Closing lines

Cartoonists wound up another antagonistic annum of demonizing Dubya, complaining about Congress and the courts, chiding Cheney and generally aggravating authority. It’s impossible to cull thousands of images to a truly representative few, but the cross section displayed here tries to hit the headline highlights and showcase the range of presentation.

Contrast Matt Davies’ profoundly simple war analogy or Tom Toles’ superbly understated consumption dilemma to David Horsey’s ambitious and spot-on caricatures of the would-be first spouse’s club. Consider Dan Wasserman’s supremely smart court commentary, Rex Babin’s close-to-home intersection of irony and tragedy, and Gary Varvel’s juxtaposition of pop star flameout and far-off famine victim. Finally, get a load of Signe Wilkinson’s weapons warning, and submerge yourself in Clay Bennett’s Darwinian doomsday scenario.

And if I overlooked your favorites, well, there’s always next year!

-- Joel Pett

Joel Pett is the Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist of the Lexington Herald-Leader. His work also appears in USA Today.