Cartoonist John Branch Is At It Again

Longtime aficionados of editorial cartoons in San Antonio need no introduction to John Branch. From 1981 until 2015 his work appeared in the Express-News. Now, after an absence from the market, Branch is back, this time with a weekly cartoon that will appear each Sunday on the Rivard Report home page.  We’ve asked him to keep it local, which actually covers a lot of ground as we brace for the March primaries, a presidential election year, lots of changes in our legislative delegation, and more local issues of importance and interest than we can list here.

Branch has not been idle. Since 1993 his work has been distributed by North America Syndicate/King Features, although that work is not carried locally.

Victor Navasky, the longtime editor and publisher of the Nation, wrote in his 2013 book, The Art of Controversy: Political Cartoons and their Enduring Power, that there is something about the power of images over words when it comes to incisive and cutting-edge political commentary. Caricature, Navasky wrote, is one of the most powerful tools in the visual journalist’s bag for grabbing the attention of the public and conveying unstated yet unmistakable messages.

We think it can be stated more simply: People in San Antonio miss the insights and entertainment found in a local editorial cartoon, and they miss John Branch. Well, now he’s back.

Top Image: ©John Branch for the Rivard Report. 2016.

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