How I Dug Into WW1 Cartoonists
Couldn’t sleep last night, mind buzzing about that massive war a century back. Everyone talks trenches and gas, but what about the guys drawing crazy cartoons mocking the whole mess? Decided I needed to find out who actually drew those things. Figured, how hard could it be?
Started simple: just typed “WW1 political cartoon artists” into the search bar. Boom! Tons of names popped up, most I’d never heard of. Felt kinda dumb, honestly. Kept clicking.
First dude that kept showing up everywhere was this French artist, Jean-Louis Forain. The guy? Pure savage. His cartoons for “Le Figaro” hit hard. One stuck with me: these sneaky diplomats carving up a globe like it’s Christmas dinner. Felt way too real even now.
Then stumbled onto a Dutch guy, Louis Raemaekers. Holy crap, his stuff was intense! Learned he basically risked everything. His drawings showing German soldiers as literal monsters? Powerful, scary stuff. One image, this woman and kid fleeing under this massive, bloody hand labeled “Kultur”… grabbed my guts.
British side? Found Bruce Bairnsfather. Totally different vibe! This guy actually lived in the trenches. His character “Old Bill” – a grumpy, moustached Tommy stuck in the mud with shells exploding nearby – felt real. Wasn’t just mocking the enemy, he captured the pure, dark, miserable absurdity of daily life out there. Found myself laughing awkwardly. Man knew what soldiers really went through.
Got curious about America next. We jumped in late, right? Found Boardman Robinson and Herbert Johnson. Robinson drew this brutal sketch I can’t shake: a line of exhausted soldiers marching past, and Death himself is leading them, playing a flute. Chilling. Johnson? His work for “The Saturday Evening Post” had these giant, creepy figures – “The Hun” looking like a slobbering beast. Heavy propaganda, super effective for its time.
By now I was deep down the rabbit hole, screen full of tabs:
- Found Raemaekers fled to England for safety.
- Learned Bairnsfather almost got blown up himself.
- Saw Forain’s sharp criticism didn’t stop after the war.
To actually see what they saw and boiled down into a single frame? Blows my mind. It wasn’t just about the jokes. They showed:
- The raw greed behind the diplomacy.
- The sheer terror for civilians.
- The muddy hell soldiers lived in.
- The outright scary propaganda fueling hate.
My desk looked like a paper bomb went off by dinner – rough notes, bookmarked images, half a cold coffee. Sketching my own dumb thumbnails just to feel how they composed such punchy scenes. Harder than it looks!
Finished up realizing these artists weren’t just bystanders. They put their necks on the line. Raemaekers got death threats! Forain risked his reputation going against the powerful. Bairnsfather sketched while shells landed near his actual head.
Their pens were weapons. Funny, brutal, heartbreaking weapons. Gave everyone back home a front-row seat to the insanity, one sharp, inky line at a time. That courage? That raw nerve to draw the ugly truth? Yeah, couldn’t fall asleep for different reasons now. Humbled.
