victims of verbal abuse online ...

Unbelievably, we had a long, hot summer ...

The royal birth was covered as if it was the Second Coming ...

The 3D printer went mainstream, for those that can afford them ...

At the cinema everything was also either 3D ...

... or a familiar franchise returning (or both!)

Boris Johnson faced testing times ...

MPs were told they'll get a whopping pay rise ...

There was a clear winner for word of the year ...

And finally, here's one for the NSA, in case they are reading this ...

Happy new year to you all!

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Christmas cartoon: Panic buyer

"Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, except a mouse ..."

One for any late shoppers, from the current issue of Prospect magazine.

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Christmas newspaper cartoons

Here are a couple more Christmas cartoons, both drawn to accompany articles in local papers. The subjects were the privatisation of Royal Mail, tying it in with the controversy over rising fuel bills, above, and Christmas gridlock, below.

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Christmas cartoon: Strips and skips

The cartooning life is not all about the, er, glamour of Private Eye, The Spectator and the like. Here's a festive cartoon from what is referred to on Have I Got News for You (and has featured on that show) as "this week's guest publication" ... Skip Hire Magazine.

I've been drawing a strip for the monthly mag since February. People think it must be difficult to draw for specialist publications but provided the mag has a sense of humour (which Skip Hire with it's regular "skip chick" and "skip hunk" features most definitely has!) I don't find that to be the case.

This has turned out to be a fun job. It's basically a straightforward workplace strip with regular characters. Like Dilbert with skips!

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Christmas cartoon: Private Eye card 2013

"I think UKIP have got to him."

This was one of the 12 Private Eye Christmas cards this year. Yes, it's another spin on the "naughty and nice" theme!

I could be wearing a look of dismay similar to that elf in 2015 as there's a real possibility that the UKIP leader Nigel Farage could become my local MP! There is also a rumour, however, that he may stand in nearby Canterbury. Here's a cartoon I drew about that earlier this year.

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Christmas cartoon: Media interest

Time for another  Christmas cartoon, this time from the bumper festive issue of The Spectator, which is out now.

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Private Eye cartoon: Take the test

Breaking the run of Christmas cartoons, here's one from this week's Private Eye, focusing on the London Mayor's ill-advised speech about people with low IQs and his subsequent poor performance at answering IQ test questions.

In a somewhat different style, here's Boris Johnson vs the leader of Medway Council in a cartoon drawn to illustrate a local newspaper article about opposition to the Mayor's planned Estuary Airport.

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Beat the Cartoonist Christmas Special!

This Christmas drawing is the latest Beat the Cartoonist entry in Reader's Digest. Here are the caption options:

"We broke up."
"I'm sorry, but your true love will have to return them himself."
"I'm afraid I can't do anything unless you have a receipt."
"Sorry, could you run through the list again?"

As usual, one of them is mine and the rest are by readers and the idea is that you vote for the one you think is the funniest. Click here to vote (ends December 20).

This cartoon below was in Beat the Cartoonist a couple of months ago.

As revealed in the latest mag, the vote was won by one of the reader's captions*.  So I've got my fingers crossed for the Christmas one.

*I don't have a copy of the mag so I'm not sure which one! But it's one of these.

See all previous posts on Beat the Cartoonist

Christmas cartoon: Word of the year

"Does my nose look shiny in this selfie?"

Apparently "selfie" was named as the word of the year so there expect to see a few festive twists on it from cartoonists this year. Here's one from the December issue of Saga.

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Christmas cartoon: Secrets and lies

"OK fill me in – who has been naughty and who has been nice?"

Here's a Christmas cartoon from the current issue of Reader's Digest. I won't be posting a cartoon for each day of advent this year (as I did last year and the year before) but I'll feature a few throughout the month.

This is not the first time I've done a topical gag based on the "naughty and nice" idea. Or indeed the second! And it won't be the last either. It's the Christmas gift that keeps on giving.

Royston's cartoon book: The perfect stocking filler!