Drawing the Line

The power of cartoons to stir strong emotions has been very apparent recently. Cartoonists, somewhat like medieval court jesters, are given licence to express widespread feelings – anxieties, insecurities, anger – that go beyond the bounds of normal polite discourse, and when they do it well, they can speak powerfully for a whole society, and can move hearts and change minds. Our series ‘Behind the Lines’ by Mark Bryant has been exploring the ways in which this has worked, explaining the approach of the artists, the publishers, and the moment that brought both together to create a cartoon that was either influential at the time or has come to be symbolic of a historical moment in retrospect.