BEST EDITORIAL CARTOONS OF THE YEAR: 1992...

BEST EDITORIAL CARTOONS OF THE YEAR: 1992 Edition edited by Charles Brooks (Pelican: $11.95). Because editor Brooks has to rely on submissions from the individual artists, this annual collection rarely lives up to its title. Many of America’s most influential cartoonists, including Tony Auth, Herb Block, Paul Conrad, Doug Marlette and Pat Oliphant, are conspicuous in their absence. However, surveying the work of these second- and even third-rate artists helps place the art of political cartooning in perspective. The lesser lights of the medium choose the most obvious gags and rely on a plethora of labels to communicate information they fail to put across in their drawings. Their caricatures lack originality, and ape the work of Oliphant, Mike Peters and Jeff MacNelly. These threadbare cartoons demonstrate just how difficult visual satire can be.